Page 56 of Beyond the Storm
As our gazes met, the breath stilled in my lungs, and my body started to quake. Melancholy whined again as the earth moved beneath me. Or perhaps it was I who moved, knees buckling. This male… I’d never seen him before, yet I knew him. Warriors battled on all sides of us, but our eyes remained locked.
The battlefield no longer existed.
Only he did.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he sprinted forward. He screamed something as he ran toward me.
I sensed the presence behind me a moment too late. A sword plunged into my back, the blade penetrating all the way through my body. The bloodied tip jutted from beneath my rib cage before being withdrawn with a hard pull. The sharp pain made me cry out and slump to the dirt. I released wheezing breaths as blood pooled from the wound. It was the worst injury I’d ever sustained. Would it heal like the others?
Or was this the end?
“Kallias!”Alastair yelled inside my head.
“Kal!”Castor.
The Spartan reached me and roared as he took off the Athenian’s head. And then he was directly in front of me, placing his hand over the wound. The moment his skin made contact with mine, that blazing fire in my veins ignited into something much greater. Something that went beyond all reason and understanding.
“Y-Your… name,” I managed to say between rough wheezes. If I was about to die, I at least needed to know that much.
“Elasus,” he spoke in a voice that reminded me of honey, smooth and rich. Hearing it sent tingling warmth through my chest. His eyes were a deep shade of brown, like soil beneath lush green grass.
“I am… Ka—” Another gasping breath broke off my words.
“Do not speak.” Elasus caught me as I slumped forward. “The gods will greet you soon, warrior. I will stay by your side until they do.”
Shouts erupted from around us, as did the victorious clanking of swords against shields as the Spartans and their remaining allies watched the opposing army flee. Every demon had been slain, and the surviving enemy soldiers had been considerably thinned. Their defeat had been imminent, so they’d fled toward the city gates of Corinth.
A Spartan victory.
My eyes fluttered closed as I lost more strength and pressed my cheek to Elasus’ shoulder. Dirt, sweat, and blood clung to his skin, yet nothing had ever smelled more incredible. Because beneath all of that came the scent of olive trees and warm earth.
Of home.
Chapter Two
Elasus
The man’s chest slowly moved with his breaths as he rested against me. The likelihood of him living until the next sunrise was low. Blood seeped from between my fingers as I applied more pressure to his wound. He softly whimpered.
My heart ached.
Unable to resist, I removed my helmet and pressed my face into his black hair. He smelled like spring water beneath the midday sun.
“Release him,” an unfamiliar voice said from above me. The man had pale hair and cold eyes.
Other men stepped up beside him. One had hair the same shade as an apple. They all glared at me, waiting for me to move aside. My arms refused to obey when I tried to release the wounded warrior. I yearned to burrow against him. To hold him closer.
“I cannot,” I said. “I told him I’d stay by his side.”
Why did I care? This man was a stranger. I’d seen many men die in battle. I’d killed many of them myself. What made this man different?
“I will not tell you again.” The pale-haired man dropped to one knee, his lethal gaze aimed at me. “Release my brother so I can save him.”
“Save him? You are a physician?”
Spartans continued to shout in triumph as a victory trophy was erected in the place where so many Athenians had been crushed beneath us. Our army had been led by Aristodemus, the guardian of King Agesipolis, until he came of age. Our second king, Agesilaus, was on a different campaign to the east.
Reluctantly, I pulled away from the dark-haired warrior. Another ache stabbed at my heart as I lost his warmth. His blood stained my hands. They held a slight tremble as I wiped at them. My throat constricted, as though a hand had come around it and squeezed.
