AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dessin! Take out the archers! They’ve laced their arrows with saphrine oil! They’re trying to take out DaiSzek!”
He only spares me a quick glance of recognition. A look that says he heard the task, he understands it, and he’ll burn down the world to ensure they don’t shoot another arrow.
As the archers raise their crossbows, Dessin picks up a spear and darts out to their left side, angling himself until he’s adjacent to their lineup. And there isn’t a moment of hesitation or doubt that he can achieve this goal. His arm whips out, flinging forward and letting go of the spear. It sails through the air, whizzing faster than a strike of lightning until it enters the first archer… but doesn’t stop there. That spear was thrown with such force that it punctures each man holding a crossbow until they’re one gory kabob. A skewer of five archers that stare blankly at each other, not understanding what hit them, not even aware of where the source of pain is coming from.
They fall from their post as one.
Chills race down my arms at the sight. At the fact that Dessin doesn’t stop to admire his work. He just keeps fighting, returning to DaiSzek’s side.
But it isn’t enough, is it? They still outnumber us easily.
“How did you know th—” Niles’s words are cut off with a grunt. I look up at a soldier gripping Niles’s throat, hanging from the same branch, and trying to kill him or throw him from the tree. Whichever comes first.
“Shit!” I throw myself as close to his body as possible, holding my dagger with a trembling hand; I don’t stop to think. I thrust my arm around Niles’s waist until the pointy end of my blade pierces the soldier trying to strangle Niles. I push it in deeper, feeling the gush of blood and the squishy organs I’m slicing through. The hilt slams into the soft of his belly, and I sigh loudly as he falls from the tree.
Niles gasps, holding his throat as he coughs to make room for more air.
“Are you alright?”
My hands are shaking.
He nods, but it isn’t convincing. Skylenna’s shriek of pain forces me to turn away from Niles. Her arm was slashed. But she only takes a moment to hiss before whirling on the assailant. Her hands twist his head in one jerking motion, and with a loud crack, he falls at her feet. She quickly holds her hand up to Dessin, who pauses with silent rage. The fabric on her arm is saturated with fresh blood, but my sister keeps fighting. Methodically. As if she’s in a trance.
“Shànvaxaz!”
Release them!
I search the trees.Who?Who are they releasing? Off into the distance, several soldiers race forward with something in their hands. Shadows trudging before them. I squint, leaning forward in my net. Not who, butwhat. Attached to long leashes are the nightmares that Skylenna once told me about. Long, gray limbs. Milky eyes. Weather-worn skin.
“They’re releasing a pack of night dawpers!” I shout down to Dessin. His head pops up immediately, following my gaze to the incoming threats. And it’s like jagged nails running down my back. They’re coming to overpower DaiSzek, or at least keep him busy to make this conquering easier. Faster.
“I almost got it!” Niles grunts above me. The net begins to loosen around me, but all I can see is the look of panic in Skylenna’s eyes. The frantic thought process on how the hell we’re going to get out of this one.
The net snaps free from the rope holding it up, and I take a tumble to the ground. Niles lands on his feet with a thud next to me, hands gripping my shoulders to pull me upright, away from the violence drenching the soil in puddles of blood.
“We have to go!” Niles tugs me.
But I’m frozen. My feet cemented to the ground. I can’t leave them. Yet I have no way of helping, no solutions, no escape routes for them to follow.
I cry out as the night dawpers are released from the leashes because, Christ, they’re fast. And by the look of it, they haven’t eaten. They’re starved for their next meal. The direction they sprint is toward DaiSzek. A clear target to which they were trained to attack.
I try to take a step forward, but Niles wraps his arms around me, yanking me away from the doom that’s threatening to swallow my family whole.
35. Knightingale
Skylenna
Even though streaks of blood cloud my vision, I can’t miss the flashes of gray, gangly beasts that gallop toward DaiSzek. Their spindly legs stepping over bodies makes my skin tingle in fear.
I look to Dessin, who is already looking at Warrose. “Help him!” he commands.
Warrose is the only one of us that has extensive experience with night dawpers.
I slam my fist across another soldier’s throat, watching a fountain of crimson liquid come spurting from the jagged wound I leave behind. The demon’s teeth gloves are more than useful. They’re fucking deadly.
I can’t help but look back at DaiSzek, watching the night dawpers close in like a parade of demons coming to smother the RottWeilen, the last of his kind. A pang of terror hits me right in the chest. The first night dawper launches itself through the air, stretching out its long arms to take DaiSzek down. Warrose throws his whip back, ready to take out the first one, and—
Something beats him to it. A streak of copper fur crashes into the creature, wrestling it to the ground. Noises I’ve never heard before. Ferocious. Rabid. Bizarre growls and snarls as this smaller, coppery beast goes straight for the heart. Chewing through dried gray flesh until it reaches the warm gooey center. The night dawper hangs limp, and even stranger, the smaller beast just tosses the stringy heart to the dirt and races to help DaiSzek once more.
