The man raised his arm, the edge of his blade poised to cut through the flesh and bone of Damien’s neck. Right as he swung, my sword clashed against his. He stared at me, nostrils flaring and eyes going wide. A thick vein throbbed in his forehead, and something about it made me want to instigate him further.
“Maybe you should try picking on someone your own size,” I said, flashing him a charming smile.
It only angered him more. He increased the pressure on my blade, causing my arms to falter slightly. “Fuck you,” he snarled. “Lachlan promised a reward in exchange for his head, and I’ll be damned if anyone else gets it.”
I couldn’t risk looking at Damien. My opponent would take advantage, and I couldn’t allow that. “Get up and run,” I told Damien, but he didn’t move.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as his hands drifted to the blood on his chest, as if he could piece it back together. I remembered Eva telling me once about his healing abilities, but I didn’t know how that worked or if a wound of this magnitude could be closed by his hand.
“Godsdammit, Damien. Go!”
The brute laughed in my face, his rancid breath nearly making me gag. “He won’t be going anywhere.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, pushing on my blade. Our arms were nearly shaking from the pressure we were exuding on our weapons.
“Because this steel was poisoned, he’ll die within minutes.” And then the fucker winked at me as if this was some kind of joke. I supposed it was for him. Dread sliced through my thoughts, clouding my mind until it consumed every bit of me.Think, Kalen. Fucking think!
If what he said was true, I had little to no time left. I needed to either kill the man in front of me or try to get past him. Both seemed impossible, but I knew of one thing that could distract a man without fail.
With all my strength, I kicked my leg out. As my foot collided with his balls, he howled and doubled over. His weapon clattered to the ground, and I knocked it away quickly before he realized what he’d done.
Strings of curses left his mouth, and I wanted to tease him about his own demise, but I didn’t have time to. Not as Damien lay dying on the ground next to me.
I swung my arm quickly, my blade slicing through his neck just as he had prepared to do to Damien only minutes ago. His head fell, rolling down the road to where members of The Horde were fighting against Damien’s battalion.
His low groan pulled me back to my task, reaching down to sling him over my shoulder. His skin was ashen, dark circles forming under his eyes. The shade nearly matched the darkening color of his lips as he fought for oxygen. I’d never seen anything like it.
I ran through the carnage, hoping and praying no one tried to intervene. Bodies were strewn everywhere as their blood turned the streets red. Only yesterday, people would have been strolling this same road while doing mundane everyday things. No one would believe me if they saw the atrocities surrounding us.
I couldn’t help but think about how I should have been down here, fighting side by side with my own militia instead of carrying back a known traitor. Even if he wasn’t, I was abandoning those around me for a single man. If he’d been anyone else, I would have left him to his own devices, and he would’ve either died in battle or on the way to the healing tents.
But he wasn’t just anyone else. If anything happened to him, I knew Eva and Renai would feel his loss immensely, and I would do anything in my power to stop that from happening.
Through some type of mercy from the gods, we slipped through unscathed.
“You doing okay back there?” I asked, unsure if he was even still breathing or not. But Damien gave a quiet grunt that gave me a semblance of hope that he was hanging on.
The palace was straight ahead, but my relief was short-lived as I saw the pandemonium breaking out amongst those still waiting to cross the gates.
Five figures in black approached slowly, circling the crowd like vultures. Their swords were drawn, the tips scraping against the cobblestone, creating an awful, grating sound that made me cringe.
As much as I wanted to help, I needed to get Damien to a healer. Did that make me a shitty person? Maybe so, but I had to think of my family, of Ren. And Damien deserved that second chance at life.
My stomach dropped as Renai stepped out of the crowd, drawing a blade from behind her back. She sank into a low stance, preparing to launch herself at the man closest to her. But then her eyes met mine, drifting to the figure across my shoulder.
I’d seen her in her element; how she could filet a man in less than a minute. There’d been times I’d begged her to teach me, but she never did—always flashing a secretive smile and patting my cheek like a child.
But this was something different. The rage I saw staring back at me was unlike any other. It was the kind that craved blood and revenge more than lungs craved the air we breathe. It promised violence and death, no mercy in sight.
She leaped, her blade sweeping through the air in a fast arc that sent the first man’s head rolling. The four remaining figures stopped their approach, watching the decapitated body fall to the ground with a wet thud. People screamed behind her, the area turning into absolute chaos. Four more wet thuds followed, and I couldn’t fight my smile as I crept past her.
The gate we used to exit was just up ahead. If I could make it there, we would be clear. I could drop Damien off with a healer and then come out to assist Renai. Not that I thought she needed it, but I knew I would be her next target if I didn’t find her first.
Agonizing screams led me where I needed to go, finding the healing tent nearly at capacity as I approached. I found an empty bed, laying him down gently. His blood coated my hands and armor, but I didn’t give a shit about any of that.
Damien looked more like a corpse than he did a dying man. Whatever toxin was in that poison was quick-acting, depleting his life before my eyes.
“Good gods, what happened to him?”
