My head whipped to the side as a loud male cry snatched my attention.It was Glory’s boyfriend, Harbin. A hound had him by the leg and was dragging him along the ground.
I advanced on it fast. “Hey!” I lashed out with my scythe. But, releasing Harbin, it dodged my blow and then pulling back its lip to reveal teeth dripping with blood-stained saliva.
I angled my blade just right, watching the way its muscles bunched as it prepared to lunge. “Come on, fucker.”
It might have lunged. Might not have. I’d never know, because Khalida swooped down and grabbed it by it hindlegs. She lifted it off its feet and unceremoniously tossed it away.
“Shit, do you hear that?” Lear yelled.
If she meant the pounding of hooves, yes. The centaurs were fast approaching. “They must have found one of the nearest bridges.”
Taking a quick scan of what I could see of my surroundings, I noticed several broken and bloody bodies sprawled on the ground.
Moresnapsof Talon’s power split the air, closer now. Still, I couldn’t see him. And I didn’t try to search for him either. I trained my gaze on the fog up ahead of me, knowing the centaurs would appear any moment now.
As the clang of swords joined the furious noise within the haze, I adjusted my grip on the handle of the scythe, impatience battering my control.
They galloped into view, bellowing out war shouts. They were an unnerving sight for certain, possessing the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a man. All were armed with either a sword, spear, or bow and arrows.
One centaur bore down on me, his blade raised high. I ducked to evade his blow and swiped out with my scythe, carving right through his forelegs. He toppled to the ground, his back legs kicking. I brought the scythe down hard again, beheading him in one clean move.
Another soon came at me. And another. And another. I went at them hard, alternating between lobbing orbs of ashes and striking out with my scythe.
Within the fog was a shower of arrows, gold streams of pure, whirling orbs of air, blasts of fire, and the shimmer of lilac Delphiae energy.
The centaurs fought hard and tirelessly—and not just with those on the ground. No, they also stabbed upwards with their swords, aiming for the vultures and flying Phoenixians.
More, the bastards kept rearing up onto their hindlegs and kicking out with their hooves. One hoof landed hard on my thigh. Another slammed my left shoulder. A third clipped my head, grazing my temple. It hurt every damn time.
I almost tripped on a stray centaur-foreleg as I stabbed out with my blade. The little wobble cost me; I didn’t manage to properly parry the centaur’s blow. His sword slashed my chest, tearing cloth and slicing skin. The burn of the injuries only spurred me on.
He raised his sword, a battle cry on his lips. I evaded his blow, angled my blade just right, and sliced open his belly.
A Phoenixian right then landed nearby, her wing crumpled. A centaur went straight for her. I would have advanced on him, but a rhino rammed into his side, knocking the centaur down … which was when I caught sight of Talon far behind him wading through enemies, stabbing and cleaving with the ease, speed, and skill of someone who’d seen many battles.
Relief took wing in my stomach as I saw he was fine. I hadn’t let myself acknowledge that I was worrying for his safety but, yeah, there was no stopping or changing it.
“No!”
The female shriek made me snap my head to the side.Glory. She was sprinting toward a centaur who was about to thrust a spear into Harbin.
Sensing her approach, the centaur kicked up his back legs and slammed them right into her stomach. She flew backwards and hit a tree hard. A second centaur was immediately on her, piercing a spear right through her head.
I froze, my lips parting in shock as I stared at her open-eyed corpse.Fuck.Bile rose to burn the back of my throat, and my belly twisted and rolled.
Fury bubbling in my blood, I stared at him, a snarl shaping my mouth. I quickly snatched a fallen centaur sword and hurled it through the air toward him.
It sank into his shoulder, wringing a loud cry from him. A primal satisfaction plucked at my mouth and sang in my veins.
His gaze slammed on me as he yanked out the blade. Then he came right for me, galloping fast. But his pace faltered as an arrow speared through his eye—one I quickly realized was fired by Harbin.
I didn’t get the chance to thank him, or comfort him, or even watch the dying centaur hit the ground. My focus flew to the one barreling toward me, his spear raised. I swung my blade, chopping into the spear, splitting it in two. The bastard apparently also carried a sword—he swiped out just right, and the blade sliced into my cheek.
A hiss slid through my clenched teeth. And then we were battling. He was good. Fast. Even managed to stab his broken spear into my upper arm. Snatching in a breath at the hot lance of pain, I went to slice at his forelegs again. But a leopardabruptly landed on his back, stabbing its claws deep and sinking its teeth into his nape.
Silently thanking the feline, I turned my attention to the next enemy. One after another came my way. I swung the scythe over and over—blocking, parrying, slicing flesh, cutting through bones.
An arrow grazed my uninjured cheek as it whizzed past me. Narrowing my eyes at the archer, I lifted my scythe, ready to—
