“Shut the fuck up, Elianna!” he shouted through shattered teeth, his eyes nearly swollen shut.
I went to reach for my dagger at my thigh, but he swiped his blade down, the very tip of it catching my hand and slicing a gash across the top of it.
I hissed as blood dripped down past my fingertips. His sword was aimed at my center once more.
“Now,I’mthe one who will be killingthe great Captain Elianna Solus. I can’t even begin to tell you how long I have waited for this day,” he admitted. “I finally know why Father spent so much time with you, why he always appeared to prefer you to hislegitimatechildren.” Kai continued to ramble as I let out a sharp laugh, drowning out his words. He had completely disregarded what I spoke of earlier regarding the king not being his true sire.
My mind frantically rushed through ideas on how to get out of this as he continued his triumphant speech. I glanced down at my sword on the ground. There would be no way to reach it in time before he gutted me.
“Are you even listening to me?!” he screamed, and my neck snapped up to meet his stare once more.
I was about to make my final move to strike when, out of nowhere, an enormous, looming shadow appeared over Kai. He was so lost in his bloodlust that he didn’t realize it himself. Suddenly, tiny pebbles of rocks cracked off thegiant boulder I stood beneath and rained down on me, bouncing off my shoulders before falling at my feet.
My lips twitched upward lazily, and I flashed my canines at him in the most menacing grin.
I watched as his smile of assuming victory faded from his features as his gaze hesitantly rose to the top of the boulder’s edge.
Kai’s skin turned ashen as his eyes widened in absolute terror. He lowered his chin to stare at me, his jaw hanging open in pure shock.
“Fuck you, Kai,” I breathed.
An ear-shattering roar of triumph erupted from above before Nox swooped his head down and stretched his maw wide, revealing the numerous rows of his dagger-like teeth as he prepared to sink them into Kai’s flesh. The wyvern then effortlessly snatched his entire body into his mouth.
The prince’s screams of fear and anguish ripped through the burning fields as Nox tightly snapped his jaw down onto him and lifted his head back up and out of my line of sight. The thunderous crunch of bone rang through my surroundings as Kai’s blood rained down on the terrain.
I ran out from under the boulder and looked up to watch Nox as he finished Kai off and swallowed his body whole.
“Holy mother of the gods,” I breathed as my jaw fell open.
Stampeding footsteps that sounded off behind me came to a screeching halt as Jace appeared at my side—Zaela and Gage arrived only a second later, and the four of us continued to stare up at the wyvern that had just killed the prince.
“Did he just…” Zaela started.
I nodded slowly. “Kai is dead,” I rasped out.
“Holy fuck,” Jace breathed.
Nox’s eyes narrowed in on the camp behind us, and a ferocious growl rumbled through his chest. Arrows began to land at our feet from the remaining soldiers as they formed lines behind us with their pitiful excuse of what remained of their army.
We all turned to face them, observing the remaining threat—there were nearly a hundred of them left, bravely barreling towards us.
I glanced from side to side. We wouldn’t win against that many—not with Nox out of his flame.
“Let’s go,” I muttered as I turned on my heel and moved to climb up the boulder that my wyvern remained perched on.
I positioned myself in the saddle, and the three of them climbed up behind me.
“What about Kellan?” Gage asked. “We couldn’t find him. We weren’t sure if you finished him off before we saw you fighting the prince. He could still be out there.”
My jaw locked. I didn’t know where Kellan was. I wasn’t sure if he had actually perished in the flames or if he had escaped once again from my grasp. The unknown threatened to make what barely remained of my inner walls collapse, but I refused to show them that—not when they were counting on me.
Nox had destroyed the false heir. I had to focus on what remained on our side, and now, with Kai dead, we stood a chance at survival and victory.
“His time will come,” I said coldly, and I felt Jace place his hand atop my own as it rested on the saddle while the crippled army moved to corner us.
Nox let out a deafening roar in their direction, their charge at us coming to a screeching halt. My wyvern’s wings shot out at his sides on command and swiftly propelled us into the air.
The soldiers watched in awe and horror as we took flight, their armor clattering against each other as they collided with those in the front who halted the lines.
