“The witches can’t learn that I have no power,” I said, my voice tight.
Gunnar nodded, his expression dark and serious. “No, boy, they cannot. If they do—”
The door slammed open, and Theo burst in, his face flushed. “Daka, on the grounds,” he shouted.
Gunnar and I immediately stood, and we all bolted into the hallway. My mind raced, but my first thought was of her.
“Zara?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest.
“She’s safe. Julian is taking her back to your room as a precaution, though she didn’t seem too happy about it,” Theo replied.
Of course, she wasn’t. “And our guests?” I pressed as we hurried through the corridor.
“No one is aware of their presence,” Theo continued. “We moved everyone out of the halls and into the ballroom. Dedra and our guards are standing guard there, just in case. The Daka seem to be on the grounds, waiting. I didn’t see any witches, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t lurking.”
My jaw tightened, the tension in my chest rising as I glared ahead. “I’ll see you down there.”
With that, I shadowed into another hallway, moving quickly and silently up the flights of stairs until I reached my rooftop terrace. The wind hit me as I stepped out, and I strode to the ledge. From there, I could see the grounds. My weapons shadowed to me from my room in an instant, cold steel familiar in my grip as I scanned the scene below.
Three Daka slithered across the grass, their grotesque forms moving with an unnatural grace. My eyes shifted to the tree line, trying to catch any movement. Nothing. But that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
I decided to test them, shadowing a training dummy from the yard below onto the open grounds, not far from where the Daka lurked. As I suspected, a blast of white-hot light shot out from the trees to my left. I noted the spot where the magic came from.
It was a trap—a simple one, at that. Theo would know better than to charge out blindly. I shadowed to the hall that led to the grounds, finding Theo and Gunnar already there, weapons drawn.
“They're trying to lure us out by making us focus on the Daka,” I explained. “But they're hiding in the trees. One of them has light magic.”
Gunnar nodded, his expression grim. “I’ll make sure no one gets inside.”
I nodded, turning to Theo, a grin tugging at my lips. “Theo, you know what to do.”
He gave me a wicked smile in return, and I shadowed, appearing in the trees near where I’d seen the light emerge.
A burst of light shot toward me from the right as I materialized behind a towering oak. I sidestepped the attack, rolling smoothly behind another tree just as the light exploded against the bark where I had stood seconds before.
“Quite foolish of you to ambush your king,” I taunted, letting my voice carry into the trees. Silence. The only response was the rustle of leaves in the wind. Peering around the trunk, I saw a subtle shift in the air, a tiny movement that disturbed the stillness. Camouflage. Clever.
“Clever trick,” I acknowledged aloud, my voice sharp. The air tensed, and a frustrated curse slipped from somewhere nearby.
In one swift motion, I darted from my cover and hurled my dagger toward the disturbance. It sliced through the air, deadly and precise. A shriek tore through the quiet night as my blade found its mark. The figure materialized, clutching at their throat where the dagger had buried itself deep. Blood gurgled from their lips as they crumpled to the ground, the light in their eyes fading.
As the witch's body slumped to the ground, I walked over and pulled my dagger free, a smirk tugging at my lips. The rush of adrenaline heightened my senses, and I looked down at her lifeless form, savoring the kill.
“I wonder,” I called out, my voice taunting. “Did your new master sanction this? Or did you come here simply to die?”
My words seemed to draw out another barrage of magic, but I sidestepped it again with practiced ease, the power crackling harmlessly past me.
A sudden, piercing shriek to my left snapped my attention. There was Theo, his sword slick with the witch’s blood, her severed head rolling away from him. Our gazes locked in a brief moment of silent communication before his eyes widened a fraction.
“Behind you!” Theo shouted. Spinning around, I barely had time to react as a burly woman charged at me, her dagger plunging into my side. I winced as the blade sliced through my flesh, but I was ready, and I thrust my blade into her heart as she collapsed against me.
With a grimace of pain, I shoved her lifeless body to the ground. The throbbing ache in my side flared, but I managed a dark chuckle.
A deafening roar shattered the night as the beasts finally realized we were here. Their massive forms trampled through the dense wood, and trees shattered and fell in their wake as they charged our way.
I gave Theo a brief nod, a silent command. His body began to glow with power as the air around us crackled. Electricity danced over his skin, and a wave of envy washed over me—not for his magic, but for the power. My body ached for the feeling of it again.
The beasts drew closer, and Theo unleashed his magic. Lightning arced from the sky, forming a circle of crackling energy around us. The ground shuddered with each strike and anguished screams pierced the air as more bodies than I had expected fell from the trees.
