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Ella had never seen a true fight before and was glad it was dark enough that all the blood looked like sprays of black. The sound was horrible with screaming and roars of anger and fury.
A bright ball of red magic burst on the sand spit, and Taranis and the deer headed mage clashed. The ground rumbled under her feet, and fear swept up Ella’s spine.
“What was that?” Bron asked, glancing around.
Dark, horrible, slimy magic hit Ella, and she stumbled backward. The water was boiling, and she knew what was coming.
“The mage has summoned his monster,” she said and tried to spit the taste of the magic out.
The head of the horror rose from the surface, and people started to scream. Ella’s brain tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Tentacles and a body half emerged on the sand. It looked like it was covered with a thousand eyes and mouths full of sharp teeth.
“Fucking hell,” Bron whispered, her face paling. The mages and the fae alike were scrambling away, trying to escape the swinging tentacles.
Ella leaned over and vomited bile on the ground as the creature’s fear inducing terror magic covered them. How could Mananan defeat such a thing on his own?
“I’m glad he’s got Fragarach,” Bron said as if reading her thoughts. “Look, Ella! There he is!”
The sea spat Mananan out, and he flew towards the creature. It caught him with a tentacle, and he sliced through it, the bright line of Fragarach cutting through the thick scaly things like they were butter.
Ella wasn’t breathing as she watched the fight. Mananan didn’t seem to slow the whole time. He was trying to get towards the monster’s head. He got close once and managed to blind some of its eyes.
The monster roared, the sound a chilling cry of pure animal fury. Tentacles exploded from the ocean and wrapped around Mananan. Before he could cut them away, they shook him hard. Fragarach fell from his grip and landed upright on the sand on the beach.
“Oh no, oh no,” Ella chanted, unable to look away. “He needs his sword!”
“Fuck! Ella, I need you to listen to me,” Bron said, shaking Ella by the shoulders. “You can get the sword back to him. Only you and him can touch it because it’s magical.”
“What do you mean I can touch it? Why?” Ella asked.
“Because you’re his fucking mate, okay? He hasn’t told you yet, but there’s no time to explain. You have to trust me on this, Ella. I’m going to fly you to it, and you’re going to take it because if we don’t, he is dead!” Bron shouted.
Ella nodded, confused and scared. “Let’s go.”
Bron didn’t give her any time to second-guess herself. She turned Ella and grabbed her around the waist. She yelped as Bron lifted her into the sky. They flew low, Bron sailing around thrown spears and fireballs. The rotting, putrid smell of the monster hit Ella’s nose, and she wanted to throw up again. She spotted Mananan, slicing at the tentacles holding him with one of his daggers.
Seconds later, Bron landed on the sand next to Fragarach, and Ella stumbled towards it. She could feel its magic pulsing from it, calling out to her and filling her head with battle song.
“You’re his mate! Take it!” Bron shouted and ducked as one of the mages on the beach swung a staff at her. She threw a knife, and it landed in his eye.
Ella turned back to the sword. “I’m his mate. Please don’t hurt me,” she said and clasped the hilt. The world blurred a little, and Ella’s head was filled with the cries of a thousand battles. Blood filled her mouth, and she pulled the sword free from the wet sand.
Kill, kill, kill,it chanted in her head, and her body turned electric with a power that wasn’t her own.
“Ella!” Bron’s face appeared in front of her.
“Fly up over its head. I am going to drive this blade into his brain and feast on its death,” Ella said, her eyes filling with brilliant bronze magic.
“Fuck. Don’t you dare die or both of our mates will flay me,” Bron replied. She grabbed Ella around the waist again, and they shot up into the sky.
Ella wasn’t afraid anymore. The sword knew what to do, and its magic had taken her fear into it and replaced it with battle rage. She didn’t look for Mananan though she could feel him like a distant star in her mind. He was alive, and she trusted that he could take care of himself.
Bron swooped around waving tentacles, dodging their suckers reaching for them.
The sword’s power flared in Ella’s hands. “Drop me now!”
Bron didn’t hesitate. She let her go, and Ella was suddenly dropping like a stone. The air was rushing around her, and the power in the sword drew itself straight down. Someone shouted her name in the distance. None of it mattered. Only killing did.
Bronze light wrapped around her, and she sucked in a lungful of air and shut her eyes. The sword drove her headfirst through the monster’s eye, and it kept dragging her through slimy darkness.
