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A fury rises from somewhere deep inside of me, an anger I didn’t know I possessed. Only moments ago, he and I had our whole futures ahead of us, as broad as the open desert. Now, the humans mean to take away what little home I have found for myself here.
I don’t know what happened to them and if their grief is justified.
But they mean to kill us.
A man comes charging at me, sword in hand. I yelp as I dodge, hearing metal connect with stone, then kick sand into his eyes. He roars and drops his weapon, allowing me to snatch it up and drive it deep between his legs.
Peliel may consider me small and weak, but I’m quick, too.
I drag the weapon free before he has the good sense to collapse on top of me, and right myself before two more come barreling forward. Seven men are engaged with Peliel, and more are emerging from the gloom.
My new sword clashes with another, and I slip into range before burying it into his gut. He freezes with wide eyes, Peliel’s light reflecting in them before he too slumps to the earth, watering the sand with his blood.
Just as I straighten, there’s a prickle on the back of my neck. I think it’s the heat of Peliel’s powers, but when I turn to face the source, I realize too late that it’s one of the humans charging at me. I don’t have time to raise my sword before we’re tumbling in the sand, head over heels. I somehow manage to dodge the slice of his dagger, which barely grazes my arm before I find myself flat on my back, with him on top of me.
He issues a feral snarl as he raises the dagger high.
My hands are empty, no weapon to protect me this time. I hear myself scream like it is someone else, very far away.“Pathetic. Just like I thought, you can’t even protect yourself.”
The dagger comes down hard and fast, the moonlight gleaming off its silver tip. I close my eyes in anticipation of the agony that is to come, a jolting pain in my chest.Something.But when I open my eyes again, the man is gone, and so is Peliel.
I look up to see him hovering too high for their weapons to reach as he rips the man apart, burning like the sun. Blood rains down on his compatriots, and someone knocks a bow. I scramble to my feet, sweeping up my sword in the process, and lunge at the archer, who has the tip of his arrow aimed at Peliel’s heart.
He turns just in time to offer me a shocked expression before my sword mangles his features. I throw myself on him and keep stabbing until he stops fighting back, an errant shudder gripping his frame before he goes still.
I rise from my kill, conflicted but relieved.
Peliel touches down to earth again and commences his battle with the humans. There are too many, streaming out of the darkness, and Peliel is so luminous. No one could miss him against the backdrop of night. It makes him an easy target.
After tonight, the humans won’t accept me.
Peliel is my only chance at alifeworth living. I fight to get to him, cutting down a man before he has a chance to stab him in the back.
Our eyes meet in the fray, his filled with relief.
I have to banish an errant smile as we stand back to back, fighting off the intruders that threaten our home.
27
PELIEL
Asymphony of human terror echoes off the walls of the rocky cavern as I kill the man in front of me. More humans are streaming into the cave now, their numbers reaching higher than I initially expected.
The heat of my flames is causing the air to shimmer around me as I scan the battlefield. Arie still fights bravely, the red-stained blade in her hands dripping blood onto the rocky ground. She has a wild, determined look in her eyes as she swings the cheap steel toward anyone stupid enough to approach her.
Luckily, most of the humans are focused on me, as they should be. I’m the one they’re here for. They have come to meet their death and I am happy to oblige.
Unleashing another blaze of light to blind my attackers, I hurl a ball of flame into a crowd of oncoming humans. The joy of battle fills me as I swoop down to engage them hand-to-hand.
I soar through the searing air, snatching up the closest human and hurling them into the rocky wall of the cavern with a terrible crunch. As I glide back to the cavern floor, twisting and rolling to avoid the puny arrows the humans continue launching at me, I notice a crowd of attackers cornering Arie against the wall of the cave.
Fury overtakes me and I change the course of my flight, heading straight for my pet. I land in front of Arie with a burst of air, pushing a wall of flame toward the humans, forcing them to scatter and take cover behind the rocks.
“Stay near me, Arie,” I say in a commanding tone. “Don’t engage unless you must. I can handle this.”
Arie says nothing, which worries me slightly – she is prone to disobeying – but the humans quickly return to attack again, tearing my attention from Arie. One of them is dumb enough to charge me with a spear. I wait calmly until he’s almost upon me, turning at the last moment to grasp the haft of his spear.
Tearing the weapon from his grip with one hand, I use the other to grab hold of his neck, crushing his windpipe with relative ease. Then, spinning around and tossing the dying man to the ground, I hurl the spear at the nearest attacker, piercing him through the chest and throwing him back several feet.
