by Olivia Ash
Despite all that, he wouldn’t have chosen any other men to fight alongside him. They complimented each other. Ezekiel with his wit and magic. Edric with his strength and tactics.
The thugs attacked at random. Some of them seemed too inexperienced, with fear in their eyes and their skin paling. They would be the ones to watch out for.
A thug approached, swinging his sword toward Andreas’s neck while he jabbed at another. A rush of heat burned past him, blasting away the thug who had swung at him, and he glanced over his shoulder at Ezekiel who nodded.
Andreas smirked and nodded in return.
Look at that, the sorcerer saved my ass.
That’s when Andreas caught the sight of a thug moving in the shadows, inching up behind Ezekiel. Andreas threw his sword. Ezekiel’s eyes grew wide, his mouth agape. Andreas wasn’t worried, the sorcerer was smarter than to step into the path of the blade.
It landed true, in the gut of the thug.
Ezekiel stared at the thug for a moment then pulled the sword out and tossed it back to Andreas. All the while a look of confusion and relief covered his features. Yes, Zeke, the wraith just saved your ass.
Though Andreas tried to ignore the paled expressions and slightly more sluggish movements of his two brothers, he knew the fight would drain them to a devastating point. He feared what lay beyond the room for them on the way out and just how long it would take for them to recoup from the mountain’s poison.
Stepping up his game, he fought harder, faster, burning through every ounce of energy within him, all the while fighting his urge to shift into the wraith that kept calling to him. Pleading with him.
He frowned. The wraith was near death. He was near death. Andreas knew that if he didn’t shift, he would die. But if he shifted, the vexsnare which followed him throughout their journey through the mountain would find him. And there was no way he could face that creature in the state he was in. Shifting would mean death as well.
For the time being, he would have to trust in his brothers and fight with everything he had until his final breath and heartbeat.
He searched for Sophia, to see how she was faring and found her at the back of the room, fighting thugs, slowly making her way toward him, Edric, and Ezekiel. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her focused determination as she took down each man on her own.
She certainly did better than he and his brothers. And that didn’t really surprise him. She seemed to have grown much stronger compared to when she was outside of Ripthorn. He wanted to analyze that more with his brothers and her, but that would have to wait for a time when they weren’t in the mountain and his brothers slowly dying from the poisoning effects of the mountain magic.
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through his back, radiating throughout his torso. His knees gave out from under him, sending him to the floor with a thud. Edric rushed toward him and leapt over Andreas, into the thug that stabbed him in the back.
Sophia rushed to him. Ezekiel used his magic to collapse the entry, preventing any more thugs from entering the room. He approached and also knelt by Andreas’s side.
“That was the last of my magic,” he said. His face was sunken in. Like he had lost too much weight. The magic was close to taking his life. “But that should buy us some time.”
“I have to shift,” Andreas said. “Or I’m as good as dead.”
He knew the weight of his words and that it would mean the vexsnare would zero in on him quicker. But he had no choice. The wound he endured was taking the last of his strength.
Sophia’s brow creased with worry, but she nodded. “Do it.”
He shifted. He instantly sensed the vexsnare pinpoint him. It had finally found them.
Though he felt the joy of being in his wraith form, his desire and need to protect his family overwhelmed everything. He needed to defend his family from the creature that loved the taste of wraiths, but he knew if he fell, so would Sophia, Edric, and Ezekiel.
Resolved, he floated farther into the room. Haris rushed in.
Sophia asked, “Did you find the exit, my friend?”
Haris nodded his big, antler-covered head, trilled, and stomped his foot. Andreas wondered if he too could feel the dangerous creature heading toward them.
“Let’s get out of here,” Sophia said.
“Finally,” Edric said. A small bit of the tension in his shoulders eased.
“Lead the way, Haris,” Ezekiel said.
They all filed out of the room, following Haris to the exit. All the while, Andreas was stuck on high alert, hoping beyond all hope that they could either out-run the vexsnare or fight it off.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sophia
Sophia knew deep in her gut that the fight was long from over. She and her men followed Haris through twisted and turning tunnels. They ran, urged by the danger hounding them, nipping at their heels. The vexsnare. She hoped that any remaining thugs loyal to Naomi would hold off the creature long enough to allow her and her men to get out of there.
Andreas took the rear, though she wished he would allow her to take that position. She narrowed her eyes on him and said, “If you dare sacrifice yourself for us, I will never forgive you.”
His red eyes blinked at her as he continued to move. She shook her head, biting her lip against her worry that the vexsnare would overtake them and snatch Andreas from her before she was aware the creature was even there.
If she entertained that thought much longer, it would force her to take the rear instead, but thankfully they arrived at the gate. She pulled out the key she took from Lady Naomi and unlocked it with a satisfying clink. Pushing the gate open, everyone filed through and she could see sunlight up ahead.
As she drew near, her mind became focused on fighting Winston and drawing up part two of their plan. But something hazy covered her, creating an odd sensation. Her world tilted and started to spin. Black mist rolled across the ground as her vision blurred.
She could hear the men. Each of them called her name, but she couldn’t find them. Their voices seemed too far off. Almost like a memory. The feeling that overcame her was coupled with a strange sense of familiarity.
Another voice called her name. A female’s this time.
Images cropped up around her. She was within a tunnel, like the one she had just stepped into. But in this tunnel, she was younger, and a girl was with her. However, the other girl’s image was blurred too much to see clearly.
“Sophia, run! Get out of here!” the girl said.
Sophia’s younger self cowered into a crevice by a large rock.
Their means of escape was blocked. And there was no going back the way they came. The girl with her, the one who told her to run, started to back up as a large, terrifying creature cornered them.
The girl looked to Sophia and uttered a word that didn’t make sense to her young ears. The large rock shifted, and the sound of grinding stone pierced her ears as the rock sealed her in the crevice.
Sophia sucked in deep breaths of musty earth and mineral dust as the screams from the girl tore into her spirit like nothing ever had. She peeked through a small crack and saw the beast drive its claws into the girl she knew and loved but couldn’t remember.
The girl fell, and Sophia’s soul was broken as she screamed and cried, tearing her nails down to the tips of her fingers trying to claw her way out of the opening, so she could hold the girl and will her to life.
But it was no use. The uncontrolled magic within Sophia’s blood bubbled to the surface, threatening to lose control.
She was different now. She was in control of the episode that threatened to level a fifty-foot radius around her, wiping out everything but her. Sophia controlled the magic though. She’s more powerful and capable than ever before. She tamped down on the magic rolling beneath her skin.
Disembodied words echoed through her mind, encasing her with the knowledge she had long forgotten and had tucked away with the horrifying event that broke her soul.
�
��She will overthrow the crown and raid Ripthorn for a Nighthelm master. Teach her to control her magic, and you will be well rewarded…”
“It shall be done. What of the duchess, Master?” That sounded a lot like Mistress Mittle.
“I’ll see to her…”
That voice was too familiar, but Sophia couldn’t place it. It was raspy and almost broken.
A roar echoed through her mind.
The vexsnare. That was the creature that attacked the girl protecting Sophia. And it had a taste for her blood. The monster was vicious and always finished its hunt. Sophia knew it was coming and wouldn’t stop until it was dead.
Somehow, she knew the duchess was in trouble. The Nameless Master wanted to take her place.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ezekiel
Ezekiel swallowed hard. The monster was there with them. The massive creature was beyond anything he could compare it to, and for once, he had no desire to pull out his book and write down notes about the creature. Of course, that would wait until after the fight was over. If he survived.
Meanwhile, Sophia was on the ground, and she had yet to awaken. They had to hold off the creature until she woke. Ezekiel worried that there had been too much weight on her shoulders recently. He knew she barely slept while in the mountain. Even though she didn’t seem to need it. He studied the way the mountain magic seemed to affect her in ways that it didn’t touch them. That information led him to more discoveries on the mystery that surrounded Sophia and her past, but he would keep his findings to himself until he was sure. He didn’t want to give false hope to Sophia. She needed definitive information, and he had a little more research to do before he could tell her much of anything.
Andreas moved to Sophia’s side, and Edric stood at Ezekiel’s other side. Ezekiel stood to Sophia’s left as the tunnel they were in seemed more like a passageway for soldiers to storm the surface than being used for supplies as he had originally thought. He wasn’t quite sure where the tunnel would lead them, but he knew for sure the location wouldn’t be good. Not with this creature.
Haris groaned behind them, stomping at the ground. He nudged Sophia with his snout, and her eyes fluttered.
“Mmm… tiny morsels,” the creature uttered in a dark, gravelly voice. It sniffed the air and said, “My meal has been delivered to me.”
Ezekiel forced back a shudder. He felt strength returning to him, being closer to the surface. The pull of the mountain magic was diluted here. They needed to wake up Sophia now. “Keep nudging her, Haris.”
The creature zeroed in on them and let out a loud roar.
Sophia startled awake, and she climbed to her feet as she focused on the vexsnare.
Ezekiel studied her. She didn’t seem phased that she had passed out in the middle of the tunnel. He wanted to think that she fainted, but it seemed deeper than that. He would have to wait and ask her after everything was done and over with, when they were safe and out of the threatening grasp of the terrifying creature, talking about eating them.
She returned his gaze with a small smile and a nod.
She was fine. He accepted that look for as much and pulled on the energy that pooled underneath his skin. There wasn’t much yet, but he felt it returning as the seconds trickled by.
Sophia and Edric both pulled on their swords. The creature charged. As it drew closer, Sophia met with it, looking tiny in comparison to the massive creature. Ezekiel quickly summoned fire and tossed it at the creature, hitting it with blazing flames. When that did nothing but anger it further, he sent ice toward it, hoping it would numb the creature’s limbs and make it slower.
As the vexsnare advanced, and Zeke drained his power the more he used it, they were pushed deeper into the tunnel, coming up to a sealed gate with magical wards.
Edric and Andreas lunged at the creature, taking jabs where they could and avoiding the dangerously sharp claws that swung at them. With each successful jab at the creature, the closer to the warded gate they drew.
Once their backs were pressed to it, Ezekiel said, “Let’s get him to charge the gate!”
Edric said, “How do you suppose we do that?”
Ezekiel smiled and shifted his gaze to Edric, “Piss him off.”
Edric balked, but he jabbed the tip of his sword at the creature while Sophia shot fire at it. Andreas danced in front of it, and Ezekiel shot daggers of ice. Each shot drove the vexsnare a step backward. It would shake its head and growl with each attack. The plan was working.
Finally, when the creature had enough, it lowered his horned head and snorted, running its back legs behind him to gain more traction.
“When he charges, press against the wall!” Edric shouted.
Everyone braced for the charge. And when the creature did, they dodged to the opposite sides and pressed against the wall as the creature rammed the gate. It shuddered but didn’t give way.
“Let’s do it again!” Sophia called out and started attacking the creature, shifting between the point of her sword and blasting fire at it.
They repeated the maneuver two more times before the creature broke through. Instantly, screams of fear and terror filled the air, echoing back to them.
“Shit, this led right into Nighthelm!” Edric said, rushing after the creature. Sophia, Andreas, and Ezekiel rushed after him.
The tunnel led out from underneath the castle and right into the town square. The people of Nighthelm fled in terror as the creature became distracted by all the fleeing food.
They quickly surrounded the vexsnare, repeating the same tactic over and over again. The vexsnare snapped its sharp teeth at them and swiped at them with its razor-like claws. It managed to get Ezekiel in the arm. Stinging, burning pain rocked through him, blurring his vision and making his casting more difficult.
Still, he didn’t miss a beat and launched more ice at him. This time in its face. The creature roared and clawed at its muzzle to attempt to free the ice from its vision.
“Prey blinded me,” it said. “Prey die worse now.”
Sophia let out a loud battle cry, and her whole body was covered in the electric arcs. A purplish-blue aura surrounded her, and she lifted from the ground. Her eyes turned white, and she crossed her body with her arms.
“Take cover!” Ezekiel yelled, and he, Andreas, and Edric dashed behind carts and into alleyways behind barrels.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sophia
Sophia knew exactly what this creature was. It was the thing that had broken her soul. Her past hovered at the forefront of her mind as everything she went through, the person she was, was all part of this creature and what it had done to her. It was the weapon, sure, but that didn’t ease the ache for revenge that burned in her gut, twisting and knotting her insides as the magic threatened to overtake her again.
She worried she would turn into that once helpless little girl again. The one that couldn’t fight for herself, let alone know how. The feeling started to overwhelm her, and she shifted her gaze to her men. They stood by her side, fighting even though they were injured and weakened by the mountain magic. Her worry shifted into resolve.
Rather than running from her past or suppressing it further, she continued to replay those memories. And the more she replayed them, the more her magic wanted to burst from her. But she remained in control. She wasn’t that little girl, frightened and hunted. She was stronger than that.
The creature leapt to the side, trying to swipe at a little girl hiding between the carts. Sophia rushed to the vexsnare and thumped it on its head, shoving the tip of her sword into the shoulder belonging to the arm that reached for the girl. The mother rushed to the crying child and held her close as she darted back away from the fighting.
“You took my snack,” the creature said and swiped at the carts. It tried to climb the wall to get away, but Ezekiel shot a bolt of lightning at the creature, making it fall back to the ground. Its body weight reduced the carts and tables used for selling goods to mere splinters and firewo
od.
The damage to the town center was getting out of hand. Sophia needed to do something to get this creature to stop. It seemed nearly indestructible, and though everything she had learned about the creatures saying they were hard to kill, that didn’t make it impossible.
But she and her men needed so much more than just the sword and Ezekiel’s magic to take this creature out. She needed to do something she hoped she would never have to do again… let her uncontrollable magic free.
She searched around her and quickly realized how impossible it would be for her to let her magic out without killing too many innocents. She didn’t want to lose even just one. She had managed to gain control over herself and her magic to take out that creature they had first bumped into in the mountain. She almost lost herself then. She couldn’t risk almost losing herself now.
There had to be a way. And with her magic boiling dangerously close to the surface and pushing her to the edge of her control, she didn’t know what else to do.
The creature snapped at another citizen and swiped its claw at yet another.
That’s it.
She screamed as loud as she could and pulled everything she could within her center. Tingling sensations prickled her skin all along her body. She vaguely heard Ezekiel shout something about taking cover. She held her magic in as long as she could. Then, she released it.
Instead of blacking out and waking up naked, with everything around her incinerated and reduced to ashes, the buildings shook, and the ground cracked open. The beast in front of her took the brunt of the magic, becoming consumed in white light.
Once the light faded, her vision returned to normal. Sophia stared at the remains in the middle of the road, where a large, charred lump of bone and horn lay in place of the vexsnare.
