Page 122 of Lies of the Wicked
“I’m going to kill you,” Thessa promised.
“And how’s that? Your shadows don’t smother like the rest.” The Supreme tilted her head in observation. “I’ve been watching you, what an interestingvariation.”
Never hesitate.
Thessa unsheathed her blade and charged at the Supreme. She’d prepared to tumble into her legs, but the general side-stepped and laughed. Thessa fell, scurrying back to reassess her shield.
Intact.
Hissing drew her attention.
General Valstrom’s face was twisting with sick pleasure as her fingers bore holes into Soren’s flesh. Thessa could hear the searing and popping of his slimy skin.
She rushed toward the revenge-struck Supreme.
Anticipating her side-step, and playing into it, Thessa managed to stab her straight in the thigh before skidding out of reach.
General Valstrom roared, yanking on Soren’s tail in retaliation.
Soren no longer hissed.He was limp.
Thessa snapped at the sight, releasing a force of rage she’d not known existed within her. She was all limbs, trampling the Elemental Supreme to the ground. Swinging in arc motion, the one she’d rehearsed with her forging hammer, Thessa stabbed. Her muscles delighted in the memory.
First, she pierced the general’s shoulder. Ripping her blade free, she sunk it into the other shoulder, cutting off the blood supply to her arms. Then she stabbed her neck—right through the center to shut her up. Blood pooled but Thessabared her teeth and continued, stabbing both her flanks. She stabbed and stabbed until massive, hairy hands tugged her away from the macerated corpse.
A familiar voice sounded. “That’s plenty.”
Thessa whipped her head left and right, realizing Soren wasn’t in sight. “Where is he?”
She was being hauled away without an answer.
Thessa turned her head farther than she should be able to. She met Reginald’s worried eyes and said, “I need to find him.”
When his gaze shifted, she followed it, landing on the tree Soren was staked to.
“No!” Her voice cracked at the same time thunder clapped.
Thessa froze, unable to think as Reginald scooped her up and ran.
The rebellion was calling for a retreat.
No.
Just as they made it past the fighting, and towards the Celestials and healers, a flurry of screams broke out.
Reginald paused and turned back. “I’ll be damned.”
Soldiers in scarlet uniform were collapsing and thrashing. Poisonous fangs disabled every limb in their path. The enemy was falling, one by one.
Soren had called Echidna through their bond the evening before. She’d taken the river north with her newest hatchlings, crossing into enemy territory at last.
Reginald tossed Thessa into a group of Celestials like an empty barrel of mead before advancing. As war cries rang out once more, she sobbed. “Help him. Help him, someone help him!” She crumpled to the ground, pleading.
“Tess!” Gentle, yet strong hands caressed her back. “We need to go.”
She was being dragged away again—from where she needed to be. Thessa dug her nails into the dirt and screamed, “No!”
“Stop! We need to get you somewhere safe.” That voice. It was Leora. She’d been so consumed with Soren she’d forgotten that Leora had come.
