Page 178 of The Blade in the Ashes
Nikolai’s.
We were standing on the lawn of the army compound we’d built at Nikolai’s home, which could only mean one thing.
Hyrax was attacking the rebels.
I spun, tracking the dragons in the sky. Three of them. Orange. Black. And teal blue.
No gold. No Clay.
Shields slammed together next to me, the sound reverberating so strongly that I couldn’t help but stumble backward.
Then something in the recesses of my mind clicked, and I recognized that tuft of dark hair falling out of a silver helmet.
“Rankor?”
Three men surrounded him, each covered in the dark armor of the Hyraxian forces.
Wildly, his head spun from side to side, fingers flexing on the hilt of his sword as he calculated his odds.
“Retreat,”he murmured softly to himself, eyes darting over the entirety of the field. Then, louder,“Retreat!”
The Hyraxian soldiers fell upon him at once, swords slicing towards his head. Lifting his shield, he deflected one even as he jammed his own weapon towards another. A fist flew forward, connecting with Rankor’s jaw with a sickening crack. It hung at an impossible angle as he threw his elbow backwards, connecting with his attacker’s groin. The metal of the armor cracked from the force of Rankor’s Godly strength.
The first man doubled back, swinging down his weapon once more, and Rankor feinted to the left, avoiding the blow while also forcing it to come down on the second man who still cupped himself in pain.
And yet, for as skilled and angry as Rankor was, it was the third man he was entirely unable to account for.
It was the third member who stabbed down through the hip pocket of Rankor’s armor as I lurched forward, my own hands passing helplessly through him.
It wasthe third man who ripped off Rankor’s helmet when he dropped to his knees, blood gushing onto the ground.
It was the third man who yelled, “Where is the princess?”as Rankor glared up at him with undeniable contempt.
“Stop it!” I screamed, body going rigid.
And when Rankor spat in his face and told him to burn in the Underworld, it was the third man who lowered his sword along Rankor’s neck and sliced clean through.
Rankor’s eyes went wide.
My wail was near silent, drowned out by the fire of cannons in the distance and the blasts of Detonators. And despite my inability to even hear my own cries, I continued endlessly, unable to stop as I watched his brown eyes go cold.
The metallic stench of blood, his and that of the countless bodies around me was an invasive poison in my nose, forcing itself inside me against my will. Wordlessly, I stared as other soldiers pressed forward, stepping over Rankor, oblivious to the fact that their General, their leader—my friend—was the body that they trampled over so carelessly. Their movements all blurred around me, moving both too fast and too slow for me to understand.
The only thing I did understand was that I couldn’t handle seeing his lifeless stare for another second.
Athene didn’t bother to follow me as I fled, limbs moving awkwardly as I hurtled under swinging blades and over fallen bodies. The Hyraxian forces were endless. Elaina continued swooping low, taking out as many as she could, but as Veric and Damon locked in aerial combat with two other Dragons, it became clear that we were at a serious disadvantage.
My powers surged at the sensation of so many souls passing over the Veil into the Underworld, connecting with so many all at once that I couldn’t distinguish who I was even feeling.
Until one tore through me with such familiarity that my knees buckled.
No. Not him. Not him, too.
Kent.
His soul felt like satin.Ivory satin and a gentle hum of music strummed along a guitar. I followed the sensation of it until my eyes locked on the balcony above me. And just as I zeroed in on him, I choked on a gasp, hand shaking around my face.
His lifeless body, several arrows still hanging out of it, fell over the railing and hurtled to the ground.
