Page 211 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
The witch standing before Rowan stepped closer until her face hovered inches from his own.
‘Was this your grand plan?’ she asked mockingly. ‘To wander away from your army and play at being heroes?’
The others chuckled darkly.
Rowan shrugged casually. ‘We thought we might take you on.’
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a strange rippleamong the swamp leaves in the distance.
Good.
The others were close.
He just needed to stall them a little longer.
‘You truly believed one Fae and a child could defeat us?’ the witch pressed.
‘Not really, no,’ Rowan said lightly. Then he smiled. ‘But the Black Lotus… definitely yes.’
He saw the moment realisation struck her.
Her purple eyes widened.
Her mouth opened ready to shout a warning. But she never got the chance.
She had barely begun to turn when the air itself seemed to shift. Rowan watched as something invisible drove straight through her stomach.
She froze.
Blood spilt slowly from her lips as a dagger protruded cleanly from her gut.
One by one, the witches began to fall.
Invisible blades flashed through the swamp, and the Black Lotus moved like silent ghosts among them, cutting the witches down before they could even see their attackers. Bodies dropped into the mud, green magic sputtering uselessly into the damp air.
Rowan let out a long breath of relief and pushed himself to his feet, brushing mud from his clothes with a grimace.
His sister Elowen appeared beside him, Rio just behind her.
‘Why are you incapable of following through with plans?’ Elowen asked idly, examining her nails with feigned boredom.
‘It worked out, didn’t it?’ Rowan replied.
Rio stepped between them before the argument could grow.
‘We continue circling the witchlands and eliminate as manywitches as possible,’ she said calmly. ‘We need to reach the other side and close them in. Our goal is the far side of the wall.’ She turned her head slightly. ‘We will travel through the swamp so we remain unseen.’
Rowan opened his mouth to complain, but the moment Rio narrowed her eyes at him in warning, he wisely shut it again. Instead, he turned back to Edur and gave the boy a light pat on the arm.
‘You did well.’
When the child didn’t respond, Rowan frowned.
‘You okay?’
Edur finally exhaled softly and nodded.
Before Rowan could ask anything else, the boy simply began walking in the same direction as Rio and the Black Lotus.
