Page 108 of This Shattered Star

They burned and burned, but nothing spilled.“Fuck.”The curse heaved past my lips on its own. Because I knew I would hear that whisper again. It would haunt my nightmares like another curse, worse than all the others that already resided there. Because when I opened my eyes again, my blurry vision could only see my own reflection staring up at me. My younger, grieving,afraidreflection.

“I’m sorry,” I choked. “I’m so sorry.” Then wiped my blade clean with moss, and pushed to my feet. The branch above our heads dangled aimlessly. But I couldn’t take any risks.

Ash fell around Kodhan like rain. His fire steadily ravaged everything aimed at him, but each deflection came slower than the last. With such little rest since that first night, he was already at his limit.

But he didn’t need to push any longer. We were the only remaining pair of allies left.

And yet, the puppeteer continued her weaving. The steady boom of wingbeats was right above us.

“Tell her to stop!” I shouted at the sky. To wherever Maverick was hiding. “We are the only allies left. It’s over.”

The woman unraveled herself from her cocoon, jaw hanging slack. She took all but one step forward before covering her wobbling lips with both hands. A sob leaked through her fingers.

More shimmering strings pierced through the trees.

Maverick’s voice came from nowhere and everywhere all at once. “Allies mean nothing if Wit has not yet been complete.”

Wings blotted out the stars above.

Panting, Kodhan turned his head to me. “I can handle the rest. Just stay hidden. And stay alive.”

“I will not be pushed again. We arebothgoing to live.”

“This isn’t the same. You need to go—”

There was nothing,nothingI could do to stop the sharpened branch that struck, faster than any bolt of lightning.

Not a single thing as it plunged into him from behind, so deep it protruded right out of his chest.

The scream that filled my ears rang in tandem with a dragon’s approaching roar.

It wasn’t me—the only thing sitting on my lips was Kodhan’s name. Even then, no sound left me.

And it wasn’t Kodhan, who tilted his chin to look down at the sharpened wood protruding from his middle.

It was the earth-wielder, I realized, managing to tear my eyes away from Kodhan just long enough to watch her writhe in flames. She would be dead in seconds, her attempts to douse herself futile. She’d stepped out of her cocoon. Left herself entirely vulnerable to Kodhan’s magic.

But he’d been too late.

“No,” he rasped, holding up a hand to stop me. I hadn’t even realized I’d staggered towards him. “I’ll be fine.” He winced, and with a shout of agony, forced himself forward, sliding the branch out of him with a wet squelch. His knees hit the mossy ground. Blood poured from between his fingers where they pressed against the gaping hole in his body.

So much blood in so little time. The moss around him was already coated with it.

The screaming stopped. I didn’t care to see what was left of her.

There was onlyhim, his face a sickly sheen, contorted in pain.

He would not be fine. Not with a wound like that. And especially not after his body had already withstood the use of so much magic.

And Maverick would not intervene, I realized. No matter how angry it left the rest of the kingdom. He would rather let us all die than declare an early victory.

My frantic breathing echoed in my ears, along with the slow thump of my ravaged heart as my eyes slid to the puppeteer woman.

I would not let Kodhan die.

I wasn’t afraid of the snarls reverberating above my head. Nor was I afraid of the puppeteer as I stalked towards her. Her milky eyes didn’t even widen when I grabbed her by the throat. Too easily, I swept her feet out from under her.

She didn’t fight back. Of course not. Her biggest weapons readied to tear my head from my shoulders.