Well, shit, Xander said.
Horror missed with awe as the snake reared its head, displaying two bright fangs dripping with vibrant venom, the color of the greenest grass. The soldier screamed, but the sound was cut off as the serpent lurched, devouring half the Winged Soldier in one bite.
That was horrifying. The sight of the half-eaten guard turned my stomach, and bile rose in my throat. Pressing a hand against my belly, I willed the serpent away. It dissolved into a flurry of green, joining the ash raining from the sky.
There was no time to feel sad about the creature. Was it even alive? I didn’t know. But if I thought too long about the death and hurt and pain I was causing, I wasn’t sure I would continue to breathe.
Alive. The six of us were alive.
For now.
On the ground, red and violet magic blanketed the area where our friends fought.
And the queen…
She has chosen the coward’s way out,Xander said, eyeing Saena where she stood safely apart from the battlefield.Her soldiers are dying, and she is waiting.
Waiting for what? I didn’t have time to ponder it. Tiredness pulled at me, and still, more soldiers drew near.
We can’t stop,Xander said.We will give this fight everything we have.
His words reinvigorated me, giving me strength to continue. Pulling from my rapidly depleting well of power, I shot out ribbons of magic. Xander bellowed, and flames filled the sky.
Soldier after soldier turned to ash beneath my mate’s fiery breath, their blackened remains falling in a slow dance that was completely at odds with the death surrounding us.
And we fought and fought and fought.
When Xander’s fire did not incinerate them on the spot, when the Winged Soldiers burned and flailed as their limbs sparked, I sent deadly ribbons of magic at them. Sometimes, they became venomous snakes. Other times, thick green strands of ivy with thorns the size of my hand wrapped themselves around their necks, tightening until breathing was no longer possible.
The Gilded Amulet sat heavily in my pocket. Xander hadn’t told me exactly what it did, but if Saena wanted it, it couldn’t be good.
Death was not pretty. It was not kind. It was draining, bloody, and horrible.
But if it was between us and then, I would always pick us.
And so, as another Winged Soldier came for us, I tightened my grip around Xander’s scaly flank and pulled up as much magic as I could hold before launching it at our attacker.
This could not be the end.
* * *
For a time,it seemed as though we were… surviving. Not winning. To say that we were winning would have been a gross misrepresentation of what was taking place, because we were vastly outnumbered.
But we were alive. And right now, that felt incredibly close to miraculous.
Between my magic in the air and Ryllae’s on the ground, we remained that way for what seemed like an eternity.
But then, it happened.
Saena must have decided that sitting on the sidelines was boring.
At first, I didn’t understand what she was doing. She stood from her place on top of a small hill on the other side of the valley, her hands outstretched. Though I was too far to hear any words, her lips moved like she was praying. Corrupted red ribbons slipped from her, slithering towards the earth.
Ryllae shouted, and a shield of Death Elf magic appeared between our friends and the army approaching them.
Xander. I squeezed my thighs around my dragon, lowering myself so my head rested against his neck.Something is happening on the ground.
Flames licked the afternoon sky.Hold on.