Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
"Ah! I find you," a familiar voice says.
I lower my rapier a few inches, squinting into the shadows. "Brunhild?"
She comes closer and I finally make out her face.
I let out a heavy breath, relief washing through me.
The northerner doesn't smile, but her eyes show recognition. Dora clicks her massive claws as it scuttles behind her.
"Sexy bear and others waiting. Not safe here."
With a nod, I follow her through the forest. I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing that I hear almost nothing now. The forest is eerily still, and I don't know if we've already lost all chances of winning this thing. For all I know, Malakai's people could have hunted down everyone but our group already. Well, everyone but us and Raith. I can sense he's still alive and coming my way.
"How did you find me?" I ask as we run.
"Ambrose's bird."
The sounds of another battle reach us before we see them—the crack of elemental magic, shouts of pain and fury. We emerge from the trees into a small clearing where Beck, Mireen, and Ambrose stand back-to-back, surrounded by Malakai's people.
Beck's water bear, Uther, smashes into a group of attackers, sending them flying as blue flashes and tokens trigger mid-air. Mireen and Ollie have created a swirling vortex of water that keeps another group at bay.
But they're outnumbered. At least eight students circle them, elemental magic building for a coordinated strike.
"There!" one of them shouts, pointing at me. "It's Thorne!"
Several break off from the main group, turning toward us. Brunhild steps forward, her crab growing to twice its original size.
"I crush," she says matter-of-factly.
She charges into the fray, her crab scuttling beside her as she draws her huge, two-handed hammer. I follow, too drained of essence to do much.
"Allow me to show them what I'm capable of. It's time they knew." Typhon's voice is quiet, but insistent.
I lick my lips, taking in the situation. "Not yet. It's a last resort, okay? Only if there's no other choice."
He doesn’t complain. He just flies into battle, slashing and spraying magic at elementals, quickly drawing the attention of most of them.
"Nessa!" Beck calls, relief evident in his voice. "Took you long enough!"
"Been a little busy," I reply, parrying a strike from one of Malakai's waters who rushes me with a spear. I sidestep the attack, rapier sliding inside his guard with a blue flash as his stasis token triggers.
Typhon weaves through the battle, seemingly small and harmless, but the fierce power of his magical blasts of water are doing serious damage. The other elementals already realize he's the biggest threat and are converging on him.
"You okay?"
"I'm toying with them. Keep yourself alive, angry human. If your token triggers, it freezes me, too."
Brunhild and Beck fight well together, isolating attackers and overwhelming them with strength. Ambrose works with Akaron, occasionally reaching into the air and grabbing one of its legs to lift himself out of harm's way, where he can fire magical attacks from above. Mireen's channeling dispatches enemies with ease as she slides daggers of water around their defenses with deadly accuracy.
I hardly need to do anything before stasis tokens have flared, immobilizing every last attacker. It’s all over in a matter of seconds, and we’re all still on our feet. Every last attacker is shrouded in blue and laying in the mist.
"Everyone okay?" I ask between ragged breaths. It can't have been more than half an hour since we were teleported here, and I already feel as though I've run a marathon.
"They're slaughtering anyone they catch," Beck says, his usual lighthearted demeanor replaced by grim determination. "Activating stasis tokens then killing people while they're defenseless."
Mireen nods. "We saw Serena's group shortly after we arrived. They triggered stasis, then pulled the tokens from their victims and cut their throats. They're executing people."
“I know. I saw Corpus kill someone already. I was hoping the others didn’t know… but I suspected they did.”
"Someone clearly put them up to it," Ambrose says. "And they were given every possible advantage. Malakai's people knew exactly where they'd be transported. They were ready, and they came in with their groups while the rest of us were scattered and disoriented."
"Someone wanted this to be a bloodbath, but they wanted to make sure they got to pick which side survived it," I say, lips twisting in disgust.
Through our tether, I can feel Raith growing closer. His determination pulses through our connection, along with flashes of what he's seen—bodies lying where they fell, students hunting students, blood soaking into the forest floor.
A warning cry from Akaron makes us all tense. Ambrose's eyes widen as he interprets his elemental's message. "Someone's coming."
We form a defensive circle, weapons ready. I can hear them now—footsteps approaching rapidly from multiple directions.
"Get ready," Mireen whispers, water gathering at her fingertips.
But through our tether, I feel a surge of relief from Raith—not fear or preparation for battle. He's close. Very close.