She laughs and prepares her shadow smoke. This time, she uses her sword to wrap around Scur. She meets his armor with a clang, but the smoke cracks it and the holy magic dissolves the blood. It’s eating it from the outside in.
Scur swings his sword again and lands the blow perfectly, meeting Hubris in the middle. Her steps falter a bit, but she grits her teeth and pushes back, using all of her might.
I can’t see her struggle. I should stay out of it, but if it means she will get hurt, I can’t. I take a step toward her, and she pushes more power into her smoke.
Tendrils wrap around the general, covering him from head to toe. He’s almost disappeared behind them. All I can see is his outline as he screams.
A snarl comes from behind me, and a bright bite of pain pushes into my shoulder. Blood trickles down my back as I raise my sword to square off with my attacker.
A soldier with no name slams into my sword with such fury that it seems this fight is personal. His swings are swift, and his blocks are perfect. It’s almost as if my brother trained him.
“Who are you?” I ask when we’re at a stalemate, blades locked together.
“Uncle, it’s so nice to meet you.”
This gives me enough pause that he finds his opening. A slip of strength and his sword cuts me across the arm. I don’t have time to think about what this means.
We do the dance of death until he’s panting and swinging wildly. We are evenly matched in skill, but his stamina doesn’t compare to mine. I’ve fought in countless battles for thousands of years.
A wrong swing allows me to knock the sword out of his hand. After I use the pommel to crack his nose, he goes down in a heap, covering his face.
“Yield.” My breath comes in pants as I try to get myself under control. If he is my nephew, I’d prefer not to kill him.
“Never. You’re not the rightful king. I am heir to the throne.”
He’s as power-hungry as his father. It makes sense now. His father’s demise is his gain.
“You will die on this battlefield if you don’t yield.”
“There is nothing left for me if you succeed. I’ll be tortured and turned into a slave. My father told me all about you. Kill me and be done with it.”
I don’t know what Scur has poisoned his mind with, but I’m sure it’s not flattering. If he was trying to convince his son how bad I am, what did he do to our people?
“Get up.”
His head snaps to the sides, looking for the trap, but there is none. I don’t have time to babysit him. After I drop my sword, I haul him up. I call my magic, binding his hands and feet with my blood armor.
I push him off to the side and pick up my sword, giving him my back. I’ll deal with him after Scur is dead.
“Where are you going? Kill me! Don’t leave me here to die like a coward,” he screams. His protests go unheard.
Light crackles in the sky, and Anima’s silver eyes become wild. Her onyx hair floats around her, her sword still extended into the cloud of smoke that houses Scur.
“Need help?” I ask from behind her.
“Where the fuck have you been? I could have used you five minutes ago.” She grits her teeth, pain etched all over her face.
“Apologies, little witch,” I whisper into her ear. A shiver quakes down her body as I brace myself on her sword arm and pump my blood magic into her shadow smoke.
When mixed with her holy magic, swirls of red, purple, and gold travel down the sword and into the cloud. A thrashing comes from behind the smokescreen, and a guttural scream follows.
“Torque, please.” Scur pleas for his life, but it’s pointless. The realms are better off without him in them.
I push more into our connection, and it’s Anima’s turn to scream. Fury rips through her as she blasts the last reserves she’s been carrying.
The cloud explodes into a million pieces colored with our magic. A rain of Scur’s essence drips all over us as we erase the king from the realms.
Scur is no more.
Fifteen
ANIMA
As soon as his body explodes, I collapse to the ground. I drained all my power. If I weren’t a tri-bred, I’d be dead. There’s no way a witch could have withstood so much magic.
Torque crouches beside me, moving the hair away from my face. Blood and gore cover him, but he’s more beautiful than I’ve ever seen him.
“We did it,” I say, my eye drifting closed of their own free will.
“We did, little witch.”
He picks me up from the ground. I hear rustling and the screams of soldiers dying, but I don’t care. I’ve done my job. His rhythm lulls me to sleep.
Waking up in Torque’s bed clean isn’t something I expected. My mouth feels like it has cotton stuck in it. I reach for the glass of water beside the bed, and my hand falls to my lap.
“I’ll get it. You drained almost too much. Your reserves are barely detectable,” Nox says, rising from the chair in the room’s corner.
He lifts the glass to my lips, and I take a few sips. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted, so I reach for more. The glass is half empty by the time I have to lay my head down.
“Did we win?” I ask, closing my eyes again.
“Yes. After you destroyed Scur, the soldiers surrendered. Not much for them to fight for without a king.”
“Speaking of kings, where is Torque?”
As I shift under the blankets to get warmer, an extra weight is placed over me, heating the covers.
“It’s an electric blanket. I didn’t know how your powers would react to a magically heated one.”
I snuggle deeper, waiting for him to answer my question. I don’t think I can stay
