6. Elianna

Chapter six

Elianna

I didn’t have time to unsheathe my sword before Kai dropped on top of my body, sending both of us crashing down to the ground with a grunt and rolling through the thick mud left from last night’s storm.

“ Finally .” A cackle left me as I sent my fist directly into his jaw. He roared in pain as his teeth cracked beneath the force of my knuckles.

Our bodies continued to tumble as we both threw punches anywhere we could. The little shit got a few decent ones on me, but I didn’t care. I barely felt them as the revenge I craved so deeply consumed me now that it was within my grasp.

The thickness of the mud slowed us down, and he pulled himself atop my body. Kai hovered his face directly over my own, and only madness lingered in his stare. His blood-stained teeth were bared in a menacing smile—but so were mine.

“Any last words, Elianna?” he breathed as he went to reach for his sword.

“Let’s start with fuck you! ” I yelled as I shoved my knee directly into his groin and swung my head upward in tandem, head-butting him so hard that I saw stars myself.

I shoved his body off of mine as he howled in agony. Pulling myself to my feet, I cackled wickedly as he rolled around on the ground, clutching his manhood while blood poured from his nose. It couldn’t be more clear that he had never been struck before. The sight of it was pathetic, but I wanted to enjoy this and prolong his misery, just as he had threatened with me in the dungeons.

“Get up,” I screamed as I unsheathed my sword. “Get the fuck up, Kai.” My feet worked to circle him—a predator trapping its prey.

He sluggishly pulled himself to his feet as his breathing turned heavy. Kai then drew his sword and pointed it at me. “You wish to die, don’t you?”

“No, actually. Killing you would be no fun if it was easy.” I shot him a grin. “So, let’s see what all that royal training gave you, little prince.”

I lunged at him, and he lifted his blade as it clashed with mine. We swiped at each other over and over, each blocked by our own swinging blows.

He dove toward me, and I lowered my blade to kick him directly in the chest, sending his body flying backward.

Kai turned to face me once more, desperately trying to catch his breath. “What’s it like to be kept a secret because of the one person who was supposed to love you?” he spat at me with venom .

I roared into the air as I swung once more. Our swords met, and we held them there in a struggle for power, just as we had figuratively for our entire lives.

“What is it like to abandon your own race and betray your kind and kingdom, all for some pathetic mortal? ” he hissed as his amber eyes bore into my own.

I slashed my sword down his blade and moved to strike, but he managed to block it as he took three massive steps backward.

“You know nothing of love and peace. Your soul was forged of pure poison, just as your mother’s was. You are not fit to rule, and that is by both blood and temperament,” I bellowed at him as we moved to circle each other.

Any hint of amusement on his face dropped, and his eyes flared in confusion at what I had just declared. I took the distraction as an opportunity to strike. My blade sliced down his arm, but to my surprise, he was almost completely unphased and struck right back, using the adrenaline from his rage to push him forward.

Our swords met again, and we held them together in a struggle once more. I looked deep into his eyes as a scowl formed on my face. “King Jameson wasn’t even your sire. You are no more fit to rule than the peasants you look down upon within the streets of the slums. You’re not even a proper prince. Your dearest mother decided to fuck the help ,” I spat the words I knew would strike him the hardest. “Callius is your true sire and blood. Not the king. You. Are. Nothing .”

He stared at me as if he were frozen in disbelief, unsure of how to proceed before his face morphed into a creature of wrath. “You lie!” he finally screeched as he moved to strike again, but his eyes said everything his lips wouldn’t. He believed it. “And at least I have a fucking mother, Solus!” he shouted at me between blows.

I screamed in frustration as my amusement at toying with him had abruptly ended. “I’m going to kill you, Kai.” I paused for a moment as our stares latched onto each other intensely. “And it’s Valderre to you!” I bellowed as I felt the fire within me rise to the very surface.

My feet moved, and I twirled around to strike him down, but he took off running . The coward was now sprinting away from me.

I bolted after him as he moved as fast as his body would allow with a limp now straining his left leg. He moved further away from the camp and toward the forest that was a mile back in the distance.

“Lia!” My name echoed through the air as it was called out in desperation from behind me by my mate.

I refused to halt, though. No, I couldn’t stop. Not when Kai was within my grasp. My neck pivoted, and I glanced back at Jace and watched him as he took off in a run after me, but I moved to face forward once more. If I stopped my chase now, we would risk losing everything we’ve worked for in this battle. If Kai and Kellan survived, this was all for nothing . And that was unacceptable.

Even just that split second of turning around cost me as I lost sight of Kai, who had been fleeing in front of me only a moment ago. I came to a skidding halt a mile from the forest’s edge, where clusters of enormous boulders littered the terrain .

I sniffed the air, and through the metallic scent of blood and iron, the aroma of the prince’s fear clogged my nostrils. He was near.

I silently crept around the boulders, moving with the blade of my sword stretched out in front of me. As I jumped around a boulder, movement caught my attention near one of the largest rocks in the landmark’s center.

A smirk twisted my features. “Caught you,” I whispered.

I sprinted to the rock and plastered my body to be flushed with its jagged edges. My neck craned as I searched for him.

I leisurely moved around until I fully circled it, ending exactly where I began beneath a slightly roofed covering formed from the granite itself.

My lungs let out a breath of annoyance, and then I noticed that Jace, Gage, and Zaela were nearly caught up to me.

My arm was throbbing with a lingering burn from Jace’s wound, and blinding anger clouded my vision as I realized that Kai had escaped.

He must’ve made it into the forest. I was cursing myself from within as I went to step out to search for Kellan again when a subtle noise caught my attention.

Before I had time to react, Kai leapt out from the side of the boulder that I was pressed up against and sent his fist flying into the side of my face. My head bounced off the jagged rock, and I felt the flesh of my cheek tear open at the violent contact of it. The hilt of my sword slipped from my grasp and fell to the terrain .

My head pounded with a sharp, aching throb as my blurry gaze fixated on Kai, who stood before me with the tip of his blade pressed against my sternum.

I let out a breathy laugh. “Well played, little prince.”

“Shut the fuck up, Elianna!” he shouted through shattered teeth, his eyes nearly swollen shut.

I went to reach for my dagger at my thigh, but he swiped his blade down, the very tip of it catching my hand and slicing a gash across the top of it.

I hissed as blood dripped down past my fingertips. His sword was aimed at my center once more.

“Now, I’m the one who will be killing the great Captain Elianna Solus . I can’t even begin to tell you how long I have waited for this day,” he admitted. “I finally know why Father spent so much time with you, why he always appeared to prefer you to his legitimate children.” Kai continued to ramble as I let out a sharp laugh, drowning out his words. He had completely disregarded what I spoke of earlier regarding the king not being his true sire.

My mind frantically rushed through ideas on how to get out of this as he continued his triumphant speech. I glanced down at my sword on the ground. There would be no way to reach it in time before he gutted me.

“Are you even listening to me?!” he screamed, and my neck snapped up to meet his stare once more.

I was about to make my final move to strike when, out of nowhere, an enormous, looming shadow appeared over Kai. He was so lost in his bloodlust that he didn’t realize it himself. Suddenly, tiny pebbles of rocks cracked off the giant boulder I stood beneath and rained down on me, bouncing off my shoulders before falling at my feet.

My lips twitched upward lazily, and I flashed my canines at him in the most menacing grin.

I watched as his smile of assuming victory faded from his features as his gaze hesitantly rose to the top of the boulder’s edge.

Kai’s skin turned ashen as his eyes widened in absolute terror. He lowered his chin to stare at me, his jaw hanging open in pure shock.

“Fuck you, Kai,” I breathed.

An ear-shattering roar of triumph erupted from above before Nox swooped his head down and stretched his maw wide, revealing the numerous rows of his dagger-like teeth as he prepared to sink them into Kai’s flesh. The wyvern then effortlessly snatched his entire body into his mouth.

The prince’s screams of fear and anguish ripped through the burning fields as Nox tightly snapped his jaw down onto him and lifted his head back up and out of my line of sight. The thunderous crunch of bone rang through my surroundings as Kai’s blood rained down on the terrain.

I ran out from under the boulder and looked up to watch Nox as he finished Kai off and swallowed his body whole.

“Holy mother of the gods,” I breathed as my jaw fell open.

Stampeding footsteps that sounded off behind me came to a screeching halt as Jace appeared at my side—Zaela and Gage arrived only a second later, and the four of us continued to stare up at the wyvern that had just killed the prince.

“Did he just…” Zaela started .

I nodded slowly. “Kai is dead,” I rasped out.

“Holy fuck,” Jace breathed.

Nox’s eyes narrowed in on the camp behind us, and a ferocious growl rumbled through his chest. Arrows began to land at our feet from the remaining soldiers as they formed lines behind us with their pitiful excuse of what remained of their army.

We all turned to face them, observing the remaining threat—there were nearly a hundred of them left, bravely barreling towards us.

I glanced from side to side. We wouldn’t win against that many—not with Nox out of his flame.

“Let’s go,” I muttered as I turned on my heel and moved to climb up the boulder that my wyvern remained perched on.

I positioned myself in the saddle, and the three of them climbed up behind me.

“What about Kellan?” Gage asked. “We couldn’t find him. We weren’t sure if you finished him off before we saw you fighting the prince. He could still be out there.”

My jaw locked. I didn’t know where Kellan was. I wasn’t sure if he had actually perished in the flames or if he had escaped once again from my grasp. The unknown threatened to make what barely remained of my inner walls collapse, but I refused to show them that—not when they were counting on me.

Nox had destroyed the false heir. I had to focus on what remained on our side, and now, with Kai dead, we stood a chance at survival and victory .

“His time will come,” I said coldly, and I felt Jace place his hand atop my own as it rested on the saddle while the crippled army moved to corner us.

Nox let out a deafening roar in their direction, their charge at us coming to a screeching halt. My wyvern’s wings shot out at his sides on command and swiftly propelled us into the air.

The soldiers watched in awe and horror as we took flight, their armor clattering against each other as they collided with those in the front who halted the lines.

“And now the queen will know exactly who and what she is dealing with,” I announced as I craned my neck to face them. My heart stuttered when the grins on their faces matched my own.

Nox let out a few chirps of approval to the words, the tune of them echoing through the endless fields and the clearing clouds of smoke as he sent us soaring through the sky and headed back home.