76. Elianna

Chapter seventy-six

Elianna

Citizens were emerging from their homes as blasts of shadows erupted in the sky—where Veli and Azenna unleashed their powers on one another.

Avery and I shoved through the crowds, begging them to return to safety, not knowing what would happen between the witches that fought in the sky and the blazing battle just outside of the city.

I turned to my sister. “They listen to you, try to get them at least under some form of cover. Don’t let them know the queen is dead yet. We need to handle everything carefully.”

She grabbed both of my hands in hers. “Be careful.”

“You too,” I whispered, and then we both took off into a run in opposite directions—me toward the city’s gates, and her to its center.

The tall gates of Isla were chained and barred, as if they were never meant to be opened again. I looked up at it through furrowed brows, annoyance sizzling through me. “Gods-dammit.”

With a grunt, I raced to the steps of the tower. Unsheathing my sword, I climbed the tall stone stairs. Guards stood atop it, and they noticed me the moment my foot was placed on the steps.

“It’s Solus!” the one closest to me on the tower roared as he descended the staircase, aiming straight for me.

Our blades collided, sparks flying from the clash of steel on steel. I wrapped my foot around one of his ankles and maneuvered my body around his, sending him tumbling over the railing and down to the cobblestone streets below.

His scream echoed through the air until his body slammed into the ground, cutting it short.

“Actually, it’s Valderre!” I called over the rail as I raced up the rest of the high steps.

At the top of the tower, I encountered three soldiers who were once under my command, a memory from what felt like a different lifetime.

Their gazes were fixated on me, and I blew out a breath as I lifted my sword back into a fighting stance.

What happened next surprised me.

They exchanged quick, nervous glances and threw their weapons to their feet. My brows creased in confusion as they all leisurely lifted their hands in surrender. I warily lowered my own blade as my eyes wandered over the three of them.

“Does she live?” one of them asked.

I swallowed, my grip tightening on the hilt of my weapon. “You’re going to need to be more specific.”

“The queen,” a different one answered, bringing my gaze to him.

“No,” I said on a breath, the word barely audible. I prepared to lift my blade once more, considering that they could attack me for murdering their queen, but instead, they looked relieved.

“Thank the gods,” the middle one murmured. “It’s over.”

“Not yet,” I reminded him. “Almost, though. If I put this blade down…”

“Don’t worry, we won’t do anything. We always liked you far better than Adler.” He paused. “And your army is destroying us.”

“What?!” I gasped before running past them to the tower’s opposite edge that overlooked the battlefield.

It was true, and we had the creatures of the forest to thank. I couldn’t believe what my eyes beheld, but now I needed to find a way to stop it.

My eyes landed on Jace, who was still engaged in an intense duel with Kellan, both of them looking exhausted and ready to drop—I had to make sure the one to fall wasn’t my mate.

A roar sounded, and my eyes snapped to Nox, who was halfway across the battlefield, tearing into enemy soldiers with his teeth and clawed wings. They weren’t even moving to attack him anymore; they were just getting caught in the crosshairs of his rage.

Lifting my fingers to my lips, I let out a shrieking whistle in his direction. “ NOX! ” I bellowed, and my wyvern’s attention snapped to the tower. His wings instantly lifted him into the air and had him hurtling towards me.

I turned to the soldiers I had mistakenly turned my back to, but they kept their word. My eyes landed on a bow that was leaned against the side rail with a cluster of arrows .

I nodded in its direction. “Can I borrow that?” The words sounded foolish the second they left my mouth, but I didn’t have time to care.

“By all means,” one said as he picked it up and practically shoved it at me.

Looping the bow around my back, I prepared myself to leap onto Nox as he came racing towards us. I looked back at them over my shoulder to find they were watching me intently. “Don’t kill any more of my men, or it's me you will face. Understood?”

“Yes, Captain,” they answered in unison, and it made me pause for a moment, blinking in confusion. A smirk cracked my lips at their use of my old title.

“Are you going to have your beast harm us?” one of them asked as Nox was almost at the tower.

I heaved myself onto the rail, balancing on the thin bricks of stone. “Who, Noxy? He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” I shot them a menacing grin, and their eyes flared.

A second later, the beat of his wings sent wind flying in our direction as he soared next to the tower, and I ran along the rail in tandem with him, until I leapt off its ledge. Touching down on the nape of Nox’s neck, I grabbed his fin for support, and we effortlessly resumed his high-speed flight.

We soared through the smoke-clearing skies while my eyes were locked on the fight raging between Jace and Kellan.

My mate stumbled backward, leaving his body wide open and vulnerable to Kellan’s strike. My heart stopped painfully while everything around me ceased to exist .

“Nox, now!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I ripped the bow from over my shoulder and nocked an arrow in place. Tucking his wings into his sides, my wyvern spiraled down toward the terrain, aiming for them.

Jace

The battlefield stretched out like a canvas of chaos. So many had fallen on each side, lives and good soldiers lost, but all I could focus on was Adler as he relentlessly came at me with his weapon.

The air was thick with tension as we frantically swung at each other, sworn enemies with histories written in blood and vengeance.

“Give it the fuck up!” Kellan screamed at me as I blocked his attack by crossing my two blades once more and shoved him back.

“You’re dying,” I breathed, a growl rumbling through me as we each grunted through our counterattacks. “It won’t be long now until your body gives out.”

My body ached, but I could tell he was significantly worse. He was riddled with stab wounds that continued to ooze blood from Lia’s assault on him in the air, and truthfully, I couldn’t believe the bastard was still standing.

A roar erupted overhead from Nox, and my gaze flew up to him, pride beaming from me at the sight of my queen on his back .

Adler’s battle cry echoed through the air as I countered each of his strikes. He was driven by his desire for power, while I was fueled solely by my desire for revenge—for what his fleet had done to my people, for what he had done to my face, and for touching what was mine .

My eyes swept the field. Zaela, and Gage were each in fierce battles of their own. Centaurs galloped alongside riderless warhorses, striking down our enemy that surely would have defeated us by now if they hadn’t shown up. Landon and his group struck down any enemies that tried to access the healer’s tent, protecting Finnian and the others who remained helpless inside in place of Nox.

Countering one of his attacks, my boots slipped in the thick mud that overtook the ground beneath our feet, sending my body stumbling back right as Adler moved to strike.

My gaze lifted over his shoulder to see Nox and Lia barreling towards us, an arrow nocked in her bow, aimed at Adler’s back.

One of the swords I held slipped from my hands, and I moved to block his blow with the other, but didn’t fully make it in time. His weapon collided with mine, but the force of his assault was stronger than what I was prepared for. The blade of his sword slid down my own, slipping over the edge of mine—what was aimed for my heart now steered in the direction of my shoulder.

The moment his sword pierced my flesh, agony overwhelmed me, but what I felt above all else was hers over my own as she sensed my pain .

“ JACE! ” Her voice flooded me, as if she were standing beside me.

My eyes locked with hers as she stood atop Nox’s back midair and released the arrow. She sent it spiraling towards Adler as he loomed over me, still pushing his blade into me, just above my heart.

Baring my teeth from the pain, I let out a roar of retribution—if I was going to die, I was bringing this fucker with me.

But then Lia’s arrow met its mark and shot through his back, protruding from his chest.

Blood splattered as it erupted through his flesh, and his nostrils flared before roaring out in pain and fury. Adler moved to strike his fatal blow, and he yanked his blade out of me, triggering a piercing howl of anguish to reverberate from deep within me—but he was slower, weaker.

With all my remaining strength, I raised the hand clutching my other sword and brought it down on his arm, completely severing it from his body. His eyes flared in shock as he watched it fall to the terrain, his sword still in its grasp. Blood poured from his missing limb as his gaze lifted back to mine in disbelief, right before I plunged my blade straight through his gut.

He fell to his knees with my sword still protruding from him, eyes bulging in horror while blood trickled from his lips.

As Nox landed amidst the chaos, the ground shook beneath his weight. Onlooking soldiers ceased in their attacks, clutching their blood-stained weapons as they watched in fear .

Lia dismounted by running and leaping off of Nox’s shoulder. The moment her boots touched the soil, she ripped her dagger from its sheath and tossed her bow aside.

My queen stormed toward us—nothing but pure vengeful wrath written into her features as I felt it pulsating down the bond.

It was the most ferociously beautiful sight I had ever laid my eyes on.

As I glanced down at my wound, terror surged through me, causing my vision to blur. However, I managed to catch the sight of the light slowly leaving Adler’s eyes while he watched me from where he remained on his knees.

My jaw locked. “It wouldn’t be fair to my wife if I took the entire claim of your life. For all that you have done to her and all you still planned to do.”

Appearing as if he was unable to speak, his body moved to fall completely forward. She appeared behind him then.

Lia reached out and grabbed him by the back of his blood-crusted hair, ripping his body back into her. Her gaze fell to him, boring into his as her lip curled back in disgust, revealing her canines.

She brought her lips to his ear, and he coughed out a whimper beneath her as I watched in awe. “You will never touch anything that is mine, ever again.”

In a swift movement, she released his hair and ripped the protruding arrow from his chest while simultaneously taking the dagger in her opposite hand and plunged it into his heart.

He let out a grunt as it pierced his chest, staring up at her face as if longing for her, and then his body sagged. The moment she yanked her dagger from his flesh, he dropped to the ground at her feet, unmoving.

And then we were surrounded.