14. Bracken

Chapter 14

Bracken

“ H adi!”

I stilled, having sliced off the head of a charging nightwing, tossing her body to the battlefield to be devoured by emerging crawlers, when I heard my mate screaming at the king. Then, Kiar joined Sun, screaming for Hadi to listen to their cries to retreat. But he wouldn’t, overpowered by low-level nocs in his desperate pursuit of Kovit.

Covered in blood, hovering over the battlefield, I tried to assess our situation. Clem was too close to danger, fighting Kiar, who was dragging him to safety. Kiar also attempted to reach for Sun, but the ground broke open all around them before he could.

“Kiar! Go now,” I shouted, worried they’d all be consumed before I could reach them, still fighting off too many winged nocs who should not be awake, probably a part of Kovit’s ambush.

In his wisdom, Sun tore away to avoid being captured by Kiar and the crawlers. Sun shouted, pointing uphill, most likely directing Kiar to take Clem away. My friend didn’t have a chance to argue as the ground cracked wider, Kiar and Clem driven away from our human warrior, divided between a sea of nocs.

Gritting my teeth, I swooped low again, determined to save Sun, until I heard a sound I didn’t recognize. I latched onto a tree, piercing the chest of a fellow batbeast with my bare claws as the bastard tried to sneak up on me. I tossed his corpse aside as well, shocked to hear Hadi was screaming in pain. I had never heard such a horrid sound, and it sent a most unusual shiver racing down my spine.

“Damn you!” he roared, defiant, even as Kovit’s claws pierced his tawny body. He tripped, still uncoordinated from his feeding frenzy, and the traitor used the opportunity to slash at the thin flesh of his belly. Hadi would be disemboweled at this rate, just as I had been beheaded through Kovit’s trickery.

Kovit used the overwhelming number of crawlers to his advantage, pecking at Hadi but never drawing close enough to be recaptured. I needed to help him, but first, I had to help Sun.

I searched the sea of insects for signs of life, their glossy shells rolling in a dark tidal wave. Frantic, I took to the skies, fighting against more nightwings than I could count.

And then, like a miracle, I spotted Sun hanging from a branch on a hill. He’d found an oasis, and I raced to his side, slicing through two owl-like nocs at once. For his part, Sun was watching Hadi be devoured and cut down, slack jawed as the brainless bugs went after the strongest among them, the only arachnid alive.

When he noticed me, I saw hesitation brewing behind Sun’s emerald eyes.

Why?

I looked down and got my answer. Hadi was pinned down just below Sun now, cornered on all sides, and beset by Kovit from above. He was vulnerable but not yet defeated, crushing Kovit’s foot with his web, the batbeast dragged Hadi along the ground against his will, away from us, closer to death.

But he wasn’t dead yet. With two of his hands, he threw out coils of web, immobilizing more nocs than I could manage with Kiar and Sun by my side and I knew Hadi would likely survive this struggle. Gravely injured, but alive, nonetheless.

Maybe that’s why Sun didn’t act. Perhaps he took some solace in seeing his enemy get wounded as he was unable to kill him without killing himself.

But then his eyes captured mine again, instantly closing the distance from the battle below to the one I was fighting in the skies.

Sun’s message was more precise this time, now that I didn’t have to rely solely on reading his mind. He crawled until he stood on top of the hill, pointing to his chest.

Help me, he mimicked.

And then, fury warping his pretty face as he slashed the neck of a charging crawler, losing his metal sword as it fell away. Standing on its corpse, Sun pointed to himself again, then Hadi with his Blood Onyx dagger, his remaining weapon.

Help me, help him.

Glady, I thought, the realization that I wanted Hadi to learn to accept us was more potent than my need to reject him, hitting me like a punch to the gut.

I swooped down, claws extended, and Sun jumped, trusting me not to crush him as I caught him. He wedged his dagger between my toes. Thankfully, the shard was not large enough to crack my claws, and we sailed with the wind, evading the battle in the skies to join the one down below.

“Duck, Hadi!” I shouted, and Hadi turned to face us, wide-eyed, confused. He was probably wondering why we came to his aid. And I would have asked the exact same thing only minutes ago.

Because preserving the tether wasn’t the reason I aided our idiotic king. Suddenly, I wanted him to see what could be if we just worked together .

“Go!” I dropped Sun, who landed on Hadi’s back, riding him like a horse, slashing as the surging crawlers holding him back until he was free.

Then, I twisted in the air, faster than lightning, outmaneuvering the sluggish scumbag despite his best efforts. With a snarl, I extended my claws and pierced Kovit’s eyes quickly, driving him to his knees.

“This is what you get for hiding behind maps, strategizing instead of facing the battlefield the way I have!”

I didn’t know if he cared, but it still felt good to best my former commander after he had betrayed us all.

“KYAAAAAAAAH!” Kovit screamed in rage, but it was louder than any natural sound should be, reverberating so loudly that he stunned most of the remaining crawlers, who went rigid, their puny brains probably exploding.

My ears ached from the unending noise, and I looked down, grimacing at the sight of blood trickling from Sun’s ears. But then, I smiled, overwhelmed because Hadi had grabbed him with his web, not to eat him, but to protect our mate. Before his brain popped, Hadi coated his fingers in his thick web, and stuck them into Sun’s ears.

How smart. Even injured, bleeding, and driven mad in his quest for vengeance, Hadi was a capable tactician. Even if it was just to preserve his own life, I was happy to see us fighting side by side for once.

“Now, for your punishment,” I sneered, lifting the big bastard off the ground high enough that the weight of his body tugged against my claws.

Kovit was always a sneaky bastard, weak and wanton, in my opinion. If he couldn’t win quickly, he tended to flee. But not me. I liked to play with what I ate.

“Did it feel good beheading me, bastard? Now fortune favors me, and your bad luck is my blessing,” I said, mocking him as he flailed, helpless, my claws blinding Kovit.

“Bracken!” Sun cut through my sadistic thoughts, and I noticed most of the crawlers around us were dead, but more would surely come. It was noon already, by the position of the sun, which meant the rulers of the night would all wake up sooner rather than later.

Sun’s voice grounded me.

As much as I wanted to play, now wasn’t the time. We needed to get out of there before the whole valley rose against us.

“I guess the Goddess has blessed you some. Your death will be painful, but it shall be quick. We don’t have much time to waste on worthless traitors like you,” I spat, motioning to Hadi, who raised his bloody hand. “It’s time. You took my head, Hadi’s heart, Kiar’s tail, and my Clem’s soul. So, you, at the very least, should lose all of your limbs.”

Hadi and I laughed, but Sun shivered, thrust from Hadi’s arms onto the ground on a heap of noc corpses. Hadi’s web roped around the traitor’s throat and held, his grin manic, the thrill intoxicating no doubt.

My king pulled Kovit down as I lifted myself with my wings. Not wanting to miss out, Sun got back up and spat out blood. I cackled as my mate leaped onto Kovit’s back, stabbing him over and over again, slicing through bone and tearing through his wings! Euphoria overcame me, seeing them fall away.

Kovit, the disgraced general of the Nocturnal Kingdom, was nothing but a beating heart dying inside a butchered stump of blood and bone, flesh barely stitching him together.

A batbeast without their wings was as good as dead and worse than useless. I decided not to put him out of his misery. Instead, I had so much disdain for him I didn’t think he needed a grand send-off.

He should die dismembered, discarded, and forgotten like the piece of shit he was, left for the scavengers to feast on. He wasn’t worth being digested by Hadi and me. He didn’t deserve it. I snatched Sun off his back, as he clung to my side, and got to work.

“Now! Rip him apart!” I ordered, pleased when Hadi followed my command for once in his life.

Hadi crawled over Kovit’s fallen wings to grab his wrist with his web. Then, he shot backward, sprinting in the opposite direction.

“Ahhhh! Ahhhh!” Kovit convulsed and screamed, but the sound was weak now.

“Daa…” if he meant to threaten me with that treacherous thief’s name one last time, Kovit couldn’t get it out.

I would pay Daaku back in blood soon enough. For now, I enjoyed the fireworks. A geyser of blood flew into the air and rained down like mist from his mouth.

“Disgusting,” Sun hissed, thankfully I’d tucked him under my wing in time to avoid most of the carnage.

I screeched, victory assured and overwhelmed by the rush of pure power shooting through the tether. Now we had to retreat before reinforcements swooped in and spoiled our revenge.

“Meet us on the cliff!” I shouted to Hadi. He looked more than capable of making the journey alone, even bruised and bloody.

And by the deranged smile plastered on his bloodstained face, he was well enough to carry out my command.

I shot higher than I needed as I surveyed the valley before swooping low, carrying Sun until the trees enveloped us. Then I set him down carefully, Kiar and Clem descending on him before I could stick my landing.

Turning around, I grinned at the triumphant expressions on their faces. Squeezing Sun between them, they were a bloody, disgusting mess but triumphant, nonetheless. I ran to them, unable to hold my excitement at bay.

“The stone,” I said, having waited my entire life to see it. Sun reached into his pocket at once, pulling it out to show me without hesitation, a sign of trust I would not take for granted.

My breath caught at its simple beauty.

Like the sunstone, the moonstone was palm-sized, smooth, and held in an intricately designed metal frame. The sunstone was golden with streaks of brightness that caught the light and a matching gold frame, but the moonstone was pearlescent, and its frame was silver.

To my shock, Sun held it out for me to take.

I held it to the light, my breath catching at the countless colors that glittered within it.

Even the dirt clinging to its edges from months spent buried did not detract from its beauty. And how could Sun’s beautiful smile be just as radiant? So much so that I moved to capture it with my lips.

Until a twig snapped, and I stiffened, turning to greet Hadi.

Sun snatched the stone away as soon as I said his name, and we all stood at a standstill, waiting for someone to make the first move.