Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Haldir circled me, his eyes combing my body for weakness.
The dragons roared into the night, their streams of fire lighting up the sky.
“You lost, asshole.” I waited for him to charge, knowing he was waiting for the perfect moment. “You fucking lost, and you know it.”
“Queen Rolfe is dead.” He did a fancy swish with his sword. “I’m just getting started.” With that, he lunged, his sword clanking against mine, hitting me so hard it looked like there were sparks.
Back and forth we went, striking and hitting, headbutting each other when we became too close. My body was tired, but the adrenaline was so strong that nothing could slow me down. I wouldn’t stop until this motherfucker was dead.
Pyre came out of nowhere and grabbed Haldir by the shoulders. He slammed him down over and over, treating his body like a dead chicken, and then tossed him aside like his neck had been broken.
“Fuck yeah, Pyre.” I rushed in, going for Haldir when Pyre was done.
Ivory slid off Pyre and rushed straight for my mother. Pyre took off, back to burning Necrosis outside the wall.
Haldir rolled away and got back to his feet, as if being thrashed by a dragon had little effect on his body. He came at me again, his blade marking my bracers, scratching up my armor, denting it in as he got closer to the skin.
“Ahhhh!” Ian came from behind and stabbed his blade deep in the back of Haldir’s leg.
When he let out a scream, I charged forward and struck him right in the chest.
He punched me hard in the face then spun around to Ian, throwing him off like he weighed nothing.
We were both back on him, the two of us taking on Haldir together. Ian possessed the same rage I did, seeing our mother stabbed clean through. There was no amount of strength or skill that Haldir could possess that would challenge the fury drowning our hearts. We came at him hard—came at him together.
Ian got Haldir’s left bracer off and sliced his blade over the skin, drawing blue blood. “How do you like that, bitch?”
I kicked him hard in the chest, denting the plate that protected him. I knew I’d hit it hard enough when his breaths didn’t come as easily. It made the connection to his shoulder loose, so I stabbed my blade right through it.
Ian stabbed him again from the rear, issuing a maniacal laugh. “Fuck off.”
“Wait!” Elora ran over, rope in her hands.
I knocked Haldir’s blade from his hands and watched him fall to his knees.
“Don’t kill him.” She gave part of the rope to Ian.
I had no idea what was going on. “Elora—”
Ian immediately bound his wrists behind his back and secured them. Then he pushed him over and did the ankles. When Haldir tried to resist, Elora stomped on his face with her boot.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, unsure what the hell I was seeing.
Ian kept going with the rope, tying his wrists and ankles together, wrapping the bonds all the way around his body so he could barely breathe. Elora kicked him in the face again, this time knocking him out cold.
“Huntley!” Ivory called for me.
I wanted this motherfucker dead, but I trusted Ian and Elora knew what they were doing. I ran to Ivory, positioned on top of my mother, who had gone pale in the face. Once I was close to her, the sadness was like a kick to the chest. “Mother, I’m here.”
“My son…” She clasped my hand with hers, tears in her eyes. “My king…”
Tears already burned my eyes because this was the final goodbye. “Mother.”
“I need your help.” Ivory had her pack open, her essentials inside. “I know this is hard, but I need you to pull out the blade in one single movement. On my mark.”
“You can heal her?”
“I…I don’t know,” she said. “I have an idea, but it might not work.”
My mother’s eyes remained on me, her hand squeezing mine.
“Alright. Let me know when you’re ready.” I had to release her hand—and it was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do. I gripped her shoulder and grasped the hilt, ready to yank it out.
Ivory closed her eyes and pressed her hands around the wound. She went still, sitting that way for a long time. The battle continued over the wall, shouts and cries spilling into the night. The dragons roared and burned Necrosis below, leading the Runes to release shouts of victory. I held my patience as Ivory focused, studying my mother’s body so she could heal it as quickly as possible once the blade was out. If she didn’t move quick enough, my mother would bleed out and die.
Ian kneeled next over her, clasping her hand in his, tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop him—”