Total pages in book: 214
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 195876 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 979(@200wpm)___ 784(@250wpm)___ 653(@300wpm)
When he rushes me, sword leveled low for a piercing strike, I don’t dodge.
I let the blade sink straight into me.
The pain is blinding. It's cold and biting, threatening to wash away all coherent thought as I let out a strained gasp, body curling around the sudden ice in my stomach.
"Nessa!" Raith roars.
I sense Typhon's rage at the same moment and feel him tearing through the air toward me. Raith’s emotions spike through the tether, urgent, terrified, and heartbroken all at once.
But I raise my head, straining against the agony as I reach for Malakai's wrist and grip it. He frowns at my hands, lips curling into a smile. "You were pretty good, Thorne. I'll give you that."
"I'm not... done..." I manage.
He frowns, even as I see Raith from the corner of my eye sending students into stasis as he cleaves his way toward us, rage burning in his eyes like twin flames.
Malakai feels it too late. His essence flowing into me. Filling me. I summon a sharp disc of water in my left hand and sling it toward his neck at point-blank range. His eye goes wide a split second before the stasis shield flashes blue, sending him thumping to the ground.
I fall to my knees once he's down and the blade is out of my stomach. I use the last of his essence to try to heal the worst of it.
Typhon crashes down to the earth beside me, wings flared as he lets out a deep, bone-rattling roar and blasts magical blue energy from his mouth, warning away anyone from getting too close.
Raith rushes to catch me, arms tight and protective. "You're going to be okay. It's okay." His voice is calm, but I feel the sheer panic in his heart. The rage. And I feel the certainty that if I don't survive, he's going to take Malakai's token and finish him once and for all.
But Raith's touch sends more essence into me and I can feel it all flowing to the wound, healing me.
Pyrin sits beside him, wounded in several places, but his orange eyes watch me with what I think is worry as Raith continues to run his hands through my hair.
I grin. "I can heal myself. Remember?"
He frowns. "You let him stab you on purpose?"
I scoop up my stasis token from the ground and smile as the pain starts to finally subside. I can feel the magic doing its work quickly. "All part of the plan."
"Gods damn you," he hisses between his teeth.
I'm about to say something very clever when I see Serena stalking through Typhon's blue flames toward us. Her sword drags in the dirt at her side and one of her eyes is crusted shut with blood. Behind her, a fire serpent slithers, tongue flicking the air.
A bone-deep weariness threatens to take me. It’s too much. I can’t fight anymore. I need time to recover. To process. To—
"This ends now,” Serena says through her teeth, sword dragging in the dirt as she stalks toward me.
"Yes, it does," Typhon whispers in my mind.
He roars, firing a jet of water so thick that Serena just seems to vanish. I think I see the blue flare of her stasis triggering, but can't be sure. When the jet of water stops, she's simply gone.
“That was… effective,” Raith says.
“Thank you, Typhon.” I reach up to pat his foreleg, then use it to help me stand on wobbly legs.
It feels like there isn't a scrap of magical essence left in my body, but my wound is little more than a dull ache now. "I think Serena is going to hold that against you," I note.
Typhon's only response is a low rumble.
Around us, I realize the fight is nearly over. There are a few stragglers being put into stasis, but it's clear we've won. We've actually done it.
Mireen limps to my side with a grin. "Ambrose and Beck got put into stasis, but Brunhild and I made it."
I see Brunhild standing guard over their motionless forms. "Brunhild will guard the frozen ones." Her crab raises its remaining claw, clicking it loudly.
"How many are left?" Raith demands. The magical clouds of smoke and steam are still fading, making it hard to see the entire battle. Cade comes into view with a dark red cut across his face from forehead to chin. "Six left, Sir. Including you two. But all of his people are in stasis. Orders?"
"Good," Raith says. "Gather all the people in stasis in one place. Malakai’s people, too. We need to guard them. Make sure Malakai doesn't have other teams out there planning to come finish us off. And make sure nobody wakes up Malakai’s people and gives them a second chance to come for us."
"How far are we from the quarry?" I ask.
Raith eyes me. "Not far. But going for the blade means leaving the students in stasis more exposed.”