He was like… the God of War.
Caorthannach had been wrong to laugh, and I had been wrong to doubt, especially considering what I’d heard about the prince’s indomitable reputation, and what I’d seen with my own eyes in the past days.
The last few plumes of darkness dissipated as Kalyll slew the last of his foe.
“You can’t avoid me forever, coward,” he yelled into the darkness. “Come out or I’ll come in there and find you.” He twirled his sword, which hissed its own threat.
Caorthannach cackled, then the sound abruptly morphed into the spawn’s skittering. Goosebumps broke all over my skin as my fear multiplied to match the incoming blitz. If before there had been dozens of spawn, now it sounded as if hundreds had crawled from the depths of hell itself.
The creatures streamed like an army of incensed fire ants. My heart sank to my feet, fearing that, today, Kalyll and his crew would discover their limits.
CHAPTER 34
Iheldthetorchin front of me and pressed my back to the stone wall. I wished for a real weapon and the skill to wield it, but I was helpless to defend myself. I was the only one of my siblings useless in a battle. Lucia had telekinetic powers. Toni was a werewolf with sharp teeth and claws, and Leo was a mage, who was only restricted by his imagination in the sort of attack he could fling at his enemies.
But all I could do was heal. My skill couldn’t be used to harm—something that never bothered me until now.
If only I could reverse the way my skill worked, I could suck what little life these zombie-like creatures possessed and vanish them into nothingness.
As the others fought, I retreated the way we’d come, ensconcing myself in the narrow tunnel, where no more than one spawn could attack at once, and I hoped to be able to fend them off by brandishing the torch.
The others fought in the open, cutting down their enemies one after the next, but there were too many of them, heedless of their lives, obeying their master blindly. They piled on top of Kalyll until I couldn’t see him under the horde.
“No!”
A voice inside my head urged me to run, to escape, but it was small, too cowardly to make a convincing attempt.
I was about to run to attack the horde with the torch when Jeondar directed a stream of fire in the prince’s direction, setting half the spawn on fire. As they shrieked, Arabis commanded them to attack their own. The spawn turned on each other, the ones that were burning, sharing their blaze with the others until they all disintegrated into piles of ash that quickly disappeared. Kalyll emerged unscathed from the melee and ready for more. He stood back to back with Kryn, and they moved like the blade inside a blender, whirling and cutting, slicing and pulping.
The six were like an entire army, a fearless axis of power that seemed unstoppable. They complimented each other perfectly and appeared to have a sixth sense that told them when one of the group needed help.
The battle seemed to go on forever. For every spawn they killed, another one crawled out of the darkness to replace it. There seemed to be no end to their number and no way for Kalyll and the others to keep their strength. But their stamina was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and they fought on even as others would have collapsed.
Impossibly, the stream of spawn slowly turned into a trickle until no more could be seen behind the rock formations, and the Fae warriors stood panting, ready for more.
I gaped. Not one spawn had broken their ranks and made it to the tunnel where I stood on wobbling legs. They seemed to have defeated Caorthannach’s entire force.
Kalyll took a moment to make sure I was all right. His gaze met mine as he glanced over his shoulder, and I swear I saw relief on his face. His clothes were torn to shreds and deep gashes bled profusely in his arms, legs, and torso. It looked like every square inch of his body was injured, and it was the same for the others.
I ran out of the tunnel, ready to help. This had to be why they’d brought me. They’d known the battle would be brutal. I went to Kalyll first and quickly assessed his worst injuries.
“Let me—”
He shook his head. “Save your energy. There’s worse to come.”
What? Worse than this? They were all torn to pieces. Their smaller wounds were closing thanks to their fast healing abilities, but some of the cuts were deep enough that I feared they would bleed to death if we didn’t do something quickly. Still, they all stood firmly, ready for more.
Kalyll took a step forward, limping. “If you have more of your spawn to waste, we’ll be glad to dispose of them.”
No more chuckles came from the depths of the cavern. This time, it was an angry growl.
“You could have released me when I first asked you,” he said. “It would have cost you one servant. Instead, now you’ve lost hundreds.”
“Damn you and all your descendants,” that eerie voice called, charged with frustration.
“Come out,” Kalyll ordered, “or I’ll come for you, and you’ll lose more than your spawn.” When no response came, he cracked his neck and started walking forward.
Something red glowed behind the many stalactites and stalagmites. Kalyll stopped and watched as the light moved closer.