The Nymph who had killed my father would die before I left this place, and I didn’t care what I had to do to make that so.
Alejandro released a rattle so powerful that it almost brought me to my knees as I ran at him. I encouraged the fire of my Order to coat my skin to combat his foul power as I raised my sword higher, wanting to feel the strike that killed him reverberating through my body when I landed it.
A flash of movement caught my eye and I whirled around, finding Justin there, his own sword swinging towards me and a look of fearless devotion in his eyes which made my heart skip a beat as I fought to get my guard up in time to block.
The Nymph’s probes clashed against my armour and a chill hit me as I realised that would have been my damn heart if Justin hadn’t been there to save me, his sword impaling the creature and spilling black blood to the dirt between us as our gazes met.
A howl of pain escaped him as the Nymph swung its probes at him instead and I drove my blade into the monster’s heart, sending it spinning away into ash and embers as it died.
“Thank you, my queen,” Justin gasped as he pressed a hand to his side to heal himself and I shook my head in refusal.
“I should be thanking you.” I honestly didn’t know why I’d ever believed he could be the bad guy because he was just too fucking nice to pull that shit off.
I turned my gaze back to Alejandro again, pointing at him with my sword in challenge and causing him to bellow right back at me as more and more Nymphs came at us. I was forced to shield us with my air magic, creating a dome of safety around us as we ran on.
But the further we went, the more the Nymphs released their rattles, the cloying power of them biting into me and trying to steal my magic away so that they could strike at us one last time.
Justin howled behind me and I turned to find him immobilised on his knees as the power of the Nymphs’ rattles stole his strength and left him at their mercy.
I cursed as I threw my magic at him, hoisting him into the air and casting vines to wrap around his chest and creating a parachute out of leaves.
“What are you doing?” he gasped.
“Thanks for having my back, dude, but this is where you make your escape,” I said, double checking that he was strapped in firmly as he shook his head in denial.
“I wish to fight at your side until the bitter end, my lady. I will be your steadfast and galant-”
“White knights just don’t do it for me, Justin. But thanks and all that jazz. If I die, tell them I went out like a badass.”
“Wait,” he gasped but I needed to concentrate on the fight, and I couldn’t do that while worrying about him, so I used every bit of my strength to hurl him up into the sky with my air magic and his screams shot up and away from me until I couldn’t even hear them anymore. I left him with a strong wind blowing him in the direction I was guessing the rebels had run off to and the honest hope that he would be okay. He was just too damn nice to die.
The screams of the Nymphs soon drew my attention back to the fight and I turned to face Alejandro with a sneer pulling back my upper lip as I slammed my foot down and caused a huge fissure to open up between me and him.
The ground tore apart all around him, isolating him from the other Nymphs and I pushed my air shield out to encompass him too as I ran to meet him with my sword held ready and Phoenix fire burning through my veins like magma.
Alejandro screeched threateningly, lurching forward in his enormous form, the ground vibrating with each step he took and my heart thrashing to the heady tune of battle.
He swung at me with his probed fist and I ducked beneath it, my sword arcing overhead and carving his arm clean off so that it hit the ground with a thump behind me.
He whirled around with a roar of anguish, his other hand crashing into me and sending me tumbling to the ground, but I just kept rolling until I was between his legs and slashing my sword across the backs of them, making him scream even louder as he tumbled to his knees.
I leapt to my feet as he lurched my way and I kicked him with a defiant scream, my boot landing between his shoulder blades and sending him crashing into the mud before me.
I severed his other arm as he thrashed and flailed in the dirt, dancing away from him as his screams of agony made the air vibrate, and he suddenly released a rattle so potent that it choked the air from my lungs and locked my magic down deep inside me where I had no chance of reclaiming it.
He scrambled to his knees as my air shield fell and the other Nymphs all bellowed in victory as they surged towards me, but I wasn’t even close to done yet.
“I am the daughter of the Savage King!” I roared, hefting my sword back and looking into his blood red eyes. “And I have come for my pound of flesh!”