Oh, fuck.
Kel’s pressing down against the Sapphire Knight, a crafted ice pike versus the Sword of the Protector. Cracks form in his enchanted weapon. I turn and run, finding cover behind a pillar. Holding my bow tight to my chest, I try to steady my breath.
I peer out from the shelter of the pillar. Huge fissures have formed in the ground from the crack of Kairyn’s massive hammer. Somehow, Ez is able to dodge each blow, his sword fighting to find an opening. I pull back, preparing to look the other way at Kel.
As soon as I move, I’m faced with the hideous visage of the Bronze Knight. His gaping eyes and snapping teeth appear right in front of me. I scream, falling backward. The knight raises his lance above his head, then shoves it down.
I roll. The pointed end digs deep into the stone where I’d been lying. I roll again, able to leap to my feet as he yanks the lance from the ground. With a cry, I smash his chest plate with my bow. The armor crackles and melts, revealing marred skin below. Maybe if I can touch his skin, he’ll explode like the Turquoise Knight did in the monastery—
But there’s no time to contemplate. The knight looks down at his melted chest plate then up at me and grins. I run.
Kel’s walking backward toward the throne, sending up huge blocks of ice between him and the Sapphire Knight. Each time, the Sapphire Knight draws back the Sword of the Protector and smashes the ice to shards. Kel’s ice makes the sword glow a brilliant white-blue. The Sapphire Knight twists the blade in his hand, admiring this. Then he drives the blade through the air. Black ice daggers shoot up from the ground, heading for Kel.
I draw my bow and fire. My arrow slams into the black ice spikes, creating a blast of water and light. I run to Kel, and he pulls me tight against him.
The Bronze and Sapphire Knight look at each other, then walk in unison toward us.
A gurgling noise comes from behind me, Ezryn’s father writhing beside the throne. He’s scratching at his helmet, his neck. Vines have curled up around his hands. His armor has popped off in places, and the skin beneath is speckled with pus-filled blisters. What’s happening to him?
I look up at Kel. “We don’t need to kill these guys. We just have to get Ez and his dad and escape.”
Kel growls lowly, “Getting Ezryn is the hard part.”
Right now, Ezryn’s being pushed back by the huge swings of Kai’s hammer. Kairyn is clad in heavy black armor and wields the Blessing of Spring. Ezryn has nothing. This isn’t a fight we can win.
I suck in a breath. “I have an idea.”
The Bronze and Sapphire Knight are almost upon us. “Let’s hear it, Darling,” Kel says.
“You get those two against the back wall,” I say and dart off. “And I’ll get Ez toward us.”
Without questioning, Kel leaps forward and throws out his hands. A winter’s gale erupts from his palms, a storm with ice shards and winds freezing cold. The knights stumble, then fall, hurtling through the throne room before smacking against the stone. Kel roars, his face a pained grimace from the immense power.
I focus all my attention on Ezryn. On my mate, who seems so far away from me, even though he’s only across the room. Ezryn. Come back to me.
He turns. Stares. Ducks under the swing of the hammer.
Come back to me! Now!
A confused expression crosses his face, but he disengages from his brother. Then he runs toward us.
I draw my bow. Wait one second. Two. Ezryn reaches the midpoint of the Hall of Vernalion, with Kel and me at the front, and Kairyn and his knights still at the back. Then I look at the huge fissure Kairyn created with his hammer. And release.
Light bursts through the throne room, near blinding. Stone erupts in a massive shower. Chunks smash against my shoulders, my chest. Dust fills the air.
But when it clears, a gaping hole leading to the cavern below lies between us and them.
I cough, searching the dusty air for my mates. Kel staggers forward, grabbing my arm. He points to Ez, face down in the rubble. We hurry over and each grab an arm.
Ez shakes his head, looking disoriented.
“Hurry,” Kel says. “Let’s retrieve your father and go.”
Something clears in Ez’s eyes. Or comes alive. He tears free from our grip and looks back across the fissure where his brother paces like an angry lion.
“So, you’re going to run,” Kairyn calls. “Run, run away. I feel it in my chest. Spring’s Blessing is relieved to finally have a worthy vessel.”
“Don’t do it. Don’t let him tempt you,” Kel says lowly.
I can sense the emotions as if they were my own: Ezryn’s rage, his shame. Kairyn symbolizes the catalyst of so many profound losses—his honor, his realm, his magic. And there’s only one way to reclaim it.