Page 80
Kelaros grunts with effort as he fends off two guardians at once. His blade catches light as it arcs through the air, striking one creature across its blank face. Cracks spider across the surface, light spilling from within before the entire head shatters.
The victory lasts only seconds. Where the guardian fell, the floor ripples, crystal flowing upward into a new figure, this one rising with its blade already extended.
“They’ll just keep coming,” Kelaros calls, his breath coming in short bursts as he spins to avoid another attack.
I slash at a guardian’s midsection, my blade carving through its crystalline torso. The creature splits in two, upper body sliding from lower, but before the pieces hit the ground, they liquefy, flowing back into the floor.
Three more guardians advance on me, moving in perfect coordination. Their blank faces reflect mine from different angles, blood-streaked and teeth bared in a feral snarl.
I back up until Kelaros’s shoulder blades meet mine. We circle together, maintaining contact, each covering the other’s blind spots as the guardians close in around us.
I parry a thrust that comes so close it slices off the tip of my braid. “Any brilliant ideas?”
Kelaros responds by kicking a guardian in the chest, sending it staggering back into two others. The brief opening allows him to drive his blade through another’s throat. “Just keep fighting.”
My blade connects with a guardian’s knee, shattering the joint. As it falls, I drive my knife through the back of its neck, and it explodes into thousands of glittering fragments. The pieces hang suspended for a moment before rushing back together, reforming not into one but two new guardians.
“This isn’t working,” I gasp, fatigue burning through my muscles.
“We can’t win,” Kelaros gasps.
I look at Elionn, who I swore to bring home.
A guardian lunges at me, demanding my attention again, and I sidestep, losing contact with Kelaros. The tip of its crystal sword grazes my arm, opening a thin line, and blood wells to the surface.
The floor shifts suddenly, tilting at a steep angle. I lose my balance, sliding across the smooth crystal surface away from Kelaros.
He fights to reach me, but the guardians close ranks between us.
I scramble for purchase as the floor continues to move, carrying me back toward Elionn’s prison. The Court wants me there, next to him, within reach of his outstretched hand.
“Amalia!” Kelaros shouts, the guardians closing around him and driving him toward the far wall.
My boots find no traction on the slick crystal. I slide the final few feet, crashing into the base of Elionn’s prison with bone-jarring force. The impact sends fresh pain lancing through my still-healing body.
Before I can recover, the floor rises, lifting me to my feet and holding me there, crystal flowing around my ankles before solidifying. I strain to escape the bonds, but they only tighten in response.
The guardians cease their attack on Kelaros and instead form an impenetrable ring around him. Their blank faces turn toward me, reflecting the light that pulses through Elionn’s prison.
A crystal tendril forces my palm onto the crystal surface. The contact burns cold, then turns blistering hot, the sigils on my palm blazing as if they might sear straight through my flesh and bone.
The court’s voice fills my mind, clear and demanding. “Anchor me. Bleed for me. Become mine.”
The words dig into my consciousness with inescapable force. “Fuck you!”
“Amalia, you have to escape,” Elionn begs. “You can’t save me. Just go.”
“I was hired to bring you home,” I grit out. “You still owe me a lot of gold coin, princeling.”
He chuckles, the sound warm and all his own. “I might not be able to make good on that debt.”
People are waiting for Elionn, though, while no one is waiting for me.
“Let him go,” I demand, addressing the court.
The pressure against my palm increases, painful now. Another crystal tendril cuts into my side, tearing through my bandage to rip my wound open anew. Blood flows, and where it touches the crystal, the surface sizzles, drinking my offering with eager thirst.
More crystal burrows beneath my skin, seeking, seeking, and…pauses. Slower now, it sifts through me, separating what I am from my bond with Elionn. Whatever it finds sends a burst of elation through the connection.
