Lady Death

ELEVEN

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Seth found himself staring at the halfling girl buried beneath the human archer's limp body. For once in the two and a half years since Ellinna had been taken, Seth was not thinking about her. He was not even thinking about Kat, who was still leaning against a stone wall, the iron arrow still jutting out of her arm.

Seth felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Cassius with a solemn look on his face. The male looked as if he had been in a fight as well. Blood, that was not his own, was smeared across Cassius's face. From the horrible smell on him, Cassius had fought a hollow.

His friend did not have to say anything for Seth to know that Ellinna had not been in the cell. Whether it was an empty cell or if the hollow was what had been inside, did not matter. Once again, the Prince of Kilian had been one step ahead of them. But something told him the Prince did not intend for them to find the female he had saved. The blow of the mission's failure did not feel as heavy as he thought of that wild halfling girl.

Seth had not been able to look away as she fought the human archer. Her small weak body moved so fast and her strikes were much stronger than should have been possible. While he had smelled no magic on her as she fought. The air had seemed heavier and darker. Like a dark spirit had been hovering over her — fighting alongside her.

He had so many questions. Seth had not understood why they were guarding a female halfling. Let alone why the Prince himself had ordered her execution in the face of a possible prison escape. Those questions were quickly answered when he saw her fight.

Seth did not let himself think about what could have happened if the female had decided not to trust him. With the amount of iron in the air around them, his magic was weak. It had been taxing enough fighting off the human guards. He honestly did not know if he would have come out on top if he and the female fought.

That was genuine fear in the human archer's eyes when she attacked him. The image of her launching herself at the human played over and over again in Seth's mind. Just who exactly was this female?

She had moved with such grace and strength when she fought, but there was no sign of magic in her. If she had any, surely she would have used it. The question of if she had even gone through her awakening yet made his stomach drop.

Kat had not. An Etherie who had not gone through the awakening was vulnerable to so much. They did not have the immortal lifespan or the healing abilities that a full Etherie would have. Nor did they have their full magical abilities, if they had any magic at all.

Seth hated the thought of Kat getting hurt, but he also knew nothing he could say would make her change her mind about fighting by his side. There were so many similarities between the two females. Both were fierce and determined, but so young and helpless when it came to fighting against magic.

Being here, seeing how just this one prisoner was being held and treated... it was too much. Since he laid eyes on her, his blood had been boiling, his magic raging inside of him, threatening to lash out. Seth had seen and witnessed a lot of injustices in his life, but this was too much.

Seth's feet started moving on their own, not towards Kat, but towards the halfling female. She was still laying under the human's body. The arrow, meant for Seth, was sticking out of the archer's neck. Seth knelt beside her. Blood, from the human, freckled her face and arms. Even unconscious, there was something strong and wild about her.