[THIS STORY WILL BE TAKEN DOWN ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2024]
He had hunted me, captured me, and locked me in a tower.
Season 3 'Of Crows and Thorns'
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While in RISING, Tabitha discovers something peculiar that may assist Nelle in her plan to escape the...
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The dark was obliterated by chaos.
An ominous sound razored through the air, swift and menacing.
Shit, shit, fucking hells...
"INCOMING!" I roared, pivoting, ducking low—
The cursed bolts fizzing with dark energy rushed overhead—
And struck the back wall in a BOOM of thunder.
An ear-splintering explosion—
One—
Two—
A third—
Rock shattered in a raucous hail, spewing serrated shrapnel like a wrathful volcano.
My armor took the hits—th-thud-thud, thud-th-thud—and took the sharp edge off the pain that sprang up all over my back. A brilliant haze of light erupted from the blast zones, bleaching the cavern into stark relief and carving morbid expressions into those engaged in battle. A violent quake ricocheted out from the blast sites, rattling the cavern and jostling the ground beneath my boots, nearly upending me.
The inky dark descended once more, broken up by golden pops of light as the Children of the Harbinger swifted, kept swifting. Narrow strobes of flashlights stained the murkiness, the hazy illumination dancing through the cavern like fireflies as my warband and the Văduvas fought the lethal warriors. Fire blazed from burning bodies, the amber flames beating heat and smoke across the vast space in fiery waves.
I tightened my hold on the knotted hilts of my swords and surged forward.
The cavern was a fucking warzone.
The strike of steel against adamere rang in my ears, along with gut-deep grunts and combat boots scuffing on the stony ground. Panicked orders were belted out and piercing cries of pain were almost drowned out by the horrendous noise of jagged rock slamming against rock. My swords cut frenzied arcs as I hacked aside the cursed bolts slicing through the air while I ran for Mela, my brow furrowed in grim determination. Everything was pushed aside. No thought existed inside my head but this moment right here, this battle with the Children of the Harbinger.
They were dressed as spookily as they'd been the first time we'd met. There were no eye slits in their smooth papier-mâché masks. They moved in sync with one another even though I heard no voice casting orders through the cavern. Their ivory robes flowed outward like ribbons, snapping and whirling around their gigantic figures as they lunged, striking and hacking and slashing, felling Văduva after Văduva. While the Văduvas were great hunters, they weren't battle-seasoned like the Crowthers or the enforcer families in liege to Upper House Novak.
We'd been caught unawares by the ambush and scattered wide. The Children of the Harbinger worked us inward, pincering us into one spot. With the cavern wall to our backs, any tunnels we could escape through were well out of range. At my previously bellowed order, the Crowthers had banded together in teams, racing to defend the vulnerable Văduvas.
