A soul-wrenching cry came from the shadowling as the light struck it, sending it crashing to the ground.
"You burned us!" it snarled.
"I'm sorry," Roake said quietly, but he dared not hold back. Such a dangerous creature could not be allowed to live.
With the ferocity of a wild beast, the shadowling turned on his attacker. All the devastation from the storm had given him a fresh supply of misery to draw upon and the clouds shielded him from the sun's merciless light.
Roake could sense Rivynn had nearly expended all her strength, and the storm would soon be over.
He would have to defeat this creature before then... or they were all dead.
It was a tremendous strain using her raw power. Rivynn was not his Lucent. But his own was not near enough to grant him the strength needed to face a shadowling alone.
A torrent of darkness rained down upon him, but strike by strike he drove it back, light coursing through him and down his blade. His dragon blood granting him inhuman speed and strength, he worked to close the distance between him and his target.
Soon each slash of his illuminated blade was but a mere hand's breadth from landing a fatal blow, but he only needed to pierce skin.
"It burns! It burns!" the shadowling howled madly, driven by its master to attack despite the danger.
Roake knew full well it was being forced to stay behind so the Mystics could escape, and it disgusted him that they would use a broken creature like this, one who had already suffered so much - then discard it like trash.
At last, he saw his opening and with blinding speed, threw his weight into the blow, driving his weapon into the shadowling's shoulder. The two crashed to the ground, a storm of darkness and light.
Ignoring the shadows that lashed at him, Roake gritted his teeth as he poured all the light he could summon into burning away the shadow possessing the boy, who couldn't have been more than sixteen or so.
The shadowling stopped struggling and the darkness began to fade away. The tattered black wings crumbled like dust in the wind. A soft blue replaced the vicious silver in those eyes that now peered up at him with a mixture of fear and confusion.
"What is your name?" he asked quietly, knowing that without the shadow to sustain him, the boy wouldn't last long.
"I... can't... I can't remember..." he gulped, his strength rapidly fading.
"It's alright," Roake soothed as the boy's eyes closed.
He glanced back at Rivynn and was grateful to find she was no longer conscious.
All around them, the city was ablaze, but he was too exhausted to help. Sorrowfully he withdrew his sword and staggered to his feet.
The sound of riders approaching from within the gates drew his attention.
Help had arrived from Illuvaria.
YOU ARE READING
Wings of Shadows ~ Book 1 ~ Beginnings ~
FantasyRivynn couldn't understand why she and her brother, Rain, were kept chained away from everyone else. They were told it was to keep them safe from the shadows... But what if that was a lie? ~~~~~~ Rain hadn't told her... but the shadows were real...
