Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The protective wards around the camp did absolutely nothing once they were shattered by a new yet familiar dark magic force that slammed into it. Even with those who created them trying to hold them steady, they were no match for the battering ram of darkness and shadows.

It all happened so fast. First, they'd been looking up at the gray clouds that started sputtering snow, and then those shrieking cries got closer and almost three dozen oskurreia moved silently from the trees. Jai barely had time to shout out a warning and draw his sword before they were descending upon them.

Jai growled out a curse just before he lifted his sword, slamming it down on the obsidian spear the one oskurreia thrust at him. Metal whined against stone and yet he couldn't get his blade anywhere near the blackened husk of a body.

He'd already taken down three with brute force alone. As soon as his blade even made a cut along their black, leathery skin, the dark creatures shrieked once more before bursting into a flurry of dust.

All right, so Lyv definitely tweaked her enchantment on their weapons, but he wasn't going to complain. His dark magic skimmed along the blade, trying to mimic the enchantment without having to be put on a weapon. Jai wanted to do the same thing with magic alone.

It still took time, though. Just a few minutes, but they still had to fight off every creature that came for them. Screams and shouts sounded through the camp as more came, weapons were drawn, and then the sound of steel against stone.

Jai had Gideon and Mik at his back, the three of them protecting each other's vulnerable spots. Gideon knew how Jai fought, having done it side by side since they were children. And in the few months Mik had been with them, they now knew how each other moved and every look they shared. Jai knew the two of them would protect him just as fiercely as he would protect them.

Zavian was a whirlwind just a dozen feet away with the rest of his guardsmen, swinging his curved blade and twisting his body in a dance as he lunged forward. They knew the Ethran fighting style, but the Crown Prince was something else.

Jai spun to the right with Gideon and Mik adjusting their positions behind them. Three oskurreia lunged for him and he slashed his sword across their chests, spraying them all with black blood. He had to reach up and wipe his face with the edge of his cloak, breathing heavy.

"You all right?" Mik called out to him over the chaos.

"Fine!"

They weren't fine. Not when even more of them exited the forest and started running through the camp.

Metal against stone echoed, along with the shouting and cries as the assault continued. Though their own troops outnumbered the dark creatures, some still fell, eyes wide as they struggled to breathe, bright red blood pooling beneath their bodies in the sand and snow.

The oskurreia hadn't been focusing on killing them, though, merely wounding them. Their dark eyes were trained on Jai as they battled their way to him, attempting to cut down anyone in their path. They were quickly taken down by guardsmen, even tried to continue forward as enchanted blades plunged into them as they fell, then exploded in a flurry of black dust.

No doubt by the command of the female figure he'd seen lurking in the forest seconds before they attacked.

Guinevere.

Even in his brief glance at her, she looked older, sickly almost. Her skin was pallid, face sunken in, and dark circles ringed below her eyes. Her blonde hair was dully hanging down her back, now littered with lackluster gray strands that hadn't been there before. It covered the back of her loose black dress. The lace sleeves billowed out all the way to her wrists and were tattered at the cuffs.