The first Kellso I had taken down broke away from the rest of its group and charged straight toward me, its heavy footsteps sending dull vibrations through the earth beneath my boots. Its body looked as though it had been carved from dark stone, jagged pieces of its flesh shifting and grinding against one another with every movement, loose fragments crumbling from its shoulders and ribs as it ran. I waited until it was close enough before bringing my sword down across its body, the blade biting through the hardened material with a sharp crack. I drove the tip into its neck, and a thick, black substance spilled from the wound, oozing slowly over the edge of my blade before dripping onto the grass. The smell that rose from it was foul and strangely metallic, mixing with the smoke and scorched earth already hanging heavily in the air.
Another Kellso lumbered toward me, larger than the first and considerably more imposing, its rocky body groaning and cracking beneath its own movements. I swung again, severing one of its legs beneath the knee, and watched as the creature staggered before collapsing into a crumpled heap of black stone. These Kellso were little more than soldiers for the true threat. The expendable creatures sent forward to overwhelm us through sheer numbers. The more powerful Kellso were something else entirely. They took on the shape and characteristics of the beasts whose pelts they wore, becoming larger, faster, and far more dangerous than these walking piles of rock. I had no desire to find myself face-to-face with one of those. Still, I pushed farther into the heat of the battle, the air thick with smoke, the sharp ring of steel, and the guttural cries of creatures surrounding me.
I barely had time to register Kayne moving through the chaos before he appeared at my side. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted, swinging his sword through a Kellso rushing toward us and sending fragments of black stone scattering across the grass.
"Fighting," I said simply as my sword drove straight through the Kellso's stomach.
Kayne shook his head, a crooked smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth as he stepped back into the fight beside me. We moved together almost instinctively, cutting through the black bodies with a rhythm that became easier with every strike. Around us, the battle began to thin. Above the Academy, the dragons that had been circling the skies slowly retreated toward the mountains, their enormous silhouettes disappearing beyond the peaks. They had never descended into the heart of the battle, and none of the dragons on our side had risen to challenge them. Within only a few more minutes, the chaos had faded into an uneasy silence, leaving scattered bodies, churned earth, and the lingering stench of smoke and whatever foul substance leaked from the Kellso behind. We had won. People began gathering in small groups, checking on one another and catching their breath as the adrenaline slowly drained from the air.
"Where did you learn how to fight?" Kayne asked as he wiped his blade and looked over at me.
"My father." The words were simple, almost effortless, but they carried a weight I didn't know if anyone else could see. No one around me seemed to notice the significance of what I had just said. For the first time, I had finally allowed myself to call Alec my father without hesitation, without questioning whether I had the right to claim the word. It was a small admission, but somehow it felt like another piece of a life I had spent too long refusing to acknowledge.
Then Naxan's voice tore through my mind. "Danger, Twoleg! There are more coming!"
The panic flooding through our bond was so sharp that my entire body reacted before I could think. My head snapped toward the mountains, my eyes searching the jagged peaks for whatever he had sensed. I couldn't see anything. Nothing moved across the distant slopes, and the others around me were already beginning to relax.
Baylen stepped closer and clasped a hand around my shoulder, giving me a small shake as though trying to pull my attention back to him. "You're alright. You know that?"
YOU ARE READING
Through Smoke and Ashes
Fantasi*Undergoing editing. Half of these chapters were written when I was a child.* Book One: There is no prophecy. There is no tell-tale legend. There is no scripture written down in a book or a hidden cave. There is only the spoken word of the Gods. Dar...
