Page 27 of Raven's Dawn

I spun with stealth I didn’t realize I possessed.

Holding it upright in front of me, I slashed.

Then there was red. All I saw was red.

11

EZRA

I didn’t think.

I only knew.

I knew the sensation of teleportation, so I knew we weren’t in camp anymore. I knew these people were criminals and traitors. I knew they had killed my people today. I knew that we had nothing to offer them.

It wasn’t as though we had taken something of theirs, and they took us as collateral to bring it back.

We were here to be made an example of.

So I didn’t think.

I only fought.

A moment ago, we were engulfed in bright white light. Now, there was only the faintest glow of a campfire and torches. The air against my skin was warmer than the chill of the tent. Wet as well. It smelled of mildew and death.

Cave. That was my best guess.

But distinguishing where we were wasn’t as important as making it out alive.

They were blurs. Vague outlines rushing toward me, rushing toward Rain, and that was all I needed to know.

I summoned Graham’s fire to my hand and shot it at the silhouette running toward me. The silhouette burned red and orange, but it kept running.

Pressed against my back, Rain circled an arm around me. She twined our fingers together. Then she chanted.

She was almost through the first line when I remembered. I didn’t have a clue what half of the spells meant, much less how to pronounce them. But I recognized this one.

Luci had taught us it for emergencies. He called it, Your Last Resort.

The man drew closer. We didn’t stop chanting. He was only inches away from me when yellow burst from my flesh, coalescing with the pink of Rain’s soul as it exploded out of her.

Illuminating the tunnel, the energy of our souls thrashed through the man’s body. Only inches from my face, he fell to the ground.

The top half of him did, at least.

The bottom half, from his belly button to his feet, stayed standing. For a few seconds, anyway.

That power smacked off the walls of the cave and rang like a bell. It traveled at hyper speed, out of sight. Screams sounded. The scent of blood—that sickly, wrong blood I had smelled at camp—filled my nostrils.

And then, silence.

Silence, and the dim glow of the distant campfire and torches somewhere around the bend.

Rain released my hand.

Walking past me, she unsheathed the blade at her hip. Once at my assailant’s side, she squatted, grabbed the man’s hair to stabilize his head, and rammed the blade into his skull.

“I think being cut in half probably did the job, love,” I said.