Page 57 of Clash of Kingdoms

But one demon was enough of a challenge, so three would be an impossible feat.

Ian joined me, raising his sword to block the incoming steel just in time. I blocked both swords from my assailants with my axe and sword, but I wouldn’t be able to do that for long. I dodged a hit by one then blocked the other, moving with a speed I wasn’t aware I was capable of. Instead of thinking about every detail of the battle, I cleared my mind and acted on instinct, moving, blocking, striking, taking on two demons at once with ease. But as the minutes passed, my muscles fatigued, and I lost the speed I needed to keep up the fight.

The demon on the right grinned, like he knew I would fail. “The king isn’t as mighty as they say.” He pushed forward, forcing me back into a puddle that went to my shins and made it hard to move. He had the upper hand because my feet were rigid, and all I could do was twist and turn my body to meet his blows. If I tried to move, I would probably slip. I knew I couldn’t hold this. I knew I would be defeated if I didn’t leave that pool of mud or defeat one of them.

But then Aurelias emerged, blocking the sword with his black blade and shoving the demon back. He pushed through the mud and forced the demon back onto dry land, using strength and speed I couldn’t match as a human.

The other demon dropped his focus for just a second to watch the vampire pass, and that was enough for me to slice my blade into the flesh of his arm and make his insides ooze out. I struck him again, hitting him hard enough to force him back. That was enough time for me to get out of the pool of mud and find firm ground to dig my boots into the earth.

The demon released a war cry then swooped down toward me, slicing his blade through the air as he barreled down on me, trying to push me back into the mud. I faked to my left and dodged his hit, turning the other way so the mud was no longer at my back. He released another scream as he came for me, furious his plan had been foiled. “You pathetic human.” His blade moved quicker than before, so fast I struggled to keep up, barely making my blocks in time. Sweat dripped down my temples and burned my eyes, but I didn’t have a single moment to wipe away the beads of salt. “I’ll burn you the way I burned your pretty wife.”

Our swords came together, and then time stopped. I looked at him across our joined steel, and I felt the air leave my lungs. The battle raged around us, but time had stopped for the two of us. Images of my wife’s wet eyes came back to me, the destroyed flesh that would leave her beautiful neck scarred for the rest of her life. It was hard to look at her—and it would always be hard to look at her.

Strength that came out of nowhere burst from my arms, and I shoved him back, a demon a foot taller than me that had the density of the earth. Vitriol wanted to spill from my lips, but I needed to save my energy for the fight, because words wouldn’t break through attacks and blocks. Only brute force.

He grinned like he’d gotten the reaction he wanted. “Looks like the little pathetic human is upset?—”

I grabbed my axe from my back and used both weapons to bear down on him, to swipe and block simultaneously, to make him sweat from the speed of my ferocity. His grin dropped as I continued my assault, having to focus all his energy on my attack.

He had to move his sword faster to block both of my weapons, on the defensive rather than offensive, and he was the one who was driven back into the throes of battle. Humans and demons around us screamed as they perished from bloody assaults. It seemed to just be the two of us, locked in the only battle that really mattered. I swung my axe for his head to cave in his skull, but he cut it down with his sword—and severed it in two.

Now his grin was back worse than before. He pushed me back with his blade, striking at my armor because the power had shifted, and now he was on the offensive. Invigorated by my broken axe, he pushed me back toward the puddle of mud, moving so fast I could barely keep track of where his blade was. “Should I burn your face so you’ll match?”

I released a scream as I fought back, wanting the upper hand but unable to attain it. The battle had raged for hours but it felt like days, and my muscles had fatigued fighting opponents bigger and stronger than me. I tried to push back, but my boots slipped into the mud, and then the watery grave covered my chin.

“Or should I drown you in filth?”

I gritted my teeth and continued my fight, my boots losing their grip on the slippery ground. I pictured my death, the demon shoving my face into the water as he laughed, my body convulsing as my lungs inhaled the dirty water. I wasn’t afraid to die, but I didn’t want Ivory to live with that image of me.

He blocked my hit then kicked me in the chest.

I fell back, splashing in the shallow pool of dirt.

Fuck.

He moved over me, his hand reaching for my neck.

I tried to roll without turning over, tried to kick. My blade got lost in the mud, and I couldn’t find it.

“Come here, Your Majesty.”

Just when his hand reached for me, he stilled and then stumbled, his grin gone and his eyes empty. He suddenly dropped to his knees, his hand reaching behind as if to grab something. And then he fell face first on top of me.

I moved out of the way through the mud, my face covered in it, and I saw the demon hit the mud and then sink, only the sword protruding from his back visible. I stared at it for several seconds as I breathed before I looked up to see Aurelias.

But it wasn’t Aurelias.

It was Atticus.

Horror was written across his face as he looked at me, like a scared little boy who had just had a nightmare. “Father.” He rushed to me, splashing through the mud before got to me and grabbed me by the arm.

Wide-eyed and shocked, all I could do was stare. I was aware of my body leaving the puddle but wasn’t sure how it happened. I stood on my feet in the mud and looked at him, possessing Ivory’s eyes but my face. I gripped his shoulders before I crushed his body into mine to hug him, to squeeze him tight despite the heavy armor that separated us both.

He breathed hard against me, scarred by what he’d just seen.

I cupped the back of his head and felt my lungs gasp for the same air. The battle continued around us, screams piercing the morning light. Sunrise had arrived, and the gruesomeness of the battle became even more visible.

I pulled away to look at him, but words failed me.