Moonlight Prince (Vampire Girl #4)(50)

"The Midnight Star! The Midnight Star has come!" someone cries. A soldier below. Her battalion is the vampires. The ones fighting under Levi and Niam and Asher. A group of them turns and runs. Most stay behind. It matters little. Most of the enemy are Fae, mindless, driven by one purpose. To do as Lucian commands. To win.

I let rage fill me. Rage at what Lucian has done. He robs an entire race of their will and conscience, and now he throws away their lives.

I do not know if what we do is right. This battle. Our side is taking lives as much as theirs. But I know one thing.

When I kill Lucian, the fighting ends.

I grab tighter onto Yami's spikes. "It's time, boy. Now."

He roars and dives down behind the enemy lines. Blue flame erupts from his mouth. We don't target the soldiers. No. We target the earth behind them, creating a wall of fire, cutting Lucian off from his army.

Smoke fills the air. Clouds the sky. I throw my hand in front of my mouth, blocking the vile smog, but some still enters my throat, burning my lungs. I cough and command Yami to fly higher until we find clean air. Below, the battlefield is in chaos. Orange dust hovers over the shore, kicked up by the fighting. Water splashes on the river, red with blood. Blue fire burns beneath the hill. The armies—

Something flies past me.

What—

Again. Something black and sharp.

An arrow. A giant arrow.

I look down to where the commanders would be, and enhance my vision with an incantation. There. In the distance on the hill stand giant contraptions forged from black steel. Ballistae. They fire giant bolts into the air. At us.

"Dodge," I yell, as another one flies toward us.

Yami twirls through the sky, avoiding bolt after bolt.

"We need to get down there. Burn the siege weapons down."

Yami roars, diving at the ballistae. The bolts come faster. One flies above me. One just past my ear.

One—

Yami lurches to the side, flips upside down, and I lose my grip, falling through the sky. I crash down into the earth, onto grass, tumbling to a stop. My legs ache. My hands feel raw. I try to stand and manage. My chest hurts. Maybe a broken rib? If so, it doesn't slow me down much. I run forward searching for Yami. I hear him first. A great big moan. Pain. He's in pain.

Yami. I'm coming. I'm coming boy.

I climb over a hill, and then I see him, lying by the wall of fire, a giant ballista bolt stuck in his wing. Soldiers, one who found their way around the flames, prod at him with spears and swords. He is giant compared to them, like a tiger to mice, but though he snaps and claws at them, he doesn't reach. His movements are small, constrained. It's the bolt, it's hurting him to move. My dragon lies there, near defenseless as people cut at his scales, tear at his wings. I cry out. Feeling his pain as my own.

"Leave him be!" I yell, rushing down the hill.

One of the soldiers looks up at me. "Well, well. There you are."

That voice.

That armor. Red and gold.

He wears the scars from his torture.

Levi stands before me, leading the attack on Yami.

He draws his silver sword. "Remember, girl. I bested you at Stonehill, and I will best you now."

He is the better swordsman, true. But he has my dragon. And no one. No one keeps me from Yami.

I draw Spero and Lux. One blade half white, half black. The other a pale blue, glowing like the moons. Then I close my eyes, recalling the advanced forms Fen taught me. I do not let his memory distract me. There is only the present. Only now.

I open my eyes.

And I charge.

Our blades meet, filling the air with the ringing of steel. Levi is faster than me, parrying blow after blow, but I use my two swords to full advantage, striking twice each time he strikes once. It's the only way I keep up. The only way I keep us tied.

The other soldiers don't enter the fray. I wish they would. Instead, they keep attacking Yami, stabbing at his legs. The dragon whimpers, and I let myself get distracted by his pain.

Levi strikes through my guard, cutting my shoulder. My armor is the only thing that keeps him from taking off my arm. Instead, he gives me a deep cut. I bite down in agony.

Levi hops back, grinning. He could have pressed his advantage, but he gives me a chance to recover. The bastard's enjoying this! He wants to drag out the fight. Wants to hurt me.

I need to end this now. Before a more dangerous enemy like Lucian arrives. Before the soldiers tear Yami apart, causing him to dematerialize.

Every second I waste is a second an innocent Fae or vampire dies in battle.

I need another plan. A better plan. I can't win in a fair fight against Levi. Maybe I could…

"Where is Fenris, I wonder?" asks Levi, prowling around me like a predator. "I would have expected to see him at your side. Did he abandon you, princess? Has Fenris finally run?"

I can't let him get to me. I must focus. Plan. Levi wants to fight me, beat me, humiliate me. I can't let him get reinforcements, but maybe…

Maybe I can get reinforcements of my own.

So I do the hardest thing I can think of. I leave Yami behind.

I turn, running away, running around the wall of fire, toward the armies.

Levi curses behind me. And then he does as I hoped. He follows me.

I sprint as fast as my legs can manage in my heavy armor, my lungs burning with effort. I weave my way through the battlefield, between Fae killing vampires, soldiers fleeing in terror, their morale broken. With an incantation, I enhance my hearing, listening for Levi. His footsteps amongst thousands. I hear him. Drawing closer. Closer. A blade rings through the air.