Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
As their group marched forward, working as a unit, they left carnage in their wake. It wasn’t long before they started winning. The number of trolls depleted, allowing Micah to see farther and wider. Still no sign of Viori. He clung to his cold detachment, needing it. Until—
“Die already!” The precious voice rose through the chorus of grunts and groans. He and Kaysar straightened with a snap. Red.
Unable to flitter, they sprinted across the distance and found her at the far edge of camp. Viori and Fayette were midbattle, fighting each other with savage intensity. Dirt streaked them both. Their clothes were torn and soaked with crimson, evidence of massive injuries received and healed.
The oracle swiped a dagger while Viori clawed and bit. Micah’s feral kitten delivered more blows than she received. Pride and relief swelled his chest. Nearby, Lavina was sprawled across the ground, blood soaked and unmoving, with Ragdar dead beside her.
Lavina all along. Another twisted vision. Fayette had known Lavina would die by the troll king’s hands. Most likely Norok had known, too. And they’d let it happen, perhaps even arranged it, simply to frighten Micah.
Norok was now engaged in a similar battle with Elena, the two wielding daggers.
Intending to kill the warrior and oracle, one after the other, Micah sprang forward—and hit an invisible wall, bouncing back. He didn’t understand. He sprang forward again, his brain rattling against his skull upon impact. Next, he stabbed at the invisible block, but his sword bent. Graves and John joined him, but even they proved unsuccessful.
Realization set in, and panic hit. Norok had the stones Elena had stolen from Kaysar and Cookie. The traitor had created the dome, protecting himself from the trolls as much as Micah’s wrath.
Viori caught sight of him and missed her next punch, allowing Fayette to tackle her, taking her to the dirt. As the pair rolled together in a tangle of fury, Micah and company fought against the dome with all their might.
“How do we overcome this?” Micah demanded.
“I do not know,” Kaysar responded, “but we had better find a way.”
The soldiers helped them, wielding swords, arrows and fists, but nothing proved successful.
The two sets of combatants, trapped inside the dome, proved equally matched, no one able to overcome the other.
Norok dodged one of Elena’s charges. “Sister, join me.”
“Why did you have to kill Sabot?” she cried, slashing at him.
The warrior blocked and launched a slash of his own. “He came from the Spring Court to infiltrate our land. They think to take it from us. He couldn’t be allowed to report his findings. I’m sorry, sister. I am. But I won’t allow you to stop this. I will rule the Dusklands, and my trolls will round up everyone who has sworn fealty to Kaysar and Cookie and kill them all.”
“You are not Micah,” Elena spit, striking at him. “You cannot control the trolls.”
Another block, followed by a strike of his own. “I don’t need to control them with force,” he spit back.
Norok was shirtless and littered with gashes. A metal collar circled his throat, preventing him from flittering away. That was Viori’s collar. Given to him courtesy of his sister? Had Elena returned to the swamp to collect it? Shock inundated him. Had she turned on her own flesh and blood for Micah’s sake? For his people?
Norok swiped a trail of blood from his lip, saying, “They serve me willingly. They love me. They’ll love you, too. If you’ll let them.”
“You mean they fear you because of the lies Fayette has projected.” Again, Elena spit the words at him.
“It’s more than that. I’m the one who has cared for them in their frozen state all these centuries, promising them a life beyond their wildest dreams. A few have been freed from Micah’s compulsion throughout their imprisonment, and I had only to breed a new army. Since the arrival of his little Red, more and more have gained freedom and joined me.”
Micah heard the confession, but he didn’t care. He only wanted Viori safe. He fought the dome with all his considerable strength.
“Keep my sister alive, whatever you must do,” Kaysar commanded before he ran from the battle. Retreating? Now? No, he most likely went for help. Cookie?
Micah’s children took posts at his back, guarding him as he continued working on the dome, trusting him to protect their mother. When Fayette lost her grip on the dagger, Red swooped in and—he blinked. Unleash rage? Oh yes. That and more. His perfect little wife seized the upper hand, ripping out the oracle’s throat with her teeth. Before the other woman had a chance to heal, Red swiped up the fallen dagger and struck, stabbing her opponent in the heart.
Relief flared and died inside Micah as Viori rolled to her back rather than stand. She peered up at the sky, panting as Elena and Norok continued to viciously slash at each other.