The Fairest (Book #1)

47: Purple Veins

They're brothers? Mageia was astonished. She tried to find any resemblance between them, but couldn't, except for the fact that they were about the same height.

Before Gris could respond, Eron growled, loathe fueling the punch to the prince's face. Mageia screamed as he dropped to the floor. Eron raised his boot and stomped Gris in the face, shoulder, chest, groin, legs ... everywhere. Blood soaked the prince's shirt as bones cracked. His hands, still bounded behind his back, sickened Mageia to the core.

Mageia's cries and pleas fell on deaf ears. With all her strength, she fought against Sii's restraints until the magic from the mystical rope sucked into her body and loosened it enough for her to wiggle free. She elbowed the grinning Sii in the jaw. He released his grip to caress the injury. She took two steps, but slammed into one of the soldiers coming to block her advance. Instantly, she budded him in the nose with her forehead. It did nothing to help her advance towards Eron because Sii had quickly recovered and reclaimed his hold about her arms and waist.

Eron stopped his torture and glared down at the prince, who was moaning and coughing in distress.

"I never could understand why he chose you over me. Just because I was born a Fiisen doesn't mean he gets to disown me!"

"Eron, please stop. Let us talk about this. There must be a reason," Mageia begged, tears streaming down her face.

"Shut up!"

"You're a lying bastard," Gris managed to choke out.

The crimson veins along Eron's neck and arms gradually turned darker. Fear twisted her lungs. He could simply set the prince on fire. Instead, he stepped over Gris and dropped to his knees until he sat on top of him. He brought his hands around his neck. "With all that knowledge in your head, you are nothing but a fool."

"Fut you," Gris croaked.

Eron brought his reddening hands around Gris' neck and slowly squeezed. Mageia yelled for him to stop and knew she had to save Gris. He'd risked his entire life and reputation because of her. Saving him was the least she could do. She clenched her teeth and sought the hand-to-hand combat training she and her family had learned.

She yanked her arm from Sii's bear hug and jerked her head backwards into Sii's nose this time. He yelped and released her to caress the injury. When the closest soldier ran up to her, she deflected his reaching hands until she was able to grab some fingers. She used all her strength to bend them backwards and the man screamed in agony. He hunched over as she continued to bend then punched him square in the face.

As he faltered and fell to the floor, she skillfully grabbed the dagger poking from his belt and spun around just in time to jabbed it into Sii's shoulder. The shadowdemon screeched in pain and backed away. She yanked the dagger out and faced the third soldier with the fresh scar across his face. He had unsheathed his sword and quickly advanced to get in her way. She easily repositioned the dagger and threw it at him. It lodged perfectly into the soft material between his breastplate and shoulder plate. He recoiled in pain, dropping his sword in the process.

She ran to Eron and tried to pry him off Gris. "Stop it, Eron! Please, don't do this."

Gris' bloodshot eyes widened in terror as he gurgled for oxygen. With his hands still bound, he couldn't do anything but squirm beneath Eron's weight. But then Eron released him for a second to jab her in the stomach with his elbow. She doubled over in the pain and coughed up bile. A familiar cold touch grabbed her by the ankles and yanked her off her feet. She slammed to the floor, smacking the side of her face.

Before she could process the burning pain, the shadowdemon dragged her away from Eron, who resumed to strangling Gris. She screamed in frustration and turned onto her back to fight Sii, now transformed into his monstrous form. She punched at the creature, grinning at her with sharp teeth, and touched dead air. His hissing laugh echoed into her ears.