The Past Lies Ahead (A Throne Of Glass Fanfic)

Chapter 40

Alright, here goes... phew, sweaty palms.

Rowan dodged when his former comrades, who were once more bound to the evil queen, launched their attacks on him. He sent Lorcan stumbling back with a strong wind and locked blades with Gavriel.

«What in hell are you doing, Rowan?» Gavriel growled over their crossed blades, pushing hard against. «Betrayal is impossible with the oath.»

Rowan opened mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Lorcan who launched himself back into the fight.
Rowan blocked the blow from Lorcan, and sidestepped one from Gavriel. Then he swung his sword, and threw ice daggers at the same time. But both attacks were blocked by his opponents, and they quickly followed up with new attacks of their own that he parried and dodged.

He retreated a few steps to give himself more room. «Like I told Lorcan earlier, Maeve is not fae, she has lied to us these years.» he grounded out just as Lorcan sent a wave of his shadow magic towards him. Rowan flung up a shield to deflect him, then sent ice daggers flying towards his friend. Gavriel, however, stayed back and seemed to hesitate.

Rowan heard Aelin taunt Maeve to join the fight, and to his astonishment, she did.

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She created a dome of fire around herself when the wolves launched at her, then she slammed it outwards throwing the twins far away to either side of the room. The smell of burned fur tickled her nostrils. She looked to the white wolf just as he leapt and disappeared through the air, and Aelin braced herself from the oncoming attack. Except it never came, instead Fenrys appeared at his brothers side and he shifted to his fae form. Connall lay motionless on the floor as his brother checked him, Aelin prayed that he wasn't mortally wounded.

In the corner of her she saw that a sudden wave of darkness came flying towards her, but she had gotten too distracted by the twins and did not react fast enough to parry the attack. A thin layer of fire sprung up a split second before the darkness hit, but did little to absorb the impact. Aelin was thrown backwards, a small cry of pain escaped her as she hit the floor. She rolled a couple of times before she sprung back to her feet, flared more magic into Goldryn, making in glow so brightly that it looked like a star, and charged directly at Maeve.

Darkness gathered around the dark queen as she too funneled her power, and then charged towards her with her sword poised to strike. Aelin roared a battlecry and swung her blade at Maeve's neck. Maeve grinned viciously and struck out with her sword and magic.

All sound vanished for a second as the two females blades struck, then an earth shattering boom followed shortly after as their magics erupted. The magic shockwave tore through the room slamming all the males against the walls, and cracks began to form on the floor and ceiling.

Aelin swiped left, then twisted her sword towards Maeve's legs while throwing a ball of fire at her right side. She spun to her left as Maeve slashed at her, and Aelin swung her sword in a wide arch at Maeve's exposed side only to be wrapped in darkness and wrenched from her hands. The sword clattered to the floor, and skidded away from the dueling pair.

Aelin drew her fighting daggers.

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Rowan scrambled to his feet after being thrown to the wall by Aelin and Maeve. He saw Aelin's sword slide across the floor, still glowing from her magic, and sprinted towards it while the cadre all around the room began getting their feet too.

He grabbed Goldryn, then spun around towards his Fireheart. The fighting between the females were vicious, a whirlwind of fire and darkness, of daggers and a sword. Rowan created a wall of hard air to keep the cadre busy for a little while, then spread ice across the floor. Maeve slipped on the ice, but did not fall down as he had hoped. However, the opening was all Aelin needed as she barreled into the queen, sending them both tumbling to the ground.