A Court of Stars and Shadow

Chapter 45

It had all gone to hell. Everything.

The Montesere army had not marched over the mountain as we suspected but set camp at the base of the mountain. We had no choice but to meet them there and it wasn't long after the first lines clashed together with a wicked thud did the other half of the army appear from the surrounding trees. It had been my job since to pick out every single one, that task distracting me from helping the others on the field, leaving them to fight at a disadvantage. Carnel had gone down after the first couple minutes, leaving me with Feyre. But it was different this time, we both kept an eye on each other at all times, him specifically through the bond, keeping true to the promise he made himself. Never again would he leave me alone.

We were on our own, no one was coming to help us, so we needed to help ourselves. I wonder how the other army was doing, hopefully not as bad as we were seeing as they had the high lords. I told them all I could do this, told Rhys, and I was never wrong.

More arrows flew out of the hidden tree canopy and I growled. Tucked away on a higher overlook Carnel had found for me I used my power to shake the branches; men came tumbling down. I expected someone to finish them off, but everyone was too busy on the blood bath that was laid out before me. The archers stood and ran off deeper into the trees. I licked the top row of my teeth and flicked my pointer finger. I felt more than saw my vines slither from the trees and wrap around each of the fleeing archers' necks, I didn't hesitate to pull, and pulled hard. The archers didn't move after that, their bodies left to hang, merciless to the wind.

With another clench of my fist I brought a rumble into the armies, both sides caught off guard; but the difference was that our army was used to it, expecting it even if they didn't exactly know what or who it was and recovered quicker, using the momentary distraction to make the final blow against their opponents. The archers had brought down a few of our own when we were first ambushed, and for the first time since this miserable battle began, we had evened the numbers again, our men now fighting against one other soldier instead of two.

Carnel was deep in the thicket of the fight, occasionally defending himself against three or four males at once to keep them from attacking his brothers, taking on the brunt himself. Showoff.

I roamed my eyes across the commotion, repeating things I had done earlier today already, my power beginning to strain even if I didn't want to admit it to myself yet. But it was taxing, the constant use of my power and doing multiple things at once. There, at one side, one of our soldiers was injured but on the other side of the field, a sword came soaring for the unprotected side of one of our soldiers. It didn't take a second before my power reacted, dragging the wounded soldier to the medics and letting the ground swallow the attacking soldier seconds before his sword connected to the winter soldiers' neck. His sword clattered to the ground without a sound and the ground closing up above his head. He had minutes at most before he suffocated.

My power was pounding throughout my body, thrumming through the blood in my veins.

More, more my power seemed to beg even as the familiar burning sensation began to creep up the bottom of my back.

More and more soldiers did I help, never getting more than a couple of seconds to catch my breath; to strategize so I could finish this battle quicker. It would have been easier If our army wasn't here at all, like I told them earlier. But with our own soldiers mixed up in the madness, the precision, the control it would take to kill them all at once would be too much for the amount of power I have left.

On the field our front line to the left flank fell and I cursed. I watched as Carnel impaled a Montesere soldier and threw him off like a child with a doll and turned to scream orders at another general.