IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy

Gabrielle

While Coyne and Heir spoke, the warriors of Dreams and Seduction grew restless and began banging on the shadowy dome with their swords and fists. Locke quickly, but silently gave out orders to his men, as well as to the bewitched wolves from Dire Mountain. With strategic precision he spread them out along the lining of the dome, forming a half-circle around us.

Should the dome of darkness shatter, we would at least be within the ring of men although we were greatly outnumbered.

I scanned the angry faces of those just beyond the swirling shadows and felt a strange heavy grip on my gut. Fear.

Raw, primal fear.

I didn’t know how long Coyne’s shield would last, I didn’t know whether we would survive this, but my eyes shifted to Axel again as he snarled at John. He had promised me he would come for me. He had promised that I would see him again. But he never said anything about surviving the ordeal.

Heir’s fingers dug deeper into my unruly hair, pressing his fingertips to an already sensitive and sore scalp. Pieces of grass, twigs and leaves were entwined with dark brown hair since they had dragged me across the filthy ground. Half of it, I couldn’t even remember.

My body was still weak and pale from blood loss even though the Alpha-blood within me had stopped the bleeding and healed most of the deeper gashes and scrapes hours ago.

Everything hurt and it was an effort to move even an inch.

John started backing up towards me and Axel didn’t miss it for a second. The yellow in his eyes glowed a vibrant gold and his lips pulled back, revealing his canines as he lunged.

His wolf was leading the assault, although he remained mostly human. The muscles in Axel’s arms and back flexed as he unsheathed two large hunting blades, mid-air, one gripped tightly in each hand.

He threw himself at John with the swiftness of a predator, mere feet away from us, while Heir’s fingers constricted into a tight fist around my hair.

Without delay and with violent intent, the young prince jerked me up to his chest in one swift move. My scalp burned in protest and eyes watered.

Before I could even blink the tears away, all hell broke loose inside the dome.

Warriors charged. Blades clashed against metal and cries of rage ripped through the forest.

Coyne, lethal and frightening rushed towards us but stopped short when Heir flicked a switchblade open and pressed it to my throat in a heartbeat. The young prince’s energy wafted around us in deep shades of burgundy and purple. He was conflicted, on edge and very dangerous. His racing heart beat like a drum in his ribcage close to my ears, the sounds so loud it was almost deafening.

Axel and John were a blur of limbs and blades. Both experienced warriors. Exceptional on the battlefield. I couldn’t look. It could have gone any which way. Axel was stronger than John. But John had more years on his belt. He was also deceitful and cunning. A trickster.

“Lower your dome or I’ll slit the pretty girl’s throat,” Heir hissed.

Coyne reluctantly lifted his hands in the air and Locke, the general that he was, barked out orders behind him.

For a second, Coyne’s eyes lingered on Axel and John, contemplating. Then, he glanced over his shoulder at Locke, who gave him the slightest hint of a nod and began glowing from the inside.

Progressively, light emanated from him, and lightning started to dance at his fingertips. That strong, familiar jaw I had grown up with clenched as he moved his brown eyes from Coyne to me. It was obvious he and king Coyne had some sort of an unspoken agreement.

“Today, old man!” Heir hissed again, drawing the tiniest bit of blood from my neck and nodding towards the dome.

I tried to shift in his hold, change into my wolf, but there was nothing left inside of me. All my powers had been drained and I had nothing left to give.

My wolf couldn’t come forward, I was too weak. Stuck in a useless human form.

Finally, Coyne waved his hand in the air and the dome faded into nothing. Warriors on either side pounced and swords clashed. Canines flashed and flesh tore.

The smell of fresh blood and shredded bowels blasted into the atmosphere. A wave of darkness slammed into Heir, flinging him back with such force, I slumped to the ground crying out in pain as he ripped a fist full of hair from my scalp.

Coyne didn’t waste a second and moved before Heir had even touched the ground. Father against son.

Locke’s large body instantly covered mine as he threw himself over me like a shield, blasting a flash of bright light into our enemy’s eyes. The brightness blinded them for a second, giving our warriors the precious time, they so desperately needed, to thrust and shred. I cried beneath Locke as the sounds of agony pierced the night sky.

All around us men were dying.

I could hear their guttural chokes and saw blasts of dark energy exploding harshly before it dissolved into thin air.

It was horrible. The most terrifying experience of my life and I was absolutely useless. I couldn’t shift, couldn’t fight back and had no more wishes left.

I dug my fingers into Locke’s armour as he flung his lightning into approaching warriors. When I heard him curse under his breath, I managed to peek out from under his arm and saw two enormous half man, half scorpion beasts prowl closer. Their pincers snapped and stingers aimed. Both of them had their sights set on Locke. Fat black stingers raised high above their heads, dripping with a bright green substance.

Locke’s warm, calloused hands wrapped around my waist as he hauled me up and ran. “Gabby, you have to run! Can you run!?”

Tears were streaming down my face. I looked over his shoulder and saw the two beasts give chase. I nodded although I knew it was a lie.

I couldn’t weaken Locke, be the reason he got hurt or even died just because I was too weak to run.

“Let me go! Let me go! Fight them! Defend yourself!” I yelled as the beasts closed the distance between us.

“LOCKE!!!”

I slammed my hands over my face as he whirled, a beast’s body crashed down over us, enclosing us in the confined space beneath its chest and armoured insect-like legs.

The air burst from Locke’s lungs in the form of a grunt as he collided into me, pinning me beneath his large frame. The impact had been brutal. Something cracked in my abdomen, sending a sharp jab of pain through me. Possibly a broken rib or two.

His warm breath fanned in my neck as he panted into my hair, pushing himself up, straining his arms to force the beast’s chest away, lifting its heavy weight off of us. “Go,” he groaned, “go now!”

Locke’s thick arms shook from strain, his muscles bulging as he took on the weight of the beast which was trying to crush us underneath him.

I whimpered and crawled out from beneath my eldest friend’s warm chest, leopard-crawling towards the edge of the enormous beast’s body. I didn’t want to leave him, but I knew that I was a burden. If he stood even the slightest chance of survival, it would be without me getting in the way.