Night of the Storm: An Epic Fantasy Novel (The Eura Chronicles Book 2) (20 page)

THE PATH WAS OVERGROWN WITH
tree roots, old leaves, and sun-bleached weeds that reached their knees. Ayoki and Mai followed behind Luc, still mystified by this new world, yet worried that they took a route so out in the open.

Eura was beautiful, bright, and full of light. The sky was so calm, with birds fluttering above, seemingly singing as they flew from tree to tree.

As Ayoki wiped her face of sweat, she yearned for the safety the underground provided. The sun, with its intense rays of light, bothered her eyes, and its heat was almost intolerable. The cool comfort of a cave was still preferable to this bright world.

“I hear you were taken by Bellens,” Luc said, breaking Ayoki from her thoughts.

“We were,” Mai answered, giving Ayoki a sidelong glance.

Ayoki was grateful for Mai’s discretion. She could have killed every Bellen within seconds, but fear kept her held in submission.

Visions of being poked and prodded, tested and experimented on was not nearly as disturbing as the memories of her childhood.

Pretica’s face kept trying to wedge itself into her mind, but Ayoki pushed it back. She didn’t want to remember, but one memory in particular, wouldn’t be silenced. It fought to return to her, and each time it appeared, she placed her hand on her belly, where comfort awaited, and the memory vanished into the dark recesses of her twisted mind.

Everything would be better once her child was born. Ayoki was certain of it.

Her jaw hardened. She simply prayed that her child wouldn’t be born with her power.

Ayoki kept her eyes fixed on Luc’s back. She knew Mai was still upset with her for being a coward—for not fighting back when they were taken.

She should be ashamed to call herself The Seer.

“What was it like?”

Mai glanced at Ayoki. “It wasn’t pleasant.”

Luc turned to face them, walking backward with a quizzical look on his face. “They’ve been taking girls since before any of us were born. You two were lucky to have been rescued.”

“Lucky?” Mai said with a smile. “I’d say so…Luc.”

A grin crossed to Luc’s face, one that neither of the Shadow Elf girls had seen since Hartwig sent them off with him.

It was a nice smile, warm, and perhaps a little shy.

A whistling sound made Ayoki pause on the worn road.

The blood drained from her face as an arrow shot into Luc’s shoulder and poked out the other side.

Mai’s scream filled the entire forest, shrill, desperate, and laden with terror.

Ayoki slapped a hand over Mai’s mouth, silencing her, and whipped her around to run. Mai recovered quickly, keeping up with Ayoki as they darted into the trees.

Luc.

They hadn’t the time to look back. Another new friend would be no more.

Soldiers. The sounds of their boots haunted her as they ran into the forest.

The underbrush was thick, making it a feat to run without getting caught by roots, vines, and fallen logs. Each step took them farther away from whoever shot that arrow.

No other race was as fast as a Shadow Elf.

Ayoki’s eyes widened when a man appeared before her, out of nowhere. He materialized at such a speed that his body was a blur.

What trait was that?

He was human. Tall, with a clean-shaven face, bright green eyes, and a wicked smile that turned her blood cold.

Evasion? Is that what this power was? Ayoki was unsure, she hadn’t studied the humans as closely as Pretica. Now, she wished she had.

They wouldn’t be able to run. Not from these soldiers. More materialized before Ayoki and Mai, all with smug smiles on their faces, seemingly pleased to have stunned the young Shadow Elf girls with the traits of their race.

“What do you want from us? We have nothing,” Mai shouted, already in tears.

The leader stepped forward. He grabbed Mai by her neck.

Mai screamed again.

Ayoki tensed. Her right eye twitched.

This wasn’t going to go well.

“Shadow Elves, Captain Marick,” a soldier said, folding his arms over his chest. He was a big man, with muscles that rivaled the statues of Wexcyn himself. No one in Gollush had muscles like that.

Human men were all built bigger. Solid. Strong.

Ayoki wondered if she could defeat them with just her physical strength.

Two human girls with wispy yellow hair ran from the trees, swords ready, determination on their identical faces.

Ayoki crouched low as an all-out battle ensued around her.

She watched as the twin girls fought as fiercely as any warrior she’d seen in Gollush.

The clash of steel against steel rang through the forest. Birds squawked and flew from the trees as the noises of battle grew louder. Ayoki wished she could drown it out.

Too loud.

But the girls fought for them. That was odd.

Why would a human defend them?

“Jaiza,” one of the girls called. “Use your Accuracy. They have Evasion.”

Ayoki’s eyes narrowed as she tried to follow the standoff before her. Evasion against Evasion. It was a scene from a dream as one of the human girls went from soldier to soldier, her image flickering erratically as she shot from one end of the battle to another, clashing steel and flesh to fist and boot.

Excitement filled Ayoki as she watched. Mai crawled over to her. “Let’s go,” she whispered, her eyes wide.

Ayoki raised a finger. For a second she considered helping the human girls. From the looks of it, they could take care of themselves.

Ayoki nodded and started for the forest while the soldiers were occupied.

Again, the man they called Captain Marick appeared before her, his smug smile nowhere to be seen. He reached for Ayoki, grabbing her by the hair.

No.

This was not going to go well.

A STARTLED GASP ESCAPED
Ayoki’s lips as she found herself before the captain’s sun-scorched face.

She slashed him across the cheek with her nails, drawing crimson blood.

A punch to the jaw took Ayoki’s breath away, sending her gasping to her knees. Dirt and pebbles embedded into her flesh as she squeezed her eyes shut against the stinging pain.

“Let her go!”

Mai struggled against two men as they pinned her arms behind her back. The twin girls were captured as well. Disheveled and covered in blood, they didn’t look fearful.

Anger seethed in their large blue eyes.

The battle was quick once it was realized that all of the soldiers had special, human traits that would take more than two well-trained human girls.

The soldiers that held Mai shoved her down until her face was pressed against the dirt.

Mai’s face was ashen, her eyes wide as she looked at Ayoki for help.

“Risa,” Jaiza said through ragged breaths as she was bound and forced to her knees. “Are you okay?”

Risa didn’t reply. Calm, she bent to her knees and glared at the soldiers.

Jaiza’s eyes met Ayoki’s, hard, yet filled with tears.

Something stirred within Ayoki—an anger that she was unused to. Rage boiled in her belly, threatening to burst forth.

They were going to die.

All of them.

“Bring the male over. We will make this quick,” Captain Marick said.

Though bleeding from his mouth, the soldiers brought Luc to the lineup. Luc’s already ash-colored skin was paler than normal, his eyes sunken in as blood dripped from his wound and face.

Still, he was stoic, unflinching in the face of death.

Ayoki wished she could be that strong.

She wiped fresh blood from her own mouth, not liking the salty taste or the sting of her wound. It would have been easy if the soldiers would have listened to Mai.

Marick drew his dagger and forced Ayoki back up to her knees. She grunted as he placed the blade to her throat, the other soldiers following suit to each captive in the clearing.

Her body shook.

Not with fear for herself.

But for them.

Ayoki would have begged them to run far away if she had a voice.

Go. Just go. I will forgive you if you run now.

Her eyes clouded with tears.

At the end of the line was Luc, yet he was first to meet his end.

Ayoki gasped as Luc’s throat was slit, crimson blood spilling onto the dirt.

“No!”

Mai’s scream radiated through Ayoki’s body.

Too late.

A flutter in Ayoki’s body made her tense. The life inside deserved a chance. It was above her self-loathing and fear.

“Ayoki,” Mai cried through terrified gasps for breath. “You are The Seer. Please.”

“Seer?” White fingers curled under Ayoki’s chin, tilting her head back so far that her long ponytail brushed against the small of her back. Marick was prepared to show Ayoki the same fate as Luc.

Ayoki sucked in a long breath.

And closed her eyes.

A soft buzz—like a swarm of bees came from the ground as purple smoke crept up Ayoki’s wiry body. Her skin cooled as the smoke—the power—filled her.

A hum filled her chest, clutching her lungs.

It had been so long.

“Ahhh,” Ayoki breathed, mystified by the sound of her own voice.

Marick’s fingers left her chin as if caught on fire. He looked down at his hand and shot a glare back at Ayoki’s face.

“Kill them. Now,” he ordered, raising his dagger.

“What’s happening, Captain?” The soldier seemed unsure, his eyes watching the rising smoke as it laced around their feet and up their legs.

Ayoki opened her eyes and raised a hand toward Marick. His dagger was ripped from his grip by an unseen force and shot to Ayoki’s open palm.

“You’re all about to die,” Ayoki said, her voice echoing through the trees.

Mai’s eyes widened.

She’d never seen this side of Ayoki, devoid of fear—the side that took Marick by the hand and thrust him to the dirt.

It happened within seconds, too quick for most eyes to see, or for anyone to retaliate.

Captain Marick groaned as Ayoki’s boot pressed against his throat.

“Mai,” Ayoki called.

Cool.

Calm.

“Girls,” her eyes going to the fierce set of twins that had risked their lives to save a pair of Shadow Elves they didn’t even know.

She’d spare them.

Mai looked from Captain Marick to Ayoki. Her lips trembled at seeing the whites of Ayoki’s eyes blacked out, her feet hovering above the ground and she folded her arms across her chest, Marick’s dagger still in her hand.

“Go and wait for me in the trees. Far from the circle.”

The purple smoke began to cover the ground around them like a thick fog.

Mai nodded, shaking as she came to her feet and darted into the forest.

“Hurry now,” Ayoki purred.

There was no room for fear when The Seer power filled her and took control. She’d never felt more confident in her life.

Mai ran, crunching dead leaves beneath her quick steps. The two human girls followed, desperate to keep up with Mai’s speed.

Good girls
, she thought.

Once Mai and the twins were far from Ayoki’s area of effect—the range of her power, Ayoki cracked her knuckles and sucked in a long breath.

“Now,” she said, exhaling. She tilted her head, her sullen eyes fixed on Marick’s. “We shall begin.”