Chapter 53: A Massacre In Darkholme II

𖤐••{SERAPHINE’S POV}••⛧

The hem of my gown sweeps across the blood-stained floor as I slowly walk through the carnage surrounding me.

This is my home.

No one comes into my home, raises a blade against my family and lives to tell the tale.

As a swarm of traitors thunder toward me with their blades of nightbane, my feet leave the ground and I rise high into the air.

I don’t raise my hands.

I don’t need to, because the blood spilled across the throne room answers me anyway.

The blood peels itself off the floor in thick ribbons and gathers toward me, hardening into dozens of spears.

The spears float around me until I point a single finger and they descend with terrifying speed, plunging through every part of the traitors’ bodies and pinning them to the floor.

The moment I turn, my eyes widen as dozens of arrows head toward me.

I jerk sideways, narrowly avoiding the first few arrows as they whistle past my shoulder. Then I duck beneath the rest and they fly past my head.

Before I can recover, another swarm of arrows shoots toward me.

I twist and duck between them as fast as I can, but every time I evade one, another three seem to take its place, leaving me no time to breathe.

I barely manage to dodge two arrows aimed for my heart, only to turn and freeze when an arrow passes right in front of my eyes, so close that I feel the wind brush against my lashes.

My heart jolts painfully in my chest.

I immediately thrust my hand toward the blood coating the floor and it surges upward, forming shields that surround me entirely.

My eyes dart frantically across the throne room, searching for the source of the arrows until my gaze lands on a few guards hiding behind pillars, their crossbows aimed directly at me.

The blood shields liquefy instantly, collapsing into streams that whip through the air like curved blades, slicing across the guards before they can react. Their heads tumble from their shoulders, and their bodies hit the floor.

But one of them manages to dodge the attack.

He immediately raises his crossbow and fires.

The arrow flies straight toward me, but I thrust out my hand, stopping it mid-air just inches from my face.

With a sharp flick of my wrist, the arrow turns around and hurtles back toward him, plunging straight into his eye.

He drops his crossbow and collapses to the floor, screaming as he claws desperately at his face.

Without lifting a finger, I violently rip the guard off the floor, leaving him dangling helplessly in mid-air. I raise one hand, and as I begin curling my fingers inward, his wails echo throughout the throne room as his limbs twist and snap, bones bursting from his flesh.

The second I clench my hand into a fist, blood splatters everywhere and his body crumples into a mangled ball of flesh and bone, dropping to the floor with a sickening thud.

A deep, rumbling sound echoes through the throne room. I turn toward the direction of the sound to find Nayeesha breaking a pillar into boulders and crushing the traitors beneath them.

But something else catches my eye.

A guard at the far side of the throne room, aiming his crossbow directly at Nayeesha.

The second he lets go of the arrow, I fly toward Nayeesha in a split second, pushing her out of the way just as the arrow whistles past where her head had been.

Both of us crash to the floor but I spring to my feet immediately, levitating a fallen sword and launching it across the room. The blade plunges through the guard’s chest and pins him to a wall, his body twitching violently for a moment before going completely still.

"Your Majesty," Nayeesha pants as she sits upright. "Thank you."

"You can thank me when this is all over," I say, offering her a hand. "Now get up."

She takes my hand without hesitation and I pull her to her feet. Then we stand with our backs pressed together as more traitors rush toward us from every direction.

"There’s too many of them and not enough of us!" she shouts over the noise.

"If that is a problem for you, then give up," I say sharply.

Then I glance over my shoulder and look her in the eyes.

"But I will fight till my last breath."

꧁ ✧༺ ❦ ༻✧ ꧂

••{RHIANNON’S POV}••

The clang of steel against steel rings in my ears as I strike hard and fast, locked in a deadly dance with a guard.

Every time his blade clashes with mine, the impact rattles my bones and my fingers go numb for several heartbeats, but still, I tighten my grip around the sword and stand my ground.

The guard’s strikes grow faster and faster, making it difficult for my eyes to follow. I do the best I can to keep up, but I find myself slowly being driven back as I defend myself, barely managing to block every incoming strike.

When he launches another vicious swing, instead of blocking with my blade, I bend so far backward that my back nearly touches the ground. The second his blade sweeps over my face, I spring upright and slam my heel into his chest, sending him stumbling backward.

Before he can regain his balance, I spin around and slice my sword through his neck, sending his head tumbling from his shoulders.

The moment I turn around, I freeze when I see a maid standing a few steps away. Her lips stretch into a wide, delighted smile as she walks toward me with daggers in her hands.

"Empress," she says sweetly. "We really underestimated you."

I raise my sword, slowly circling her as I keep my distance.

"Just look at this," she continues, glancing around the throne room. "The way you forced us out of the dark was just too brilliant. None of us could have ever seen it coming. You would have made a good ruler if you were born a man."

My grip tightens around my sword.

"I am the firstborn child of one of the greatest kings in the history of mankind," I say, my tone unwavering. "I don’t need to be a man to rule."

The maid slowly licks her lips.

"Oh, you have no idea how I’ll enjoy slitting your throat, human," she says softly. "And finally, I will feast on that sweet... sweet blood."

I lift my sword, pointing it straight at her heart.

"I’d love to see you try," I say.

She hisses and closes the distance in a second, swinging her daggers so wildly that I can’t even predict her next move.

I abandon offense immediately and focus on survival—dodging, ducking, twisting—doing everything I can not to get hurt.

Her daggers slashes so close to my face that I feel the air rush past my cheek.

My heart nearly bursts through my chest.

If I get cut and my blood is exposed, this stops being a battle of the loyals against the traitors and they will all turn against me.

The maid fights wilder, forcing me back step by step.

I try to regain control, to read her movements, but she’s too feral, untrained, acting solely on instinct and speed.

As I try to take another step back, my boot slips on blood and I crash to the floor.

The daggers immediately descend on me, but I roll away just in time, only for them to sink deep into the floor.

As the maid tries to rip them free, I seize the opportunity, grabbing my sword then springing to my feet. I plunge the blade deep into her back and it bursts right through her chest.

Her body jerks as she lets out a broken gasp, but before I can pull my sword free, a fist slams into my jaw.

Just as I hit the floor, a guard towers over me and raises his sword.

I quickly throw my arms over my head and squeeze my eyes shut.

But the pain never comes.

Instead, I hear a wet choking sound, followed by the clatter of steel hitting the floor.

I slowly open my eyes to find the guard lying on the floor with a gaping hole in his chest. Seraphine stands over him, blood dripping from her fingers as she holds his still-beating heart.

"You... you saved me," I say, completely breathless.

She gives me a dry look.

"If we all stood around pointing out the obvious, we would have died ages ago," she mutters.

She drops the heart in her palm and crushes it beneath her heel.

"Grab your sword, and stay by my side," she orders.

I nod, scrambling to my feet and snatching my blade from the maid’s corpse.

For a heartbeat, Seraphine and I share a glance before we turn toward the battle together, diving back into it.