Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Useless elf!” Trin blocked another of Rei’s slashes and countered quickly. “You’ve gone soft living with the humans. Mating with a human.”
“Vampire!” Rei’s shout rose above the metallic ring of swords and the cries of the dying. “I love a vampire. I fuck a vampire. And my family is now comprised of a big clan of vampires and a goddamn dragon!”
“Sexy, babe.” Yichen cackled.
Junjie would have rolled his eyes at the pair, but two elves and what could have been a pixie were trying to circle him. He was running through his daggers as he tried to take out the oversized dragonfly. The thing was faster at dodging him than the troll. The elves were also taking turns trying to skewer him.
“Let me lend you a hand,” Huli called out. The fox spirit thundered across the field, ran up his back, and leaped off Junjie’s shoulders. A blur of orange, black, and white flew through the air, that big mouth open and aimed right at the pixie. A high-pitched shriek cut through the night and fell silent before the fox landed.
“I will kill you and no one will question my claim to the throne,” Trin growled.
“Just take the throne to our realm with the rest of the fae and close the damn door. No one will question your claim then!” Rei roared, but the fighting went on with a clang of swords.
The sky split with a bright flash of lightning, followed by ear-shattering thunder that shook the ground. Rain fell in blinding sheets, drenching everyone and everything in an instant. Vision dropped to almost nothing. It was useless to throw his last couple of daggers at the elves in front of him. The rain had made it impossible to aim or even see. As it was, he was simply trying to remain ahead of both the swords that were trying to cut him to pieces.
Luck shone on him. One elf with liquid black eyes slipped on a wet patch and the surprise allowed Junjie to get inside of his guard. With barely more than a flick of his wrist, the tip of his blade slashed across the elf’s throat, opening a gaping wound he wouldn’t survive.
Yet, as he spun to counter a slash from his other opponent, the earth trembled under the pounding of hoofs. He blocked a blow and glanced over to see more than a dozen horses with elvan riders plunging out of the deep shadows of the forest. And in the lead was Trin’s right-hand enforcer, Aire Bira.
This was taking a terrible turn. Junjie struggled to finish the fight with his current opponent before one of the approaching elves on horseback could run him down. They were outnumbered, and the weather had turned against them. The smart option was to retreat, but he fought on, waiting for Xiao Dan to issue a new order.
“Shixiong?” Yichen shouted. His shidi had come to the same conclusion. Survival meant running, but would they still escape with their lives? The sudden downpour was turning the ground into a soggy marsh. Could they even move faster than the horses and their sword-wielding riders?
“Retreat to higher ground!” Xiao Dan shouted.
“No!” Rei screamed. “I can end this now!”
“Rei!” Yichen bellowed, and a fist gripped Junjie’s heart. If the elf refused to disengage from his fight with Trin, Yichen would remain at his side, protecting him until the bitter end. And if Yichen didn’t leave, none of them would leave. They’d lost him once…
“Fire!”
Junjie was still trying to figure out who’d shouted that single word when the dark sky filled with arrows cutting between the raindrops to pummel the newly arrived elves. He stumbled a couple of steps as the arrows found the throat and eyes of the elf he’d been fighting. The elf gasped, only to have it change into a strangled gurgle as he crumpled to the ground. His pale-white skin changed to gray and black. Those were poison-tipped arrows.
Taking the opening, Junjie twisted to search the woods behind him. He spotted a short slender elf with hair as white as moonlight standing on a thick tree branch several meters above the ground. A bow was clenched in her left fist while she pulled an arrow from her quiver on her hip. These arrows were much larger than the poison ones that had filled the air.
“Who is that?” Yichen demanded.
“Move your ass, Rei!” the female elf shouted.
“Fine!” Rei growled. He slipped away from Trin as more arrows flew at the would-be king of the elves. “We’re leaving.”
“Who is that?” Yichen asked a second time as he followed a step behind Rei. Junjie and Xiao Dan fell in with them, racing as quickly as they could through the trees and away from the fight with Trin’s army. Huli ran to join them, his brilliant fur soaked and matted, making him look more like a giant orange rat.