Chapter 28
The next few moments passed in a haze. Raif had brought a small army with him, and the many Shaedes filtered in through the black space beneath the bower like ants fleeing their mound. Behind Raif charged the king himself, hacking through the crowd of Lyhtans, his sword bright with rusty orange blood and cutting a path to the center of the circle—cutting a path to me.
Tick, hack. Tick, slash. Tick, ring. I stood there, my body nearly limp, my jaw slack and my eyes wide as time marched to its own beat, alternating with the sound of each sword’s stroke. Seven minutes and twelve seconds till twilight. Until then, my allies were weak and our enemies strong.
Lyhtan and Shaede alike lay bleeding and screaming. Raif, Xander, and a few others had broken from the masses, continuing their charge to the center of the circle. I looked frantically toward the dais, where I’d left Delilah. Between the battling bodies, I caught a glimpse of an empty stone table.
Coming to my senses, I pushed the sensation of passing time from my mind—four minutes, forty-four seconds . Shoving and ducking, I fought my way in the direction of the dais, determined to keep Delilah and Azriel from escaping.
Xander saw my struggle and immediately changed his course. With wide-armed swings, his blade cut the air and struck down a Lyhtan; blood gushed from the stump of its arm where the king had severed it at the elbow. He jabbed another straight through its distended stomach and another through the throat. Their wounds were healing fast, though, and if twilight didn’t hurry the fuck up, we’d be screwed before the fight was fair.
A Lyhtan grabbed me by the ankle just as I was about to break through the crowd to the granite dais. I was strong, but it held fast and pulled me close to its sharp-toothed face. “How did you do it?” the Lyhtan demanded, giving me a hard shake. “How do you join with the light and the shadow? Tell me!”
My teeth chattered in my head as the Lyhtan shook me again, and its clawed hands bit deep into my arms, piercing the skin. I waited for the debilitating effects of its poison to kick in, but to both of our surprise, it had no effect whatsoever. I had become immune.
The Lyhtan gave a screeching cry, drawing the attention of the others. An instant shift took place as the battle swung in my direction, the Lyhtans making their way to their prize while the Shaedes sought to impede their progress. And I was caught, kicking and yanking my arms free, with one single-minded mission: find Delilah and Azriel.
Two minutes and five seconds. If the Shaede army could hold off for a little more than one hundred seconds, they’d be safe and the Lyhtans would die. I pushed the thought of time from my mind, though I felt its rhythm soft in my chest. A vicious screech pierced my ear drums and the Lyhtan who held me clutched at its neck, cut deep and squirting blood. Its grip on me slackened, and Xander stepped from around its writhing body to scoop me up in a strong embrace.
“Are you all right?” he asked breathlessly, his face buried in the tangles of my hair.
“Yes,” I said, but I couldn’t have been further from fine. “I need to find Delilah and Azriel,” I said, pulling away. “They’re here somewhere. She’s the one.” I shoved against him. “She’s behind it all. I have to—”
Tick—three, tick—two, tick—one . . . the sun dipped into the west. My knees buckled beneath me as the rush of change to the gray hour swelled in my body, filling me with a dizzy, drunken sensation. The earth seemed to slant beneath my feet, and my head spun. I slipped from Xander’s grasp like wind through a net and he jumped back, shock showing on his strong and handsome face.
No longer light or dark, the scope of my evolved abilities became obvious to me now. I was not restrained by anything. Time did not matter. The sun, moon; the absence and presence of both swayed me. No longer a slave to my corporeal form at any hour, I had become one with those hours. I had, in essence, become time.
“What’s happened to you?” Xander asked.
I didn’t have time to give him a sufficient answer, because Tyler’s bear cry tore through the air, stealing the breath from my lungs.
Delilah had to take a backseat to a more important crisis. The Shaede army was making short work of the Lyhtans, whose power had diminished significantly once the sun had set. The injured were dying; the dying were now dead. And fresh blood flowed at the hands of Raif and his companions as their swords met little to no resistance. But one formidable enemy had been forgotten in all the chaos. More dangerous than Delilah, more devious than Azriel, and more deadly than the most vicious Lyhtan, the Enphigmalé had joined the fray.
As if he knew my thoughts, Raif paused and caught my eye. He ran his sword through his opponent’s chest and pulled a scabbard from around his shoulder. With a great heave, my katana soared above the heads of the fighting armies, and I dug my heels into the ground and took off at a run. I leapt as the katana arched and came down, and caught it in a swift and fluid motion. Ripping the blade from its protective sheath, I discarded the black scabbard and ran through the ranks of allies and foes alike, my form nothing but a passing breeze.
Three of the four gargoyles had converged on Tyler. Bright teeth flashed in the graying light and claws dug into his golden fur. He bit and fought, twisting and swinging with his massive paws, but the tables had turned against him, and he was losing. Blood trickled down his face, and the fur around one shoulder was matted where the flesh was torn. I saw his composure falter, and his glistening nose sniffed the air for barely a moment. He made eye contact, and before he swept his foreleg at a biting mouth, he thrashed his massive head as if to tell me to keep my distance. An Enphigmalé seized the opportunity of his distraction and sank its teeth deep into Tyler’s throat.
He should have known I didn’t follow directions well. Panic surged within me as I put Raif’s training to good use and jumped right in the middle of the feeding frenzy. Tyler had slumped to the ground; I didn’t have time to gauge whether he was conscious or not. My only thought centered on keeping him safe. I kicked at the beast whose jaws snapped repeatedly, trying to finish what it started. The force of the impact sent it flying a good twenty feet or so, and it barreled into a Lyhtan trying to flee the melee. It made a quick and easy meal for the insatiable Enphigmalé that gobbled its prey like it hadn’t already glutted itself for hours.
I swung with the katana at the second gargoyle, who tried to flog me with its great, leathery wings. I cut through the skin-covered appendage and the beast swung around, snarling and snapping, grazing my arm in the process. I jerked back and stabbed high, piercing one of the glowing silver eyes. The creature reared and stomped down, shaking the earth with the movement. It pawed at the bleeding hole in its head, thrashing and whimpering as it bucked and jumped away.
Twilight faded into ever-darkening night, and the Shaede army continued its efforts against the Lyhtans, who refused to surrender despite their vulnerable state. A flash of red leather caught my eye and a long braid whipped through the air as Anya spun and danced in battle. She flashed a wicked smile in my direction, the exulting rush of battle lust flushing her cheeks, and the joy of victory glowing in her violet eyes.
The other Shaedes had twenty-seven minutes and nine seconds before they could pass into shadow, but I was not held by such restraints. I passed into the gray again and again as the Enphigmalé tried to make purchase on my twisting form. I cut and stabbed, sliced and jabbed, protecting Tyler the only way I could, while he lay bleeding and damaged. One of the braver gargoyles charged, and I rammed the katana into the earth as I waited for the charging beast. My breathing slowed, my focus sharpened, and I stood my ground. Its progress came slow and measured in my new and heightened sense of time. I reached out, and my palms wrapped around the beast’s face. As I jumped to the side, avoiding its charge, I twisted with all my might, groaning under the tremendous force. Its strength was immense, more of stone than flesh. I jerked hard, and after hearing the snap of its neck, I released my hold. The Enphigmalé continued in a skid across the clearing until its progress was stayed by a rather large tree. The great gray beast slammed into the trunk, twitched, and let a loud snort from its wide nostrils before becoming still. It did not move again.