In the flashes of light, he could see the assassin atop the lightning itself, his speed almost too great for Lachlan to track. He rolled out of the dive toward the assassin, moving with such force and speed it was as if time slowed. The dirt as it erupted from the ground seemed as if it stood still, the trees tumbling on the forest floor appeared as if they’d frozen in mid-fall. Lachlan twisted, spinning with the shadows, dodging the bolts of raw energy, and barreling toward the assassin, slamming his hand into his abdomen and ripping deep with his claws. The Avindite shifted avoiding a fatal blow.
A piercing shriek echoed in the forest as the lightning seemed as if it ripped the fabric of the atmosphere itself. The lightning ran across Lachlan’s skin, slicing deep, eating through flesh to his very insides like fire. The power of it slammed him back several paces, and blood poured from his side down his leg in a hot torrent.
Once he touched the Avindite assassin he would be struck by lightning, an absolute defense. But would it work if the touch was a fatal one?
In a coordinated attack meant to find his mate, bolts after bolts of incendiary lightning struck the shadows, the ground rolling and cracking apart as the Arian assassin used his earthy element to rip apart the forest floor. Lachlan summoned his demon, and with a pulse of unremitting power, it launched from his skin and slammed into the earth. His Leviathan roared a battle cry that echoed for miles throughout the kingdom.
The assassins exchanged an uneasy glance, fear shimmering in their eyes. There was no doubt they hadn’t anticipated a Darkan who had the power to summon his demon beast. Black scales rippled and covered Lachlan’s body. The assassins’ tried to track his beast. A fatal error. He stepped into the shadows then appeared behind the Arian assassin and plunged his claws towards his chest. A wall of crystallized minerals formed but not fast enough, for his heart was already ripped from his chest and dropped to the ground.
A gleam of light slashed from above and Lachlan jerked back avoiding the Avindite’s attack. He flowed with Lachlan striking toward his midsection at lightning speed. Unable to dodge Lachlan blocked the attack, but as the Avindite’s blow was parried another piercing sound ripped through the air lashing Lachlan with crackling lightning. It threw him several meters into the forest breaking all the trees, and boulders in his path until he crashed into the side of a cliff forming a vast crater.
A menacing roar rang across the forest as Orochi decimated the last of the Avindite’s support. Only one remained, and though the warlord was cloaked his fear revealed his location. Lachlan would save him for last, for now, he would let the warlord believe he was safe behind his spell.
Orochi’s sight levelled on the Avindite and he was aware, for he summoned the depths of his strength scorching the ground and destroying all life in a hundred-meter radius around himself. Lightning danced over his skin and crackled from his eyes. He appeared at the height of his power. The state Lachlan wanted him at, for the edg
e of fear from the warlord had now disappeared. No doubt confident in his leader’s ability. In this form, the Avindite would be ruthlessly vanquished before his subordinate. An example of the difference in power between an elder Avindite and a bonded Darkan, the tale of might which needed to be spread.
Simultaneously Lachlan and Orochi shot off toward the Avindite, their speed leaving a path of destruction behind. The Avindite was fast, his reaction instantaneous, lightning spilling from the sky with deadly intent toward both man and beast. The lightning struck, but Lachlan and Orochi were already ahead of it, the electricity on their heels charring the wreckage in their wake.
In an instant they were upon him, his lightning always a few feet behind, but his reaction once again was quick, for he blasted a wall of electricity toward them, adding a frontal assault to his trailing lightning. But where there is the light, there is always the dark. Both beast and man stepped into the shadows to re-emerge before the Avindite, Lachlan went low, and Orochi went high. Lachlan tore out a chunk of the Avindite’s torso, ripping through several vital organs, while Orochi took his head.
There was no lightning defense, instant death rendered it null. The Avindite’s body fell to the ground, and Orochi roared its triumph.
A wave of dismal failure rushed into Lachlan’s nostrils. He stepped with speed toward it slashing with might into a force field which distorted to reveal the warlord. He was young, with markings on his face making him look skeletal. His hair was wild and midnight black falling to his waist. His body was covered with symbols, and he wore a shoulder guard of humanoid skulls. His eyes were lifeless but filled with ambition and a hunger for power.
The energy barrier cracked under Lachlan’s strike, and the warlord smiled, incanted a phrase then stepped into a portal which closed behind him.
Lachlan inhaled seeking negative essence. There was none. With the enemy crushed, he stepped into the shadows and removed the barrier protecting his mate. Through the red haze of bloodlust still pounding through his veins, the softness of her fingertips on his chest barely registered. Her scent of rain filled his lungs, and a soft head butted his chin, like a feline vying for the attention of her mate. He arched her to him, raked his canines over her neck, his lips and tongue easing the sting as he made his way to her collarbone, then lower to the soft curve of her breast where he struck deep with his fangs.
A wild cry tore from her throat, but she held his head to her, and he felt no fear. His throat pulled, and he shuddered from the sheer pleasure of it. She tasted exotic, exquisite, her blood centering him as the violent storm within quieted. He pulled from her and swiped his tongue over the punctures, healing them. She eased back from him and their gaze collided. She looked mesmerized and terrified, unable to look away from him. He bathed his skin in shadows, hiding from her sight his clothes that were drenched in blood.
She slipped her mind into his, and her energy poured over him like molten lava, filling the cold, dark crevices of his soul. The white purity of her light burned away the darkness, and their mind merged deeper than they’d ever gone before. He felt her every breath. Her heartbeat and it was inside his own chest. Her fear felt like his own. Her relief that he lived swept through his body. And all the aching hunger, fears, and hope in her soul became his. She was crying, and he felt her pain as though it was his own. The immense pressure that sat on her shoulder became a boulder in his mind. The acrid fear that if she allowed him in her heart, she would lead her people to more damnation pummeled her. And the desire she had for him. His heart trembled. It was a living flame in her soul, a need so profound it shook her.
Knots of tension Lachlan hadn’t known held him eased. And it was then he acknowledged there had been a fear inside him that she might not return the intensity of emotions that he felt.
Someone groaned as a body slid along the ground in a bid to escape. Lachlan’s shadows caught and wrapped around the man’s throat. The scent of the man’s terror was the sweetest of perfume, its fragrance an addictive aroma, urging him to torment and torture so he could feed more.
“Please, Lachlan let him go.” The soft touch of Shilah’s hand on his chest did nothing to ease the primal violence churning inside him.
“He intended to cause your death.”
Vulnerable pain and fear flashed across her expression. “I am alive, you saved me.” She glanced at the bodies on the ground, and he felt the need rising within her to vomit. Stepping back, she heaved, looking everywhere but at the carnage.
And he could sense her desperation inside, and with a burst of clarity, he realized their mateship hinged on his mercy. There was a dark fear inside of the bloodletter within him. Then he recalled her sister’s vision that he would harm their people. Lachlan knew an outcome like that was only possible if they hurt her, and anyone who caused her pain could not earn his forgiveness even if he had been inclined to the odd emotion.
He suspended the man in the air and tightened his shadow around the man’s neck, compressing his windpipe strangling the air from his throat.
“Please. He has a wife and three daughters. His wife is ill, and their healers can do nothing. They have need of money to purchase the elixir from Boreas or Caelum. For citizens of his lower orders, the cost is equivalent to five years’ wages. He is desperate, and that is the only reason he responded to the call of the bounty.”
The pain in his mate’s voice crawled through him, burning straight to his soul and searing him with white fire. He withdrew the shadow and dropped the man. He scrambled back, breathing erratically, eyes darting back and forth between Shilah and Lachlan.
“Go,” she said softly. “Do not hunt me or you will only meet death.”
Lachlan felt the buzz of her power as she planted the suggestion in the man’s mind. Then she tugged the small dagger from her side and threw it at the man who caught it deftly. It was embedded with precious stones of rubies and jasper. The man stared with surprise, and his eyes flared with something akin to hope.
“This should pay for a vial of elixir and will feed your family for years. Go now.”
The man nodded, lurched to his feet and ran away. Lachlan inhaled deep, marking the scent of the man, the predator in him knowing he would never allow a threat to his mate to go unpunished.