Fae of the South (Court of Crown and Compass Book 3) by E. Hall (libby ebook reader .txt) 📕

get their fix. Including, it seems, working in mines, extracting those ember-like rocks. Inside is elven metal, they melt it down and—”

“And make weapons,” I say.

“Mining elven metal is dangerous.” Val presses her hand against her mouth. “Elves have a special process because the elements in the metal are magical, receptive. They can listen to intentions. Elves project protection and other relatively positive qualities when they work the metal.”

“Whatever is happening here is the opposite.” Lea is grayer than usual.

I rope my arm around her and pull her to my side, but she doesn’t melt against me. She’s stiff, sullen.

“When in the wrong hands, it can provide an undefeatable army of warriors with undefeatable weapons,” Callen says.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t my fight to begin with, but it is now. A terrible sensation fills me with dread, denser than I’ve ever felt—it’s a sense of loss before the battle has even begun.

“A substance for eternal life is found in trace amounts in elven metal. Handling it can extend life, which explains why elves live so long and in seclusion in the east,” Val says, adding to Callen’s comment.

“Is this like, a Rivendell thing?” I ask.

Everyone except Lea stares at me.

“Never mind,” I mutter.

“Is Rivendell a Terra thing?” Soren asks.

I nod.

Val says, “Anyway, this stuff sounds dangerous. Not only if it falls into the wrong hands, but it can throw everything off. Imagine a Grunder who is invincible?”

“No thank you,” Callen says.

“We need to stop production,” Val says.

“We could sabotage it,” I suggest. “Lea is a world-class prankster.”

“We should make our move and fast,” Soren says. “Otherwise—”

A deep thud, thud, thud, comes from nearby, breaking the silence. Everyone freezes, listening.

“Otherwise—” Soren repeats. His eyes dart to Kiki.

Callen says, “I think we’re about to find out.”

My stomach sinks. I whip my head in the direction of footfalls approaching at a march.

Lea’s eyes darken and she stiffens. The others poise for attack.

My fists clench and my body tenses, preparing to protect my friends.

Over the rise, a battalion of shadow fae approach.

“We left our weapons in Terra.” Kiki’s eyes flash with fear. “I can do karate, but this is overwhelming.”

“Freedom or defeat,” Val says.

“I’ve made my choice,” Callen answers. He kisses her and then shifts into a wolf.

Lea stands by my side with a blank look on her face. It’s almost as if she sees a place among the ranks of the approaching soldiers. A place where she belongs and is waging an internal battle.

Before we discuss strategy, Kiki and Val charge into the shadow fae with their magic blasting in every direction. Soren takes to the sky.

Despite this, they swarm, soon surrounding those of us on the ground in a gray cloud.

We won’t give up that easily. The fighting begins with the first sounds of my pounding fists and Callen’s growl. Lea stands like a pillar of confusion as though not sure which side to fight on. I guard her, fending off the shadow fae, attacking their own kind.

They’re little more than weapons, given orders to strike. They have nothing at stake. No passion for a cause. No deep, driving desire that fuels their triumph. Glandias and the other false kings may have rended the fae shadows to create the strongest, most indestructible soldiers. But for us, we have a fierceness of will, a yearning for freedom so powerful that we will go to any means necessary to obtain it, especially fight back.

So we do. Well, everyone except Lea. She’s stationary, lost in a trance, conflicted.

Val, on the other hand, is a dynamo. She throws a punch with one fist and the other is a spray of magic that throws back an entire line of shadow fae soldiers.

Kiki holds her own as she dodges, sweeps the legs out from a couple of fae in one impressive spin, and then punches one in the stomach with Frost Fae power.

As I lunge to defend Lea, my head whips back, knocking into a fae soldier’s shoulder as another tries to restrain me. The surrounding voices and shouting echo. They jostle Lea as she watches on.

This isn’t how it’s going to go. I’m not going down before I even get started. I inhale, lean into the fae behind me, draw my knees into my chest and with the full force of all that’s been taken from me, I kick my attacker, sending him careening. His arms windmill and he collapses.

I take this moment to break free, strike another shadow soldier with my elbow, and move in to protect Lea.

Two more take me on, but as my desire for freedom blazes inside, I become a flame of destruction launching my fists and landing kicks.

All around me, brawn meets the indomitable spirits of my new friends in a furious demonstration of force of will over might. I call out, cheering everyone on.

Even so, there are too many of the shadow soldiers. One by one, we’re all captured until only Lea remains, standing in their midst as though frozen.

I’m close enough that I take her hand and hold tight. Meeting her overcast eyes, I say, “I’ll never let go, not even if the enemy drives a stake through my heart. I love you, Lea.”

She blinks a few times, but I’m afraid I’ve lost her.

Chapter 29

Leajka

 

 

Glandias appears on the battlefield, looking ghastly in the eerie red light of the Southlands with her scarred face and bald head. Circling it is a crown with a red stone in the center.

I’m locked in a storm of conflict. The abundance of shadow fae overwhelms that part of me, pulling at me like a magnet. But it’s nothing to the love of my sisters, Tyrren, and new friends. Val and