Binding Ties The Sentinel Wars - Shannon K. Butcher Page 0,45
slow her down.
That’s why she carried poisoned weapons and knew how to use them.
As the second demon charged, Lyka shifted her stance to the left to get out of Joseph’s way. She didn’t want to impede his swing, and she really didn’t want him fending off two demons at once. She’d never seen him in a real fight, and she didn’t want to find out the hard way that he had a blind spot.
Lugging his heavy ass out of here was not her idea of a good time.
The second demon leapt over a fallen log. Its sword had the benefit of reach over her weapons, but she was faster. Once it was airborne, it could no longer control its movement. But Lyka was still firmly attached to the ground and she could.
She ducked under the creature, rolling beneath its feet. She came up on the far side, shoving one of her daggers high. The blade hit the billowy coat, but she could tell by the drag in her strike that she’d tagged flesh, too.
Now all she had to do was stay alive until the poison did its thing.
The angry demon whirled on her. She backed away, heading toward a large boulder nearby. Climbing on that would give her an advantage of height, which might be enough to keep her alive. Plus, every demon she drew away from Joseph was one fewer he had to fight.
A quick glance over her shoulder showed her that he was definitely still fighting. Only there wasn’t just one creature on him; there were three.
She’d never seen anyone his size move with such speed and grace. His sword swung so fast that it was simply an arc of silver slicing through the air. Every strike hit, lopping off limbs and skewering flesh. Within seconds, he had all three of the demons in a pile at his feet.
And he hadn’t even broken a sweat.
She was so amazed at his skill that she forgot to look where she was going. Her foot caught on a fallen branch and she went down hard.
The hair on her nape stood up so fast it hurt. She rolled onto her back just in time to see the demon she’d injured lift its sword to slice her in two.
Even if she got her daggers up in time to parry the attack, it wasn’t going to be enough to stop the blow. There was too much power behind it, and she had nowhere to go.
She wasn’t ready to die yet, but she took comfort in knowing that if she did, at least she would die at home.
Chapter 15
Joseph saw the demon’s blow speeding toward Lyka’s head. As it did, the end of his world played out in his mind.
He saw her die, saw her bleed out into the ground where so many of the Slayers had perished. He saw Andreas’s grief and anger, and the end of a treaty meant to save both of their kind from self-destruction. He saw the clash of the races—Theronai against Slayer. Both lost as Synestryn spread out across the countryside, destroying everything they touched.
Joseph couldn’t let that happen. He’d sworn to protect his woman with his life, and, in doing so, save Theronai, Slayers and humans alike.
He drew into himself minute sparks of power to speed his body. The pain of collecting that energy bore down on him, but he accepted it as the price for doing what had to be done.
His body wasn’t meant for this kind of stress, and as he raced over the ground, seeing no more than a blur of movement around him, agony consumed him.
The demon’s sword began its descent toward Lyka’s sweet throat. He could hear it humming as it sliced through the air.
She lifted her daggers to defend herself, but even a Slayer wasn’t strong enough to stop a blow from that heavy blade.
Joseph launched himself into the air. He slammed into the demon, knocking it sideways as the heavy sword made contact with her crossed blades.
He landed on top of the demon, feeling something hard punch his stomach. He ignored the pain and wrestled his way to the top. The demon’s face twisted with a grimace of agony, and it let out the screaming howl of a dying animal. Its black eyes frosted over, going snowy white. Beneath its pale skin, its veins pulsed with dark blood, which seemed to harden into stiff bulges along its limbs. Within seconds, it went limp as it died.