Endure - Sara B. Larson Page 0,102

inside of the trail. And then an arrow whizzed past me and went straight through his throat. He’d been distracted by my attack, and one of our archers had noticed. I rushed forward, plunging my sword into his chest and then back out again, making sure to finish the job. He collapsed to the ground, but behind him stood another man in a robe.

He didn’t hold up a gloved hand — he wielded no flames. He gripped a curved sword in his left hand, though.

A decoy, I thought, and hurtled toward him, sword raised. He lifted the sword to parry my blow, and we began to fight in earnest. All around me, the sounds of battle echoed in the canyon. I saw a body swathed in black robes go flying past us and a Blevonese sorcerer rushing after him, one hand raised and a sword in the other, as our blades clashed together again and again. We circled and lunged, parried and feigned in a deadly dance. He was skilled but not as fast as I was. He got in a good swipe and nearly took a piece of my arm, but I managed to spin away in time, just as a fireball exploded right above us, singeing the backs of my arms. In my haste to avoid being impaled, I tripped over a burning body behind me. I quickly regained my balance and then barely got my blade up in time to block his next blow.

I went on the attack, pressing my advantage of speed by swiping my sword back and forth and back again, a flurry of movement, until he misjudged my next move and went to block a blow that wasn’t coming — so that I was able to drive my sword through his other side. In and out. His eyes widened and then he collapsed to the ground, landing on his sword as his eyes rolled up into his head.

I looked up right as another fireball flew toward me, and I threw myself to the side, narrowly avoiding being burned again, then rolling a few feet across the hard, frozen ground, tearing my sleeve open and skinning my elbow. Someone held out a hand, and I looked up to see Tanoori. I quickly took it and let her help me up, and then together we turned to face what was left of the Dansiian horde. Soldiers and sorcerers fought all around us. Trees were burning and bodies littered the ground.

When I saw Rafe standing a few feet away, fighting one of the Blevonese soldiers, my mind suddenly went hazy.

I realized I needed to protect him.

I ran toward him, with Tanoori on my heels. Was she a threat to Rafe? I glanced over, but her sword was still at her side. No.

But the Blevonese soldier was. I lifted my sword and jumped in front of him, parrying his blow.

“Perfect timing,” Rafe said. But I ignored him, fighting the Blevonese soldier for him.

“Alexa! What are you doing?” I heard Tanoori’s question, and when I glanced over, she was lifting her sword, readying herself to fight Rafe. I quickly surmised that the Blevonese soldier was the greater threat, so I continued to fight him. I had to finish him off first, then I could deal with the second threat.

“Alex! Please, what’s wrong with you! That’s our man!”

The sounds of blades crashing echoed all around me along with Tanoori’s shouts, but I had to focus on protecting Rafe. The Blevonese soldier was skilled, but he seemed hesitant to fight me for some reason. I had just managed to get past his defenses and strike a blow to his leg when a bloodcurdling scream made me pause.

I spun around to see Tanoori standing in front of Rafe, her arms hanging at her side, his blade run through her belly. The haze suddenly cleared and left me shaking with horror.

“Tanoori! NO!” I lunged forward just as Rafe pulled his sword back out, and she dropped to her knees, lifting one hand to the blood pouring from her wound. Her head turned toward me, and then she crumpled to the ground. I tried to rush to her side, but Rafe stepped in the way. “Tanoori!” I screamed. Her eyes lifted to mine, and she tried to say something, but blood filled her mouth, and then her eyes went blank.

“No!” I lunged forward again, but Rafe grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back, laughing at my frantic anguish.

It was my fault. It was my