you drag me along? Couldn’t you tell that I didn’t want to be there? Or did you want proof for Emma that you weren’t a horrible person and that you cared about people other than yourself?”
Kovos’ face flushed and he gritted his teeth. “No, I didn’t drag you along so I could make my girlfriend like me, Keither. You wanted to come and then changed your mind. I wasn’t going to let you go walking around in town with royal guard around.”
“Oh yeah, and why is that?”
“Because you are helpless, that’s why. You don’t think before you act, you don’t worry about consequences. How many times have I had to pull you out of a sticky situation that you put yourself in, huh? How many?”
“You only care about yourself. Don’t blame me.”
Kovos laughed coldly. “Only care for myself huh? Is that what you think? What have you ever done for someone else, Keither? Tell me, when have you helped at home? When have you ever tried to pull your weight? This has been the most I’ve seen you work in your life, and even then it’s what, taking down a tent? Oh, never mind, you gave up some fat to help Legon keep your ungrateful hide alive.”
* * * * *
Kovos felt anger seething in his body. He wanted to hit Keither, wanted to smack him in the mouth. After all the sacrifices he’d made for his younger brother…. But still, it was his fault that Keither was out here, and he hadn’t been a good person. He felt himself deflating. Kovos knew he was hard on the boy, and it was obvious that Keither hated him. His own brother hated him. It was etched in his face. But how could he change that now? How could he show him that he did care and that he loved him? Legon brought him back to reality.
“Shut up you two,” he hissed.
“But…” Keither was cut off by a hand to his mouth.
“We have company.”
Kovos heard the sound of many feet coming their way. From the trees in front of them, men in full armor spilled into their little clearing. They were found. Their training took over. Arkin and Legon took their places up front while Sara frantically readied arrows for Sasha. As they approached, he felt Legon’s magic making his muscles tighten with extra strength. Light glinted off his sword as it was unsheathed and he saw out of the corner of his eyes the shine of the fenrra.
An arrow hissed by him and buried itself deep in a soldier’s shoulder. He felt the animal inside him coming to life, the one that obliterated thought and feeling. The one that felt no pain. The berserker. Before he let it take him one thought bubbled in his mind, “You will never see Emma again.”
With that, the rage took over and he lunged forward with a yell and brought the blade across his front with incredible speed and force. It sliced the man in front of him across the belly, spilling his intestines on the forest floor. The world was in slow motion with the enhancements being made by the two Venefica flanking him. He pushed the falling man aside and closed in on another.
* * * * *
Keither stumbled over to the horses and retrieved Legon’s giant cleaver. His job was simple: keep enemies away from Sasha and Sara. He came lumbering back up, still feeling dizzy from hitting the tree. Sara was handing arrows to Sasha at break-neck speed, and Sasha in turn was shooting them at the oncomers. Keither noticed that she wasn’t shooting to kill, but rather to injure and incapacitate. He started as flashes of emerald and purple illuminated the clearing. Legon and Arkin were fighting with magic. He looked to see Arkin snap a man’s neck with a bolt of green magic. Legon followed suit by firing a blast of amethyst light, obliterating half of a man’s pelvis.
Keither was having a hard time following the magic battle. Arkin, Kovos, and Legon were like blurs and they easily felled ten men, but more came. One made it by Legon and ran at Sasha. She didn’t see him coming. Keither needed to hit him with the cleaver, but he couldn’t. He was too afraid. He dropped the cleaver and fell back away from the oncoming soldier. Sasha turned to see the man raise his battle axe. It started forward. Keither couldn’t look and covered his face. Then came the sound