Princess of Frost - Mila Young Page 0,71

I snap toward the creature who throws Licia to the ground at the feet of his king.

She cries out and shoves herself off the ground. Power dances across her hands just as she throws her attack at the king.

An explosive storm erupts from her palms, blasting the king with a furious storm of snow. It hits him right in the gut, throwing him backward and off his feet, rolling over the forest ground.

My heart jumps in my chest, and I leap toward my little firestorm, as do the shadows of more hobgoblins.

I thrust my hands out, vines spearing out on either side of Licia, whipping the brutes, thorns jutting out long and sharp, striking them. They flinch, and moments later, I see the horror on their face as the poison hits their bloodstream. The venom works fast, targeting the nervous system first and going through to the muscles. Their legs stop working first, where the thorns stabbed them, and the paralysis sweeps up their body.

The hobgoblins fall to their knees and hold their throats, except it's their diaphragm and lungs that's now paralyzed so they can't breathe.

I shove everything I have into stopping the creatures from getting next to Licia.

The snow storm from her hands starts sputtering, coming out in slower motion. She hurls what she can at all the hobgoblins, who are already falling from poison.

Her hands drop by her sides, and she's gasping for air, stumbling. Foolish girl.

I charge up to her and collect her against me, holding her upright, then we're running. "You used too much energy. And why the hell didn't you turn him to ice?"

She exhales heavily. "It just came out," she rasps.

I throw a glance over my shoulder to see a shadow rising from the ground where the king had fallen.

Clasping her hand, we dart over the snow and through the woods. I shove my boots to the ground with each quickened step.

Her terrified expression burrows into my heart, her darkened eyelashes clumped together from the snow, more white covering her head and shoulders from her attack.

"You shouldn't have come for me," she blurts.

"And you'd be dead by now."

She cuts me an angry glare. How the hell is she mad after I saved her ass? Without me, those hobgoblins would have torn her to shreds before she swung around to hurl them away.

Her chest rises and dips rapidly.

My own fear scoops out my insides like a wolf tearing at my intestines. I know death is approaching, but I'll keep fighting to the damn end.

We dart around trees and jump over fallen logs.

I look back and no one chases after us.

But we don't stop.

Suddenly, a hulking hobgoblin with piercing black eyes drops out of the tree right in front of us.

Licia screams out of pure shock, and I attack, throwing punches, kicking his legs out from under him. Each blow is faster and harder than the last, my vision blurred by primal rage, my thoughts twisted.

When he no longer moves, I pull back, my hands slick with blood, the warm splashes on my face, trickling down my cheeks. I wipe them away with my shoulders and turn to Licia who stares at me with horror.

I wipe my hands down my pants and think nothing of it. If we lose this battle, she will see far worse.

"You took your time," she throws my way with an arched brow, humoring me.

And as much I want to kiss her right then and tell her everything I had intended earlier, we are running out of time. I take her hand again, and we sprint madly to where I think the castle lays. But everything looks the same.

I scan the forest, the trees, every fucking angle, when we finally burst out of the woods and into a clearing.

The area is huge, and it takes me a heartbeat to work out we've run in the opposite direction. My castle sits across the other side of the woodland, and a cold dread washes over me.

"This doesn't look right," Licia says, trepidation clipping her words.

"Fuck, we took a wrong turn or..."

She stares at me incredulously. Except I don't frequent these woods, and when you're running in a dark forest with no sight of the sun or landmarks, getting lost is a matter of time. My muscles bunch up, and a sharp pain travels down my back. I grind my teeth, a fierce anger surging over my body.

Licia is all I can see, her in the arms of the hobgoblin, my chest tearing to