Page 26

Dagmara

Dagmara had no intention of letting the man slide off the railing, but when she drove her dagger into the back of his chest, right through his heart, his weight nearly took her off the side with him. Her grip slipped and he toppled stories below landing in a contorted position on the top of the fountain.

With a dagger in hand, she raced back toward Aleksy. The room had already erupted in chaos, and she could barely hear her own thoughts. Aleksy was gripping the rail, screaming something down to his family. He saw Dagmara and instantly shouted, “We have to get down there to protect them.”

That’s when Dagmara noticed another figure, on the opposite end of the ‘U’ shaped balcony. He had a bow in his hand and arrows strapped to his back. Two assailants? But this one was making a straight line for the staircase as if he knew his cover had been blown.

“Aleksy!” Dagmara shouted.

Aleksy saw the target across the rafters. With a rise of his hand, he summoned water from the fountain below. A dozen droplets manifested into dagger-like icicles before they hurled toward the intruder.

Throwing up his forearm in attempts to block, the intruder rolled to the ground. The water-daggers lodged into the wall and the railing in a cacophony of shattering ice and splintering wood. The intruder was on his feet as fast as he had dodged, his bow in hand as he withdrew an arrow from the case on his back.

Time froze as Dagmara stared at the assailant. He was dressed all in black, aside from a white mask. The white mask was thick, covering his whole face aside from slits for the eyes, and a black symbol was painted onto the center of the forehead.

Lurching back into reality, Dagmara noticed with stark horror that Aleksy was weaponless to fight in this close of quarters.

The intruder set the arrow and released, Aleksy barely dodging in the confines of the rafters. The arrow made contact with one of the stained glass windows, shattering it to oblivion and coating the ground in pink glass.

There was something else. The intruder’s gloves had claws on the back of their knuckles.

Aleksy charged forward as the intruder tried to ready the next arrow. The prince kicked him in the side of the hip before decking him across the face with a punch.

Unfazed, the intruder backhanded Aleksy. Aleksy tried to dodge, but the claws caught the side of his cheeks. With a rake of his foot, the intruder tripped Aleksy, sending him to the ground.

“No!” Dagmara yelled. She didn’t know what came over her. Wielding nothing but a dagger, desperately wishing she had the explosive from Teos, she raced forward, aiming for the intruder’s chest.

The intruder, with horrifying accuracy, grabbed Dagmara’s wrist, bending it backward before the dagger was anywhere near his chest. She screamed in pain, the dagger flying from her grip. She watched in horror as it was tossed out the open window, disappearing from sight.

Looking up at the intruder, she knew with certainty that this was the end. He had an iron grip on her wrist, and could easily knock her out or use the bow to strangle her.

Instead, he released her and shoved the ball of his palm into her throat. She was on her back in an instant, choking for breath from the blow. Her hands flew to her neck as she gasped for air. Then the assailant turned his back on her and reached for another arrow.

As Dagmara begged for air, she knew he had let her live. This wasn’t an attack on Azurem. This was a coordinated group of assassins after one thing only.

The guardians.

Luckily her distraction had given Aleksy enough time to summon more water from the fountain below. When the assailant turned to face him, the prince wielded a magnificent ice sword, glittering in the sun that poured in from the open window. With one overwhelming thrust, Aleksy drove the blade of ice through the intruder’s chest. The enemy was dead on impact, and as Aleksy withdrew the blade, the enemy fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Aleksy raced to Dagmara’s aid as she continued to struggle for air.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with piercing blue light. He was dazzling, his pale skin almost glowing with magic. Three claw marks raked down the side of his cheek, and blood poured from the open wounds.

“Your face…” Dagmara’s voice rasped.

“I’m fine.” Aleksy offered her a smile. He lifted the iceblade slowly, showing her his magic. The iceblade melted in his grip, and she could see the water slither up his arm, his chest, and reach his face. The water brushed over his porcelain skin, healing the wounds immediately. All that was left was drops of blood on his doublet.

He was a true Guardian of Life.

She gave him a breathless smile, relieved.

He rose to his feet and extended a hand down to her. She gripped his hand to let him help her to her feet, when a throwing knife whizzed through the air. The deadly weapon found purchase in the center of Aleksy’s chest.

A shock rippled through their connected hands, an electrifying jolt singeing her palm. She screamed, scrambling to her feet and catching Aleksy as he fell backward. She landed hard on her knees, his head cradled in her lap.

“No, no, no, Aleksy!” she shouted, her palm touching his cheek.

But the knife was perfectly thrown, stabbing through his heart. It may as well have been stabbed through hers.