Page 19

Chapter nineteen

Brandon

T he sword swung at my head. I ducked and rolled just in time to avoid the killing blow but tangled in the cape. I rolled again, flung the cape free from my body, and jumped to my feet. The demon stomped across the icy field sending up white shards of snow from his enormous feet. The determined step signaled he was intent on ending me. A gleam of death shone in his dark eyes. If I was under any illusion this wasn’t a life or death situation, then his deadly glare told me the truth. His horns, an even darker black, looked even more deadly, but I suspected this was a sword fight only. Thank the Demon King if that was true, because my physical strength didn’t match the demon by a long shot. He was well over seven feet tall, as were all of them. I was not a shrinking violet, but their supernatural strength was entirely different.

I bounced on the balls of my feet, taunting the demon closer until he came, took my bait, and stepped into the line of my swing. My muscle memory let go at once, swinging the sword toward the demon’s chest, but he was too fast and had his sword up, blocking my blow. The sword vibrated up my entire arm with the strength of it.

My training kept me in good stead as I refused to show how hard the blow was. I dodged to the right, avoiding his quick return swing. It barely missed the crowd of circled demons. The ones it missed hurled insults and spat in his direction. Any other time and I would have laughed, but my head was on the line here.

If I won, they might show me a bit of respect instead of looking at me like the crap beneath their feet.

We circled each other until the demons yelled in frustration for us to get on with it. Luckily for me, it broke the demon’s composure, and he raced forward. While he was quick, he wasn’t as agile as me. I held my ground as the tip of his sword blade aimed for my head. At the last second, I ducked and swung my sword into the side of his ribs. The blade hit with precision, sliding into the demon’s flesh with ease considering his hulking mass. Were the blades made from special metal?

The demon grunted, slammed a hand over the wound in his side and cursed. Blood gushed freely between his fingers. He stepped back, the flesh parting to reveal the glistening white bone beneath. The blow had been deeper than I realized. Than the demon realized. He staggered and fell to his knees, dropping his sword on the icy ground as though admitting defeat.

Well, shit, now what ?

The crowd of demons was silent as they stared at their fallen comrade. Had I made a grave mistake? Would they all turn on me now? As though they’d read my mind, their gazes lifted and focused on me. Ice-cold dread coursed through my body, and it had nothing to do with the cold of the snow.

Ice crunched under boots to my left, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off the demons staring at me.

“Congratulations,” the Demon King said. “You won.”

I finally chanced a glance at Rexan, but I knew better than to call him that out here. He lifted my hand, holding the sword up high.

“Victor,” he yelled.

The crowd of demons yelled too, and then one by one, wings flared from their backs, and they took flight into the sky. All apart from the felled demon.

The Demon King dropped my hand and stepped back. “I have things to attend to. Kal, take Brandon with you to the infirmary.”

“Wait, what do I need the infirmary for?”

“They’ll fix your broken nose.”

Right, I’d forgotten about the punch to my face from the Demon King, but I’d had worse blows during training for the Fellowship.

“I’m glad the Fellowship training is still accurate,” he said. “Humans these days rely on guns and bullets.”

“We’ve added those to our training, too.”

“Human-made weapons won’t kill us.”

“They might slow you down. ”

“Perhaps.” He inclined his head and with a flare of his leathery wings, he launched into the sky.

His form disappeared in no time at all, his wings were that large and powerful.

Kal clambered to his feet and walked toward me. The blood was still gushing from his wound, over his fingers, and dripping on the snow in red splotches. I shivered now the adrenaline of the fight had worn off.

“Come,” Kal grunted and stomped through the snowy area back toward the castle.

I followed behind him, still holding the sword. Spotting the cape, I stooped and picked it up, wrapped it around my shoulders again, grateful for the added layer of warmth and protection from the elements of the Winter Court. The King was right. I’d freeze to death out here before I ever found a way out of the realm, and the only building I saw was the massive castle I’d come from.

As we walked toward the castle, Kal took a path to the left and led us around the building. I guess I was wrong. In front of me was a small hut, smoke billowing out of a chimney. The cottage with the thatched room reminded me of our old house back home in Ireland, the one we lived in with Grandfather. A sudden pang of homesickness jolted my chest. The demon glanced behind him as though he’d sensed my emotion, but that wasn’t possible, was it?

The path to the cottage was well kept, as though someone was outside every hour sweeping the snow from the cobblestones, which was a strange thought as the rest of the kingdom appeared to revel in the continuous coverage of the white snowflakes.

Kal knocked on the door and it creaked inward as though the hinges needed a good oiling. I followed him inside the small cottage surprised the infirmary was so cramped, but then again, demons were immortal, so wouldn’t they heal themselves, so why did they need an infirmary to begin with?

“Hey, old man,” Kal said. “See to my wound.”

A gray-haired man hobbled forward on a cane. “Who’d you piss off this time, Kal?”

“Some tiny human.” He hooked a thumb in my direction.

The old man lifted his weathered face and stared at me. It was like I was looking at Grandfather, but with another fifty years added to his face. Time hadn’t been kind to whoever this was. Wrinkle lines creased his face that would rival the worst material in history. His mouth fell open, revealing a toothless cavern.

“I’m sorry.” He snapped his mouth shut and wobbled over to me. “You look…”

His hand lifted, and I took a step backward, hitting the door. I reached for the doorknob. The maniacal gleam in his eyes set all my senses alert.

“Wait, don’t leave.” He snagged my arm with his gnarled hands. “It’s like looking in a mirror.”

“You’re crazy.” I shook my head and arm, but the man was strong considering he was so old.

“Ye, Gods, you even sound like I did at that age.” He laughed. “I never thought I’d see you.” Tears welled in his eyes. “It is you, isn’t it?”

“Whoever you think I am…”

“Brandon.” He gulped. “My son.”