Page 81 of Legacy of the Heirs (The Lost Kingdom Saga #2)

Nyzaia

“ W e’re outnumbered!” Nyzaia yelled, wiping the mist from her face.

Her back felt warm as the group pressed together: Farid at her left, Kazaar at her right, and Elisara covering her back.

The two celestial pairs stood together while the copper armour pushed to reach them, the hundreds of their comrades lying dead on the floor.

“Could be worse!” Elisara shouted. “At least the creatures are not interested in us.”

“She has a point,” Farid agreed, lunging with his sword at the soldier who approached only to create a path for the warriors next in line.

“How are there so many? Larelle’s side took out hundreds,” Kazaar panted.

“The Garridon side has been losing to the creatures,” replied Farid. “Which has left more of the enemy to turn back to us.” Nyzaia nodded and swung her blade at a man’s neck, who fell to the ground, gurgling. Still, they kept coming.

“Maybe we should have hidden you!” Nyzaia shouted to Kazaar over the clash of metal. “They seem intent on reaching you.” The moment they descended the battlefield, it was as though the soldiers recognised Kazaar and instantly followed the four of them.

“What fun would that have been?” Kazaar said, and Nyzaia heard the grin in his voice. Elisara bumped into Nyzaia again, who frowned at her friend. She had been unstable since the fight began.

“Are you okay?” she asked. Elisara nodded, throwing a dagger at a charging soldier .

“I think trying to access other powers has exhausted me,” she said.

“I don’t suppose it might magically work now?” Nyzaia asked.

“I’m struggling to multitask,” Elisara breathed, and suddenly, the lightning and winds stopped.

“Shit!” Kazaar exclaimed, and Nyzaia turned her head. A wall of shadows formed through the middle of the armies.

“Caligh has power,” Nyzaia said. “What if he is affecting your power, Elisara? To weaken you and make it easier to separate you from Kazaar?” Elisara grunted as she kicked a soldier back.

“It would make sense.”

“He did not account for her great sword skill,” Kazaar laughed.

“I learned from the best.”

“Are you really joking in the middle of a fucking battle?” Farid shouted.

Nyzaia did not have time to be shocked that he had sworn as a soldier grabbed Nyzaia and yanked her from the group.

Farid’s panic shot through her, but it soon eased as a thin dagger dropped from her sleeve and into her hand.

She pierced the man’s neck. No soldier waited behind him.

Nyzaia spun. They had dodged her and separated the group, heading straight for Elisara and Kazaar.

Nyzaia’s eyes widened as she watched a body fall at Kazaar’s hand, disintegrating into ash.

“Has that sword been doing that the entire time?” she yelled, battling through soldiers. She slashed at countless backs of copper armour to reach them.

“Yes!” Kazaar shouted, gutting another. “I did not have time to think about why, seeing as I’m busy avoiding being killed or kidnapped.”

Howls sounded through the desert, and Soren’s wolves charged towards them.

Thick green roots shot from the ground, twisting and blocking their path.

Nyzaia looked at Sadira, the fear clear on her face at the thought of Soren betraying them.

When the wolves leapt over the vines, Nyzaia brandished her knife, but they did not attack her.

They leapt for the soldiers’ throats, who circled Elisara and Kazaar, taking them down one by one.

The vines retreated, and Nyzaia nodded towards Sadira. They were okay.

Farid approached Nyzaia and scanned her eyes.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” she said as they dived back into the fight.

More soldiers attempted to reach Elisara and Kazaar, but Nyzaia charged at them and sliced at their exposed flesh, bringing them to their knees.

No one would take her brother. Nyzaia screamed as she reached for her power again.

Their uniforms resisted fire. Burning the sands did not work either, soaked from Larelle and Elisara’s combined power.

“What is the point of having all this power if it does not work against any of you!” she shrieked, bringing her sword down on a soldier’s head.

Nyzaia glanced to where Caligh had been and swallowed.

He was closer. Myara was now far behind him, and he stood closer to the dune the rulers had begun on, close enough for Nyzaia to discern his features.

She thought of all the odd passages and illustrations in Myths and Lies of Ithyion and the recent revelations.

It was not implausible that this man could take power—dampen it.

Fear pierced Nyzaia as she noticed his grin, his wide eyes trained ahead. Nyzaia ducked from a lunging soldier, turning to glance at Elisara and Kazaar. The wolves continued circling and bit at the copper soldiers, diverting and confusing the two sides.

“Elisara!” Kazaar shouted. They were separated.

Rows of soldiers fought those from Keres and Vala, blocking the pair from reaching one another.

Nyzaia whirled back to Caligh, his path set on Kazaar.

No. While her flames may not penetrate the soldiers' armour, it could distract them.

Flourishing her hand, a wall of fire ignited either side of her, quick enough for Nyzaia to run a clear path towards Caligh.

Her feet pounded, determination sizzling through her veins as she ran at full force, leaping over scattered bodies from all sides. Yet the general’s grin was manic as he remained focused on Kazaar, and as he drew close, Nyzaia raised her sword.

She gasped as Caligh’s scarred hand gripped her throat and lifted her off the ground, the toes of her boots scraping across the sand. Slowly, the general turned his head. A never-ending pit of darkness resided in his eyes as though no soul remained within.

“Queen of Keres,” he hissed, making Nyzaia’s skin crawl. “An assassin queen who has fallen lax in recent times. You should know of more effective ways to sneak up on a person.” Nyzaia dropped her sword and reached for his wrists, clawing for air.

“Just like your god, you are rash… reactive . I would not have cared to take your life if you had simply let me be.” When he squeezed harder, Nyzaia’s life flashed before her, and in every memory was one constant.

Even on the brink of death, one person prevailed over all else despite her heartbreak.

Tajana. Nyzaia wished she was by her side, the one person she wanted to lay eyes on for a final time before her life was taken.

Blinking away tears, Nyzaia yearned to cut the pain from her chest to allow her to focus on an escape, but she was a fool to think she could ever cut Tajana from her, a woman who burned her soul.

Nyzaia closed her eyes, sending a silent ‘I love you’ to the sky.

She hoped Tajana knew; wherever she was, she hoped Nyzaia’s final thought reached her.

Caligh lifted Nyzaia higher, her feet floating in the air. She gasped as his hand slipped from her throat, and someone gripped her underarms. Wind rushed past as she opened her eyes to watch the battlefield below. Caligh stared back at her with narrowed eyes.

“Another pair,” he said before she was lifted higher. Nyzaia peered up at the blinding glow of Farid’s wings and grinned. He gripped tighter as they soared over the war below.

“Tell me where!” he shouted. Nyzaia scanned the battlefield.

The creatures were scattered, yet the realms’ foot soldiers were still outnumbered, the copper soldiers turning and pushing them back towards Myara.

Only several rows remained near the dune where they had arrived, all intent on one person as the remaining Novisian soldiers fought back.

War horns sounded in the distance. Farid spun to face Myara.

Help. Tajana. The Historian. Hope bloomed in Nyzaia’s heart, yet it was quickly ripped from her.

From the city of Myara, hundreds more copper-clad soldiers emerged, marching in uniformed rows.

“We were doomed from the beginning,” she breathed. Caligh had tricked them into using all their strength on this one attack.

“They will be surrounded,” Farid said. It was a trap.

With their backs turned, the Novisian soldiers could not see the approaching attack.

Nyzaia found Larelle and Sadira; the latter moved to the Neridian queen as they stared in the same direction.

Nyzaia hoped they had a plan because Kazaar was her priority.

“Down there,” Nyzaia called, pointing to where Kazaar and Elisara still fought, separated, while Caligh continued his intent path towards her brother.

Farid nodded, and his wings sparked as they flapped, lowering to the ground.

He dropped them at the edge, far enough for the copper soldiers not to have noticed them.

Farid gripped Nyzaia’s hand, their celestial tie burning between them.

“If this is it,” he said, but Nyzaia shook her head to stop him.

He squeezed her hand. “If this is the end, it has been my greatest honour to serve you.” Nyzaia blinked back tears as Farid smiled.

She did not need to say anything; he knew she reciprocated his feelings.

Returning the smile, pride burned inside her as Farid no longer hid himself from the world.

Letting his wings burn for all to see, he kicked into the air and flew above Nyzaia, showering the world with sparks.