Nineteen – 05

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]

I blinked. My eyes stung with sudden tears and my stomach lurched, badly enough that I hunched over, thinking I was about to be sick. Phelan’s grip shifted, his arm suddenly around me instead of just hanging on to my arm.

“She’s grown stronger,” I managed to say. Phelan stiffened and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hone my will even as I tried to dampen the guilt that welled up inside. I knew why he’d reacted that way. For an instant, I’d sounded like her, like Brighíd. It still caught him off-guard sometimes.

At least Seamus hadn’t been near enough to hear.

I reached up and squeezed Phelan’s hand, wincing. The pressure on my mind was intense and I could feel her grasping for my power, as if she was trying to tear it out by the roots.

She wants it for herself. It’s her way. It’s how she is.

I can’t let her win.

For a second time, I sharpened my will into a weapon and aimed its point directly at her, directly at the source. This time she was ready and something rose to meet me, an attempt to ward off the blow. The distraction was enough, though. Her assault faltered, only for a few seconds, as she moved to defend herself, and it was enough time for my personal wards to snap back up into place.

“We need to end this,” I said, my voice hoarse. “What are our options?”

“They keep coming,” Seamus said grimly. “Though I can see that Anhur and Menhit quit the field. They’re gone.”

“Then either the camazotzi aren’t fully under their control—or this wasn’t just them.” I sucked in a rasping breath. My throat still felt raw. “I’m not sure which is a worse situation to face.”

A thought crossed my mind, wondering if perhaps Cyhyraeth was somehow working with the pair. I couldn’t be certain—there was a lot I couldn’t be certain about, not now.

But later, absolutely. Later, I’ll figure this shit out. Maybe Hecate will know something.

I looked at Phelan. “Got anything in your bag of tricks?”

“I’m still not recovered from the last round,” he said.

I nodded slowly. “Then I guess we just rain arrows on them until they give up. Right?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Seamus said. “Not the best plan, but a plan nonetheless.”

His attention shifted back to the archers, then, and the field below. I swallowed bile.

It’s not, but right now, it’s the only one I’ve got.

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