Land of Light and Shadows

Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Jai ran.

Ran away from his family still fighting behind him toward the boy he loved so absolutely.

Cut through two dozen dark creatures who dared cross his path with both blade and magic.

Tried not to see the bodies of the fallen. Gods, so many. Too many.

All he knew was he had to get to where Elys had been last.

It was Erly and Chesnan Jai saw first, roaring and fighting off any dark creature that lunged for them. Their spiked tails flung the creatures back into the woods, which they then set ablaze, along with the rest of them who had been hidden. With the path clear, both dragons looked at Jai as his quick approach...then their eyes widened when they too realized the little boy was no longer with them.

Jai ran.

Ran toward the screams and screeches.

Past where the guardsman who had been practicing with Elys before lying dead, throat slit, face covered in the gray veinlike pattern.

And then he found Elys, dagger in hand, sword knocked several feet away, with half a dozen dark creatures surrounding him. Piles of ashes were all around, and by the looks of it, the boy had put his training to good use and had taken them out himself.

Gods, even in that moment, Jai couldn't have been prouder of him.

"Elys!" Jai yelled.

The boy didn't dare look at him as the creatures tightened in on him. "Jai?"

His voice was small, panicked.

Surrounded.

Gods, he was surrounded.

Without a second thought, Jai's light and dark magic flew toward him, then split in two as it struck the first, spearing through every single one the of the oskurreia around him.

Elys was frozen in shock, watching as they fell into ash, run through with light and dark magic.

Jai yelled for him again. "Elys, run to me! Run!"

There were more coming. Why were there more coming?

Erly and Chesnan were right behind Jai, leaping into the air before raining fire down across the line of the forest.

But one creature escaped the blaze, armed with a smaller obsidian weapon. A dagger the length of its blackened forearm.

Finally, Elys was able to move, able to dive for his sword and come up with it in hand. He gripped both it and his dagger, looking more like a little warrior than ever before. Elys screamed with not fright, but rage, and raised his own weapons.

Jai couldn't think, couldn't breathe as he watched the creature raise its dagger.

Because even though with all his training, Elys was still just a six-...no, a seven-year-old boy, unmatched by the magic the dark creature possessed.

It wasn't unmatched for Jai, though.

His magic pulled his shadows and wrapped them tight around him. Before he disappeared into them, he watched as it swiped out its clawed hand across Elys's face, slashing through the skin and scars that had already marred him.

Elys's weapons flew from his grasp as he stumbled, tripping over the uneven ground and falling on his back. The creature shrieked in triumph and started stalking toward him, even as he tried crawling back away from it.