Fear thumped in Lexyn’s chest as she readied her arrow, but tonight, she promised herself, would be different than the last. She was no longer the girl who had watched a hopeless battle from the perimeter, feeling useless and afraid. Now, she felt the warmth of Pelzyq beside her, the determination of Bax waiting behind the next boulder, and Zyryxa’s presence as she bravely stalked their enemies above.
Violence was not the way of Leverith, but Qoryxa demanded she protect the vulnerable from threats like these raiders. The memory of last night’s horrors burned in her mind. Lexyn clutched her bow tightly, vowing to end these atrocities. Still, that old familiar fear left her hands trembling.
“You’ve got this,” Pelzyq whispered, his deep voice soothing her jitters. His big hand on her back lent her some of his steady courage.
Lexyn took aim, tallying her targets: five in total—three men and two fire-breathing drakes. She breathed in deeply, thankful that Matyxal wasn’t among them. Once it was clear that no more raiders were coming, she released her first arrow, sending it spiraling toward the straggler. The shaft embedded itself in his throat, and he fell to the snow.
The other two men struggled in the deep drifts, making easy targets. Her next arrow pierced one through the eye, and she quickly sent two more arrows into the back of the final man as he twisted toward his comrade’s dying gasp. He fell and the heatscales pounced downhill, steam rising behind them.
“Zyrxl! Attack!” she urged the coldscale.
Zyrxl and Bax charged up the hill while Pelzyq stayed protectively near Lexyn. Her next arrow took out a heatscale’s front shoulder, its flaming breath shooting into the snow as it crashed to the ground. Zyrxl spat a trio of ice rocks at the fallen drake’s skull and then mauled the stunned foe.
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Bax narrowly avoided the other heatscale’s burning breath, flinging himself into the snow. Lexyn’s arrow went wide as the beast shifted direction, barreling downhill toward her with terrifying speed.
Fear gripped her as she desperately launched arrows at the encroaching beast, steam rising in its wake, fire gathering in its mouth. The arrows struck scale but shattered to no avail. The heatscale leapt up, fire streaming from its maw, and Lexyn shrieked as she fell to the snow, covering her head.
The heat of the flames soared over her, but neither claw nor maw sank into her flesh. She looked up to see Pelzyq standing over the drake, his axe dripping in sizzling, orange blood that melted the snow around its corpse.
He offered his hand, and she gladly claimed it. Pelzyq lifted her to her feet with ease, his gentle strength a soothing balm for her fear. His gaze locked onto hers, and she felt her already accelerated heart thump for another reason. Her eyes fell, but not to her own feet as was their tradition. They lingered on his lips, her heart longing for the warmth of their embrace.
“Excellent shooting,” he said, brushing a few strands of hair from her forehead, sending shivers of desire coursing through her. “Pelzyq has determined something.”
Smiling, she lifted her eyes to his. She trembled, for once from warmth rather than damnable cold, her belly burning as it fluttered. “Has he?”
He nodded smugly. “He has.”
Lexyn rose to the tips of her toes, her hands on his forearms, stretching to close the gap between their heights. Her mouth opened, uncertain whether to kiss or speak her heart. His fingers ran through her hair, and she started to lean in, when shouts uphill stole their focus.
Bax was wailing on one of the men Lexyn had shot, the violence snapping her attention back to where it needed to be. She let her hands fall from Pelzyq’s arms and he withdrew his hand from her hair. Zyryxa needed them, and Lexyn refused to let her down, even knowing that the mighty Matyxal waited above.