𝐀 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬

Ch 46: Surprise

"with me wrapped around it like a snake."

Aelin POV
The last two towers standing were far away, as if mocking me with the chance of life, but standing just out of my reach. A snarl erupted from my throat, realizing that Erawen had won, Maeve had won. It wasn't just me anymore either, it was my child too, which made my blood boil. I wouldn't forfeit like this, I won't die dangling on a rope, waiting for the height to take mine and my child's life. I won't.

My eyes closing, my mind going to the life I had planned for Rowan and me, Orynth full of libraries and theatres with the people smiling and happy, our children running around the town square, Rowan smiling and following after them, chasing them to eat their food but a smile still on his face. A new fire burned in my eyes as I opened them.

A future to look forward to, I lunged. I was going to die anyway, might as well go trying I reasoned as the air whipped around my face as I lunged onto nothing. As if the universe agreed with me and the future I had dreamed, my foot hit wood.

A sharp pain tore through my bleeding thigh as my foot made impact, sending me to my knees with a sharp cry of pain. Someone was instantly beside me, a gasp of shock and dread leaving them as their hands rested on the shard of glass, and I shrieked. "This is going to hurt." she said in a calm, soothing voice- a healer's voice. Without waiting for my confirmation, her hands began glowing a bright gold as white-hot sizzling pain took over my body.

I gritted my teeth as Feyre pulled the shard out in one swift pull, "Fuck!". Apologizing profusely, Feyre healed the gory cut on my thigh began to knit itself together. I never wanted to move, not till someone had iced it and a proper healer had looked at it, but that was the spoiled little princess in me talking and right now the world needed me to be an assassin. Pulling myself up, with an ungodly amount of swearing mind you, I stood up, a wince permanently plastered on my face.

I was taller than Feyre, by a few inches, I realized as I stood next to her with a questioning glance. "Well?" I said, an eyebrow lifting, "now we have to perform the spell, to destroy the cauldron and stopping it from destroying us." she replied, already brandishing her knife. Cutting into her palm, before she placed it above the cauldron as the blood dripped into it. "Now I need Amren." she said looking to me. "you sure about that?" someone drawled from in front of us and my head whipped towards it so fast I was sure I heard a bone crack. There, standing on the other side of the cauldron grinning like a fiend, stood Maeve.

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RECAP: "You're awfully naive if you think two healers and a bunch of pathetic idiots is enough to take a king of hell." he drawled, but unaware of the fact that we had the upper hand. All his words managed to do was piss Tamlin and Beron off, their fragile egos taking offense to the king's weak attempt at a psychological attack.

Rhysand POV

A grin took over my face as I stared into the eyes of the so-called 'king' of hell, challenging him. "You're awfully naive if you think someone who's been playing mind games for over five centuries is going to fall for that." I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest, my eyes never leaving his. I could see the seed of doubt I had planted take root as his eyes became momentarily taken aback before returning to being sadistic and cruel.

"go." I whispered so that Erawen could clearly hear me, and so could the Illyrians beside me. Erawen stumbled a little as my grin became feral, and a too-bright light shot from behind me straight into Erawen's chest. A scream erupted from him, drowning in the light that even I had to shield my eyes from, as the valg king began burning.

Taing my eyes off of the scene in front of me, I turned towards the cadre, two of them on the ground as Fernys and Rowan pounced on hybern again, giving the other two a chance to join them. Satisfied with the current state of events, I turned back to watching Erawen as the healer's hands shone with ethereal light, sweat coating their faces. "Do finish him off." I said into Rowan's head, and his almost un-noticeable nod was my answer as he lunged into the air one last time, sword in his hand as he landed on the King of Hybern, locking his feet around his neck and twisting, taking Hybern down to the ground with him. While the fae king was busy trying to take Rowan off his neck, Lorcan drove a sword through his chest, making the king stop struggling.

Rowan, he got off of Hybern and stood with his brothers as the king began sputtering blood and gasping for a breath. I saw it a second too late as the word in Lorcan's hand swung in a downwards arc, taking Hybern's head off of his body and sent it rolling in the sand.

Despite Erawen's continued screaming, a silence filled my head as my sister's sworn warriors finished Hybern off, a peaceful, serene silence.

Deciding to enjoy this later, I looked back to Erawen to find him on his knees, writhing in pain, when something that took me by surprise happened. Erawen's screaming seized, not smiling but not in any apparent pain either as he stood up on one leg then another, slowly, his eyes glaring into mine. The healers, halfway to fainting and equally as shocked as me, stopped their energy from flowing to an unresponsive host.

He walked towards me, dragging his feet as if trying to purposely slow his steps as he came right up in my face. I was frozen in my spot, as he grabbed my collar and brought his lips to my ear, "this isn't a hosts body, high lord it's mine. You're going to have to do better than that. I am not as weak as my dead ally over there." he whispered, before pulling back and removing his hands from my collar. Relief flooded through me at the little distance that Erawen had created between us, as memories of my time with Amarantha came back, a time where she had the upper hand and everyone suffered for it. Before I could even get over the shock of what just happened though, a hand snaked around my neck and lifted me up. My frozen body finally coming into action as my hands lifted to scratch at the demon's hand who was holding me by my neck, choking me. "Say hi to your sister for me, would you." he said, smiling, as I noticed something I hadn't before - there was nothing human in his eyes.