Warrior Beautiful (16 page)

“
Scout! I need you!
”
Ashra screeched. Scout jerked her mind back from wherever it had run in fear, gripping the scepter with sweaty hands. She searched, in that part she didn’t know very well, found the courage, found Ashra.
Ah, that
’
s where it
’
s coming from,
she thought, unsure whom she was even talking to in her fear-crazed mind. She swung her scepter wide, the bright magic shooting in an arc, Ashra’s flames meeting it in an explosion of sparks. There were at least a dozen soul stealers who fell under their onslaught, screaming as they tumbled through the sky. It was the most awful sound Scout had ever heard.

Whipping her scepter around, she listened for Ashra, feeling the next attack before Ashra’s horn lit up. Holding tight to the shred of courage, she willed all her energy into the scepter, delighted when the flames shot out with more force than before, hitting more soul stealers, smothering them in a thick cloud. “
Now pull
.” Scout tugged it back, the dark wraith of their spells closing until the soul stealers caught in it were nothing.

Ashra pumped her wings hard, shooting them through the sky, toward the middle of the dark mass of bloody, writhing bodies. “What are you doing?” Scout screamed, but she saw before Ashra had a chance to answer. Without riders, the unicorns were falling left and right, tumbling through the darkness to their death. Ashra lunged to the side, and they flew sideways across the sky. Scout shrieked as she felt herself slipping, but Ashra held her steady. She scrambled, found the courage, gripped it tight, and swung her scepter to the side. They flew parallel over the soul stealers, and Scout’s analytical brain couldn’t figure out how it was even possible to fly sideways, but the other part of her screamed in fury and lit up the inky blackness with another attack — a big one. From the corner of her vision, she saw Torz streaking through the sky after them, and she nodded. Digging deep, she shoved her strength into the scepter, and the dark cloud exploded, enveloping all the soul stealers she could reach. Hundreds. She had caught at least that many. “Wahoo!” she screamed, startling Ashra. “We can do it! “

“
Who knew?
” Ashra said dryly. “
Our weird connection thing is enough.
”

Torz’s horn burned with fiery magic as he and Trey shot attack after attack; and from across the sky, Scout saw Iros and Havik. It was hard to miss the mighty leader’s flames; they were so much brighter, so much more devastating than anyone else’s.

“We’ve got them! They’re running!” Scout squealed.

“
Not fast enough.
”
Ashra’s voice was grim in her head. Scout swung around, still holding tight to the deep cloud that kept the soul stealers lost and vulnerable. Ashra leveled them out, her fiery wings beating hard. The soul stealers were fleeing, but they were killing too many unicorns along the way.

“
I have an idea. Are you up for it?
”
Ashra asked, pumping hard.

They shot through the devastated heavens and Scout lost the attack she’d been holding. “Ashra! I can’t…” But that group of soul stealers was gone. Havik and Torz had killed them all.

“
Scout?
”
Ashra wasn’t letting up. They sped past more soul stealers, galloping through the clouds faster than the lightning crashing around them.

Scout had a terrible, horrible feeling she knew what Ashra was planning. It wasn’t possible. She couldn’t. She wasn’t brave enough. She wasn’t strong enough.

“
But I am,
”
Ashra said quietly.

Scout swallowed hard, dug deeper for whatever courage she had left. “How can we…?

Ashra didn’t slow, nearing the leading soul stealers, where they had the unicorns trapped.

“
We
’
ll save hundreds of lives, Scout. There
’
s no other choice.
”

She really does have a death wish,
Scout realized, her stomach sinking.
Courage, where are you?
“Are you fast enough?” Scout’s voice was surprising in its hardness.

“
For a while.
”

Scout tucked her legs tight around Ashra’s middle, holding to the wispy mane with one hand. Ashra tucked her wings and they nose-dived straight into the mass of soul stealers.

“
Scout!
” She heard Trey scream, but it was too late to pull up. Scout felt their claws, reaching and tearing, but Ashra didn’t hesitate as she plunged into their midst. Scout swung her scepter, willing it to shoot the flames Iros had taught them. The soul stealers shrieked in agony as the fire hit them, turning away from the fleeing unicorns to attack the single fighter in their midst.

“
Now
, Ashra!” Ashra’s wings shot out, igniting in flames, hitting the demons closing in on them. And then she shot straight up through them, knocking them out of the way, her mighty feet kicking as she galloped across the clouds. Soul stealers impaled themselves on her horn as she fought their way out.

Struggling to breathe, Scout eyed her scepter. The end had sharp flares around the orb. Screaming unintelligibly, forgetting her exhaustion, she lunged toward the first soul stealer she could reach, watching in satisfaction as the end plunged into its empty chest. The thing screeched and burst into flames from the inside. Scout jerked the scepter out hard and shoved it toward the next one waiting to rip her soul from her body.

They’d made the mass of soul stealers angry. Angrier. To penetrate their defenses was an insult, and the demons weren’t going to let them escape unpunished.

But they were no match for Ashra’s rage.

She fought her way free, kicking, biting, stabbing, and shooting attacks and fire and then they shot straight up through the sky, followed by every single remaining soul stealer.

“
Go, Ashra!
”
Scout screamed as they flew higher and higher. Ashra was faster than the furious demons chasing them, but it wouldn’t last long. Scout could feel Ashra’s chest heaving, and her neck was lathered in thick froth and blood.

Scout whirled, staring behind them.
This is what purgatory looks like
. Hundreds of the things even her nightmares couldn’t produce flew after them, a dark cloud of death. They exploded through the clouds as Ashra fought to keep her momentum against gravity.

“
Now Scout.
”

Scout dug deep, searching for strength. But there was nothing left. She’d given everything she had trying to escape. She remembered Iros saying that a smother attack took all the magic. There was nothing left. A sob rose in her throat. They had failed.

Deeper, Scout. I
’
ll help you.
Lil Bit’s voice shocked her so completely that she nearly dropped the scepter. The last of her strength waited, like Lil Bit’s open hand, and she grabbed it and swung her scepter.

The attack burst from the orb and shot toward the cloud of demons, enveloping them in darkness as Ashra’s wings stumbled. “Level us off!” Scout yelled but she didn’t need to. Ashra tipped her wing and they paralleled with the dark cloud. She had the soul stealers, but they were so high.
It takes two for this spell to do any good
.

“Or three!” She heard Iros bellow as they shot out of the darkness, Torz across from him. The unicorns plunged into the cloud, lighting it up with attack after attack. The screaming was devastating. Scout’s arms shook as she struggled to hold the magic; Ashra’s horn sputtered as her entire body trembled.

Trey. Please be safe.

More unicorns, rider-less, flew in from below, not hesitating, diving fearlessly into Scout’s cloud. More and more came; all of them that had been trying to escape.

“Ashra! I can’t — “ Scout’s hand fell, the scepter almost slipping from her fingers as her vision blurred around the edges. The conceal cloud fell with her as Ashra’s flames died.

There was nothing left.

No horrible demons. No soul stealers. No screaming. Only battered, bloody, but
alive
unicorns.

Iros surged to the front, holding his scepter high in victory. The others rallied around him. Scout’s eyes searched desperately for Torz and Trey, but there was so much blackness. Havik’s horn lit and exploded with lightning, splitting the sky and opening the gate to Paradesos. The unicorns surged toward it, but still Scout didn’t see Trey.

“
Havik! Where
’
s Torz?
”
Ashra actually shrieked, a high-pitched whinny as they stumbled toward the mighty unicorn.

“
Here, Ashra. I
’
m right here.
”
From below, Torz flew toward them, bloody, foaming, but alive. Trey held tight to his mane.

She felt Ashra suck in a deep, relieved breath. “You’re alive,” Scout breathed a shaky breath of her own.

“
Let
’
s go home,
”
Torz said, nudging them gently with his soft muzzle.

Havik joined them as they turned toward the split in the sky. Scout looked to her left at Trey, smiling, and then to her right.

“For Azezial!” Iros held his scepter up as they flew together through the doorway.

Apparently, obliterating the soul stealers completely wasn’t something the Irwarro did every day, and it was cause for celebration. By the time Ashra landed, still trembling with complete exhaustion, fiery explosions like fireworks were going up all over the valley.

“
You are absolutely insane. Do you realize that? How did you even know we
’
d see you? You could have died!
”
Torz advanced on them, nearly as terrifying as the soul stealers.

Trey leaped down, catching Scout as she tumbled from Ashra’s back. He held her tight against his chest, stroking her tangled curls and shaking as much as Ashra had been. “Of every unicorn you could choose to ride, you had to pick the one that’s a hero.” Scout gave him a weak smile but couldn’t summon the energy to actually speak. “I thought I lost you again, Scout.” Trey’s voice cracked and he swallowed hard.

She should have told him he didn’t have her to lose. She should have told him to put her down, to get away from her, but she had felt the same way about him in that battle, and she didn’t have the will now to let him go. In a minute, yes. In a minute she could remember she hated him. But for this second, she was only grateful he was alive and holding her.

Leerhas stampeded through the valley, and there were so many voices in Scout’s head she might have screamed, if she had any voice left. “
Irwarros, bring us your injured!
”

“
Come on, Princess.
”
Ashra turned away from Torz, nudging Scout.

Scout shook her head, forcing her throat to work. “I’m not injured.”

Ashra chuffed. “
Right. I guess all that red all over you is… tomato sauce?
”
She tipped her head to the side, regarding Scout with deceptively bland eyes.

Scout looked down. “Oh.” Well, look at that. She was covered in blood. Lots of blood, but it wasn’t all hers. Ashra, despite her armor, was covered in deep gashes, and blood pooled against her right wing. “Take your armor off. You look like a hideous beast,” Scout muttered, trying not to faint. She didn’t like blood. Blood reminded her of the accident.

Iros strode through the crowd of unicorns, his helmet in his hand, his scepter hanging at his side. “Here are our heroes of the day!” He pounded Trey on the back so hard Trey nearly dropped Scout before he turned to the valley, raising his voice. “We wouldn’t have emerged victorious if not for the efforts of my captains and their riders!” The mass of unicorns started shrieking, pawing at the air, shooting sparks, and causing much confusion and chaos.

“So… they don’t hate us anymore?” Scout asked hopefully.

A Leerha shoved her way forward. “
You
’
re bleeding. Remove your armor so I can heal you.
”
Her voice was stiff.

“Maybe not,” Trey muttered, letting Scout slide to her feet. She didn’t remember even losing her helmet, but it was gone when she went to remove it. Trey pulled his off, looking as battered as Iros. They all needed healing. Scout pulled at the heavy clasps on her chest plate until the Leerha sighed and lowered her horn.

“No, don’t—” Scout put her hands up, afraid she was about to be impaled, but the armor melted away. The Leerha eyed her in annoyance, but the warmth spread from her horn through Scout’s body, healing gashes, mending skin. She felt it even untangling her matted hair. “
Now, bathe. And then sleep. You need to rest.
”
The Leerha moved on, but her ghost-like tail flicked Scout once. Scout chose to believe it was a friendly flick.

“A shower would be heavenly,” she sighed. “Do unicorns use showers?”

Iros chuckled. “No. They use waterfalls. We use showers though. Didn’t you see one in your hut?”

Scout wanted to swear. She’d been dying for a shower for two days now and it had been in her hut all along? But it had to wait. She had some important questions first. “Iros, who is Azezial?”

“Azezial was Ashra’s mate. The unicorn my brother murdered.” Iros’ eyes glittered dangerously.

“I see. And when do we get my sister? Since the soul stealers are all dead, can we go get her now?”

“And my family?” Trey asked, so hopeful he nearly broke Scout’s heart.

Especially when Iros’ face paled. Ashra turned her back on the Leerha trying to heal her to watch Scout, her eyes sad. “
The soul stealers aren
’
t all dead, Scout,
”
Havik answered, appearing beside her. She hadn’t even seen him coming, but her peripheral vision was still blurry.