Read Online Witch Queen by Kim Richardson - Free Book Online Page A

your
weapons—”
    “You’ve cursed us all to hell!” growled the
same man. Then he bared his teeth in a grin that would have had me
shaking in the knees if I hadn’t had an audience.
    “But I’m going to make it right by my
Madolina and Imilia, so help the Creator. I’m going to end your
life, and when I’m done with you, you’re going to wish you’d died
in that goddamn race, witch.”
    Before I had time to blink, he lunged at me
with the speed and agility of a red monk.
    I felt the air move an inch from my throat,
and the searing pain of a small cut. I leapt back as my assailant
went for my throat again. I felt wetness trickle against my
collarbone as I spun and raised my sword above my head. The clang
of metal blasted into the air like thunder as I met my attacker’s
broadsword head-on.
    I spun away from
him
on the
balls of
my
feet, swung my
sword
in a tight arc and deflected his blade. Blood
pumped through my veins, and my breath came quick and short. I
readied myself, and he rushed at
me
again
. He
seemed unnaturally fast, and
his
sword
nicked the edge of my cloak
as I sidestepped.
    But he was on me again. He
charged forward with a war cry and swung his weapon. I parried and
blocked, watching his movements and waiting for an opening so I
could finish him off. But he fought too well to be considered just
a grunt. No, he was trained fighter, a warrior.
    I blocked high and then
cut low, but he swung his great weapon around and blocked me. He
spun around, but I ducked and rolled away as his weapon nearly cut
off my ear.
    “I’m going to gut you like
a pig.” He looked at me with cold, evil eyes. Sweat trickled down
his face, and his breathing came in large, rapid gusts.
    I shifted on my feet. “I’d like to see you
try.”
    I wasn’t about to let him kill me. Too many
people depended on me. Jon depended on me. The thought of Jon sent
a wildfire through my veins.
    The brute charged forward,
swinging his sword in great big arcs. Fire burned inside me. This
fool was ready to kill me without giving me a chance to make things
right. Damn him.
    I let that anger fuel me
and
parried
his swings, one after another. I smiled at the surprise on
his face. Any ordinary human would have been dead by now,
especially a weak and fragile female. But I wasn’t a mere human. I
was a steel maiden.
    My feet were as supple as a cat’s, and I
slipped away easily, but not fast enough.
    Before I could recover from his previous
blow, he was on me again, swinging for my head, again and again,
never tiring. I dropped to the ground. His sword grazed the top of
my head and sliced a hole in my cowl.
    Bastard . I liked that cloak. Rose had
given it to me and I didn’t own a spare.
    With my mouth dry and blood pounding in my
veins, I parried and used my opponent’s own weight to drive him
forward. I rolled and sent him sprawling to the ground with a
powerful kick.
    Without a second to lose, I came up looking
for the others. The air was suddenly full
of
screams and
grunts, of metal against metal, and
of steel
cleaving
through
flesh
and
bone
. Everything seemed
to happen at once.
    Leo barreled forward and slammed his weapon
into a Romilian with a satisfying thud. Will and Max were fighting
back to back, slicing their enemies with great arcs of their swords
and never missing a beat. With two curved blades in his hands,
Lucas moved between foes in a lethal dance, stabbing them with
deadly precision before they even knew what had happened. His
targets wavered, weakened, and fell.
    Nugar’s piercings and tattoos shone with
sweat as he swung a great battle-axe around him in a circle,
hacking off the hands and arms of the fools who dared to enter his
killing ring. With a great swing, he s evered one
head completely and hacked at another. His savagery and violence
were enough to raise bile into my throat, and I made a mental note
never to piss him off.
    We were holding our own against this
surprise attack, considering that we were