Aiden closed his eyes, the throbbing pain in his body consuming him as he accepted whatever fate awaited him.
He was certain Emmeranne had approached to end it- his life, his misery, his pathetic fall. The cold kiss of death seemed preferable to the torment his body endured. But instead of silence or a blade, a sudden clash of metal rang out like thunder.
His eyes snapped open.
The night sky spun as he struggled to turn his head toward the sound, and what he saw froze the breath in his lungs.
Emmeranne stood behind him now, her long hair billowing in the wind as her amethyst-bladed sword struck a cloaked figure. The sheer force of her swing sent the assailant flying, blood spraying across the earth as the figure hit the ground.
Aiden tried to sit up, wincing as fire pulsed through his ribs and up his spine.
