Chapter 274: Blood on the Blossoms
The ground exploded beneath Fable’s massive claws as he lunged forward. He moved deceptively swift for so titanic a creature, a silver blur of muscle and rage. Before the Inquisitors could react, his jaws clamped around Leera, sinking his fangs into her torso. Her scream split the clearing, a sharp, ragged sound that sent shivers down my spine. With a shake of Fable’s head, she was sent flying across the meadow, blood trailing in a crimson arc behind her.
"Leera!" one of the armored men cried, staggering back a step, his face pale.
The inquisitor kicked off the ground, leaping into the air behind Fable. He brought his sword down on the wolf’s flank, and, in a shower of sparks, the blade skittered off the hardened spikes of silver fur. Fable whipped around, his massive tail slamming into the man’s side with a sickening crack, knocking him to the ground.
Blood spurted from the inquisitor’s lips as the ground caved beneath him. The entire meadow trembling from the impact, sharp fragments of earth and crushed flowers rising about him in a crater. Before he could gurgle a scream, Fable brought his hind leg down on top of him, a single, scythe-like claw punching through his breastplate, pinning him to the ground.
The sudden carnage shocked the others into action, and two of the other Inquisitors engaged Fable. Their broadswords blazed with the power of fourth-level magical techniques, slicing through the wolf’s defenses, leaving long, bloody wounds from which blood flowed freely. Fable cried in pain, his voice tugging at my heart, but I gripped my staff, fighting down the impulse to shift the target of Blade Ward to protect him.
"I’ll take the Filthblood!" A large, bearded man snarled, charging toward me, his massive halberd held high. He appeared before me in an instant, his eyes burning with hatred.
"Sunstrike!" he cried, raising the gleaming blade of his halberd high.
The axe head blazed with glorious light, a second sun in the air me. A spike of terror drove into my heart, a painful tingle racing through the Sunpurge. The entire world seemed to slow, the weapon leaving a blazing arc in the air behind it. I tried to dodge, to throw myself aside, but my body was leaden, refusing to obey. The air wavered from heat, the grass beneath my feet had withered, the flowers blackened. My eyes darted to where the unfinished spell floated, useless. Too late...
The halberd fell hard, crashing into my shoulder with the force of a mountain. I cried out as the blade bit into my cloak, expecting to feel the blinding sting of steel, the world turning dark. But the seemingly delicate fabric rippled, the blow dissolving like sand in running water. In the stress of the moment, I’d forgotten the enchantments woven within the garment, a gift from Viriden.