Chapter 276
The next time they spotted Cassian was when he ran across the shield above them. Elain barely had time to glance up before he'd thrown himself at another Illyrian and a vicious scuffle broke out. An instant later Nesta had hurried across the square, following beneath the fight as she watched as closely as possible.
"He's fine, Nesta." Feyre sounded pretty sure of that, and Elain supposed that, of the lot of them, her younger sister had seen Cassian in action the most. She would know better than they would just what he was capable of, and what he could handle. Sure enough, moments later, Cassian dragged his blade through the Illyrian's stomach, and they watched the body fall off the side of the building and disappear behind the walls. Without stopping, Cassian ran for the edge and leapt into the air. Elain lost sight of him as he descended, and she could only assume that he was heading down to continue the fight with Azriel. They could hear the sounds of fighting, metal on metal, and it sounded as if there was still quite a few of their enemy out there.
Lucien didn't move from the bench he had been sitting on, and Elain knew that he was still beyond exhausted. She didn't push it, however, knowing that he would prefer for her to think that he was not struggling. Smiling at him, Elain stroked her fingers over the back of his hand, allowing him that.
She wondered what was going on outside when they heard a loud WHOOP, and then she closed her eyes as her ears began to ring.
Elain found herself standing outside the training square, and it took her a moment to understand what it was that had happened. She knew that what she was seeing was current because there were Illyrians everywhere. Azriel was nearby, moving among them like smoke, forming and dissolving in shadows as he went from enemy to enemy, leaving red in his wake. She had been wondering what was going on out here and, somehow, she had tapped into her ability as a Seer to find out.
Cassian moved in front of her then, calling out to a large Illyrian nearby who had been saying something Elain hadn't paid much attention to but which Cassian had obviously taken offense to. Cassian charged toward the Illyrian who threw his blade up at the last moment, deflecting Cassian's blow, and then they were going at it. Back and forth, they traded blows, both giving and taking ground as their battle went on and on.
"You'll see!" the words were snarled at Cassian who gave a laugh.
"Oh? Will I?"
"When the others get here!"
Cassian punched him hard in the face, and Elain tried to stifle a gasp. It wouldn't have mattered, she knew, if she had screamed. She wasn't really there, and nobody would have heard her. She could have stripped down and run naked through their fight, and they still wouldn't have seen her. "Your friends show up and we'll do the same to them." Cassian retorted and the Illyrian laughed, even holding his bloody nose.
"You'll all die."
"Unlikely." This was not Cassian, and Elain spun to look at the same time Cassian did.
Rhys stood nearby, power moving around him, and Elain knew that he had just winnowed there. "About time you appeared." Cassian said, although the irritation in his voice was clearly fabricated. "Az and I have been getting tired."
"Speak for yourself." Azriel put in, shifting to stand beside Cassian.
"It looks like you've taken care of the lot of them." Rhys sounded casual, almost bored.
"For now." Cassian wiped his blade before sheathing it. "They've sent for others. We could be overrun at any moment."
"That wont happen." Rhys strode forward and Elain let herself look around them. There were, as she had suspected, a huge mountain of dead Illyrians who had fallen from the roof when Lucien had been ripping through them with his shield weapon. There had to be hundreds of them.
"And why not?" Cassian asked the High Lord of the Night Court and Rhys smiled.
"Because," Rhys said, "I made sure that the other camps were all very much aware of what would happen to them, and how displeased the High Lord would be, if they had gotten involved in this.
"Ahh…" Cassian ran a hand through his tangled hair. "That'd just about do it."
Rhys smiled at them again. "Where is my mate?"
"Inside." Cassian tipped his head at the square. "With the others."
Elain was physically jolted back to where she sat on the bench beside Lucien. He was looking at her with concern, one of his hands sliding up and down her forearm soothingly. "Petal?" he breathed, "What is it?"
"Rhys is here." She told him, and Feyre got to her feet nearby, moving closer to listen. "He's outside with Cassian and Azriel…"
"What a relief." Nesta murmured, and Elain nodded.
"He made sure that there will be no others coming to join the attack…" Elain looked from Lucien to her elder sister and then to Feyre. "It's over."