The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida
Chapter Forty-Five
The escape tunnels led into the forest beyond the fortress. It wasn't that far from the battlefield, but I couldn't fly. Dal wouldn't leave me, especially not in a monster-ridden forest, and the Hawks wouldn't leave either of us. So, we walked quietly and carefully through the woods. By the time we got back, the battle was over, the Farungal were dead, and the fires had been put out. The stronghold was smoking but looked safe enough. In fact, just as we came walking up on our bird legs, a group of chained Sidhe were led out of the fortress. Brendallen, his guard, and his officers.
Dalsharan launched into the air, flying through the small space that separated him from Brendallen, then swooped down to land before the ex-warlord. I cursed and scrambled forward, dragging my wing behind me. Dalsharan grabbed Brendallen and tossed him through the air.
“Dal, he's chained!” I shouted as I reached him.
“Get up!” Dalsharan snarled at Brendallen. “Get up and face me, you fucking bastard!”
Brendallen got to his feet, lifted his head, and shook back his dark hair with a twisted smirk. “Where's the honor of the great Hawk Lord now?” he sneered. “Are you going to beat me to death while I'm bound? That would make you no better than me.” He grinned broadly.
“He's just trying to goad you,” I said urgently. “We'll take him back to Varalorre and his king can punish him.
“I vowed that we'd kill him, Ravyn,” the Hawk Lord growled, keeping his stare on our enemy.
“Yeah, well, I can't help at the moment.” I nodded toward my broken wing.
“That's why I'm going to kill him for both of us.” He brushed his feathered head along mine, then swung it back to face Brendallen. “Someone release him.”
Faeries murmured around us, gathering closer.
“Hawk Lord, this man's a criminal. You don't have to fight him,” the Lion Lord said. “It's beneath you.”
“I don't care if it's beneath me, Hadrian,” Dalsharan said. “He abused my consort, and he will pay with his life.”
Not because he had betrayed his entire race, or stole soul stones, or set the Hawk Lord up to be captured. Nope, Dal was pissed because Brendallen had hurt me. I have to admit that made my little birdy heart go pitter-patter. But I didn't want to risk Dalsharan on a fight when the battle was won.
“He'll get his own,” I said. “I'm satisfied with that.”
“I am not!” Dalsharan roared.
Everyone went quiet except for Brendallen, who started to laugh.
“So angry,” Brendallen said. “Always so angry.”
“Release him,” Dalsharan ordered again.
“Give me the keys.” The Lion Lord held out his hand expectantly. He was back to his Sidhe form and dressed in a war robe like most of the Sidhe there. Hadrian took the keys from a human soldier and went to Brendallen. “If you fight with dishonor, I will tear your throat out.”
Brendallen just held his wrists out and grinned.
Hadrian released the ex-Coyote Lord and stepped back. A tight circle of fae and humans had formed, but they moved out, giving Dal and Brendallen room to fight. Canines and Felines growled, Avians made short screeches, Trolls and Red Caps clenched their fists, and Leanan-Sidhe smiled maliciously at Brendallen. If he won, he'd be torn apart. It would be smarter for him to kneel and beg for mercy than to face Dal. But Brendallen had been a warlord and he was a vicious motherfucker. I knew he'd fight to his last breath just to see Dalsharan go down with him.
I went up to Dal and whispered, “Don't do this. Let's just take him back to Varalorre and go home.”
“Ravyn,” Dalsharan said softly, his golden, hawk eye focusing on mine, “have some faith in me.”
I sighed, nodded, and stepped back.
“Shift!” Dalsharan shouted at Brendallen.
Brendallen grinned maliciously and that smile turned into a coyote leer as he shifted so smoothly, it was almost beautiful. He was massive in that form—a great, hulking beast with fangs as long as my forearms. Brendallen gnashed his fangs and tossed his furred head before setting his menacing stare on the Hawk Lord. Dal shrieked and shot into the air.
The giant Coyote crouched, head angled up to watch Dal's flight, and as my lover dove, Brendallen launched upward and snapped at him. He caught Dal's tail, but Dal clawed the Coyote's ear. Brendallen snarled and backed up as the great bird hovered, fanning debris into his eyes. Shrieks blasted from the Hawk Lord's beak as the Coyote snarled and squinted. One massive paw lashed out and caught Dal across the chest. Feathers flew along with blood. I started forward but a hand grabbed my arm.
“You cannot intervene,” the Lion Lord said gravely.
I clenched my jaw as Dalsharan stabbed at Brendallen with his beak, aiming for the Coyote's eye. Brendallen shook his head and snapped his jaws, catching one of Dal's talons. Dalsharan hit the ground and was dragged several feet by the snarling Coyote. The Hawk Lord shrieked and bashed at the Coyote with his free foot, clawing Brendallen's snout until he let go.
The Hawk Lord rolled to his feet but limped forward, one leg barely touching the ground. With great flaps of his wings, he shot back into the air and circled the Coyote, looking for a weakness. He dove and struck, over and over, taking as much damage as he gave, until a paw caught him in the side of the head. The Hawk Lord tumbled to the ground and rolled to a stop.
The soldiers went silent as Dalsharan went still.
“No!” I shouted and surged forward.
Again, Hadrian pulled me back. “Look,” he pointed.
Dal was getting to his feet. One eye was closed and blood marred his feathers, but he turned to face Brendallen without hesitation. Limping forward, he set his good eye on his enemy.
Brendallen made a yipping laugh. “I will treasure the look on Ravyn's face when I kill you.”
The Coyote ran forward. The Hawk Lord went still, his bad leg settling onto the ground. I frowned. The eye that had been closed opened, completely unharmed, and the Hawk Lord leapt into the sky suddenly, seconds before Brendallen reached him. The Coyote hit the ground with a resounding crack, his nose crunching into the rocks Dal had been hiding.
Brendallen shook off the dirt and lifted his head, but it was too late. Dalsharan hit him like a javelin, his beak going straight into the furred neck, just as my beak had once done to the Coyote Lord. But this time, Brendallen wouldn't be allowed to heal. The Hawk Lord's talons latched onto the Coyote's back and when he pulled his beak free, he did so at an angle, tearing flesh away. Dalsharan struck again and again with blurring speed, rending the meat from Brendallen's neck until there was nothing but bone left.
With a cracking sound, the Hawk Lord snapped Brendallen's spine and severed his head.
I gaped at my lover as he lifted his bloody beak to the sky and screeched in triumph. The crowd of humans and faeries roared, yipped, cheered, and shrieked with him. Then Dalsharan walked over to me, shifting as he came. I shifted too, and when he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me into a conqueror's kiss, I wrapped my uninjured arm around him and kissed him back.
As the armies continued to cheer, Dalsharan eased away to look at me. “And now, we can go home, Consort.”
“Yes, Hawk Lord.”