Human Hearts by Mary Beesley

Author:Mary Beesley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Monster Ivy Publishing

TWENTY-NINE - FAMILY AFFAIR

FERTH

“You!” Laconius’s angry bellow rolled across the lake.

“Yes.” Ferth spread his arms and forced a smile. “I’m not so easy to kill. Aren’t you proud of your son?”

Silvery moonlight washed over Laconious’s fuming face. He swung his axe at his side as he marched forward. His wound was a mean slab of pink scars across his bare chest. Thighs as thick as tree trunks quivered with each step.

Ferth stepped off the rock and onto the grass, staking out better ground. Now that Laconius was here, his horns rising to shiny points, his eyes as wild as his curly hair, Ferth’s nerves steadied, and his hesitations fled. This must be done. His back sang at the memory of his father’s whip. His heart pounded out the beat of vengeance, but he couldn’t forget the times his father had been proud of him. Those fleeting moments clung to him now like burrs.

“I’m glad you’re still alive,” Laconius said. “It will give me great pleasure to kill you.”

The words cut like blades through Ferth’s armor, and his last flicker of hope for reconciliation vanished. He knew it had been a foolish hope, a child’s fantasy, but his lungs hollowed out at the loss, nonetheless. Laconius was five paces away now. Four. Three. He seemed to grow larger with each step closer. Heart beating frantically, Ferth pulled his sword free and lifted it.

Laconius’s smile was full of condescension as he looked down on Ferth, as if his son were no more than a flea. Laconius attacked. Ferth deflected the crushing blow, the clang of metal ringing through his bones. His wolves crept closer as Laconius’s axe curved down in a deadly arc. Ferth grunted as he blocked it and jumped free. Laconius struck hard and fast. At this rate, the fight Ferth had been anticipating his whole life wasn’t going to last more than a minute or two.

Ferth’s sword wasn’t long enough to reach Laconius’s body, and his exhausted muscles began to weaken beneath the onslaught.

“Pathetic.” Laconius spat as he stepped aside to avoid an uneven patch of dirt. “Even as an abomination, I expected better from you. You’ve disappointed me again.” He swung his axe against his son’s sword in rapid blows.

“Now,” Ferth whispered to the animals crouching in the grass behind Laconius.

Lyko dove for the back of the knees. Rom leapt, his claws tangling with Laconius’s long hair, then digging into his thick neck and causing Laconius to roar and jerk back. Ferth snaked forward, getting into sword range. Laconius’s bulging eyes tracked Ferth, his axe coming down even as the two wolves slashed at his back. Ferth blocked the axe with his sword, crouched to get closer, then pulled a knife from Marko’s baldric and buried it in Laconius’s side.

Laconius’s left hand swung forward and hit just to the right of Ferth’s sternum. Ferth was thrown off his feet and landed hard on his back. A rock pierced his healing shoulder. Laconius swung his axe over his head, but the wolves had already dropped back.

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