Burned Alive

“There will always be a later,” Brenna said, “if we don’t give up fighting. Come on.”

Then she turned and brought her sword up, caught a man across the chest in a blow that tore him apart. Ciaran gripped his sword and followed her, readied himself for the rest of the fight.

What followed was - a dance. Memorization. Repetition. Motions and reactions learned and drilled a hundred times.

Reality was nothing like practice, because practice didn’t have blood and screams, desperation and magic, hatred and terror.

When Deagan finally called a retreat, most of the enemy was dead - burned alive.