I narrowed my eyes at him but put my knife away. “Okay, teamwork then. You do your magic voodoo shit, and I’ll try to direct them.”
He nodded.
As we stepped farther back, I watched Greeve and Kai dive and roll as they avoided the giant’s pounding. He laid on his rotund belly with the thick rope tight around his legs, flailing like a fae child throwing a tantrum.
“Water!” Greeve used his magic to move back and forth, slashing the giant with his long, curved weapon as he moved.
I watched as Kai stepped in front of Fen and I with his sword out while Fen bowed his head. I sucked in a sharp breath. “No, you can’t stand still. He can’t reach us, just keep moving.”
“Kai,” Wren shouted, running back into the chaos.
I pulled a knife back out and tried not to move as Fen continued to concentrate on his magic.
Kai bolted to the side, and Greeve continued to cleave through the air, circling the giant and slashing him left and right.
The giant reached out and snagged him mid-swipe.
I threw my knife as hard as I could without jarring Fen. I missed his eye, but it still stuck into the side of his face. My tiny throwing knife in comparison to his size made it look like nothing more than a thorn.
“Nicely done,” Fen said from beside me.
It worked. The giant roared and shifted his attention to me long enough for Greeve to jam his curved blade into the monster’s hand so that he would release him. He landed with a thud and scooted backward.
Further enraged, the giant screamed until he was choking and gasping for air. He dropped his fists to the ground and swiped them back and forth.
“Look out,” I shouted just as he was about to collide with Wren and Kai.
They went in opposite directions, rolling on the ground as the giant continued to choke. He stopped flailing as he brought his massive hands to his throat, and I watched in silence as the others moved to stand beside us while the giant drowned in Fen’s water magic. Even moments after the giant was clearly dead, no one moved. Fen not only had magic, he had more than one core. I’d seen fire and water. Two elements. As far as I knew, that wasn’t possible.
“Well, that was fun,” Kai finally said. “Can’t believe he caught you.” He punched Greeve’s arm.
“He got lucky,” Greeve answered, scowling and jamming his sword back into the sheath on his back.
“Not bad,” Fen said, nudging me.
I smiled at him. “Not too bad yourself, Prince.”
“Calm down you two.” Wren raised her brows to me. “Someone will think you can actually be civil.”
“We certainly wouldn’t want that,” Fen smirked.
I noticed the subtle way he pulled me closer to him and tried not to read into it. I could potentially think about possibly being friends. That had to count for something. Right?
“At least you make a good team,” Wren said, watching us closely.
“Not like we had a choice,” I answered. “Let’s get moving. I’m tired of this forest.”
Kai played line leader, and we all followed, with Fen and I taking up the rear.
I held us back a little farther this time. “Why didn’t you tell me you have magic?”
“You never asked.”
“Well, it’s not exactly something you go around asking the folk.”
“Fair enough.” He shrugged.
I didn’t want to pry for information, nor indicate I was curious about magic. Instead, I tucked my tangled hair behind my ear and looked at our joined hands. “The first thing I’m doing when we get out of this is finding a pond and bathing.”
