NIKOLAI

The wind whipped my hair violently about my face as the horse galloped down the dirt road to the villages.

“Seven hells,” I growled, feeling my fangs snap together in anger as my eyes trailed over the haunting landscape of the stone-walled village.

“Saints! It's a bloody massacre!” Gallagher hummed from his horse beside me and I swallowed thickly, the sharp fume of smoke clogging my throat and latching on to my nose hairs like little rabid insects.

The dark grey fumes rose from the settlements like some post-apocalyptic volcano and my heart sputtered in my chest as I pumped my fist high in the air, ordering the soldiers...