Free The Broken Pieces by David Dalglish

could not keep it up long. The rest of her passed through the man, and by the convulsions of his body she knew it must have felt like his entire being was encased in ice. Spinning about, she grabbed his head, and with strength far beyond what she’d possessed in life, jerked it sharply to one side. The sound of his neck snapping was louder than she preferred.
    The commotion was enough to alert the guards, but whatever noise they’d heard below was quickly forgotten when cries of battle from the north broke the silence. Valessa cursed silently. They’d needed to walk a fine line, waiting long enough for her to open the gates, but not long enough for those in the tower to notice and try to close it. In her opinion, Darius had acted far too soon, the impatient oaf.
    Just beside the gate was a heavy wheel attached to the wall, connected to unseen gears and pulleys that would lift and shut the gate. As Valessa grabbed the handles, she heard what she’d most feared: Lilah’s roar. Not daring to turn around, she pulled. The wheel was designed to be used by two men, but Valessa could still move it with ease. Advantages of being undead, she told herself, laughing madly. As alarms sounded, pierced by another roar, it seemed the two soldiers up top noticed her meddling, or at least, heard the clattering rise of the gate. An arrow pierced her chest and thudded into the grass. Valessa smirked. Two more arrows flew, and she ignored them, only spinning the wheel as fast as her arms could go.
    Realizing they couldn’t hurt her, at least not with arrows, the two rushed down the stone steps. One man latched onto the wheel, trying to stall its movements, while the other swung a sword at her neck. It passed through, nearly killing the other man in the process. Annoyed by the interference, Valessa shoved her hand through the chest of the first, her icy hand closing around his heart and crushing it. For a brief moment she felt the blood swirling about her fingers, then turned her attention to the other. Keeping her entire body solid, she kicked and punched him back, each blow denting his armor. He tried to block with his sword, but her movements were too deft, too blinding. A savage blow to his chin staggered him, and when he fell he lay there, vomiting.
    The gate was only half open. Men could crawl under, but they’d be helpless against any sort of defense. Turning the wheel, she ignored the mercenaries approaching to guard the gate. They couldn’t hurt her. None of them could, not with their feeble mortal blades. She had no flesh to pierce. But when the lioness let out her cry, and its sound was terribly close, she knew she’d failed her task.
    “You dare return here?” Lilah roared, and then something struck Valessa hard from behind. A terrible sensation of burning swarmed across her back, and she flew forward, through the wheel, through the wall, and exited rolling across the grass. Letting out a scream, Valessa fought against the pain. Glaring at the gate, she watched as the mercenaries quickly shut it. Looking north, she saw Darius leading a charge, his glowing blade held high. In moments they’d arrive to find no way inside.
    “Is that it?” Valessa asked, even as she felt a form of madness overtake her. She approached the gate, where Lilah glared at her through the bars. She was just as large as she remembered, an enormous feline with molten fur and fire burning where her eyes should be. Only metal separated them, but it seemed the lioness still feared the forces arrayed against her, otherwise she’d have kept the gates open so she could attack. “Is that the best you can do to me?”
    Valessa showed the flesh rent by the lioness’s claws, which wept shadow, and no matter what form she assumed, would not change to match it, instead remaining a wicked scar.
    “Your body is a gift, one I can take away,” Lilah said, nose hovering just before the gate.
    Valessa walked closer, closer, and she made her form change to match her