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Ridha’s ship reached the beach first, running up onto the sand. A dozen others followed close behind, cutting through the shallow waves. Dom cared only for his cousin and ran for her ship, arms wide. She leapt from the deck, landing gracefully despite her full plate armor. Others followed, most of them Vedera, but one was clearly mortal, with blond hair and whorled Jydi tattoos. Ridha matched his speed, closing the distance between them. He laughed as she caught him around the middle, nearly lifting him off the ground. For a split second he was a child again, dragged back through the centuries.

“You’ve lost weight,” Ridha muttered, grinning.

Dom took her by the shoulders and looked her over, smiling so wide even his scars twinged. He steered them both up the hill, back toward the Companions and the war band.

“You look the same as you did months ago, when you rode off seeking a miracle,” Dom laughed as they crested the rise. Then his eyes flicked past her, as the rest of her ship emptied onto the beach. “It seems you found one.”

Hope rose up inside him as the Vedera of Kovalinn descended to the beach, outfitted in furs and mail, carrying greatswords like his own. A red-haired woman led them, taller even than Dom,with an iron circlet on her brow. She climbed the hill up to them with long strides and surveyed him with a cold eye, her white face raised.

Though they stood on some ash-blown plain and not in the halls of an immortal enclave, Dom bent at the waist, bowing low to the mother of Kovalinn’s monarch.

“Lady Eyda,” he said, putting a hand to his breast. “It is a pity we must meet in such circumstances. But we thank you for your aid.”

She approached with fluid grace, a sword of her own in hand.

“My son’s command is clear. Kovalinn will not doom the Ward to ruin,” she said, her gaze going beyond Dom to the mortals behind him.

The Companions looked on with great interest, none more so than Corayne. Oscovko blinked between Eyda and Ridha, slack-jawed. Dom nearly reached over and tapped his mouth shut.

Eyda was unbothered. “My warriors are few, but they are yours for this war.”

Dom nodded, bowing again. This time the others followed suit, blanching in the face of so many immortal warriors.

“May I present Lady Eyda and the army of Kovalinn, as well as my cousin Ridha, Princess of Iona and Heir to the Monarch,” he said, overproud.At least one member of my family is useful.

“And the raiders?” Sigil said, eyeing the shallows below.

The longships ran aground one by one, hulls hissing up onto the sand. Four had already landed, with still more coming. The Jydi spilled out, less graceful than their immortal counterparts, but far more numerous. Dom spotted men and women, both fairand dark-skinned, all armed to the teeth. With only a glance, he understood why so many feared the people of the Jyd.

Ridha shifted, allowing the blond raider to step forward. She was short and wiry, with a wolf tattooed over half her head. She curled a wicked smile, her incisors sharp, made of gold.

“We are ready,” she said, raising a fist to her raiders. They shouted back, answering her command. Then she clapped her fist to her chest, her eyes flashing. “But Yrla came first.”

Dom had no idea what she meant, though Ridha clearly did. She all but rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Yrla came first, we know,” she muttered, shaking her head with a small, soft smile. But it quickly dropped, her gaze landing on Corayne’s face. Her breath caught in her teeth.

Before Dom could intervene, Ridha dipped her brow, touching it gently. “I apologize, but...,” she murmured, her pale cheeks turning red. “You look so much like him.”

It was a knife in Dom’s chest. Judging by the sudden look on Corayne’s face, she felt it too.

“So I’m told,” she bit out, her face going blank. “Seems everyone knew my father but me.”

Ridha bowed lower, her armor clanking. “I apologize again.”

“Well, I certainly see the resemblance between you two,” Corayne mumbled, eyeing Dom. “How did you know to find us?”

The Jydi woman answered instead, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder, indicating a figure down on the beach.

“So the bone tells,” the raider said.

Dom shivered, and a gasp ran through the Companions. They traded confused glances, all sharing the same thought.

He followed the raider’s gesture to see the figure climbing to meet them. Her blue eyes were the brightest thing on the beach, her gray hair braided into many plaits all tied with bone. She wore black paint across her eyes and the bridge of her nose. It turned her fearsome, a warrior as much as the rest of them. Her old wool dress was gone, replaced by a long black robe. She cackled and sang a melody they all knew but could never re-create, waggling her bony fingers. At her waist, her pouch of bones rattled.

Annoying as she was, Dom breathed a low sigh of relief. He never worried for the witch, but he was glad to have her back all the same, even with her rhymes.

Valtik did not disappoint.