Page 91

A new tale. We were singing paths that had never been seen before. Our power could twist fate, but it did not bring guarantees. We were merely opening a way to give us a chance, to puzzle out the words, to find out steps, and make our plans.

Should we succeed, then the power of a fated path was brilliantly fierce.

Should we succeed, there was chance even a fae as strong as Davorin could never come close to overtaking us.

Calista slumped against me when her words ended. My tune faded off, and the burn throbbed in my chest as seidr took hold of the new song, and pulsed it into the bleeding soil, into the damn universe, to make it so.

“Gods, I feel like I might topple over.”

I encircled her waist with my arms, keeping her upright. “Deep songs are taxing, but look.”

Calista lifted her gaze to the shore. Subtle, but there was a glimmer of brilliant light. Like chains between the Rave warriors, seidr flowed through them, bolstering them, granting strength.

“Is that us?”

“It’s seidr. Your daj used to do the same during battle.”

Olaf’s laughter drew my attention. “Quite reminiscent of Riot Ode.”

“See,” I said. “His song would bolster his warriors, alter the hearts and desires of his enemies. I don’t think we’ll suddenly see those ships turn around, but our song is strengthening our folk. Like the king kept his folk safer and sturdier on the battlefield, so will this.”

“I don’t need to write it anymore, right?” she asked softly.

I placed a hand on the side of her face. “Ink and flame served as a tether between us once. But we’re together now. Our voices will burn the words into the unseen fate of this world. Together, we are stronger than any bit of ink or flame ever was.”

Her chin quivered and she looked to the sea. “Yet we’ve not seen anyone from the other kingdoms. I’m not so certain we did much good.”

True enough, I’d expected the royals from other kingdoms to be there, yet we stood alone. Still, the burn from the seidr just now was forceful enough I fought the urge to double over. The last time I’d felt such a surge of power, we’d shattered a world. I had to hope it would aid us now.

I lifted my sword from the ground and handed Calista her knives. “We don’t know what fate has in store. What I do know is I will fight with you—to the end if needed—on this day. That is what I can do right now.”

Calista gave me a smile, soft but powerful. She spun one of her knives, then faced the shore. I didn’t need to ask her plans. I knew. In the same step, we rushed toward the line of Rave warriors together.

Thethwangof bowstrings rose over the commands of Rave officers. Fiery arrows sliced through the morning light. From the edges of the newly fashioned fortress, warriors shouted as the flames in the sky acted like a beacon leading us forward.

The flood of Rave shields and blades created a formidable barrier along the shore. Still, a fleet of ships barreled through the dark waves. Shouts and hisses spat back at us when the arrows met their marks.

A few bodies toppled into the tides as fire from the arrows devoured the flesh of their spines. Tides frothed with iridescent fins, and hauntingly lovely voices filled the air.

There was a tug at my gut, a need to follow the voice. Slight, perhaps, for me, but more than one Rave lowered his shield; more than one man staggered forward to the sea, as though caught on a hook and lured into the tides.

“Hold your bleeding positions,” Calista shouted. “What the hells is wrong with you? It’s shrieking!”

“They cannot stop,” I said, gritting my teeth against the sensual pull.

Blood rushed in a heady desire, and my bleeding pants tightened. Hells, I wanted to drop my sword—a most inconvenient time—and press Calista’s lithe body against a wall until I stretched and filled her. Until her screams breathed against my neck again.

I shook my head, desperate to focus.

“Damn sirens,” a Rave near to us roared. “Archers, keep your bleeding heads and aim at those tides. Silence them!”

A siren’s call.

Calista narrowed her eyes at me. “You like that sound, do you? Well, cover your damn ears, Silas.”

“Don’t be jealous, Little Rose. My needy thoughts are of you.”

“Ah, how flattering.”