Page 48 of A Kiss of Hammer and Flame (Fated for Hael #1)

Cahra’s heart was attempting to leap from her chest in the eerily torchlit tunnels. Catching Raiden’s wild grey eyes, she stumbled over her words.

‘Thierre’s not with you?’

Raiden shook his head before admitting, ‘He wanted to go with you, to the Oracle. Stupidly, I agreed. But Commander Tyne discovered us and we got separated. I assumed he’d made it to you and the others, but…

’ Raiden looked up as Piet, Siarl and Queran approached, all reflecting the look on their Captain’s face.

Panic. The Prince of Luminaux was missing.

Cahra dared a glance at Wyldaern, the Seer still staring blankly at the soldier, the one Thelaema had slain.

All because Cahra had lost control of Hael’s powers, and nearly killed someone.

Turning from Wyldaern, Cahra tried to swallow the quaver in her voice as she asked, ‘So what do we do?’

‘Return to the palace,’ Raiden said. ‘Notify the King and Commander.’

A shuffling sounded, Thelaema coming slowly into view.

‘High Oracle,’ Wyldaern cautioned, ‘some of these soldiers are merely unconscious. It is not safe—’

‘Bah,’ Thelaema said, dismissing her concern. ‘I have seen it.’

Was that all she saw? The Oracle had told her apprentice she couldn’t be discovered. So why did she intervene? Did Thelaema see me, bludgeoning that soldier—

Raiden, realising whose presence he now graced, spun to the Oracle. ‘And Prince Thierre? Please, where is he, High Oracle? Is he close?’

Thelaema’s amethyst orbs flickered to Cahra. ‘The Prince, I cannot see.’

Her warning echoed. What if whoever was watching has found you?

Cahra stood, still feeling Hael’s magick in her body, and thought.

‘What if…’ Setting her jaw, Cahra said, ‘What if I left for Hael’stromia, right now? The last omen is for me to go free Hael. If I could, we’d have the weapon to find Thierre.’ She glanced at the Oracle.

Of all the people she’d thought would object, she hadn’t expected Raiden to be first. ‘While I appreciate your offer, it’s too dangerous.

We don’t know where he is and, besides, the sheer number of Kolyath and Ozumbre military camps between here and the capital – it would be a death trap.

Our best course is to return to Luminaux. ’

‘But I have the weapon’s powers now,’ Cahra argued, her voice rising in frustration. ‘It’ll take a day to get back to Luminaux. In a day, I could make it inside the capital and—’

‘I concur with the Captain.’ Thelaema interrupted. ‘Despite the powers you possess, you are assuming too much, Cahra. A mindful response is required, not a rash one.’

Cahra’s anger flared. ‘What if it’s too late by then?’

Raiden’s iron eyes hardened at Cahra’s words. ‘We all want to find Thierre, but we can’t risk everything just because you say so.’

Cahra clenched her fists, the power of Hael’s dark magick surging through her veins. She spun to Thelaema. ‘Isn’t that the point of being an Empress?’

Raiden exclaimed, ‘I’m sorry, what ?’

‘Meet Your Imperial Majesty,’ Thelaema said with an exasperated sigh.

‘I’ll explain later,’ Cahra told Raiden, then stepped towards the Oracle. ‘It’s not just a hunch, this is our chance— ’

‘And if you fail? Then what happens to Thierre?’ Raiden demanded.

Cahra was about to retaliate when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, silencing her.

‘I understand your fear, both of you,’ Thelaema said calmly. ‘But the Captain is right. We must pause and think strategically. Your temporary magicks, potent as they are, do not grant the certainty of victory.’

But you could , Cahra thought to the woman. You’re an Oracle, surely you could see—

Thelaema locked eyes with Cahra. ‘I am telling you. It would be folly.’ She held Cahra’s gaze long enough for her to understand. Hael’s powers wouldn’t be sufficient.

Cahra’s mind still whirred. Did I expend too much of them in the fight?

Tension lingered, heavy in the air.

Cahra shook her head. ‘Strategy or not, every second we delay is one Thierre may not have. If he’s missing, we need to assume it’s bad.’

Raiden, his face still simmering with anger, seemed to listen. Finally, he spoke again. ‘We can discuss this further at the palace. We need to gather as much information as we can before making any big decisions.’

His words weren’t a comfort, but she swallowed her protests. For now.

Piet clasped Raiden’s arm, ‘Sir, time is against us, and these caves have been compromised. Getting behind Luminaux’s walls is wise, especially if we have no leads on the Prince.’ One of the enemy soldiers began to moan.

‘Oh, we’ll have one,’ Raiden gritted out, signalling to Siarl, who nodded and left, twirling one of her long daggers. Interrogation time. Raiden turned to Cahra and the Seers. ‘Get to Luminaux,’ he told them. ‘Our squads will ride with you. Siarl and I will follow.’

Wyldaern’s brow furrowed. ‘You were ambushed,’ she warned him. ‘Is it safe?’

‘For you?’ Raiden glanced at the wounded soldiers littering the ground. ‘It seems so,’ he said, gesturing to Cahra and the Oracle.

Wyldaern nodded, looking to Cahra, who saw it again: the doubt. Her and Thelaema’s actions had disturbed Wyldaern. ‘There is much that you have missed, Captain.’

‘Indeed,’ Raiden said. ‘Catch me up when we next meet.’

Cahra turned from him and Wyldaern, resisting the pain of her friend’s fright, towards Thelaema. ‘What do you need from the house?’

‘I have all that I need,’ was the Oracle’s reply as she handed Cahra a black pouch. The Key.

Taking it, Cahra exhaled and lifted her great-hammer. ‘Then we go.’

The palomino mare snuffled, tossing its head as it finally eased into a wearied walk.

They’d ridden hard through the cold night, cutting the time it had taken to reach Thelaema’s mountain home by half, and were now on Luminaux’s lands again.

Thelaema sat behind her, gripping Cahra’s waist lightly, Wyldaern riding with Piet.

Following them, she tried not to stare at her Seer friend.

Or look too hard at her own bloodied knuckles.

Had Wyldaern’s mentor done this before, bypassing incapacitation for outright death? Cahra repressed a shudder, afraid to think on it further with Thelaema at her back.

So far, the Oracle had been determined not to speak of what happened, or why she’d deterred Cahra from going to Hael’stromia.

‘How can you not find Thierre?’ Cahra muttered to her. ‘You’re supposed to be the Oracle, All-seeing and all that.’

Thelaema’s tone was curt. ‘I told you. After the capital’s fall, that privilege was lost. However…’ She paused, deliberating. ‘I have a theory.’

Cahra noted the bedded posies emerging by the roadside. The kingdom was close by. ‘Tell me.’

‘There have been times such as this, when my foresight has failed me. If another powerful Seer survived, as I did, what if they are the reason? What if, as the Seers were once unified in our sight, our physical separation from the capital’s magicks now blocks us from one another?’

Cahra frowned, hands on the reins. ‘Is that how it works?’

She felt Thelaema shrug. ‘It is likely. Who knows?’

Cahra snorted. ‘I would’ve thought you.’

Thelaema tensed behind her. ‘I did not create the All-seeing: it is born of the Nether. My role is simply to interpret it.’

Meanwhile, Cahra’s mind was whirring. ‘So you think a Seer is blocking you and your visions of Thierre. On purpose?’ Thelaema was silent. ‘Think back,’ Cahra pressed her, ‘to the times your powers failed. What is the link?’ Minutes passed as Thelaema brooded.

Cahra did too, saying aloud, ‘It doesn’t work like this with you and Wyldaern, does it? I mean, you’re not blocked from her, right?’

‘No,’ Thelaema said slowly, ‘I am not.’

‘Then maybe we’re asking the wrong questions. Maybe it’s not the “what” of this.’

Who has the power to rival an Oracle’s?

The realisation hit Cahra hard. She was no stranger to others’ cruel self-interest. But had the woman ever considered her and Cahra’s worlds colliding: a Hael’stromian Oracle, gone rogue? After all, what other being might survive Thelaema?

The woman’s voice was the rolling promise of thunder on the horizon as she marked Cahra’s words. ‘Not what,’ Thelaema repeated darkly. ‘But who .’