Page 71

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

Ryker

Across the way, a ghost floated through one of the still-smoking targets. The woman never acknowledged us as she crossed the clearing, sometimes dipping low enough that her boots faded into the earth before rising again to resume their shape.

“You’re getting better and better,” Ianto said, his voice filled with awe as he gazed at Ellery.

She smoothed down the front of her shirt and pulled her braid over her shoulder to fiddle with the end of it. “It’s getting easier to draw the lightning back in.”

“Good.” I rested my hands on her shoulders as she beamed at me. “That’s why we’re here.”

She smiled before rising on her toes to kiss me.

“I’d love to see what you could do in a battle,” Tucker said to Ellery.

“I wouldn’t,” I growled.

I knew it was only a matter of time before she saw a battlefield again. This time, she’d be far more lethal than when we were fleeing after I killed Ivan, but I didn’t want her on the battlefield.

Ellery had seen a lot of death over the past few months, but a lot worse was soon to come. What she’d witnessed would haunt her for the rest of her days; many of the things I’d seen still haunted me.

She deserved better than observing thedeath to come, but fate had chosen a different path when it blessed her… or cursed her… with her gifts.

And no matter how much she hated the destruction, she wouldn’t back down. The amsirah loved her and would follow her, but not only that, she’d refuse to walk away from the fight.

She would fight for this realm until her dying breath, and I would make sure that never happened. I would do everything I could to shelter her from as much brutality as possible.

“We should head back to the camp,” Ellery said. “I promised the children I’d work with them on their archery skills. They’re probably waiting for me.”

“I still can’t get over watching all five weathers come together like that,” Callan murmured. “I never would have believed it possible.”

Ellery didn’t say anything while the musician stared at her in awe. When she frowned, I stepped in front of her; my movement drew Callan’s attention, and his eyes widened before he backed away a little.

“Let’s head back,” Tucker said.

I claimed Ellery’s hand as we started through the forest, heading toward the encampment a mile away. We could have opened a portal back, but no one suggested doing so; I assumed they’d prefer to walk back as I did.

Many of the encampment residents were curious about what we were doing; we were still keeping Ellery’s abilities a secret from them. Callan’s sister, Luna, was extremely vocal about it, but she’d yet to follow us.

I had no idea what Callan had told her to keep her at bay, but so far, it was working. That wouldn’t last. Eventually, someone would try to uncover the secret, but they were leaving us alone for now.

While Ellery’s skills remained hidden, we did tell them about the gargoyles and the buried town, but not the Heart of Stone. We’d left the sinking of that town as another mystery of this realm.

I would have preferred to tell them nothing, but we had to reveal something after we’d been beneath the earth for so long. I was pretty sure we’d instilled enough fear in them about the dead amsirah in that town to ensure no one tried to get near it.

Plus, the only way to get into the tunnel was for the trees to take them down. Even if the trees did take them for some reason, many wouldn’t endure being sucked under the earth just to look at a town of dead amsirah.

We’d also told them that, while the wind and rain produced sound from the gargoyles, they didn’t reveal anything. None of us liked lying to them, but it was better this way.

The last thing we needed was someone to figure out another way down there. They could destroy whatever delicate balance existed beneath the earth.

They could set the power of the stone free. We had enough to worry about with my father and the nobles without being concerned Tempest might sink into the earth.

While no major developments had occurred with the aristocrats, it was only a matter of time before something happened, and we had to prepare for it. My father was preoccupied with assuming control of the realm now; that wouldn’t last.

We’d learned from some of the new amsirah Farley had led us to that my father wasn’t reversing Ivan’s draconian policies. He’d kept them all in place and added a few of his own.

He’d also placed one hundred thousand carisle bounties on Ellery’s and my heads. Given the current conditions of Tempest, that kind of money was almost impossible to resist, so we were a lot more careful about who we brought into the encampment now.

We had to grow our army but didn’t have enough carisle to buy that kind of loyalty. What we had going for us was Ellery’s uniqueness and the amsirah’s hatred of the aristocrats.

The townsfolk knew we were working for them now, and while they had no idea what we could do for them, the hope we’d given them was priceless. Hope may not fill their bellies, but it would help get them through the worst of these times… or so I hoped.

But we couldn’t continue hiding here. With winter coming, if we didn’t make a move soon, we’d lose much of our momentum during the bleak months when snow blanketed the earth, food became scarcer, and my father twisted his thumb deeper into those he ruled.