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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“T HIS ISN’T WORKING.” Vrail sank to the ground, wiping the sweat from her brow. Feron used a root to pass her a waterskin. “We’ve been at this for days it isn’t going to happen.”

Feron turned to Gwyn. “Do you remember what it felt like when you drew that first rune?” He glanced down at her ankle where the tether was marked.

Gwyn shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking at all. I was too exhausted.”

“They’re never going to let us leave,” Crison wheezed, snatching the waterskin from Vrail’s hand.

Feron’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps it was not the exhaustion but the clear mind.” He gestured for the two new Fae to sit up straight along the grass.

Crison groaned but did it. Feron reached for both their hands and sat with them on a bench made from his roots. His eyes started to glow and his voice went deep. “Let the warmth fill your body and your mind. Concentrate on that warmth, let it overwhelm you until it is all you can feel.”

I stilled beside Gwyn, waiting for something to happen. I crossed my arms in frustration but Gwyn pointed at Crison’s relaxed shoulders. Her eyes glowed behind her eyelids. A small songbird flew from a nearby tree and perched on her shoulder.

Something jumped out of the lake. I turned and my jaw dropped. All across the glassy water were animals of every kind. Birds, turtles, otters. All of them were swimming closer to shore, closer to Crison.

The tree line was full of animals too. Mostly small rodents, but there were a few foxes sitting curiously. Their presence didn’t scare the small animals away—I wasn’t even sure they noticed the predators beside them. All the animals were focused on Crison.

Vrail’s leg bounced and her eyes shot open. She gasped as she saw Crison’s arms stretched out to the sides, holding every songbird in the Dark Wood. Crison opened her own eyes, pupils glowing bright amber, and smiled.

“I called and they came.”

“Is this a new gift too?” I asked Feron as Gwyn knelt down to pet one of the birds.

His brows raised. “Yes. I have never heard of such a power before.” He reached out and pet a bird on Crison’s other arm. It chirped and didn’t move. “It seems Elverath has given you an extraordinary gift, Keera.”

I scoffed. “To curse Halflings?”

“Do Gwyn and Crison seem cursed to you?” Feron tilted his head at Crison’s wide smile.

“Well perhaps it is me who is cursed,” Vrail muttered. “Cursed to never discover my gift at all.”

“They’ve arrived.” Elaran nodded in the direction of the three giant shadows riding down the King’s Road.

I bent to the ground where we were still huddled along the edge of the Dead Wood, hidden from the approaching Arsenal’s view. I flattened my hand along the soil and closed my eyes as my magic coursed through the network of interconnected roots. It was slow at first, then exploded in all directions.

I could feel every living creature within ten leagues of us. Every mouse, every flower, and the dozens of soldiers Damien had hidden beyond the ridge of the hill, the beach, and the far reaches of the Dead Wood. “And they brought friends.” I stood, and from the hard sets of everyone’s jaws, I knew my golden eyes were glowing in the darkness. “Prepare yourselves,” I said with a glance at Syrra.

She nodded, the hilt of Faelin’s sword gleaming behind her back. Gerarda gripped a blade in each hand while Elaran took her place between them with an arrow already nocked. They were a fierce trio. There were no others I would trust to protect us from the shirak if the Arsenal called in some reinforcements.

I stepped out onto the road. My cloak drifted behind me in the evening breeze as something curled around my hand. I gripped the warmth. My body still expected to feel the softness of shadow but instead I found Riven’s calloused hand.

His jade eyes were dark and hard as he squeezed mine back. “They don’t deserve mercy, but make it quick, diizra . Nikolai has been gone long enough.”

I pulled his hand to my lips as if I could drain his worry with a single kiss, but I knew nothing would settle Riven’s fears until his dearest friend was back in the safety of our homeland. Even though he disagreed with how I had planned this mission, he still had faith in me.

I could not disappoint him.

The Arsenal stopped their approach still on their mounts a few hundred feet from the tree line. I walked alone to meet them, holding no weapon; the threat of my glowing eyes was enough.

“Do you have the pendant?” the burly rider in the middle rasped. In the moonlight, I could see three scars running across his face. They glistened like silver rivers against his pale skin. I knew Damien had chosen the most fearsome-looking warriors to fill his Arsenal, but while such scars may have struck fear into the hearts of city folk, all I saw was a man who didn’t protect his face in battle.

Such a man could never strike fear in me.

“I do,” I answered back with a casual wave of my arm to the forest behind me. “I have your first in command too.” I eyed the shiny Dagger at the man’s throat. He stood between the Arrow and a titleless soldier with one black eye. The Bow and Shield were missing from the escort. Damien had only sent enough to ensure that their two pendants outnumbered the one we held.

The Dagger grunted, showing as little concern for Kairn’s life as Damien had. Though I knew that was because the return of the Blade meant that the Dagger would be sheathed once more. The same jealousy that had plagued Gerarda for decades danced in the new Dagger’s eyes now. He hadn’t even had his post for a month and he already craved the taste of power only the Blade would provide.

“No trade without proof of the pendant.” The Dagger raised his chin, looking down at me from the spaces between his scars.

“I don’t even know your name and you’re already making demands of me.” I toyed with Feron’s glamoured ring on my finger.

“Quinton,” the Dagger answered. “And we have been instructed—”

“Your instructions don’t mean shit to me.” I raised my hand and the clouds crackled. “I am in charge of this trade, and if you listen to me , you shall leave with your heads.”

Quinton’s jaw pulsed but he nodded.

“Good boy.” I pointed at the large group of soldiers waiting at the crest of the hill. “We need proof of life to move forward. Bring out your hostage and we’ll bring ours and your precious pendant.”

Quinton turned to the Arrow beside him and nodded once. The Arrow was taller and leaner than the Dagger, but still one of the largest Mortals I had ever seen. His dark eyes never left my body as he leaned down and pulled something from his saddlebag. He uncorked the lid of a tiny glass vial and threw the open container directly in the air above his head.

A cloud of purple fog oozed out from the vial, only visible to me because it was lit from the full moon behind it. He lifted the torch in his hand and tossed it into the thick cloud. The fog erupted into purple flames, hot enough to pull the sweat from our brows.

The entourage started galloping in the darkness. I bent down, pretending to tie my boot, and let my finger graze the soil. My shoulders eased as I felt Nikolai’s presence in the midst of the herd. He was injured and sore. He would need more medical attention than I could give him, but he was alive and his heartbeat was strong enough.

I encircled the purple flames with my gusts, herding them into a small ball. My magic thrashed in my belly as I pulled water from the air to create a larger sphere around the flames. I froze it before the purple fire turned the water to steam. The flames puttered out, trapped inside with no air to feed them.

The ball dropped and shattered in front of the Dagger’s horse. It reared onto its hind legs. The Dagger cursed, slipping low in his saddle, but he did not fall off.

Quinton sneered. “You expect me to be impressed by your signal?” The rasp in his voice was tighter, higher pitched.

I lifted a brow. “That wasn’t my signal. I just didn’t want yours to wreck the effect.” I raised my hand once more and flames flowed up my arm and into the sky like a geyser rush. With three simple waves, the flames tightened and rearranged themselves into the shape of an owl mid-flight. I cooed as loudly as I could, the fiery bird flapping its wings above me.

The three men looked up in awe at my display of magic. Each of their throats bobbed as I waved my hand and my flames dissipated into the wind.

Gwyn and Fyrel rode out from the tree line. Behind them was Riven pulling Kairn down the King’s Road by an Elvish rope. The bag was still over his head so he staggered like a drunkard walking home after the pub. Syrra rode behind them all, her head scanning the field for a threat from any direction.

Quinton’s lip disappeared behind his teeth. “That could be anyone,” he said loud enough for Riven to hear.

I turned to Riven and nodded at the bag. His jaw clamped shut as he stared up at the Arsenal, but he ripped the bag off Kairn’s head and shoved him to his knees. Kairn coughed against the gag in his mouth. When he looked up at the Arsenal, his thick brows knitted in confusion.

They didn’t realize he didn’t recognize any of them. He barely remembered his own name after Feron had finished with him.

“He lost his fastener?” Quinton asked with a smug look at Kairn’s empty throat. “And what about the pendant?”

I pulled the Elvish chain from underneath my tunic and held up the forgery Feron had made. “It stays with me until the exchange is done.”

“King Damien never agreed to those terms—”

Quinton’s objection was cut off mid-sentence by a thunderous crack. His head was split in two from the heavy axe that was now embedded into the base of his skull. I turned to Riven as the Dagger’s lifeless body collapsed to the ground, twitching. His hood slipped back from his face just enough for me to see that his eyes were more deadly than I had ever seen them.

Riven’s nostrils flared as he tugged his hood back in place. “My brother is not here, and I do not give a fuck about his terms.”

The Arrow glanced at his surviving comrades. Damien had kept the truth of Riven’s lineage a secret from his closest guards. But it didn’t matter. Their gazes lingered over the bloody pool of their leader as they waved at the entourage to complete their approach.

The four men stopped their horses a safe distance from Riven. The two in the front dismounted their saddles and walked to the black carriage door. One reached in and dragged Nikolai onto the ground. He groaned as his shoulder was pinned under his body. My chest heaved with relief, but I stood strong.

Flames flared behind me. “Treat him with gentle hands or Quinton will not be the only one with an axe in his head.”

They scoffed until the Arrow’s voice boomed overhead. “Do it.”

He dismounted his saddle and grabbed Nikolai with one arm. He dragged him, closing the distance between us in five paces. Nikolai was beaten and bruised, barely conscious as they threw him to the ground. I was used to being taller than Mortals, even the men, but the Arrow towered over me.

“The pendant.” He held out his hand. “Now.”

Riven shoved Kairn into the soldiers’ midst. He fell down and the leaf-bound eye patch fell from his eye and was left discarded on the ground. The amber ring in his black eye flared, and when I turned back to the Arrow, his ring had shrunk.

Damien was here. Jumping from Arrow to Blade at will.

“I know you’re watching,” I called out, now looking at Damien through Kairn’s face. “Call back your soldiers, and I will give your Arrow the pendant.”

The ring in the Arrow’s eye flared once more. This time when he spoke, I knew it was Damien who said the words.

“Why would I do that, Keera, when you’ve already killed my most beloved Dagger?” The cadence of the Arrow’s voice had changed completely, its roughness smoothed to the highest pedigree befitting a king. Even his facial expression had turned hard and calculating instead of brutish and ruthless.

“You didn’t give a shit about him.” I lifted my chin to the Arrow, wondering if he could still hear me while his master controlled his mind. “Just like you don’t care about this one.”

Damien didn’t even pretend to deny it. “That’s of little consequence. The soldiers stay.”

He jumped into the mind of the young man beside the Arrow. He snatched the pendant from my hand and place it around his neck. He closed his eyes and tried to call a waateyshir forward with the pendant.

But he couldn’t.

Panic swelled in my chest as the soldier’s amber pupil flared with rage. I turned back to the others. “Get Nikolai back now!”

Riven didn’t need to be told twice. He ran for Nik but the soldiers held him back long enough for the Arrow to press a blade to Nikolai’s throat. Red blood pooled along the steel as Nikolai choked on his gag.

“A forgery?” the Arrow spat, though it was Damien who was truly speaking. “I will gut your filthy Elf, and then I will call every beast for miles to burn everyone you love to the ground.”

The pendant in the Arrow’s chest began to glow. Damien lifted the blade over his soldier’s head, ready to plunge into Nikolai’s chest.

“Enough.” Syrra stepped from the group. “Drop your blade and let my nephew go.” She pulled something from her pocket and tossed it onto the ground.

The pendant.

The real one.

The amber pupil flared bright as Damien’s glance darted between Nikolai’s limp body and the pendant on the ground. He dropped the blade and dove for the pendant. Riven was there before the Arrow hit the ground. He scooped Nikolai in to his arms and ran for the portal hidden in the tree line.

“You broke your vow.” I turned to Syrra. “And you may have just cost us the war.”

“I made no vow to you.” Her neck flexed. “You may not be willing to trade one life to save many, but my sister’s line will not die because of you.” There was no hostility in her words, just truth. Syrra had known what she was going to do from the moment we took that vote.

The Arrow stood with the second pendant around his neck. “Arm yourselves!” he shouted to the soldiers Riven hadn’t struck down. “And fight for your king.”

Damien’s unmistakable smirk crept up the Arrow’s freckled face. Both the pendants in his hands glowed bright.

And the ground shook with the piercing calls of the shirak .

Fyrel and Gwyn stepped beside me, swords already drawn in their hands. Another piercing cry rang out. Torches were lit along the ridge, illuminating just how much force Damien had brought to take that pendant. He didn’t care if his men were caught in the devastation. The body he controlled would be safe as long as it held that pendant, and if it wasn’t, Damien was secure in his palace with a pendant of his own.

I flicked my wrist and a wall of flames cut the Arrow off from his horse. A foul smell permeated the air, and the wind blew upward. The beast was right above our heads, disguised by the darkening skies.

“Move!” I shouted to Fyrel and Gwyn as I leaped away from the shadowy blast. The soldiers surrounding Kairn had not been so quick. Their bodies writhed in pain as the shadowy ash ate their flesh and turned their bones to dust. The shadows of their skeletons fell to the ground. Kairn crouched just outside of the wake with wide eyes.

An owl call echoed from behind me as Elaran and Gerarda charged forward. The soldiers that had been guarding Nikolai fled toward the hills, but their screams only drew the beast’s attention.

“Get that pendant,” I told Gerarda. “Syrra and I will kill the beast.”

Syrra drew her sword and pointed up at the beast setting the fleeing soldiers aflame. I opened my waterskin, and Syrra ran forward without hesitation. I pulled the water from the spout in a giant floating orb and dissected it into tiny spheres. With a wave of my hand, they each flattened into discs that I sent hurling into the air.

Syrra leaped and I froze the first disc to ice. Each step, I froze another disc until Syrra was running through the sky, climbing higher and higher toward the beast. It scanned the ground, looking for more men to devour.

Syrra let out a feral battle cry and the creature turned its billowing head. Its red eyes flashed bright as it saw Syrra charging after it. I lifted the last disc, propelling Syrra high enough to jump onto the beast’s back. She wielded her sword above her head, ready to pierce it through, but the beast dodged her strike.

It snapped at Syrra as she fell, nearly cutting her in two. Panic pulled at my chest as I tried to conjure enough water to catch her fall. I missed, but Syrra reached out and plunged her free hand through the orb.

That was all I needed. Syrra held her breath and let the water envelop her completely while my magic gently lowered her to the ground. Sweat pooled at my brow. The heat of death radiated from the beast as it banked along the air toward us.

I bit my cheek. I could distract the beast—lead it to Syrra’s blade in my eagle form—but I couldn’t use magic in that form. I would leave everyone too exposed.

The beast opened its beak, whistling as it sucked the air into its belly. The Arrow, still controlled by Damien, ran around the flames for his horse. Both pendants glowed around his neck, the one encrusted in his leathers and the one Syrra had given him.

I raised my hand, but Gerarda got there first. There was a metallic ring as her throwing blade grazed over the bottom belt of the saddle, slicing through the leather completely but leaving the horse unharmed. The Arrow collapsed into a dazed pile as soon as his foot hit the stirrup.

Elaran released an arrow of her own, pinning Damien’s host to the ground by his cloak. “We have this.”

“Aid Syrra,” Gerarda shouted over her shoulder as they ran after the pendant.

Syrra erupted from water.

“Keera, pin it with pillars!” Gwyn shouted as she and Fyrel battled with the three soldiers who hadn’t fled.

Syrra brandished her sword above her head and let out another cry. The beast whipped its head and soared low toward her.

I shot three stone pillars into the air, and the beast banked to the left.

I lifted three more, and the waateyshir dodged again as the towers curved overhead, trapping it from flying higher.

Smaller pillars shot from the ground and Syrra’s dance began. She moved through the air with fluid grace, feet barely touching each landing point as she floated to the next.

The beast shot black flame from between the pillars. Syrra dodged but the flames were long enough to reach Elaran. Gerarda leaped over the fire, pushing her lover safely to the ground.

Damien smirked as he realized there was no one left to pursue him. He grabbed the Dagger’s body and slung it over the bare back of the Arrow’s horse. Then he jumped on and rode toward the hill. Two pendants were encrusted in Arsenal leathers, and one was hanging from his fist.

I clamped my jaw as the beast snapped at Syrra’s feet. Its talons scraped at the earth as it started to walk backward out of the snare of pillars.

I raised my hands to close the cage, but Syrra held up a fist. She darted across the long-arched pillar, readying her trap.

I held my breath as the waateyshir freed itself and opened its wings. It let out a screech of victory and stretched its long body toward the sky.

That was what Syrra had been waiting for. She leaped from the stone with her golden blade high above her head.

Her blade struck true.

The beast let out a horrible wail as Syrra’s blade tore through its chest. Tendrils of shadows leaked from the wound until nothing of the beast remained except for the scorched circle of earth where it fell.

I transformed in a flash of light. I beat my wings as hard as I could to get as high as possible before the Arrow crested over the hillside. The glowing pendants were easy to spot with my eagle vision. I tucked in my wings and dove.

Damien cursed as I scratched the Arrow’s face with my talons. His horse reared, and his soldier had no saddle to steady him.

The pendant dangled from my talons. I did not tempt fate by trying for another with more shirak on the way. I dropped it over Fyrel’s head. She caught it in her hand as I transformed back to my Fae form.

I grabbed for a dagger, but I was not wearing any weapons.

Flames covered my hands, ready to fire, but Gwyn snatched the pendant first and placed herself between the Blade and Fyrel.

Kairn’s amber eye pulsed. He feigned a reach for Gwyn but dropped and swiped her legs instead. Kairn smirked as he picked Gwyn up by her curls and pressed a thin blade to her throat.

“Let her go!” I shouted as I made three quick signs with my hand at my hip.

Damien’s magic eye didn’t notice the movement but Gwyn did.

Kairn’s lip curled. “She’s not an Elf but she will do.” His blade pressed against Gwyn’s throat as she thrusted both her elbows back with all the force she had.

The air in Kairn’s lungs released in a cough. Gwyn rolled out of his grasp and stood.

The pendant swung from Kairn’s fist, but Damien didn’t make his soldier flee. Gwyn stooped for a rock, but Damien made Kairn dodge the blow. The Blade’s jaw hung slack, the amber pupil flared as he saw Gwyn’s face.

Her glamoured necklace lay on the ground, discarded, along with Kairn’s small blade.

Gwyn lifted her chin; fully lit from the moon, she didn’t balk. Damien had already seen the truth.

Her amber eyes.

Damien’s host snarled. Pale light glowed from the pendant as he called another beast forward. Gerarda shot an arrow through his shoulder but the damage was already done. In the distance, a shrieking call beckoned.

Kairn yanked the arrow from his flesh and stabbed the sharp end through the glowing pendant. The light flickered, like a candle at the end of its wick.

Gwyn stepped toward Damien, a small sword in her hand. “I can still gut you,” Damien snapped as he made Kairn reach for the blade on the ground.

Her face was emotionless as she pierced her blade through the mountainous man’s heart. The amber pupil pulsed once and then went dark.

Gwyn turned, leaving her blade in Kairn’s chest. “Let’s get to the portal before the shirak arrive.”