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CHAPTER FIFTY

T he battle was well underway. I’d come through a portal in a cave near the Blackthorn Canal and had followed it until I’d arrived here on the cusp of war.

The Raincarvers and Skyforgers appeared to be working together, a fact which left me unsettled.

Only the most dire of situations would have driven them to it.

Skyforgers raced overhead, a herd of Pegasuses sailing away toward the Flamebringers who had come to meet them. I used concealment spells to keep myself hidden, moving unnoticed for the most part as I studied the faces around me and sought out my best friend.

Come on, Ever, where are you?

I hurried further up the canal, hugging its shore and closing in on one of the first Cascadian ships.

It was a vast thing built to carry as many warriors as possible and they were racing from it now down the gangplanks or leaping straight to the earth and charging for battle.

Some of my homeland’s fleet were sailing on toward the dam that stood above Cinder Vale, but it looked like Everest’s father had chosen to alight close by.

His bright ship, the White Mare, stood out among the darker hulls, the hulking vessel anchored and its warriors already disembarked.

I wondered if I might have a better view of the battle up on one of those ships, so as soon as the flow of warriors slowed, I made a run for it, sprinting up a gangplank onto the deck and gazing back at the battlefield.

My jaw tightened as I took in the bloodbath.

I’d expected to find myself here one day, swinging my sword and cutting down my enemies.

My whole life, I had trained for that. But now that fate had been snatched from me and instead I wore this cloak of gold, branding me as other .

I wasn’t sure I’d ever grow used to this new life.

“Who’s there?” a woman barked and I turned to find Alina Seaman pointing a sword at me. “I can see you’re trying to conceal yourself. Unveil yourself now.”

I let the concealment spell drop and her eyebrows raised.

“You,” she breathed, lowering her weapon. It wasn’t unusual for Reapers to attend and witness battles. Our kind kept records of the Endless War without bias, laying watch to all that took place and keeping the truth guarded in archives far from battlefields.

“Me,” I said darkly.

She glanced at my cloak then remembered to bow. “Praise to the stars.”

“And praise to those who tread their destined path,” I uttered back to her.

Her eyes lifted again and if I wasn’t mistaken, she looked a little guilty.

“You’ve sinned,” I accused, the weight of my Reaper authority making her bow her head again. “Name what you’ve done.”

She cursed under her breath. “Stars forgive me.”

“For?”

“I ate something dodgy on the way here, alright?” she clipped.

“And?”

“And I’ve sinned all over the captain’s quarters.” She glanced back to a door, turning red as she looked to me again.

I bit down on a laugh. “Well now that you mention it, there is a fair stench in the air. I had put it down to the sulphur.”

She looked like she wanted to curse me out for that, and during our youth she certainly would have. But I happened to be a prophet of the stars now and she wouldn’t dare speak a word against me.

“Can you fix it? I can’t go to war with the shits,” she whispered desperately, lurching forward and reaching for me.

I backed up. “I haven’t started my studies in the intricacies of healing magic I’m afraid.

” Even if I could have healed her, this girl had tortured Everest for years and I wasn’t inclined to help.

“You’d better get out there or you’ll be hung for defecting.

” I nodded to the battlefield. “Perhaps the stench will aid you anyway.”

Alina scowled, but nodded in defeat and walked to the gangplank, letting out a loud fart and clasping her ass cheeks with one hand. “Stars save me.”

I fought a snigger as she disappeared into the battle and I started climbing the rigging, seeking Everest. It was a clash of chaos and I quickly realised this would do me no good.

I’d never be able to spot her among the fray.

But what I did notice was the Flamebringers using tunnels to climb out of Cinder Vale.

Everest might be down there in the city being watched over by The Matriarch – they wouldn’t want to risk such a powerful weapon after all.

It was the best idea I had, so I steeled my nerve and headed off of the ship to see if I could find a tunnel that wasn’t overrun with Flamebringers.

No matter what happened today, I vowed that I would find her. It was my duty to protect her, not just to keep my word to Solomon, but because she was my friend and I wouldn’t abandon her to Pyros. So I would see it done.