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CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

T he crowd roared in excitement as the beastly Fae in the ring below us laid out yet another opponent, rolling his shoulders back and smiling at the carnage he was causing.

North howled keenly beside me, boasting to a group of our brothers and sisters about how he had put a hefty bet on the newcomer the moment he’d seen the murderous look in his eyes. It seemed he would be getting a large payout of karmas once the fight was done.

“Shall I speak to him of becoming a Talon, Mother?” Kayla asked Mirelle brightly, her eyes darting down to the muscular Fae as he swung a hard punch and shattered another nose. The crowd bayed again and Kayla smiled, her eyelashes fluttering as she tucked a short lock of blonde hair behind her ear.

Calcifiend chirruped on my shoulder, seeming enthralled by the fight too, his own eyes remaining consistently on the huge Fae who was yet to break a sweat.

“The fight is not over,” Mirelle muttered, seeming distracted as her attention trailed to me again.

“He’s laid out six Fae and counting, it’s over alright,” North chipped in, practically bouncing in his seat.

“Let’s invite him to party with us once he’s washed the blood from his knuckles, hey Kai?

” He nudged me and I nodded curtly, having no real interest in continuing the celebrations or not, but my brother’s wants were important.

“I wish to speak with Kaiser once the fight is done,” Mirelle said firmly.

“Boring,” North sighed. “Are you going to talk war and leave me out again?”

Mirelle cast a tiny flame in her palm, sending it flying right into North’s ear.

He howled and slapped a hand to it, shooting her a glare, but his eyes dropped in deference when he met her sharp gaze.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Mirelle nodded curtly then leaned in to speak to me in a low whisper. “Perhaps we should go before the fight ends. I am not done with our conversation.”

She’d come to my room earlier and I’d told her every detail I knew of the Reapers’ schemes at Never Keep.

All I had learned of their secrets and the monster they’d begun to summon.

There were pieces of information I was missing, things that didn’t add up to a full picture of what was truly happening.

But it seemed, as Mirelle had suspected all along, that corruption was rooted in the prophets of the stars.

There was more to them than they let The Waning Lands at large know.

“The girl is the key to all of this,” she continued in a frantic whisper. “And I need to tell you something I should have told you sooner. It’s about your emotions and why you cannot-”

“Ma’am!” A Talon burst onto the dais from the door behind us that led into the palace.

Sweat beaded on his brow and his large bronze wings flexed at his back.

Fear poured from him into me. I saw what he had witnessed before he even uttered a word.

He’d been flying high within the cover of clouds when he spotted a sky island sailing through the air above a fleet of Cascadian ships, all of them headed directly for us.

“Cascada and Stormfell have colluded,” he blurted, causing a stir of alarm among my brethren.

“They’re combining magic to cast the most powerful of concealment spells which has allowed them to traverse the Blackthorn Canal.

I was on guard on the northern bank and noticed a strange rippling in the water.

I investigated along with the other Talons stationed there and we cast a blaze that made their concealment shudder.

I saw them. Just for a moment. A mere glimpse before the Skyforgers dragged my group from the banks and the Raincarvers drowned them in the canal.

I managed to get away but the rest are dead,” he panted, urgency painted in his eyes.

“Ma’am, I believe they’ll be at the palace gates in under an hour if we do not act quickly. ”

“Then we must move fast,” Mirelle growled, rising to her feet, her wings bursting from her bare shoulder blades as she prepared to take flight. Her gaze fell on me as my brothers and sisters gathered close for direction.

The crowd had yet to notice the shift in all of us, still baying for blood as the fight raged on before us.

Another Talon raced through the door onto the dais, exhaustion making her pant. “Ma’am, news from the south. Our spies have confirmed the trader Mavus Angelico is selling news of a great weapon in Pyros’s possession.”

“Then our enemies will know we have her,” Mirelle cursed. “It is why they have joined forces.”

“I’ll head out for battle and cut them off before they reach the city,” I said firmly as I got up but Mirelle shook her head, stepping closer to me.

“No. You have a more important task than that,” she hissed under her breath. “You must fetch the Void. Prepare to wield her.”

I nodded, moving to pick up my swords and strap them in place, running my finger over the dagger I’d tethered to my hip too. Everest’s dagger, the one marked with my name. I’d taken it from her bag and spent some time examining the blade, the craftmanship undeniable.

Mirelle amplified her voice with magic, her words carrying out across the crowd, off through the palace and likely out to the entire city too.

“Civilians, retreat for the citadel! Enemies from Stormfell and Cascada approach. Make haste. All warriors are to converge and prepare to defend Cinder Vale.”

A calamity broke out in the courtyard and my eyes fell to the ring where the fighting Fae had fallen still to look our way. The brute who had floored most of his opponents stared right at me, a moment of recognition passing between us, one unhinged soul acknowledging another.

It made him feel almost familiar to me, and as the tide of Fae raced from the courtyard to head for sanctuary or war, he was the only one among them that walked straight for The Matriarch’s dais with a calm assuredness.

My siblings were working to make plans with Mirelle, but my gaze remained on the Fae who climbed the steps, knocking past the gathering Talons before coming to kneel at my mother’s feet.

“I offer my services to you,” he boomed.

Mirelle ignored him, striding up to me again and gripping my arm. “I gave you my orders. Head to the cell, Kaiser. Now.”

I nodded, walking past her through the door into the palace and finding another fifty Talons sprinting up the corridor to offer their services to The Matriarch. She began shouting orders that echoed after me in the narrow passage.

“I want archers on every roof in the city. Winged Orders, fly to the canal and attempt to lead our enemies off course to the volcanic wastes. Lure them there so that we might draw upon the molten fires in the ground.”

There was a flurry of movement around me as she continued her demands and the magpies out in the city began to crow loudly, an alarm set to rouse the people into action.

I focused on my sole task, increasing my pace as I made it to the staircase that would lead me down to the room where Everest and the Sky Witch were being held.

I made a quick descent and stalked past more Talons who were running in the opposite direction, strapping on weapons and murmuring prayers to the stars.

I reached the door where flames barred my way forward and two guards looked to me with hopeful eyes.

“Can we join the fight?” one of them asked keenly.

“And leave the Sky Witch unattended?” I asked dismissively, parting the flames and leaving them to mutter in disappointment.

I walked up to the cage, finding Everest talking in whispered tones with the pink-haired Skyforger.

“Fury,” the Sky Witch sneered.

“Succubus,” I said blandly then unlocked the cage and pointed at Everest. “You. Out. Now.” My possession rolled over her and she spat curses at me while following my order.

The Sky Witch lunged for freedom too, but I unsheathed a sword in under a second, raising it to her throat. “One more move and I shall behead you. Your face will likely be less beguiling to my kin then,” I warned.

“I’d still want you, my love! Oh headless wonder of mine!

I would covet your skull so dearly and brush your pretty hair until it gleamed so brightly that no one would even notice your head’s displacement from your breathtaking shoulders,” one of the Talons called from the door and I recast the flames there to block his view.

The Sky Witch raised her chin, her eyes locking with mine as she tried to work her allure. But whatever maddening spell she was able to cast on others had no effect on me.

“Do as he says,” Everest warned and the Sky Witch looked her way, for some reason listening to her enemy and backing up a step.

I snapped the door closed in the Skyforger’s face, but she only smiled.

“My land has come to destroy yours, hasn’t it?” she purred.

“Your land has come to die at our hands.” I turned my back on her, gripping Everest’s arm and tugging her along with me.

She glanced back at the Sky Witch and I noted the strange, lingering look they gave each other.

There was no hatred there that I could place, but then again, I had always been bad at judging emotions.

“What do you want with me?” Everest growled as I parted the fire and led her away from the prison.

“To see if I can wield the Void through you.”

“I can hardly wield it myself,” she scoffed, a lilt of laughter to her voice.

I had considered this. I’d wanted time to practise, to be sure I could use her power and get a grasp on it so that I might direct it away from myself and the people of Pyros.

It was a risk, but one I was forced to take now.

With two armies on our city borders that were conspiring together, it was the most logical move to make.

I led Everest to the foot of the stairs and through a door to one of the Talons lounges. There were spare clothes there in a cupboard beside a suite of sofas so I grabbed some, tossing them at Everest’s feet. “Get dressed. Be quick about it.”

I gave her no option to refuse, my possession bending her to my will. She put on the dark pants, warm shirt and thick jacket along with a pair of boots which she laced up tight.

“Hey, that’s mine,” she snapped suddenly, pointing to the dagger at my hip. “Give it back.”

“I’m hardly going to arm you,” I said dismissively.

“Are you going to leave me cuffed too?” she snarled. “What good will I be to you if I’m killed because I’m unable to defend myself?”

“I can defend you just fine.”

I willed her to get moving while she let out another tide of angry words which I chose not to acknowledge.

I took a passage toward the entrance hall, keeping Everest walking at a fast pace so we made it there in good time.

Mirelle had arrived too, standing up on the stairs calling out orders to the gathering warriors, the glint of weapons shining at me from their hands.

There were many Fae here already and more joining by the second.

One glance out the open palace doors revealed a crowd of the elderly and young children who were racing through the gates into the safety of the walled citadel.

Though how safe it would be if our enemies made it this far, I couldn’t be sure.

If needed they would have to evacuate but I didn’t plan on letting it come to that.

There were ancient magical protections on this part of the city that would ward off enemy strikes for a time.

But they would be cracked eventually. I could not let things get that far.

North broke through the crowd dressed for battle with a sword in his grip.

“Let’s have at them, freyin,” he said with a wide smile.

“We will not let them take Pyros,” I said with a nod.

He howled keenly and the sound was echoed by a large group of Werewolves among the Talons. I expected to see the big bastard who had been fighting in the ring but there was no sign of him.

“By the ocean,” Everest murmured under her breath and I felt a ripple of her fear at what was coming.

Mirelle noticed me and took off on her black and white wings, coming to land before us. “We must ensure the Void is not taken from us. Do you understand the magnitude of your task today, Kaiser?” She laid a hand on my cheek.

“I do.”

“You must wield her,” she urged.

“I will.”

“This won’t work,” Everest cut in, glaring at Mirelle. “I can’t even wield the Void myself; you’re going to fail. You and your army will die and Cascada will take me home.”

Mirelle dropped her hand from my face, instead closing it around Everest’s throat and I forced my Fearsire to remain still. “You will do as you are bid. Kaiser could wield the wind if he desired it enough. You will be no challenge for him.”

Everest growled deep in her throat and Mirelle regarded her before releasing her and turning to me.

“Take her to the northern ridge above the city. Use her against our enemies and let them see who the stars have chosen to win this war.” She kissed me on the cheek and wished me luck before turning back to the mass of warriors.

“Make ‘em pay, Kai!” North hollered. “I’ll see you on the battlefield!”

“You’re going to fail, you cannot wield the Void through me,” Everest insisted.

I made for the door, forcing her along with me and I tasted the truth of her fear on my tongue.

“Then why are you so afraid, silka la vin?”