Page 25

Chapter

Sixteen

TATE

Today is one of those days it sucks to be up in the air.

Telos is located so far south that winter is hardly noticeable most days, but today, a sharp and icy north wind creeps into even the tiniest gap in our uniform, and the drizzle that accompanies us for the better part of two hours makes being up here simply miserable.

Since I have to draw on my body heat to warm up the air around me, I gave up on it ages ago. The damp, cold air leeches any warmth so quickly that it would send me into hypothermia in no time, defying the purpose.

We fly in the typical V-formation, rotating who takes point to distribute the strain evenly between our birds. A wind like today makes taking the lead over longer periods noticeably more tiring.

My fingers are stiff from the cold, and I can’t wait to get close to a fire. The rest of the flight is not any better off, except for Zaza, who uses her fire gift to push her body temperature into toasty regions. The steam coming off her body is a foolproof sign of that.

I bury my fingers deeper into Daeva’s feathers for warmth and keep my eyes open for anything moving below us.

The threat we encounter most at the borders is not an attack from neighboring countries but from creatures of the mist. The mist that separates the five kingdoms from one another.

We pass over a little village that sits right at the border. In my opinion, it’s too close to the mist on a sunny day, but today, the ominous white even seeps into the streets.

How can people live like that?

Avina, located in the north, is too far off the border to interact with the mist, its people, or its creatures. So I had no contact growing up. Now, I know them much too well.

The dark clouds make night fall early.

“Movement at nine o’clock,” Daeva warns only seconds before the first arrow flies past us.

I slip my bow over my head and curse when the first arrow I retrieve nearly slips out of my stiff fingers.

“ Way to make a miserable day even worse, ” I mutter.

“ It’s a full-on raid on the village,” Daeva says.

I slip into her view, the contortion of color and view so natural to me by now that I acclimate quickly.

Through Daeva’s eyes, I can easily count ten human shapes moving in the mist. She’s right.

This is a coordinated raid of the titans instead of a random creature attack.

Fuck.

I have Daeva relay the information to Tanner, my flight’s squadron leader and second-in-command, and have him take over so I can concentrate on shielding us.

He has us draw a tight circle and takes point.

His arm is raised, and the wet air gathers around his fingers, coalescing.

A dive brings us into shooting range, and his arm comes down.

A volley of hailstones the size of hen’s eggs accompanies his movement, and the whole flight loses their arrows.

They multiply in the air, thanks to Jared’s illusions, making it hard for the enemy to distinguish the real ones.

Three of our enemies fall, but that means at least seven are left, and maybe there are more waiting in the mist. Tanner’s hailstones took our enemies by surprise, and they didn’t have the chance to retaliate, but that won’t work again.

Sure enough, they all took cover on the next sweep, and we can’t get a clear shot. They lose their arrows, which fall back harmlessly, stopped by my shield.

I manage to hit one more on the next one, but with the darkness, the rest of the flight is at a severe disadvantage. We’re on our fourth pass when a sudden flare of light blinds Daeva and me since I shared her sight. She caws in outrage, and her unease at flying blind floods our bond.

I’m momentarily disoriented. The bluish-white dots dancing over my vision remind me scarily of the lightning wielder’s attack.

“ It’s fine. You’ve got this.” I try to calm Daeva, but how am I supposed to shield us when I can’t see where the threat is?

“Everyone pull up,” I shout, but I don’t think anyone hears me over the wind, so Daeva relays the message as well. I have no idea how close we are.

The sharp pain in my leg hits me the same moment Daeva’s cry pierces the air. We are hit.

Daeva pulls up, but her movements are labored.

“Where is it?” I demand to know.

“ My right wing,” she says, and I find the exact location easily once I slip into her perception. It sits between her elbow and wrist. Thankfully, it missed the tendon, but it moves with every beat of her wing, a stabbing pain radiating outward. I curse.

“ Can you land?” I ask her.

“ In a moment,” she tells me. “But I’m not sure it’s safe around here.”

“ Could you bear my weight on your wing if you glide?” I ask her, and she snorts or a sound as close to that as a bird can get.

“ Jared and Zephyr are on their way over. I told them what you are up to. They will follow our movement from below,” Daeva informs me. They’ll catch me in case I fall is what she leaves out. Not that I plan on that. My vision clears with every passing second, and Jared and Zephyr close in on us.

Despite the pain, Daeva wins on height, using the air currents to her advantage. The air turns even colder. I’m focused on Daeva, caught up in her perception, and only remember I was hit, too, when bending to loosen the straps, jostling the arrow in my thigh. Fuck.

I grit my teeth and yank it out unceremoniously. No time to be careful. I roar in pain when it takes a good chunk of my flesh with it, thanks to the barbs. The blood flows freely, and I concentrate on healing it.

Healing myself is harder than healing others.

Maybe because concentrating on whole and healthy tissue isn’t easy when the pain tells you it’s quite the opposite of well, and a nagging headache always accompanies it that ironically, I can’t heal myself from, no matter what I do.

It isn’t like that for everyone, but frankly, healing myself sucks.

We are high above ground by the time I’m done. I free myself from the saddle, and Daeva goes into a glide. Lying down on my stomach, I slide onto her motionless wing, distributing my weight as evenly as possible.

“The arrow went through. I’ll cut off the fletching to pull it out,” I inform Daeva about what I’m doing.

Using my magic, I sever the arrow below her wing.

She caws at my jostling. I grip the tip, protruding on the top, and a screech accompanies the moment I dislodge the arrow.

Relief floods me once the arrow is gone.

I slip my hand over the wound, and it closes easily.

Sliding back into my seat is harder than getting here since I have to slide backward, and my armor catches on her feathers, ruffling them. Daeva complains about it.

“ You’re welcome, beautiful,” I tell her dryly.

The fight is already over by the time Jared and I join our formation. No more arrows or movement from the mist, and the fire is contained as well. Infantry is on its way from a watchtower nearby, so we head back to the Aerie.

When we land, Zaza is slumped in her saddle, and Boko grimaces when he hits the ground, the broken shaft of an arrow sticking out of his leg. Zaza is close to exhaustion since she battled not only the fire our enemies set to one of the houses but also the wielder who did it.

“We have you,” Jared murmurs. We loosen the straps holding her in the saddle.

Zaza refuses to let him carry her, so we take her between us, setting off for the healing quarters.

Miller helps Boko by lending him a shoulder to lean on, and Tanner heads for Legatus Janus’s office to make a report while the rest of our flight sees that our birds get the care they deserve.

It’s two hours, a good meal, and a hot shower later that I find myself at the library, continuing my research on the Tracers.

I prefer the always empty back part of the library.

None of the books needed for classes are back here, and not many runners or riders spend their free time hanging out in the library.

I sit at a table with four chairs tucked between tall bookshelves. To one side is a little nook with two big and dusty armchairs and a little side table. Other than that, there is nothing but bookshelves around me, creating an area that can’t be seen until you turn the last corner.

I warm the air around me. I have had enough of the cold, and the library is rather drafty and cool, so air magic does come in handy.

My head and leg still throb, too little to seek help in the healing quarters but enough to be irritating.

Heat seeps from my body into the air around me, and I stop once the temperature is comfortable.

I picked up some books from the library, and I’m now eyeing the tomes in front of me.

The Ice Coast and Its Minerals, Ice Coast: Customs and Traditions, and Great Minds and Their Inventions are spread out around me , but Summer’s words are still the only information I have.

I open the book Ice Coast and Its Minerals at the back, checking the glossary.

Heaving a breath, I get to work, starting with the promising first entry.

I pull out the Tracers to compare them to an image of another crystal and leave them on the table for reference. Only Jared and Summer know about the Tracers and their connection to the attack.

Maybe I should have gotten rid of the crystals since I suspect the one my contact handed me might have led those men to our camp.

We were too high up in the mountains and too far away from the mist for the titans to attack us. Even if the silent advance would fit their approach, the man’s accent didn’t.

Brrring you back alive… those words, combined with the lightning wielder’s attack and the fact that we were far from any bridge point, leaves me with the suspicion that they targeted us specifically.