Page 79 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Mikail

Quu Harbor, Khitan

I spur my horse to a gallop until I reach the black rocks of the sunken isle.

“Give her to me,” I yell up to Royo.

He looks down, over his shoulder. He hesitates, and frankly, we don’t have time for this.

General Vikal has already used the chaos to kill the Weian general and is currently running her sword through the Weian priest. I’m not sure what her next play is, but a Yusanian soldier is scrambling up the rocks, carrying a flaming sword.

My fucking sword.

I stop arguing with Royo and snap the reins. I know exactly who that is. I recognize his ridiculous mustache—it’s Thom, Salosa’s eldest son. He’s more useless than his father, but he was promoted through the ranks and constantly catered to because of his father’s status. General Salosa is, of course, now a sand decoration. But his brat was given my sword.

I ride close to the rocks, hold my arm steady, and aim my blade. I grip the hilt with two hands and ride until I connect with Thom’s legs. I mow him down at the ankles. He falls, his feet nearly sliced off.

As he screams, I stand on the saddle and leap onto the isle. I hate to lose the mount, but I’m getting my sword back. Thom, undeserving as he is, still clings to it as he cries out for his gods.

He’s about to meet them.

“You’re embarrassing yourself,” I say. I kick my blade out of his hand and then put my other sword through his throat.

Once he’s dead, I lean down and pick up my flaming sword. The sword has always felt like it belonged to me in a way I can’t express. It reminds me of being a boy in Gaya, of home. I must’ve seen the real Flaming Sword when I was there shortly before it was stolen.

“Ready?” I ask Royo. I strip the scabbard from Thom’s body and put it on.

Royo is silent. He’s staring at Vikal, who has her bloody blade out. He shifts to block Aeri’s body. I can’t tell if she’s thinking about killing him, Aeri, or both. She must have, at minimum, thought about taking the relics to Quilimar.

I raise my sword, settling on her wanting to kill both of them.

“The queen!” the palace guards yell out. “Save the queen!”

Vikal looks over her shoulder. The Khitanese guard has stopped to surround and protect Quilimar because even though the Yusanian and Weian troops are fleeing for their lives, they are still trying to kill the queen on behalf of their kings. Vikal has the same choice to make—kill what you hate or protect what you love.

It’s harder than it sounds.

“Until we meet again, then,” she says, sheathing her sword.

I nod, cutting down a soldier who is trying to climb up. Then I slice through another and then a third. With higher ground, it’s fish in a barrel, but Royo isn’t helping. He still has his sword aimed at the general.

Vikal takes three steps backward and leaps off the isle. Then she sprints on foot to Quilimar, blade out again. Soldiers try to attack her, and she slices men apart at full speed. She’s not wasting time to ensure the kill. She’s just trying to move past them to get to Quilimar.

Royo looks at me, somehow still struggling for words. “I just…”

“Can we go now?” I ask.

This is not time for a heart-to-heart. We’ll be lucky to get Aeri to safety in this free-for-all. The longer we take, the more forces can regather and align themselves against us. Royo doesn’t trust me because he doesn’t trust anyone, and that’s fine. We can discuss it later.

He picks up Aeri. She is breathing. Shallowly, and she’s unconscious, but at least she’s still alive. I’m not sure what toll it takes to use the two relics, but I have to imagine it nearly killed her. Our gods don’t give without taking.

Sora rides up on her horse.

“What do we do now?” She stares at Aeri and then the walls of water.

“Get to dry land,” I say. “Like I said before.”

I turn and focus on the gold Weian boat sitting on the floor of the harbor. Only a handful of guards and the scepter wielder are still on the ship. Fewer than I even first thought.

“Watch out,” Sora says as she points to my left.

Another soldier attempts to scale the black rocks. I decapitate him and wonder why the scepter bearer is not fleeing with the king. Then I remember the focus Euyn needed to wield the ring. If the bearer breaks focus, the sea will fall and drown everyone in the harbor—including King Uol. In choosing to create dry land, the scepter had to be separated from the king.

But it’s taking a while for Uol to reach the shore—far longer than expected, I’m sure. Wei’s forces are colliding with the Khitanese army in the harbor, and Quilimar is out for blood. The reserves have been called in to prevent the foreign troops from reaching dry land. And it’s taking a tremendous amount of power to keep this harbor dry.

The Water Scepter has never been this vulnerable, and I doubt it ever will be again. If I had the relic, Gaya would be free. I’d give it to Fallador, and we could push away any navy. I knew it before and I chose to stop and save Aeri. But now I can do both.

“I’m going to take the Water Scepter,” I say.

Sora and Royo exchange glances. They don’t think it’s a good idea—that much is written on their faces. But they look resigned.

“We’re coming with you,” she says.

I blink in shock. “What? No, take Aeri and get to dry land.”

“And what? You think they’ll just let us pass by with her?” Royo asks.

“We’re safest together,” Sora says. “We’re with you for better or worse.”

Royo nods, and then he places Aeri across Sora’s lap. Without hesitation, I climb down a boulder and get on Sora’s horse behind her. Royo meets my eye, then nods again. He’s trusting me with the person who has his heart—the greatest trust you can bestow on someone.

I won’t betray him. But now I have to figure out how to get all of us out of this alive.

I hold Aeri in place, and then Royo jumps down and smacks the horse’s flank. He runs through the muck behind us.

Nearly all the people who’d been on the royal Weian ship have already abandoned it, but two Weian palace guards climb down as we approach. We ride another step closer, and an arrow pings off my armor. Apparently, they also left an archer on board and he’s a decent shot.

“Stay out of their reach,” I say, dismounting. Sora nods, circling wide but holding on to Aeri.

I unsheathe my sword, and it flames to life in my hand. The fire thaws something inside of me—something that froze when Euyn died.

“No quarrel with you,” I say in Weian to the guards. “Flee now.”

I mean my offer. There’s no reason to kill them, and it’s just a diversion from getting to the scepter.

“Spymaster,” one says.

They both stand ready to battle.

Well, there goes that idea.

The first guard swings his blade and meets my sword. The Weian royal guard is better than any of the other realms. Their armor is thought to be impenetrable, the steel cooled with the magicked waters of the islands.

I’ll put it to the test.

I swing my sword, and it clangs off the side of the first guard’s armor. It’s better than I expected. As I recoil, I dodge a blow from the second guard. They attack in tandem, and I strike the weakest point at the shoulder joint. My jaw slackens as it does nothing. Not even a scratch.

A guard slices right above my head, and I duck. I swing out, kicking him to the ground. He gets back to his feet with speed that nearly matches mine.

I parry blows until sweat slicks my skin. They aren’t as fast as I am, but there are two of them and they are not falling. I don’t know how long I can keep this up. Frustration courses through me, and I strike harder and faster, now aiming for their faces, hands, and knees. Every moment I spend on this skirmish is one where more troops make it ashore. It’s another minute where Joon might escape with his life. Where Uol could make it to dry land, and then we’ll all be drowned.

“Left!” Royo yells out.

I roll just as his dagger flies by my nose. Another inch and it would be embedded in my face. I went to my left, not his.

Stars, Royo, use east or west!

But for his lack of directional skill, his aim is spot on. His blade strikes one guard in the face. I land safely, but I’m not even to my feet when I realize I miscalculated. I’m in striking distance of the second guard. He smiles, victory shining in his eyes. He has me.

No.

He raises his blade. I don’t have time to react. I can’t move my sword fast enough. This is where I die.

All of a sudden, the guard falls straight forward, a blade sticking out of his neck.

I scramble to my feet, look up, and there’s…Fallador, standing in front of me. I blink hard because it can’t be him. Those are the same green eyes, but there’s no reason for him to wear a Khitanese soldier’s uniform.

“There’s never a dull moment with you,” he says.

Yes, it’s definitely him. Anger immediately flows through me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, standing straight. “Get to safety, right now!”

Stars, it hadn’t even dawned on me that he’d be at risk. He should be in his villa on Oligarch Mountain, sipping tea, observing this spectacle, not on the harbor floor with us.

“You’re welcome,” he says with a smile. “For saving your life.”

It’s truly terrible to talk to someone so much like me.

I look up and find that the archer hangs dead off the bow of the ship. Did Fallador kill him as well?

“Gods, he’s so ungrateful,” Gambria says. She comes around the ship with a crossbow in her hand.

Wait, she killed the archer. She’s not a marksman like Euyn, but Gambria could get the drop on nearly anyone when we were children.

I don’t have time to get explanations of what they’re doing here. Instead, we race up the ladders onto the golden ship. Now I have even more people to see to safety. Fallador and Gambria are the last of the Gayan royal family. If they die, no one is left with a rightful claim to the throne. They shouldn’t be here at all. But shouldn’t is meaningless, apparently.

The only Weians on board are one royal guard and the scepter bearer he’s protecting. Two guards lie dead near Sora, who stands on the ship armed with a bloody sword. Two priests lie dead by the scepter—that could’ve been anyone, including the relic draining their lives.

Royo climbs up to the deck with Aeri slung over his shoulder. She moans. She’s still somewhat with us, but she’s very weak.

“Flee now,” I say in Weian to the guard.

He shakes his head and holds his sword in both hands. Another person willing to give his life for a lie—for a king who’d kill him as soon as look at him, for a false god. Another sacrifice to power, for the right to commit atrocities. Another man willing to die for the privilege of treating others as less than themselves.

Enough.

The guard engages me, but I spin and cut with a slashing motion. My fury drives my sword through his armpit and into his chest. I pull out the blade, and he falls to the ground.

He lands next to the last escape skiff, which fortunately is wooden and not solid gold. The Weians must have left this for their scepter bearer to escape. But now, we all have a real way out.

My heart skips. Survival is an actual possibility. If we do this right.

“Everyone get inside the skiff,” I say.

For once in my life, everyone does what they are told. Royo lays Aeri inside, and then Fallador and Gambria get in. Sora is last with a glance at me, but everyone is ready.

I take another step toward the Water Scepter bearer. He looks over his shoulder at me.

Stars, he’s maybe sixteen. He doesn’t try to fight or flee. He’s holding the scepter steady against the water, and he’s praying, I think.

Let’s hope his gods listen.

I shove my blade through his back, right into his heart. At the same time, I grab on to the staff. A rush of energy flows through me, but it could just be the power of the sea that begins to cascade down. The ship quakes, and the screams are deafening as soldiers start drowning. I can only hope that both kings and the queen are among them.

I don’t have time to watch. The water rises above the prow of the ship in seconds. I jump onto the escape boat and barely make it. Once I get inside, I have to sit and hold on tight while also securing the scepter. I lie on top of it as the waves of the falling water rock the boat as if it’s a bath toy.

All of us slide. The skiff tilts. Stars, we’re going to capsize. I hang on as the horizon goes vertical.

Please, gods, see us through this.

We stay on the precipice of flipping. One heartbeat. Two. Then, degree by degree, the skiff lowers. But then we spin and the other side starts to rise. I feel queasy, and my fingers are as slick as when I nearly dropped Zeolin out the window. But I hold on with the scepter pressed between my body and the boat. We rock from one side to another. I can’t tell if we lost anyone just yet, and that is the worst feeling of all.

In a nauseating set of movements, and after what feels like a year of time, we finally make it up to the surface. I count. One, two, three, four. Sora, Aeri, Royo, and Fallador. And then there’s Gambria. We’ve all made it. We’re all drenched but floating in the harbor.

Everyone breathes hard, relieved to have survived. But we won’t stay alive for long if we stay here.

As soon as we level out, I hold the scepter out to Fallador. I take a knee.

“Fallador, my prince, wield us to Gaya,” I say.

He and Gambria exchange glances. Sora tilts her head like she didn’t hear me correctly, and Royo was simply not paying attention, focused solely on Aeri.

“Mikail.” Fallador looks down and to the side. Guilt clouds his expression.

We really don’t have time for whatever this is. I can’t seem to get the people I love to understand urgency outside of, apparently, drowning in a harbor.

My eyes dart all around, frustration making me choke the scepter. “What? What is it?”

“I can’t,” Fallador says sadly. He looks sorry for me, and I don’t know why.

“I can explain, Mikail,” Gambria says.

“All right, but can that be while you wield this?” I ask. “We aren’t safe here.”

The Weian navy is engaged with Khitanese warships, and some of the soldiers who’d been on the seafloor are flailing in the water, having survived the deluge. But we have been spotted by the boat nearest to us. They are turning their sails because our little skiff happens to have three of the five relics of the Dragon Lord. We won’t be safe anywhere other than Gaya. And even that will be a challenge until all of these rulers are dead.

“I can’t use it, either,” Gambria says with a frown.

What is she talking about? Why are they doing this now? Anger and impatience rise through me.

“What do you mean, you can’t?” I yell. “You’re the royal family of Gaya!”

“Oh, Adoros,” Gambria says, then purses her lips. “We aren’t. You are.”