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CHAPTER 12

“Grab your weapons,” I said to Kele, and then ran toward the nearest steps leading up to the top of the battlements.

Another fireball flew overhead, exploding deeper in Esan. Screams now filled the air, almost smothering the broadcasting orders that all noncombatants should retreat to the underground caverns.

I raced up the steps two at a time, one of dozens doing the same. Organized chaos reigned on the wall; orders were being shouted, soldiers lined the wall while others hurried to their stations, and weapon runners raided stores to ready restocks. All the while, arrows and spears sang through the air, hitting stone and flesh with equal force. Soldiers screamed and went down, and medics scurried around, dragging the injured and the dead out of the way of the living.

I pushed toward my station; Sora, Jax, and Kerryn were already there, but there was no sign of the others as yet. I stopped beside Kerryn, leaned over the wall, and gasped.

The valley below was full of Mareritt.

There were at least five hosts of the bastards holding position at the far end of the valley, and they filled the air with arrows and spears, the latter flung using atlatls—a spear-throwing lever that gave greater velocity and distance.

But it was the Mareritt charging the wall that had my heart leaping into my throat. Not because of their numbers, though that was daunting enough, and not because of the multiple siege ladders being carried. We’d dealt with them before and would do so again.

No, it was the number of short metallic tubes they carried.

I could see at least thirty of them, and I dared say there were far more I couldn’t see.

“Shoot at those carrying the tubes,” I yelled, pointing. “They fire acid that eats through stone. We can’t let them get near the wall.”

I drew my bow, nocked an arrow, and released in one smooth motion, quickly losing sight of it in the forest of arrows coming back at us. Far below, Mareritt soldiers fell, their bodies trampled by those behind them; their weapons, however, were scooped up and carried forward.

Several more flaming orbs tumbled clear of the deep fog still covering the bulk of the lands beyond the valley and arced toward Esan. The air around us swept upward with enough force to snatch our plaits upright; fists of wind caught the fireballs and flung them down into the surging mass of Mareritt below, killing dozens.

But dozens made little difference when there was a sea of them.

A sea of them armed with tubes that were now being raised.

We needed fire. I needed fire.

And it still wasn’t fucking there.

I swore, slapped a hand on Kerryn’s shoulder to catch his attention, then said, “Go find Falconie—tell him to issue incendiary arrows and fire pots, because hitting those tubes with fire will destroy them.”

“Your flames?”

“Currently absent. Go.”

He turned and disappeared into the controlled chaos. We continued firing our arrows, hitting target after target but making little difference. On the wall around us, soldiers fell, some dead, some not, their positions immediately filled. Overhead, the skies cracked open and unleashed their full fury, the rain torrential, cutting visibility down to mere yards.

I wiped my sleeve over my face in a useless attempt to clear the water and kept on firing arrows until my quiver was empty. I tore it off, swung around, and yelled for a replacement. A soldier hurried forward with a fresh quiver and handed it to me, but as I swung back to face the wall, an arrow clipped my cheek, biting deep.

I swore, and deep inside, fury echoed. Not mine. Kaia’s.

I come. I help .

NO , I yelled back mentally. It’s too dangerous, and we can’t risk undoing the spell.

You risk life.

I’m not going to die, Kaia.

Can’t promise.

There is revenge to be had. I’m going nowhere until that is done.

Go nowhere after.

I certainly don’t plan to. Stay. Please.

Her response was an unhappy grumble. I dropped the quiver at my feet, drew and nocked an arrow, and unleashed it into the wildness, aiming for the foe I could no longer see.

Orders were shouted across the wall for the beacons to be lit. It was pointless, us remaining in the dark, and it wasn’t like the Mareritt didn’t know where we were. All they had to do was push forward until they hit the damn... I stopped as a shudder ran through the stone under my feet.

The sense of doom sharpened.

“They’re attacking the wall’s base,” came Falconie’s shout from farther down the line. “Soldiers, aim down. Earth mages, repair. Air mages, attack.”

As the air abruptly shifted direction and plunged downward, Kerryn returned, two men carrying a fire pot and another a large cache of arrows wrapped with oil-soaked cloth. We weren’t the only ones receiving them—it was happening along the length of the wall.

Another shudder ran through the stone. I grabbed an arrow, plunged the head and the soaked cloth just below it into the pot, then nocked it, leaned over the wall, and fired. As it shot down, I saw the shadows. Mareritt on ladders.

“They’re scaling,” I shouted, plunging another arrow into the fire and shooting it down. Again and again, I repeated the process, until my arms and shoulders ached, and my fingers burned. Not from my fire, but rather the flames dripping from the arrows.

And still the Mareritt climbed.

The wind battered the ladders, sending some toppling while ripping multiple other Mareritt free, smashing them into the steep sides of the mountains on either side of us.

It didn’t stop them.

The stone under our feet pulsed harder, the power so strong it burned through the soles of my boots. Our witches, fighting the acid that ate into the base of the wall.

Lightning cracked down, hitting a tower to my right. It exploded, spearing deadly shards of stone into the air. Men and women went down screaming, some dead, others crawling away; soldiers stepped into their positions and kept on firing.

Oil pots were levered onto the wall, the boiling liquid poured over the edge. Screams rose as Mareritt flesh was burned and melted.

And still they came, uncaring and determined.

Another shudder ran through the stone, this time more violent. The earth mages were not winning the war against the acid....

“Zara, get your teams up to the water—” The rest of Falconie’s order was lost to the chaos that surrounded us.

Dead, I thought, though I never saw him fall.

More fiery orbs erupted from the distant blanket still covering much of the wasteland. Not one, not two, but at least a dozen, burning through the weeping, turbulent air so fast they were little more than streaks of ruddy light. Their speed wasn’t natural—it was mage enhanced. Had to be. Even the most powerful ballista or catapult ever built wasn’t capable of casting items through the air that fast.

The wind rose to meet them; it stopped some, but at least five were pushed through by the magic that surrounded them. They tumbled over our heads and continued with unnatural speed past the military and tiered living sections.

I spun, grabbed an arrow and lit it, then drew back and released. It cut through the air, hit an orb, and exploded on contact. The orb wobbled briefly, then the magic propelling it surged, and it flew on.

Air chased after them, three thick fingers that caught one orb and tossed it back into the valley and the Mareritt. The rest flew on, sweeping upward, their target clearly the second wall. Which made no sense. Why destroy that when they had to first get through this first one—and it was far from falling, even if the shudders running through it were growing.... A stream of heat sizzled past my cheek and splashed onto the stone several feet away. Acidic shit—or at least, the Mareritten version of it.

The rain was slowing but not stopping it eating into the stone.

I swore, doused another arrow, then leaned over the wall and fired down. And saw, in the few seconds before it disappeared into the storm-clad darkness, the tube the Mareritt on the ladder was holding.

They weren’t using the ladders to breach us. They were simply a means of getting the deadliest of their weapons closer.

I shouted a warning to everyone and ordered more oil to be poured over the wall. Pots were tipped over along its length and arrows fired into its flow, igniting the liquid and everything in its path. The stench of burning flesh filled the air despite the wind and the rain, and burning humanoid figures lit the ground far below, some moving, some not.

Then the alarm sounded again, this time one long wail of noise that echoed through my brain and had my heart racing. Evacuation. They were ordering an evacuation....

Not of this wall. Of the other.

I swung around and watched, helpless, as the four remaining fiery orbs smashed into the war room and the attached administration building.

For several heartbeats, nothing happened.

Then the entire building exploded, jettisoning deadly shards of black stone into the air.

For too many seconds, I could only stare in horror as destruction rained around us.

Then I screamed. Screamed like I never had before. Screamed in horror and pain and loss.

Something within me broke, and fire erupted from every pore, turning me from a being of flesh into something far more dangerous and incorporeal, if only for the briefest of moments. Deep inside me, another roar echoed, and the heat that burned my mind said Kaia had found her flame.

We come, she said. We burn.

Hit the ones on ladders first. My mind voice was calm, controlled—everything my heart and soul wasn’t. They have acid tubes, so be fast.

Flames explode tubes.

And explode they fucking would. Fire erupted from every pore, and curses echoed either side of me. I paid them no heed, trying to concentrate on control, on remembering how to control, as I leaned far over the wall and directed all the fury burning through directly down its side. It was a blanket of fire that lit the rain-soaked air and shone brightly off the multiple tubes carried by the Mareritt on ladders below. I hit them, hit the tubes, furiously, gleefully, cindering flesh and exploding the cylinders.

Then the drakkons swept in; two, not three.

They opened their mouths and roared, but the sound was chased by fire, a thick, deadly stream that cindered everything in their path. The Mareritt on their ladders desperately shifted position and tried to re-aim, but drakkon flame caught them in midmovement and cindered them.

It cindered combatants on the wall, as well.

I pushed upright and ordered an evac. The shout went up and down the line, and soldiers began to run for the various steps. The deadly rain of arrows and spears continued, but none touched me. None could. My flames were a wall of heat that surrounded me, cindering anything that close.

Control, where the fuck was control? Why the hell had I?—

The Prioress’s words rose like ghosts: the binding might make it necessary for drakkon and rider to act as one fighting unit to be at their most powerful.

Perhaps what she’d been talking about was control .

Kaia , I shouted, land so I can mount you. It’ll help control our joint flames. Tell Yara.

She did so, then swooped overhead, thrusting her claws forward as she landed, scouring the black stone. I ducked under her wing and scrambled up her leg, quickly seating and clipping on. She crouched, then launched, her wings pumping hard as she fought for height. The rain of arrows and spears continued, thudding into her leathery wings and bouncing from her scales. Her spines protected me from the torrent of wood, which was a good thing, given the moment I’d mounted, my shield of fire evaporated.

I was once again in control.

Right , I said grimly. Let’s send these fucking bastards to Vahree’s realm.

Kaia roared in agreement and swooped down, the sharp movement throwing me back hard. The Mareritt on the ground below raised their weapons but never had the chance to unleash the acid; drakkon flame caught them, erased them, before their fingers ever touched the release.

Move on ? she asked.

Move on , I confirmed.

Yara flew in and, wing tip to wing tip, they scoured the valley with their flames, ashing everything and everyone in their path. It wasn’t in the Mareritten nature to run, and they fought until the flames hit them, sending a continuous deluge of arrows and spears and even acid into the air. I flung fire at anything that approached us, cindering again and again, until the mote in my eye popped, my brain ached, and only ashes lay on the valley floor far below. Until the utter fury that had consumed me bled away, leaving only grief.

I pushed it aside. I couldn’t acknowledge it. Wouldn’t acknowledge it. Not until I was sure, absolutely sure, that everyone I cared about, everyone I loved, had been in the war room.

Fog? came Kaia’s question, her weariness a pulse I felt deep inside. We search?

I hesitated. The two of us—and no doubt Yara and Kele—were approaching our limits, and while I knew we shouldn’t risk pushing beyond them when we were still healing from the aftereffects of the spell, we also couldn’t leave without pressing into that fog, if only to see what had launched those flaming orbs and destroy it if we could.

Fly in, but don’t go too low until we know what’s there. And don’t flame.

I signaled Kele what we were doing, though in truth it was no longer necessary, given her connection to Yara, then hung on as Kaia swooped down into the fog. Thankfully, it was just fog, and not the acidic stuff raised by the gilded riders’ mages.

The air became cold and tacky, clinging to already soaked skin and clothes. Visibility was zero for too many seconds, then gradually, it lifted.

There were hundreds of Mareritt on the ground below. We flew over them, unseen, unheard, partially covered by their mages’ unnatural fog. They appeared to be readying for retreat, perhaps to regroup and refortify. I couldn’t see any of those mounted tubes we’d destroyed in the Barrain Ghost Forest, suggesting that maybe they hadn’t had time to rebuild. What I did see was a good dozen enormous catapults.

Have you and Yara enough flame to destroy them? I asked Kaia.

Can. Will. Then go home?

Then go home . And discover if I had anything to go home to.

Grief surged. I swallowed heavily, fighting it even as I knew it was a battle I would lose. Vahree had come to Esan and even now danced with the souls of our dead. Not even Túxn could forever stop his skeletal fingers reaching deep into the heart of my family.

Kaia swooped around, into the full force of the rain, and began her fire run, Yara behind and to one side. Their flames lacked power and heat now, but still set the catapults alight. I flamed down, spraying what fire I had left at those running or raising weapons. Then we were done and flying up through the foggy muck, into open air again.

I swiped at the blood pouring over my lashes, smearing its warmth through the torrent of rain streaming down my face, then sighed. Kaia, could you tell Yara to land on the wall so Kele can dismount? Tell her to get some food and rest.

And we?

I’ll dismount in the palace courtyard.

Amongst the rubble. Amongst the dead.

Another sob rose. I pressed my fingers against my lips and refused to let it go.

Yara peeled away to land on a relatively empty section of wall, but we continued on, over the various levels. I didn’t look down. I looked up. The wall still stood, relatively untouched, as did, rather incongruously, a small middle section of the building between the admin section and the war room. The section where our earth mages had run their tests and refashioned the stone, perhaps?

But the rest... I sucked in a breath that ended in a sob. The destruction was vast.

The war room and a good section of the administration building was simply gone. The few remnants of wall that remained were little more than black fingers reaching forlornly toward rumbling skies. Huge chunks of rubble scattered the ground on this side of the wall—and no doubt the inner courtyard—some so large they’d crushed the buildings they’d landed on. Smoke rose along the length of the wall, encasing the few sections that remained. But the wall remained manned, the injured were being removed, and the dead covered. Life might have been taken, but life continued on.

I sucked in another quivering breath and, as Kaia soared over the wall and readied to land, I detached my harness, then leaned forward and undid hers, letting it drop to the ground as she landed amongst the remnants of building and bodies.

I didn’t look at the bodies.

I wasn’t ready yet.

I slid down her leg, hitting the ground hard and staggering a little before I caught my balance. Then I scratched her eye ridge and bid her to go rest.

Will , she said wearily. Burning take strength.

It does , but it’s worth it.

Is. We hunt riders now?

My lips twitched, despite the gathering wall of grief. Maybe not today.

But soon?

Yes.

I go. You eat. Must get strong. Revenge to be had.

I swallowed heavily and stepped out of her way. She crouched low, then leapt high, her wings pumping hard, stirring dust, ash, and humanity into the air.

Then I turned and resolutely walked back into the destruction. A familiar figure emerged from the gloom, and for a second, my heart leapt. Then reality stepped in and sent hope crashing.

It wasn’t either of my parents. It was Jarin, our night shift commander. If he was here rather than down on the wall... I crossed my arms and refused to follow that thought through to the end.

I stopped and saluted, but the question I needed to ask was stuck in my throat, and I just stared at him.

For several long seconds, he didn’t say anything. He just stood there, grief and sympathy in his eyes. Then he dropped his gaze and said, in a voice as broken as my heart, “I’m sorry, but it is my duty to inform you that you now bear the mantle of grand commander and?—”

I didn’t hear the rest of it. I didn’t need to. Grief surged, and I screamed. Screamed in heartbreak and despair, and dropped hard to my knees, hugging my body and rocking back and forth as I sobbed. Deep, heartbreaking, all-encompassing sobs.

They were gone.

They were all gone.

Everyone that had meant anything to me, leaving me broken and alone.

Not alone , came Kaia’s soft comment. I here. Gria here. We kin.

And I was now Queen. Grief could wait.

I sucked in a deep breath, then swiped grubby hands across bloody tears and climbed to my feet. “Right, Commander, what needs to be done?”

He hesitated. “Are you?—”

“I’m fine,” I said flatly, even though I wasn’t and maybe never would be. “We’ve people to look after and a war room to rebuild, and the sooner the better.”

He nodded and turned, filling me in as we walked back across the courtyard.

We would rebuild.

And we would have our revenge.

I would have my revenge.

Even if it was the very last thing I ever did.