Page 33 of Realm of Crows (Wings of Ink #5)

Twenty-Three

Ayna

Stuffy air greets me as I stumble into a large space that is a bedroom, living area, and dining room all in one.

Dagger gripped tightly, I catch myself against the wall I’m about to hit face first. Myron’s arm is there to stabilize me in an instant, and my instincts force a shimmering silver shield around us.

I don’t even get to take a closer look at where we are before a pale-faced, wide-eyed Erina shouts for his guards, and the door flies open, a handful of tall, broad warriors stepping into the room, and an equally silver-shimmering shield envelops the King of Tavras.

“Crows.”

I don’t know who thinks it first. Perhaps it’s all of us collectively, because the word becomes a cacophony populating the mind link, and the only thing that’s faster than the magic surging through my blood is the vicious-looking male closest to me, who leaps at me with his sword raised above his head.

With a grunt, I pit my shield against the blow and manage to twist my dagger up in time to catch the slowed blade.

Myron is already engaged in combat with one of the Crows hurling their magic at us, as are the others.

Clio’s ice crystals are spiraling through the room, taking swings at the heavy broadswords the Crow guards are using to herd us into the corner with the desk.

“This was a mistake,” Kaira narrates through the mind link, her voice strained as she siphons some of the silver Crow power and throws it right back at the male coming at her.

I don’t care that these are technically my people; there is no hesitating when I push back with both my power and my blade.

“It’s an opportunity to prematurely end this war,” I hiss into the mind link, ducking under a blow as I pull my shield tight to my body to allow the Crow close enough to slit his throat.

When he doesn’t meet the resistance of the silver layer, staggering as he loses balance, I swipe up with my dagger, spearing him through the bottom of his jaw where his gray headpiece leaves an opening.

A flash of silver envelops the gasping, gurgling Crow, almost blinding me.

But I’ve prepared for this for too long.

I’ve trained and mastered my abilities enough to strike unseeingly, my own Crow power pushing back the force coming at me .

Myron and Royad have made it to the center of the room, fighting three Crows at once, and I’m not surprised to find Myron’s shield is laced with veins of onyx.

Clio and Kaira are kicking a Crow’s ass right by the desk, Kaira siphoning holes into the male’s defense and Clio sending small blades of ice at him through the openings.

Honestly, had I had a breath to waste, I’d use it to marvel at their tactics.

Beautiful, precise, deadly. The Crow goes down within a matter of moments, and I don’t shed a tear over another opponent gone.

In front of the hearth, Silas and Herinor are making quick work of one of the Crows, Silas’s hatchet finding its mark with cruel precision, drawing crimson lines along the gray chest protector.

Herinor shields Silas and himself from rogue streaks of magic flying through the room while he keeps a new attacker at a distance with the point of his sword.

I’m not certain he’s truly fighting to win, but he’s fighting Crows loyal to Ephegos, and he hasn’t dissolved into ashes. I take that as a good sign.

“Four down,” Tori informs us through the mind link while we all do our best to deal with what my idea has gotten us into.

Dancing from foot to foot, I lure the Crow without a headpiece away from the others so that his back is to Myron.

“Now!”

He doesn’t hesitate to drive his sword through the male’s back while his magic wraps around the silver tendrils trying to grab for both him and me.

Not a chance. With a few efficient twists, the black veins wind around the Crow’s magic, tearing it from his grasp.

A sharp hiss ending in a whimper then a caw is the last sound coming from the Crow’s mouth before he collapses between us, and Myron’s blood-sprayed face is all I can see for a few long heartbeats.

But he isn’t looking at me; his eyes are trained at the spot where Erina stood when we site-hopped here, and which is now empty.

“He got away.” I curse quietly, blocking a silver flash coming at me from the side with my shield. How could we have let Erina slip away?

“He can’t be far.” Thank the gods, the others don’t seem to be swallowed by the same sense of defeat, even when we’re winning against those ten Crows. “Clio and I will go after him. The rest of you finish this in here.”

He doesn’t wait for our approval, the two fairies already on their way out the door while Royad takes over the next Crow attempting to go after them.

His magic hits at the same time Clio sends a flurry of ice over her shoulder, and the Crow goes down with a scream as his limbs freeze over mid-step.

Royad doesn’t hesitate to shatter the frozen male with a hammer of his power.

The pieces scatter across the floor like splintering glass, and I need to watch where I step as I face one of the last three Crows.

He pulls up to his full height, grinning at me like he’s ready to eat me alive, but Kaira and Royad flank me, Royad’s shield weaving into mine while Kaira siphons the fire from the hearth and lets it roll in her palm, sizing up the opponent.

“Ready to meet your fate, Ayna?” The male’s face distorts into that of a half-shifted Crow, just like I remember them from the days of the curse .

“Whatever you have in mind, I don’t think so.” With a wave of my hand, I release the hot power collecting in my palm, letting it coil around my dagger as I dart straight for the male’s chest.

He twists out of the way, his sword already swinging at my shoulder.

It’s a close miss, but I manage to duck away, bracing myself on the mantle of the hearth.

Kaira and Royad are there to cover for me, but I’m already attacking again.

The Crow leaps over the fireball Kaira sends at his knees, the feathers on his cheeks and temples shimmering purple and sapphire as the sunlight filtering through the nearby window hits his face.

Royad strikes from the side, hitting his sword arm, but despite the gash on his forearm, the Crow doesn’t yield. He’s already coming for me again, two walls of silver now framing his sides, locking out both Royad and Kaira.

He’s so quick, his moves superior to mine the way Silas’s are. He must be as ancient as the sarcastic warrior, must have fought countless battles.

Royad and Kaira shout my name, probably already putting themselves at risk by trying to get through the barrier.

“Stay outside,” I tell them through the mind link.

Naturally, Myron is already listening in on what’s happening. I’m not surprised he’s urging me to get myself out of there.

I don’t care. I don’t need help. I might be physically weaker and less experienced than my opponent, but I learned from the best. From Myron and Royad, from Silas, Tori, Clio, and even Herinor.

If the other two traitor Crows in this room are anything like the one charging at me, they’ll need to watch out for themselves rather than distract themselves with what’s happening between those silver walls.

“I’m not leaving you alone in there.” It’s Royad, not Myron who insists, but I shake my head while I hiss an order through gritted teeth for him to stay where he is.

An order as his queen.

“I can take him,” I add through the mind link, and I mean it.

Steeling my spine, I draw upon the silver power gushing inside of me like a river. My daggers are ready, both of them enclosed in swirling stars while my mouth tastes like Myron’s smoke. I just stand there as the Crow comes closer, aiming a blow right for my head.

He won’t kill me. I’m too valuable to Ephegos.

It’s what I tell myself over and over as I wait, not letting the Crow out of my sight for a fraction of a heartbeat.

I only move when he’s so close he can’t alter the path of his blade, but I’m nimble on my feet, my movements quick and fluid as I yank them up to stab the Crow under his arm, in the very same spot I’ve used to slay a few Tavrasian soldiers earlier.

The Crow staggers through the spot where I was standing a moment ago, his sword arm sagging and his legs buckling as I sling my silver power around his ankles and bring him down.

Left and right of us, the silver walls are still shutting out the rest of the world, but I can make out Myron’s powerful fighting movements where the magical corridor opens toward the hearth.

He’s trying to get rid of his opponent to make his way toward me .

“I got him,” I shout into the mind link, and the connection goes so still I can feel them all holding their breaths.

“Then why aren’t the walls down?” Kaira prompts. Her mental voice is muffled like she’s straining against something.

“He isn’t dead,” I confirm with a glance at the male I’m pinning with my dagger in one shoulder and ropes of silver by the legs, wrists, and throat. “I have him tied down for questioning.”

A blast of power shakes the floor beneath my feet, and I topple to my knees, but the Crow stays down, my magic not budging an inch.

The sound of combat dies down, and when I look up, the silver walls are gone, Myron, Silas, Royad, and Herinor all glancing between Kaira and me, their weapons frozen mid-motion.

Not one single opponent is still standing, the one I pinned down the only one still breathing.

“The next time you use your weird power to deliver an earthquake, please warn us so we don’t run ourselves through with our blades,” Silas grumbles to the Flameling, lowering his hatchet and stepping to my side to take over the Crow I captured.

Royad takes the other side, the sword pointing at the male’s throat pushing hard enough to draw blood.

My legs are shaking as I get to my feet, but I don’t let a flicker of weakness show as I stand over the prisoner, giving him my best cruel queen look. With a few long strides, Myron joins me, wrath incarnate with his eyes of solid black and onyx veins creeping along his skin.

“You better tell me Ephegos ordered you to kill us,” he hisses in the icy tone of the king who judges over a traitor. “ You better have an explanation for abandoning your people and following a madman.”

The Crow at our feet spits blood, but he doesn’t answer.

“Did he forbid you to speak?” I prompt.

The Crow shakes his head.

“Then you’re a fool not to take this opportunity to switch sides.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Royad objects through the mind link, and he’s not the only one. Kaira is fast to second his concern, as is Silas.

“Whatever bargain we make, it could never override the one he made with Ephegos,” Herinor points out. “Or I’d have long found a way to do it.”

He’s right. They all are. But I need to know if there is at least a shred of hope for the Crows who chose the wrong side of this war.

“I’ll never be loyal to a weak king and his bastard queen.” The male’s voice grates along my bones with the weight of steel.

Myron is in his face so fast I barely see him move.

“Watch your tongue, Alias.” He bends so low over the male I’m worried he’ll bite out a chunk of his neck where the headpiece is cleaving open.

But Myron wouldn’t be Myron if he lost his temper so entirely.

“This is your true queen, and I am the one who will give the Crows a new home. You better remember Ephegos isn’t the only one who can play cruel games. ”

He means it, and seeing him like this shouldn’t thrill me so thoroughly. But when I focus on the bond connecting me with Myron, a rush of darkness floods me similar to the smoky power stirring inside of me .

“You going to talk?” Silas asks with the anger collected over millennia.

The Crow shakes his head.

“We don’t have the time to tease answers out of you, Alias,” Myron reminds all of us.

Tori and Clio went after Erina by themselves. If there are more Crows out there, they won’t be able to hold them off for long.

“There is nothing I’d tell you even under torture,” Alias grunts, blood trickling down the side of his chin as he bares his teeth in a sneer.

When Royad slits his throat a moment later, it’s me who gives the order.