Page 54 of Realm of Crows (Wings of Ink #5)
Forty
Ayna
Watching Myron leave might be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Thank the gods for Clio and Kaira standing by my side, each of them holding one of my hands—as much to comfort me as to make sure I don’t bolt and take off after him, I’m sure.
The sun hasn’t even half-risen, and three dark specks in the graying sky are all I can make out of my mate and half of what’s left of my court.
“They’ll go only far enough to be seen, then retreat northwest to lure the armies onto our chosen grounds,” Tori reassures me from a few steps behind.
Whether he stayed to see Myron, Royad, and Silas off on their mission or to help Clio and Kaira in case I lose it, I don’t want to think about. Anyway, I’m grateful he’s here. Grateful for each single one of them.
“Our strongest site-hoppers moved as many of the southernmost rebels closer to the border as possible,” Tori adds, probably to change the topic as much as to make sure we all know where our armies stand.
“Iliana and the Tavrasian soldiers?” I prompt, thinking of the short-haired commander and her band of deserters. I’d love to see them celebrate again one day with as much life and enthusiasm as when Clio and I first spied them.
“They’ll catch up with Erina’s forces within days.”
“Days—” Kaira takes the word right out of my mind. “We’ll fight for days—if we last that long.”
“The plan is to last long enough for both the rebels and Cezux to fall into Tavras’s back and flank,” Clio reminds us, and I wonder if she herself needs the reminder, because her complexion is unnaturally pale and her palm sweaty like she’s nervous—anxious even.
“ Are we going to last long enough for them to arrive?” Again, it’s Kaira whose bravery outmatches mine.
This time, both Clio and Tori hesitate to answer.
“How about you rephrase that question into What can we do to last long enough for them to arrive? ” Rogue joins us from the closest tent, buckling his belt around his hips.
“And if you do rephrase the question, the answer would be anything we need to. ” With two long strides, he stands next to Tori, placing his hand on the male’s shoulder, a friend comforting a friend rather than a king and his general.
“At least, that’s what I will do. Each of you will need to choose for yourselves where you draw the line. ”
“I’ll die before I fall into Ephegos’s hands again.” It’s an easy thing to say, now that I know what the alternative is. “And if I ever face Erina again, I’ll have his head.”
“I’d settle for stabbing him in the chest—or the back.” Clio squeezes my hand.
“Whichever part of him you can get your blade in, you better go for it, or I will,” Kaira notes, a thin shadow of amusement crossing her features. “And I won’t mind if I shove an arrow up his ass.”
Clio drops my hand to wrap it over my shoulder, her hand touching Kaira’s arm, and my sister does the same to reach for Clio. I sling both my arms around their waists, pulling them close to my sides—my sister in blood and my sister in mind—and for a while, we watch the camp wake up in silence.
Only when the troops start gathering to march does Tori lean over to kiss Clio briefly on the mouth, his cheeks flushed from the cold and his expression grim when he nods at Kaira and me. “It’s time.”
“Can you reach Myron with your mind link?” Rogue asks Kaira, who is shifting from foot to foot as if she can’t wait to join one of the formations Tori has ordered for today’s approach.
For a fraction of a moment, I believe she’ll say no , but she closes her eyes, and Myron’s thoughts come streaming into mind .
“There are some troops about five miles south of the camp,” he informs all of us. “It’s impossible to tell whether they are real or projections, but even if they are real, they’ll be easy to pick off. Can’t be more than a hundred men.”
Relief blends with terror at the images he sends our way, at the details Tori keeps pushing for.
“Any sign of magic? Shimmering shields or unnatural clustering of fire?” Rogue interjects before I can ask the only thing I truly want to know—if Myron is all right. If the rest of my court is.
“Nothing so far. Also, no sign of Crows in bird form.” Myron sends an image of a long field wedged between two thick forests. The barrier of trees sets off a sense of unease in my stomach. And is that the outline of an army on the horizon?
“What’s that to your left?” I shout down the mind link, pointing to the long dark stripe at the end of the tree-framed corridor.
Royad’s thoughts enter the conversation as he banks left to get a better view.
It’s then that I notice the tall spikes in the silhouette of what is definitely an army.
“Shit!” Tori murmurs—into our minds or out loud, I’m not sure, and I don’t care.
“What is it?” Kaira wants to know, and I dread it’s nothing good, and that learning about it now will change little about the outcome of this war.
“Trebuchets. They have trebuchets.” That’s Silas, his usually so deep voice unnaturally high with fear and excitement. “I haven’t seen those in real life, only heard of them. ”
“Ephegos must still be aiming to lay siege on Aceleau if he brings such weapons,” Rogue muses, and Tori bobs his head in silent agreement.
“They can do horrible damage on the field, too, though.” Tori doesn’t give more context or inform us whether he knows in theory or from first-hand experience. He’s already running toward his commanders, shouting orders to change formation.
The tension in the air is palpable even with the enemy so many miles away.
“About fifteen miles,” Royad informs us when Rogue prompts for an estimate of the distance between the frontlines of both armies.
Fifteen miles.
I don’t even want to think about what we’ll face when we clash with Tavras or whether one of us will be buried under boulders those war devices can haul across the distance.
“Any sign of scouts?” I ask to keep my mind occupied with something not involving Kaira or Clio or Tori smothered beneath a rock or being squashed to death myself. “Any fairies site-hopping around the field?”
Not that they would be that obvious. They’d hide in the trees the way Myron, Royad, and Silas are hiding in the cloud bank hovering beneath the sun.
“Not so far,” Silas reports, his attention still on the trebuchets rolling between what has to be thousands of soldiers.
At the head of the formation, I spot cavalry.
Those have to be some of the higher-ranking human soldiers, their travels easier on horseback while the bulk of them march on foot.
I haven’t seen many horses in the Askarean army.
Perhaps that is because they are naturally equipped with superhuman strength and stamina.
Then there’s the site-hopping. Definitely useful when it comes to fast logistics.
If only all of them were able to do that, we wouldn’t stand here, waiting for Tavras to draw close enough for our first blow.
Kaira is perhaps our best asset of communication—at least in our inner circle.
Her impressive ability to link us all together has expanded gradually with her growth of powers, and now, it has allowed for us to see through the eyes of the three males soaring toward the enemy lines.
But it’s flickering in and out of existence with growing distance, like an eye shuttering against the sun.
Too fast.
They are flying too fast, and the link crumbles—just as I spot a form popping through the landscape.
“Watch out!” My scream rings in our minds as well as in the physical world as I recognize the approach of what has to be an Askarean fairy.
Around me, swords are being lifted and arrows nocked at my warning cry, but it’s too late.
Kaira sags against my side, and there is nothing I can do to get back the view of what’s happening between the lines of trees.
I have no clue if the others heard me—if turning around and flying back will do them any good if the fairy gets their hand on them.
“Everybody stand down!” Tori’s voice booms through the camp, his order repeated by his commanders as it progresses along the formation .
So I have alerted the entire camp—and whoever might be in the vicinity. Great.
“Lay her down here.” A fairy with twin swords sheathed across her back waves us toward a pallet of straw nearby one of the closest fires.
Before I can so much as turn to get a better hold on Kaira, Clio has her in her arms, carrying the part-Flame over to the fire and setting her down.
Kaira mumbles something unintelligible, but her eyes open, and she seems to recognize us.
“You’ll be fine.” Tori stops on his way from one commander to the next, placing a hand on Kaira’s head as if he’s assessing her temperature.
“Don’t push too hard. You’ll burn yourself out.
” He’s already running for the male with a gilded helmet and a curved blade as he finishes his words of warning, relaying what he’s seeing through Kaira’s mind link.
Trebuchets.
My stomach is a tight tangle of panic.
Myron, Silas, and Royad are right there, within reach of the fairy site-hopping through the world.
“And I thought I’d seen it all,” Clio notes as she studies my face, her hands brushing back Kaira’s hair while I stand there, petrified. “But this female has some serious mind skills.”
“She does.” And I want her to use them right now so I can see if Myron is all right or if the fairy spotted him and is now dragging him through time and space.
But I can’t say that if I want my sister to be fit for battle, so I don’t.
I simply kneel down beside her, holding her hand and sending my healing power into her, allowing it to probe for any damage her extensive use of the mind link might have made.
“I’m all right,” she coughs.
From the side, the female with the twin-blades hands me a cup of water. “I’ve seen my fair share of burned-out soldiers on the battlefield. Make sure she rests for a few minutes and drinks enough fluids, or she’ll join the ranks of those who died because they couldn’t handle their own strength.”
I’m not even trying to figure out what she means by that; I’ve only been a Crow for a minute in comparison to her probably centuries. All I do is nod and guide the cup to Kaira’s mouth.
With every sip she takes, her breathing slows and evens, until she looks more like herself than a ghost once more.
Her brown eyes are full of guilt and concern—probably the mirror of my own. “I’m sorry I dropped the link,” she says, her hand reaching for mine. I take it and squeeze it gently.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who scared the shit out of an entire army because I couldn’t hold my tongue when I saw the fairy.”
“Speaking of the fairy—” Clio hops to her feet, patting my shoulder as she steps around me, closer to the soldiers at the edge of the camp. “If the three Crows don’t return in a few minutes, someone will need to go looking for them.”
She doesn’t need to add she’s volunteering. I know that look of determination.
Before she can get anywhere, Rogue steps into her path. “If they don’t return, we’ll clash with the Tavrasian army sooner, but don’t lose hope just yet. The three of them are smart and fast. They knew what to expect and are prepared to react.”
“And by reacting, you mean shift into their fae forms and fight an entire army on their own?” It’s not fair toward the Fairy King, but panic is still raging in my veins, making it hard to think clearly.
I must, though. I’m a queen, and my responsibility is for my people—all of them.
I need to do what is best for my court and the innocents in Tavras, for the rebels and the soldiers who never intended to fight Askarea, for the eighteen Crows we never found in the Seeing Forest and who might have long left this realm. For Kaira. For my allies.
With a nod, I meet Rogue’s gaze. “Tell me where you need me, and I’ll fight.”
An expression of pride spreads on Clio’s face as she turns around to measure me.
“You’ll fight with me.” Snowflakes dance at her fingertips as she gestures southward.
“Tori has reassembled the formations so the soldiers with the strongest magic fight at the edges where the trebuchets are less likely to aim. You and I will join the left flank.”
For a moment, it seems like Rogue is about to object, but we all know it doesn’t matter where we fight; there won’t be any safe place on the battlefield. “Kaira will fight with me.” He looks my sister over in quick assessment. “Are you feeling better?”
With a groan, Kaira gets to her feet, flexes her arms, and kicks her legs out. “I am.”
I don’t fully believe her, but Rogue flicks his fingers, and a piece of chocolate the size of his palm appears in his hand. He offers it to Kaira with a smile. “Eat this. You’ll be ready to send Tavras to their graves in no time.”
I’ve never seen someone lunge for chocolate and devour it as fast as Kaira does, her mouth smeared with melting crumbs as she more swallows than chews, but when she’s done, she does look ready to take on the world.