Page 33 of The Shadow Path (Shadowlands #2)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

S he felt like her bones were going to fall from her joints as Cadell swooped over the battle for another pass.

“Lining up,” Carys said.

The bald Fomorian with the long arms, Cadell said. Position eight, one forty degrees.

“Got it.” Carys’s arrow struck the monster in the back of his bald head, and his great webbed hand covered the wound as blood spurted through its fingers.

As the monster reeled back, a black-coated wolf leaped on the creature, tearing it to pieces and dragging its body away from the battle.

Moments later, a dragon swooped down and blew a stream of fire at the monster’s remains, leaving it charred and smoking.

Duncan had hacked off two other harpies that had managed to attach themselves to the coracle, and the smoldering bodies of the aerial monsters lay scattered across the Saris Plain, their feathers falling across the ground like angled drops of blood spatter on waving green grass.

Every time a Fomorian fell, another seemed to rise from the broken earth, grasping and gripping the white chalk before Dru’s fae and the Anglian wolves and humans attacked it.

There was progress, but it was slow and creeping. But monsters fell and harpies bled in the sky, and the Anglian line moved ever closer to Orla and Cian’s armies.

Yet through all the bloodshed and tumult, the éiren soldiers remained along the ridge that backed against the trees, watching frozen as the forces of Briton battled against the invaders.

The queen’s flag flew over the mounted crown princess and her guard while Cian watched from the front as Fomorians wreaked havoc on his brother’s fae allies.

Look at them. The strange voice that had been with Carys through the battle whispered again. Look closer.

Carys looked over the distant army and realized that while Cian and a few fae commanders in front of the armies were riding back and forth, the armies hadn’t moved. Not even a little bit. There was no sound coming from the ridge, not the stomping of horses or the trill of pipes or horns.

Look closer.

“Cadell,” she shouted, “can you fly over the éiren army?”

The battle is on the plain, Nêrys.

“I know, but they can spare me for a minute.”

Duncan looked up from the arrowslit. “What is it?”

“I need to look at them.”

Cadell wheeled to the north, then turned so they flew over the éiren troops.

“Lower,” she called out.

That will put us in archery range.

“I know.” She watched the air around the frozen army. “I have a theory.”

If your theory gets me a bolt in the wing, I’m going to ignore you next time.

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

They flew lower, but still nothing moved. Not a soldier. Not a fidget and not a foot out of place.

Cian’s face turned up to the dragon, but all he did was squint before he turned back to watching his brother fight the Fomorian monsters.

Green-and-gold flags flapped in the wind, and Carys saw horses’ manes blowing, but there was no rustle of restless feet, no horns blasting, and no drums, though their drummers lined up at the front of each stack of troops.

“They’re just standing there,” Duncan growled. “What the fuck do they think they’re doing?”

“Just a little lower, Cadell!”

The dragon grumbled, but on the final pass over the éiren troops, a pass so low that she could see the gusts from Cadell’s wings stirring the banners, Carys saw it.

The enchantment was so strong she felt it from the sky.

Duncan braced himself against the wall of the coracle. “What is that?”

“Do you see it?” she shouted. “Duncan, Cadell, do you see it?”

There is a fae ward over the entire army, Cadell said.

“What is that?” Duncan shouted.

“They’re enchanted.” She craned her neck to see out of the arrowslit and spotted the fae commanders in front of the troops watching them. “Do you see it? Dru did the same thing on the boats as we brought the army through the river gate, but this is even bigger.”

“They’re bloody frozen in place.” Duncan narrowed his eyes. “I bet if you started shooting at them, they wouldn’t move an inch.”

“The éiren people did not march on Briton.” Carys pointed to the troops on the ground. “Those soldiers probably don’t even know where they are.”

Duncan nodded. “Look at the crown princess. She’s not moving either. Cian has enchanted his own daughter.”

Princess Finola, her long brown hair blowing in the wind of Cadell’s wings, was as frozen as the troops behind her. She wore gold-and-silver armor that didn’t appear to be just for show.

She was a formidable-looking woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties; she had a strong jaw and a steady brow.

The crown princess was the kind of woman who looked like she could lead soldiers into a battle, but she was frozen in place as Cian and the other fae looked at the dragon flying over them, seemingly unconcerned by anything overhead.

Break the enchantment, the voice whispered in Carys’s mind, and you end the battle.

“There.” Carys spotted hunched figures in green robes crouched at the front of the columns of troops. “Do you see them?”

I see them, Cadell said. But my fire will not penetrate fae wards.

That’s why Cian and the fae commanders seemed so unconcerned.

Break the enchantment, the voice came again. End it before more blood spills.

Duncan looked at her, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “What do you want to do? Should we head back and tell Dru? He could break his brother’s ward to get to Cian.”

“Dru is in the middle of the battle.”

There was one other option, but Carys knew that neither Duncan nor Cadell was going to like it. Cadell?

Yes, Nêrys.

Duncan’s blade can break that ward.

Yes. The dragon’s voice was cautious. It could.

Carys walked to Duncan and put her hand on his shoulder. “Cadell is going to drop the coracle in front of the line!” She pointed to the ground. “We can use your blade to break the ward, and then Cadell can kill the fae who are enchanting the troops without killing the entire éiren army.”

King Harold was in Saris. Crown Princess Finola was in Saris. Maybe with the fae out of the way, a ceasefire could happen before more blood spilled.

“Let me get this straight,” Duncan yelled over the roaring wind. “You want us to run in front of thousands of heavily armed éiren soldiers and break the spell that’s keeping them from joining this fight?”

Don’t be ridiculous, Nêrys. Let the surly human out, and you stay in the coracle. I will lay down fire along the front of the éiren army and kill the fae sorcerers who have enchanted the éiren troops. He’ll be fine. Probably.

“I’ll be with you!” Carys yelled. “Cadell will lay down fire and kill the fae sorcerers after you break the ward.” I’m not leaving him on his own in front of a giant army.

Yes, because your expert archery skills are enough to take on three thousand éiren troops.

Duncan’s eyes were wide and his chest was heaving. “Carys, that puts both of us in danger. You can’t?—”

“I don’t think they’re going to attack us,” Carys said. “I don’t think the soldiers down there even know where they are.”

“You’re guessing!” Duncan shouted.

“Yes.” Carys had no idea why she was so sure this was going to work except for that persistent voice that might have been a goddess telling her to break the enchantment and end the battle. “But I’m pretty sure I’m right.”

We’re going back to the line. Cadell started to rise and turn back to the plain.

“Stop!” Carys shouted at the dragon. “I think if I can tell Finola what is going on and how Cian is using the éiren army, all this will stop. The Queens’ Pact won’t be broken. Harold will negotiate. This battle can stay between Cian and Dru!”

Duncan kept his eyes on hers, but Cadell was already turning.

“I must be fucking in love with you, Carys Morgan, because I think you’re right too.” Duncan grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in for a ferocious kiss. Then he released her and yelled, “Dragon, put me down!”

I’ll put him down, but you’re staying in the coracle.

I’m going with him.

Then we’re not setting down.

Cadell, put us down. Carys stared into Duncan’s eyes, willing her confidence into him as her dragon roared his frustration overhead.

Nêrys, you have no backup! This is foolish and I will not drop you. We’ll find a way to get a message to Dru.

No. She kept her eyes on Duncan’s, nodding as she saw the resolve settle in his eyes. This is the right thing to do. This is going to work.

Duncan gripped her hand in his. “All right. I’m with you.”

How do you know?

The whispering voice came again to Carys’s mind. Ogwen Valley. Just say Ogwen Valley.

“Ogwen Valley!” Carys shouted.

Complete silence in her mind; then Cadell wheeled around, descending rapidly, parallel to the line of the éiren army.

A moment later, she felt the bottom of the coracle rock along the ground.