Page 27

Evelina

With the Alpha Fleet’s wounds finally healed, Evelina and Brielle finally decided to address the fluke of Essence with the arrow. They looped Gloriana in, spending the next few days trying to recreate the magic. Brielle filled Daimon in, and he lingered near their training and watched them at a distance.

Brielle held up a wooden rod and Gloriana coached her from the sidelines.

“Now!” Gloriana shouted. “Shield!”

The wooden rod was tossed at Evelina. She squinted and yanked on her Essence. The wood neared quickly but slammed into an invisible wall before it could hit her. It bounced off and clamored to the ground.

Gloriana cheered and clapped her hands. “I’ve never seen a lightwielder make a shield before.”

Brielle’s eyes gleamed with pride. “I know we’ve said that we should keep the healers further from battle, but we may not need to if Evelina can harness this power,” she said, turning to Daimon. “With a little more training, she could protect herself in a fight, perhaps even the Rider she flies with. We could take her on patrols and practice in the sky. ”

Daimon looked at Evelina, weighing the possibility, then shook his head. “Keep training.”

So they did. As Evelina’s ability to deflect became more consistent, they brought in other Riders to stand beside her. Instead of throwing the wooden rod at her, they tested to see if she could deflect the rod from the person by her side. It took a little adjusting, but after a few more days, it started to click.

Brielle cast a glance at Daimon after another successful lesson—one of Evelina’s best. She managed to stop a ferrum blade from striking a training dummy beside her, becoming regimented enough in her skill that she didn’t need to rely on the emotional instinct of protecting herself or another fae.

Brielle put her hands on her hips and shouted to Daimon, who was watching from a few paces away. “You’re holding her back, Commander! Imagine what she could do in the skies!”

They broke off, walking back toward the cabins and closer to Daimon. She assumed he would say no like he always did, that it was out of the question to risk another healer—a princess, at that.

“We could start with short patrols and see how it goes,” he said slowly, surprising her. “And continue training whenever possible.”

Her heart raced at the idea of going back to battle. It thrilled her as much as it terrified her. Still, she had to learn how to harness her gift. The more power she used, the faster it drained her. She would have to use it sparingly as she worked to hold the shield longer and longer.

“Evelina, you should ride with Daimon on patrols,” Brielle suggested, leading their path back to Alpha Fleet’s cabin, where the wyverns’ wings were beating in anticipation of their Riders. Keir, Brielle, and Daimon usually took the night patrol after training. “If you can shield the Rider you’re with, even temporarily, the commander would make the most sense.”

“Brielle—”

“It’s the wisest strategy. ”

Evelina knew it was. She looked at Daimon, her heart racing for a new reason. “I’ll do it.”

His brows flicked up in surprise, but he nodded his head. “Then why don’t we start now?”

Zephyr landed behind him, along with Codax and Vero. Keir and Brielle mounted their beasts. Daimon gestured for Evelina to get on first. This time, when she grabbed the side rope and hoisted herself up, her movements were far smoother.

She beamed atop Zephyr, thankful she didn’t embarrass herself. Daimon swung himself up gracefully, positioning himself behind her. Her cheeks warmed as his chest pressed snugly against her back, the saddle meant for one person rather than two.

“Wings up, Z,” Daimon commanded.

They took the skies, soaring through the clouds for the rest of the day. They stayed silent, but for once, it was a comfortable silence. She couldn’t help but feel every inch of where his body touched hers. She watched the trees blur beneath them, her eyes roaming the ground for rebels.

The next day, they did the same thing. And the next after that. She still never joined them in any active skirmishes or warnings, but they repeated the patrol pattern until the short patrols slowly turned into longer ones. Zephyr grew accustomed to Evelina, so it made sense for her to ride with Daimon each time. Soon, they were talking a little more each day.

Today was clear, hardly any clouds in the sky as they flew. Brielle flew on their right and Keir on their left as they always did.

Evelina’s mind wandered, her eyes drifting across the forest below in search of rebels—or monsters. There were always rumors of a haunted wood along the edge of Zenovia. Trees that dark creatures hid inside until the sun set. Still, she hadn’t seen anything peculiar during any of their flights.

“What are you thinking about?” Daimon asked softly.

She shivered at the thought. “The haunted wood. ”

He chuckled, his chest brushing against her back with the movement. “Why would you be thinking of old legends?” he asked with another laugh. “We’ve been here this long without seeing a single creature they speak of. No monsters to raid our camps or ambush our foot soldiers. If the stories were true, I’m sure we would’ve found out years ago when we first set camp here.”

She shrugged, unconvinced.

“They’re as rumored as the Talven fae still existing,” he continued. “But at least the Talven are fact and not gossip.”

She twisted around to face him, her brows furrowing. “The Talven haven’t been seen by any living fae—who’s to say they aren’t gossip too?”

“But they have been seen, even if by stories passed down through generations, unlike the creatures of the wood.”

Evelina narrowed her eyes. “What proof is that? The relic that fuels the falls in the palace?” she countered.

“The fragment of Queen Tallia’s crown,” he corrected.

Evelina huffed. “You mean the glacier that an Undine crystalized, welded into a solid piece of rock, and imbued their Essence into?”

He smiled and shrugged.

Evelina turned back around and muttered, “You’re as bad as Gloriana. She used to tell me stories of the Talven when she was teaching me herbs.”

She heard him hum, a soft sound that vibrated through his chest. “Have you spent a lot of time with her?” he asked.

“Gloriana taught me everything I know about healing,” Evelina explained. “I’m surprised she hasn’t demanded to fly with us yet.”

Daimon laughed, his chest rumbling against her back. “She has. Multiple times.” Evelina twisted around to face him. He raised his hands in surrender. “Keir and I want her to learn defensive tactics before she joins us on patrol,” he said quickly. “ But it would be helpful for her to join so you two can watch each other’s backs if we run into rebels.”

She turned back around, mostly satisfied with the answer. If they encountered rebels was more like when they would encounter them. It was only a matter of time.

She tapped her fingers against the sharp scales beneath her. Zephyr shook her head, giving Evelina a look over her shoulder as they glided through the air.

“You know Z can tell how unsettled you are.” Daimon’s gruff voice cut through the wind. The wind was so cold that they often had to huddle together atop Zephyr to keep warm. It was impossible not to with the height’s frigid temperature. “She isn’t usually a fan of the tapping—has hung me upside down in the air when I do it too much.”

“And yet she lets me do it,” Evelina tossed back at him.

She could feel him smile against her shoulder.

Not for the first time, she reached her hand into the air and let the tips of her fingers graze through the vapors of a small cloud as they passed through. Her hands swirled the mist and left a trail in their wake as Zephyr flew by.

Evelina and Daimon had come to an understanding. They weren’t becoming friends in the way they had once been, but she realized they were no longer strangers either. Sometimes they would chat, lightly teasing, sharing stories that never quite ventured into the time they shared before everything changed. And sometimes she needed silence, and he always seemed to know when. He would stay quiet, letting her get lost within the plains of her mind between comfort and chaos.

Daimon leaned forward, the movement causing his thighs to press into Evelina’s hips. She straightened her spine, heat crawling up her neck as his chest pressed into her back. He was patting Zephyr, soothing her, and giving commands over his shoulder to his unit.

Evelina was having a hard time focusing on what he was saying until she noticed Zephyr’s head snap to the left, her eyes searching the forest below. They were always ahead of the ground soldiers patrolling to warn them of danger, which meant there shouldn’t be anything for Zephyr to be picking up.

Unless it wasn’t their soldiers.

Movement on the ground snapped her to attention: small, dark figures scattering through the trees like ants.

“Rebels,” she whispered.

“Brielle, take the lead while I report back to camp,” Daimon ordered. “Evelina isn’t ready yet.”

Evelina’s heart lurched. She was terrified—but eager, too. Now that she was here, she couldn’t imagine going back to the cabin, forced to wonder what was happening while she was gone.

“No! You’re the commander. You’re staying. I’m staying.”

Apprehension radiated off him and he went rigid behind her. Then, softly, he said, “Are you sure you’re ready?”

She nodded firmly. “I’m consistent now.” She meant it; she could feel her Essence steady in her chest, ready. “I know I can do this.”

Daimon twisted to face his team, communicating using swift hand movements unique to them—a Rider language that had formed over many years of shouting fruitlessly over the wind or needing to communicate important messages from far distances.

He pointed at Zephyr, then held up two fingers and gestured over his shoulder. Brielle nodded once and tapped her fist across her chest twice, a sign of respect. She flanked right, splitting away from the group and going back in the direction from which they came.

It didn’t take long for Evelina to catch on to some of their strategies when watching them train from the healer’s cabin, one of the biggest being that they always did things in pairs. Typically, Ranick and Elias would warn the ground troops; Willow and Keir would work in tandem with fire and earth; while Daimon and Brielle would lead the pack as Aster watched their backs .

There were far more rebels than there were in the last fight she had experienced. Keir flew in closer to Daimon’s side and they rose higher into the sky until they were covered by the clouds. It took nearly a half-hour for Brielle to return with the rest of the flight, minus Ranick and Elias, who often stayed close to give the ground soldiers coverage. Daimon flagged Brielle first, making a fist with his hand and then holding up three fingers— Attack on my cue .

He turned back around, leaning in once again until his face was beside Evelina’s ear. “Be ready to cast your shield and hold steady until we can assess what we’re up against,” he whispered.

She nodded, feeling his breath warm against her cheek.

“Remember the plan?” he asked. Daimon made her recite the plan every single day before they took flight.

“Shield myself first before trying to shield you,” she whispered back. It went against her nature, but it was just as Gloriana told her. She couldn’t heal others if she was injured. She nodded again solemnly, confident.

She could see Daimon nod out of the corner of her eye, still peering over her shoulder. “Good, get ready.”

Zephyr rumbled a low vibration, causing the other wyverns to draw closer toward them. They formed a V behind her, their faces set with an eerie calm—the look of a unit that had spent years having each other’s backs. There wasn’t a group of people that trusted each other more than these Riders did. They flew in perfect unison, ready to fly into battle.

Evelina was amazed at seeing the aerial unit in action. They were mesmerizing—lethal and precise.

With a tap against Zephyr, they dove out of the sky, the ground speeding closer and closer as Zephyr tucked her wings in close and nose-dived.