by Zora Marie
“Yes, Starling?” Linithion slid out from under the covers. “You can come in.”
Starling slipped in with Loboran on his heels. “One of Yargo’s warriors just showed up. There’s been an attack on the Kingdom of the Mountains, Skylar and several others have been taken.”
What? No. We have to get him back. The girls shared a glance, and Zelia knew in her gut that Linithion was thinking the same as she was. “Where’s Nikolas?” She didn’t bother to change from her night clothes before tugging on her riding leathers. Linithion did the same.
“He’s downstairs speaking with Eleanor and the others. They sent us to get you.”
“We’ll be there in a moment. Please see that Donequen and the others have been roused.” Linithion donned her own armor, then helped Zelia with hers. When they were done, Linithion grabbed the front of Zelia’s armor. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
She swallowed at the hint of panic in her soulmate’s eyes and blindly picked up one of the decorative vases from the table beside them. “Yes.”
The vase crumbled to ash and Linithion nodded. “Good. We’ll get Skylar back.”
“I know we will.”
As one they headed for the hall. Whatever happened, they would face it together.
Alrindel fastened his bracers as he met them in the hall, his hair half tucked under his armor. “You hear?”
“Yes. We’ll get him back.”
Linithion practically flew down the stairs and Zelia struggled to keep up. All their kin, and a few elders from both Elven kingdoms, had gathered in the largest room in the tree. She stopped just inside, there wasn’t a seat open.
Eleanor studied them from across the room. Worry crossed her features. Eleanor had never seen the girls fight, not really at least, and perhaps she wasn’t prepared for it.
“I already sent Father word, his army will be ready when you call on them, Zelia.” Nikolas smirked as all eyes turned to her.
“Are our people prepared to move?” Linithion asked, her question pointed at Eleanor.
“They will be shortly.”
Donequen skidded into the doorway behind them and Barg solemnly shook his head. “Tregar got taken with Skylar. Last Lumid saw him he was unconscious.”
“Donequen, would you make sure the dragons eat before we leave?” Zelia hoped the task would both distract him and be a quiet reassurance that they would get them back.
“Here, I’ll help.” Jones clapped Donequen on the shoulder and led him away, as though they were old friends.
“So, we’re attacking them?” one of the elder’s asked, his turquoise eyes flicked from Eleanor to her and Linithion.
“Yes. It’s the only way we’ll ever find peace.” Linithion left no room for questions in her tone as she met the gaze of each elder. “Go prepare your people. Anyone who is good with Fenari magic will go, anyone who stays should prepare to treat the wounded. We’ll leave a small force here just in case.”
“I’ll be going with you as well,” Barg said. “Yargo has given me leave to retrieve my friend.” He glanced at Zelia and she stiffened.
“Don’t risk yourself for me. Focus on getting Tregar and Skylar, they are your priority. Do you understand?”
“I will follow the orders Yargo gave me.”
“Barg. Don’t make me pull the god card. Yargo may be our superior on Hyperia, but you’re under my command here.”
Barg smirked at her. “Nice to know you finally accepted it. Doesn’t change anything though, you’re still my princess first.”
Zelia rolled her eyes. “Just don’t get yourself killed, again. You’re only allowed to fall once.”
Barg huffed a laugh. “Fair enough. Oh, and Zivu finally fixed this for you.” A glittering white stone dropped from his hand and swung on a thin silver chain. “You’ll be able to pull energy from it, no spells necessary.”
She hesitated and could have sworn the ground trembled as her fingers wrapped around the stone. Energy filled her until it buzzed beneath her skin and along her bones. It sang to her own powers and she struggled to will the magic to settle.
“White stones reflect the depth of power the wielder already holds.” Barg gave her a smirk that told her he’d felt the tremor too. “So, when are we leaving?”
“Eat while the others prepare. We’ll gather in the field by the dragons.” Eleanor dismissed the elders with a nod, a silent order to go see it done. “Do you need anything else, Nikolas?”
“Nope. Zelia just has to release her powers and Father will have his army take care of those too far for her to reach.”
“Will he also send those who can be saved to us here?” Zelia asked and tried to ignore how even the slight breeze of the passing Elves called to her now that she held the power stone.
“He will, but you know a lot of those people will be too far gone. He will make sure their souls get returned to their proper homes though. That’s actually the other thing his people are to do while there. He’s going to try and retrieve the souls of those who were taken.”
“Including my father’s?” Linithion asked.
“Yes.”
Linithion quivered as she exhaled. Zelia knew Linithion dreaded the fact that the souls of her mother and father would likely never be reborn because Erolith had died in the Fenari’s realm. If Fregnar could retrieve his soul, at least some part of them would live on.
“If you hear anything about him, would you let us know?” Zelia asked.
“Of course.”
27
They opted to eat on their way to their dragons—neither of them able to sit still as worry about what was to come ate at them. Linithion had donned her bow and quiver, along with her sword. Zelia just stuck with two rune daggers and her staff. Koin had always said that weapons she wasn’t physically prepared to use would just be a hindrance. She felt bare without her bow, but she hadn’t tried using it since the ride there.
Yet there was one weapon she carried that she wasn’t sure she was ready to use. The power stone was cold against her skin, where it hung beneath her armor. Its power already mingled with her own, the beginning and ending near impossible for her to discern. It was like the stone was one and the same with her magic. She didn’t want the extra power, but it could help her make the impact they’d need to, so she wore it.
They weren’t even halfway through the field of tents when the dragons began speaking in her mind. “You should have Jones ride with you again. He’s not good enough with a sword to be on the ground yet, but he can use his magic from the air.”
“Oh, and have Lucky ride with me and Linithion. I know his ribs are still bothering him,” Orvi chimed in.
“Raven and Orvi want us to have Jones and Lucky ride with us.”
“Oh? Is Orvi ready to take two riders?”
“Not yet. If Donequen doesn’t mind, one of them can ride with me.” Grono’s tone made it clear he only offered to keep Orvi from attempting to carry a second rider.
“Apparently not. But Grono will take one of them.”
“Then how much do you want to bet that Lucky will be riding with you rather than Donequen?”
“Nope. I’m not taking that bet. I don’t care which one of them rides with me, as long as they don’t fall off.”
“Who doesn’t fall off?” Donequen paused from checking Grono’s harness to look at them.
“Raven and Grono would like us to choose which one of us Jones and Lucky will ride with.”
“Jones can ride with me. That way we can combine spells. He’s further along than Vainoff gives him credit for.”
“Good.” Zelia turned to go to Raven.
“I already checked everyone else’s harnesses. So, what exactly is the plan?”
“Your mission is to rescue those taken. Do what you can to block them from syphoning from them.”
“And you?”
“Fregnar is right, the Fenari will never stop. Even if we get them to stop taking our people, they will just move on to someone else. If
I don’t stop them, I’d be dooming others to die. They’ve already been taking from other places. Who knows how many realms they’ve destroyed.”
“What exactly do they do with the people they take? Zivu and the others speculate, but no Hyperian has been and come back.”
“Rog and Terik have.” Linithion’s gaze grew distant with memories of the Fenari’s realm. “They drain people’s energy because they’ve already taken nearly all of it from their world. They drain them to the brink of death over and over again until they’re but a shell of themselves. From what Terik said, they don’t take their minds unless they put up a fight.”
“So, Terik survived by not fighting them?”
Linithion nodded. “He knew Zelia and I would be stubborn enough to go after him. Let’s just hope Skylar and Tregar realize that and give us time to save them.”
Zelia hugged Linithion. She wanted to promise they would get them back, but she knew it would be a hollow promise. So instead she whispered, “We will put an end to this today, to the loss and suffering the Fenari have caused.”
Suddenly someone else’s arms enveloped them, two somebodies actually. “Hello, Starling,” Linithion said.
“And you too, Loboran.”
“Oh, don’t sound so thrilled, Zelia.”
“We wanted to wish you both well today as we’ll be staying with the lowly swordsmen on the ground.”
“You two stay safe, too.” Linithion turned to hug Starling back, leaving Zelia to be awkwardly side hugged by Loboran.
Loboran let go of her and studied her face. “Are you…”
“Yes. I’m as ready as I can be. Keep each other safe for me, alright?”
“Always. You’ve come a long way since we first met, and it feels like we’ve known you for ages.”
“Same.”
“Well, everyone will be here in a few, so go get on.”
“Fine.” Zelia gave Loboran a quick hug. She hoped it wouldn’t be the last one she’d get to give him. “I’m going to hold you two to taking care of each other.” She really hoped she’d be able to wipe out the Fenari before they lost anyone else, but she knew in her gut that wouldn’t be the case. Eleanor would have at least some of their forces go first to make sure they weren’t blasted out of the sky the moment they flew through, and that meant putting others in danger.
28
Loboran had been right. By the time Zelia and Lucky climbed onto Raven’s back, the field before them was half full. Zelia had not seen so many Elven warriors in one place since she was little, when she had been shielded from the war and had only seen those who had been left in the aftermath. She watched Loboran and Starling weave their way to the front, where they sought out Alrindel and Koin. Even Nikolas and Barg lingered near them, with Vainoff. She was glad they would work together, protect each other. She knew Loboran and Starling only sought to fight beside Koin and Alrindel because of her and she would be eternally thankful to the two of them.
Lucky shifted back and forth behind her. “These harnesses are not designed for two riders, are they?”
“Nope. We’ll fix that when we have time. For now, you can hold onto the straps, or me. Or both, depending on how this goes.”
“I’ll reserve some of my energy for holding both of us on then.” Lucky put an arm around her waist and grabbed the strap that looped around Raven’s neck ahead of her. Eleanor was at the front of the crowd saying something, but they were too far away to hear. “Does she not know the voice amplifying spell?”
“She probably does, but Elves have better hearing than we do.”
“Ah.” Lucky was quiet for a moment, before his arm tightened on her waist. “The other day… does it bother you when we use the guild’s spells or was it something else?”
“Just use what you feel will help today.”
“That’s not what I was asking. I just— Jones and I, we understand to some extent, if you ever need to talk.”
“Thank you, but really, I just opened the book to a spell that was used in an attempt to kill me. It’s forbidden magic, but someone gave me a copy of the book with it.”
“Maybe Vainoff gave you it so you could learn to counter the spells, so no one can do what they did to you again.”
“Perhaps, though he could have forewarned me those spells were in there.”
“So, point out that stuff still gets to you. He’s old and seems a little oblivious at times.”
She sighed. “You’re probably right. He has been trying to make things right.”
“What exactly did he do?”
“I was a mess after The Hold. Vainoff used his powers when he snapped at me and it… sent me back to that place, to the cave. I’ve accepted who I am, but…”
“The past will always still haunt you at times. I remember the day my mother died. It took me a long time to accept that I still had worth, even after what I’d done in my rage. Kilian went to great lengths to get me to stop being scared of my own flames, to accept that I could be better than that moment.”
“I’m sorry you understand that feeling.”
“Same. So, you ready to save the world? And your other brother?”
Zelia couldn’t help but chuckle at his change of topic, at the change in tone he made for both their sakes. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“You know, you’ll eventually have to tell me who all you consider your brothers. Or at least the ones you actually care about.”
“I care about everyone, not just family. Unless you’re a sleazy slime ball.”
“Then what brothers are you closest to? Excluding me, of course.”
“Alrindel and Rogath. I don’t know Skylar and Nikolas as well, but they understand better than Alrindel. Rogath only understands because he saw—felt what I went through.”
“Rogath is one of Yargo’s sons, right?”
“Yes. I might still be trapped in that cave were it not for Rog.” She had such clarity now that she had finally accepted who and what she was. Once she had blamed herself for what Rog had seen through her, but she and he wouldn’t be who they were now were it not for their connection. She also realized that all these questions were as much to learn more about each other as they were for Lucky to distract himself from what they were about to do.
Zelia glanced down at the other riders, at where Saria and Kafthry sat atop Elm and Evergreen. She hoped today would be different from The Hold. She hoped she wouldn’t lose them or their dragons, like she had Keller and Eragon. They had all chosen to fight with her then, and they were choosing to do so again now. All of the warriors before her were choosing to fight with her.
“They’re choosing to fight for what’s right, to fight for each other, not just you. Whatever happens today is on all of us, not just you.” Raven was still and calm, and Zelia let her calm settle into own heart and mind.
29
As Loboran and several others opened portals, a warm breeze caressed Zelia’s cheek as it had the morning before. The Elves felt it too, and they paused to look up. Loboran though, he smirked at her from across the field, like he knew she was the one who’d called the phoenixes. One of those great birds circled in front of Zelia, his orange and yellow laced feathers glinting in the sunlight as his brethren lit ablaze and passed through the portals ahead of them.
“I wondered if you would remember,” Flits said.
“Thank you, for coming.”
“Anytime, dear. The others have stayed back to guard the women and children we gathered when the Fenari attacked the Kingdom of the Mountains. Just don’t forget to have someone open a portal for us to come back in a week or so.” Flits winked at her before diving towards the portal Loboran opened, his wings barely flared into flames as he vanished into the black swirl.
“May rebirth be swift for you all, my friends.”
“So… friends of yours?” Lucky asked, reminding her that he couldn’t hear them or understand her when she used that language.
“Yes.”
The Elves ahead of t
hem waited for a moment after the phoenixes passed, then charged through the portals. A third of their forces were through when Loboran nodded at her, his signal that it was time. The dragons knew it to, as Grono launched himself into the air and glided through the portal.
Zelia wasn’t sure how or when the dragons had decided what order they would go in, but Orvi and Raven waited as Elm and Evergreen went through behind Grono. Strategically they should have let Orvi go first, because of her ability to manipulate energy and create shields. But Orvi was the baby among them, even if she was nearly as big as Grono and Raven now.
Zelia felt Raven tense to take off and she lowered herself closer to Raven’s neck, hoping Lucky would get the hint as Raven uncoiled herself, her wings snapping wide. It was a testament to the warriors below them that not a single one of them faltered as Raven dove into the portal, her back claws barely missing their heads.
She felt a little queasy as they passed through, and was shocked by the sheer number of Fenari that flooded the streets. This area had practically been empty when they’d portaled here to save Terik and the others. Now, though, the streets were filled with the glittering blue beings, as though they’d been preparing to attack somewhere when they’d been interrupted.
Below them, chaos reigned. Blasts of energy flew from both sides and Fenari let out shrill screams as they were cut down. Her gaze swept over the carnage in search of Alrindel and Koin. Nikolas was out ahead of the others with Barg, a trail of fire and death in his wake. He was an undead flame, his hood thrown back as fire replaced his skin and hair—everything but his bones.
“Now, Zelia,” Raven said as she dodged a blast. She beat her wings hard and shot for the tops of the buildings. Just as she was about to fly them out, above this death trap, pain ripped through Zelia’s chest.
No. Not my chest, Raven’s chest. Lucky pinned her to Raven’s back as they crashed into a building. Raven took the brunt of the impact, glass shattering, and metal crunching with a scraping screech that curdled Zelia’s stomach.