This was the true power of the crows. For all Illucia had done to counteract them, when their tricks and weaponry failed, they had no response to the crows’ magic.
Between the rallying forces inside the city, the reinforcements flanking from behind, and us wreaking havoc down the center, the army broke.
Soldiers fled. Lines splintered. Bodies fell.
Res and I swept back along the wall, the power of the storm flooding our veins. It was like Res drew strength from it as power undulated along the bond.
We alighted atop the battlement, surveying the battle inside the city, looking for places to help, but our forces were already driving the Illucians out.
Then I saw a familiar figure picking its way toward Ericen’s exposed back, sword drawn.
Shearen.
* * *
My arrow caught him in the leg.
He screamed as he dropped to his knees. Res landed before him, and Ericen spun, sword raised. I leapt off Res’s back, another arrow nocked, but Shearen threw up a hand.
“Stop!” His voice tore with pain. “I didn’t come to fight.”
I drew back my bowstring.
“Please!” he cried, letting his sword drop and holding up his hands. “I’m on your side.”
Ericen’s hand stayed mine. Reluctantly, I lowered my bow.
“Explain,” the prince ordered.
Shearen stared up at him, dark blue eyes exhausted and pained. “I came to warn you. This entire battle has been a distraction.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
His eyes met mine. “Razel is attacking Aris.”
* * *
Sounds blurred in my ears, and I forced myself to breathe even as I surged forward, seizing Shearen by the throat. “What do you mean?” My fingers dug in sharply. “Tell me what you mean!”
Ericen grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand back. “He will, Thia.” The steel in his voice calmed me as Shearen coughed, hand going to his throat.
“One of the Sellas she freed rebuilt the road to Aris,” he said hoarsely. “Or at least he was rebuilding it when I left. They said it would take a few days, but if this battle has begun, then the road must have almost been finished before they attacked.”
“Liar,” I hissed. “You just want Res and me out of the battle.”
Ericen leveled his sword at Shearen’s throat. “Give me one reason to believe you.” The second meaning of his words was clear—give me one reason not to kill you.
Shearen lifted his head, exposing his throat openly to Ericen’s blade. “Because you were right.” He swallowed hard. “Back in the wood, you were right. This has gone too far. Razel has lost control. Her need for revenge has taken over. She’s not doing what’s best for Illucia. Maybe she never was. I’m not the only one who thinks it either. There have been protests in the streets. Civilians who are tired of this war. Vykryn too.”
He held Ericen’s gaze unwaveringly. “I’m so sorry, Eri. I made so many mistakes, and by the time I understood what I’d done, I’d already driven you away. I thought earning her respect would regain me yours, and perhaps, in time, your friendship. But that night in the wood, I realized that serving her was only going to lose me you for good. Any leader willing to sacrifice her own family isn’t someone I want to follow.” He bowed his head. “You are.”
I looked to Ericen, his face slack with shock. Indecision riled through me. Every instinct told me not to trust Shearen, to stay and fight, but I couldn’t ignore the fear that Aris was truly in danger.
Caliza. My heart panged.
My hand closed around Ericen’s. “It’s your call,” I said. “I trust you.”
His fingers tightened on mine, and his gaze lifted to Res. “Let’s go.”
* * *
We sent word to the others of our departure and orders to accept Shearen’s and any other willing Illucian’s surrender rather than kill them. Then Ericen climbed onto Res’s back behind me, and we took off.
What boost of energy Res had gotten from the storm, he funneled into the wind, propelling us even faster across valleys and forests, rolling hills and lakes dark with the setting sun. The prince held fast to me, his arms around my waist as we soared along the racing current.
Every second felt a lifetime long, every minute an eternity. Even with the boost of the wind, Aris felt so far away.
When at last we sailed over the Kessel Woods and Aris rose before us in the night’s distance, I knew immediately that we were too late.
The castle was on fire.
Thirty-Two
It was Ronoch all over again.
Flames ate their way through the gardens. They climbed over stone and tore through trees. Smoke cloaked the grounds, obscuring the movement of shadowy dueling figures. I caught glimpses of Vykryn dueling Rhodairen soldiers guarding the main gate and outside the abandoned rookery.
“Saints,” I breathed.
“The landing platforms,” Ericen said over my shoulder. “We can assess everything safely from there.”
I nudged Res, and we alighted upon the nearest platform a moment later. Up here, the sky was clear, the air free of cloying smoke.
Below, a battle raged.
Soldiers emerged from the mausoleum beside the one to Trendell. Their progress was slow due to the narrow confines of the road, but enough had gotten through to give our castle guard a fight.
“We have to put the flames out first,” I said. “Then destroy the road.”
Ericen slid off Res’s back. “You deal with the fire, I’ll make sure the castle is secure and pass on the message about the road.”
I leaned down, kissing him swiftly. “Be careful.”
His hand squeezed mine. “You too.”
Then he was gone, and Res and I were airborne again, circling the grounds. Magic snapped between us along the cord, wild and rich with the need to be used, even as I felt it scraping at the last of his strength. The safe flight had rejuvenated his magic, but he still wasn’t at full strength.
Res’s eyes began to glow. Clouds gathered, slowly darkening as the storm grew until the sky was black with shadows. The wind rose, howling past my ears and tearing at my braid.
Thanks to the smoke cover below, no one would see the storm coming.
Rain, I told Res.
Thunder boomed, the only warning of what was coming before the storm broke and flooded the world below.
Rain fell so thick, it drenched me almost instantly, blurring my vision. The fire below flickered and waned, spots of it dying in a snap of light as the downpour continued.
We circled lower, targeting the more resilient patches with Res’s fire magic until the last of them had withered and died.
We have to blow away the smoke. Once it was clear, our forces would be able to mount a counterattack to reach the Sella road and collapse the mausoleum.
The bond pulsed again as the wind began to gather. Push it down and away.
With a flap of his wings, Res sent a wave of wind barreling down through the grounds, and then another, and another. With each stroke, the smoke thinned, carried away by the growing current. The beats became a steady rhythm, funneling into a stream of air that dispersed the last of the smoke and grew still.
The first arrow nearly took Res in the wing. The second one split my cheek, sharp enough that I didn’t even feel it. Only the hot rush of blood along my skin told me what’d happened.
My heart faltered. I gripped tighter with my knees as Res beat his wings in a powerful flurry, driving us higher and out of range. We swept over the landing platform, landing slightly off-kilter, both of us breathing hard.
“Saints,” I breathed. Not thinking, I touched my cheek. Pain seared and I winced. Soft golden light wisped off Res in response. “No,” I said quickly. “It’s not bad. Save your strength.”
The shouts o
f soldiers echoed from below. I peered over the side. With the fire out and the smoke cleared, our soldiers poured out the main door, meeting Razel’s forces in a clang of metal. With Valis in her ranks—and I had no doubt the flames were his doing—we didn’t have the luxury of battening down the castle and waiting them out. We had to defeat her strike force and end this before too many soldiers came through the road.
I turned Res toward the other side of the platform. Soldiers poured out one by one from the Sella road inside the mausoleum. A lean figure stood before them, his hands wreathed in flames. Valis. Which meant the shadow Sella was inside holding the road open.
“We have to stop them and destroy the road,” I said. Res trilled softly. Because it was made of black gold, he wouldn’t be able to bend it with earth crow powers.
I scouted the air path from here to the graveyard, noting a pair of archers guarding either side of the mausoleum. Their bows were nocked with glass arrows, aimed at where we’d landed. Waiting.
If we leapt from here, they’d shoot us down.
“How do you feel about being a shadow crow for a while?” I asked.
Res lifted his wings, power thrumming through the cord. Shadows coalesced around us in an inky cloak until we peered out at the world through a haze.
Go.
Res leapt, wings snapping out to catch us. He circled around behind the mausoleum, banking hard to drive us down.
Attack.
Lightning exploded from Res’s beak. It struck the side of the mausoleum, crumbling and melting its side. Soldiers yelled. They turned, bows raised, but couldn’t find the source of the attack.
A ball of flame narrowly missed my shoulder. Res cut sharply to the side, letting out a piercing cry. He turned his wings down, forcing us along an updraft and back toward the landing platform. I glanced back. Valis regarded us with hooded yellow eyes.
He could sense us.
Another fireball whizzed past my ear. I leaned low to Res’s body, shrinking his target. Res beat his wings, driving for the platform and safety. An archer released an arrow, guided by Valis, and the others followed suit. Res flung back a wind, knocking the rush of arrows aside. But they were coming from too many angles. He’d no sooner sent one scattering than another barely missed his flank.
Then suddenly, a shrill, piercing sound erupted through the grounds. Soldiers clapped their hands to their ears, their faces twisting in pain.
Crack, crack, crack! The sound of breaking glass split the night like shattering ice. Res reared up and over the side of the landing platform, shaking his head as if to toss away the horrible noise.
The next moment, one of the archers shouted, throwing aside his quiver. The other followed suit, his hand coming back stained red.
I stared, uncomprehending, as a chorus of shouts echoed among the breaking glass. Then I remembered.
“Caylus,” I breathed. Leaning over the edge, I spotted Ericen near the base of the castle. He tore his hand free from the crank, drawing a sword with the same motion and meeting the blade of another Vykryn. No sooner had he than another Vykryn intercepted the fight on the prince’s behalf, protecting him. Two more joined, fending off the attacker.
Shearen had said he wasn’t the only Vykryn on Ericen’s side. He’d been able to organize ranks so that some of them joined Razel’s personal guard, but he didn’t think they’d act unless they had a reason to. It seemed Ericen had given them that reason.
I leaned close to Resyries, eyes set on the mausoleum. “Go!”
He leapt.
Thirty-Three
We dove.
Wind bit at my skin and snapped at my hair, barreling past quicker and quicker. As the earth grew closer, I squeezed my knees, and Res’s wings shot out, carrying us fast along the ground.
The soldiers had yet to recover from the sudden sound. The exploding glass had cut them and Valis, who held his side. He pulled his bloody hand free, and a rush of fire enveloped it. Shouts rose, swords being drawn. Lightning gathered at the tip of Res’s open beak.
Bring it down.
The bolt struck the mausoleum, folding it in on itself. A third strike collapsed it in a rush of molten metal. As we circled back around for a final assault, Res formed more lightning, his exhaustion thundering alongside it. He was scraping the wells of his power. This was all he had left.
We dove low. Res prepared to strike. Then, between one breath and the next, something thudded into him.
His wings snapped into his body and we plummeted.
My stomach dropped, the world twisting and flipping. Then pain, resounding through me like a quake. We slid across the earth, stone tearing at my skin, and rolled to a stop.
I lay still. Every inch of my body radiated pain. My head pounded, shattering each coherent thought I tried to process.
We’d fallen.
We’d fallen.
“Res.” I barely heard my own voice through the pounding in my head.
He didn’t respond.
I lashed out along the cord, pulling sharply. What came flooding back was wild and hot, an avalanche of fear and pain and unbridled fury. I gasped, bolting upright, and found Res struggling to right himself.
An arrow shaft stuck out of his leg.
“No!” I screamed, clawing at dirt and rocks, scrambling to his side. He forced himself to his feet, his injured leg pulled tight to his body.
I was at his side in a heartbeat, my scrapes and bruises forgotten. Res crooned, the sound ragged with pain.
“You’re okay,” I told him, hands hovering uselessly over the protruding shaft. I traced the line of his leg, seeking the tendons and muscles I’d once memorized, and let out a heavy breath.
The arrow had missed tendon, artery, and bone. It was a flesh wound.
“Thank the Saints,” I breathed even as I questioned where the arrow had come from. Caylus’s machine had destroyed the glass arrows… I stopped as my eyes took in the plain wood of the shaft. It was a normal arrow. We’d been too focused on the glass.
I gave Res no warning before I snapped the shaft, sliding both ends free.
He screamed, the sound shattering my eardrums and my heart in one.
“I’m sorry.” I forced back the tears that burned at my eyes. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
Res panted heavily and tried to move his leg, but contracting the muscle sent a shuddering ripple through him. Fear trembled along the bond, and I sent back reassuring pulse after reassuring pulse.
“Can you heal it?” I asked, though I knew the answer.
Golden light wisped around him, then flickered and died. My heart went with it. He was too weak—his magic had run dry.
A twig snapped. I froze. We’d crashed in a small copse of trees off the edge of the forest, something the Illucian soldiers weren’t likely to have missed. But when I unslung my bow and nocked an arrow, ducking around Res’s side, it wasn’t a Vykryn I found coming for me.
It was Valis.
* * *
I loosed the arrow before I could think. He incinerated it with a flick of his hand.
I’d nocked another before he even lowered it, but he lashed out. A whip of flame shot from his hand. I dove, rolling aside as it struck the ground inches from where I’d been. The wet ground smoked and hissed.
Another fire had started on the grounds. Between it and the nearly full moon, I could see Valis clearly as he advanced, languid and unhurried as a jungle cat approaching its kill.
He was beautiful, in a cruel way. With white-gold hair and amber eyes like a lion’s, he prowled ever closer, his movements lithe in a predatory way. With the flames at his back setting his tawny skin aglow, it was easy to see how people had once worshipped his kind as gods.
A graceful smile spread across his lips. “Little crow queen,” he said in a voice of warm honey.
Res let out a shrill cry
and tried to move in front of me. Pain flared down the line between us, and I sucked in a breath, placing a hand against his chest. Stay still. I’ve got this.
Valis’s golden eyes washed over Res, his smile unfaltering. There was something slightly unhinged about the look, about the way that smile didn’t break.
“I’ve waited a very long time for this,” he hissed. “For what your family did to me.” He drew a sword from his back. It erupted with pale orange flame. “I’m going to enjoy watching you burn.”
He lunged. I shot forward, swinging low and dragging my hand through the earth. I came up with a handful of dirt and thrust it into his eyes. He snarled, swinging wildly, but I slid beneath it and came up behind him, striking for his kidneys with the limb of my bow.
He moved faster than I thought possible. He turned, sword coming down in a swift arc. It never struck. The next moment, Valis hit the ground hard from the impact of Res’s body, his blade skittering out of reach. Valis rolled, springing lithely to his feet. Res cawed, wings flaring as lightning crackled around his body. It faltered, then died.
Valis thrust out a hand, and fire gathered at his palm. I loosed an arrow, stealing his attention as he was forced to burn it. Then I was on him, my knife in one hand, my bow in the other. He moved so fast. It was everything I could do to match pace with him as my attack quickly turned to defense.
Then all at once, his body erupted with flames.
I stumbled back with a cry, tripping over a root in my haste to escape the fire. Valis drove his flaming sword down—and straight into another blade.
Elkona deflected the sword with a slash of her moonblade. Quick as a wingbeat, she’d drawn a red line across Valis’s stomach. He reared back, but her blade came around, slicing clean through his right wrist.
Valis screamed, his flames extinguishing.
I found my feet, nocking an arrow. The bowstring snapped. The arrow took Valis in the chest. He fell back a step, snarling, and then Elko was there, cutting a deep wound across his thigh. As she leapt away, I took her place, my dagger biting into his stomach.
The Crow Rider Page 25