Nightblood

by Elly Blake

  I looked away, overcome with regret that we couldn’t be together in the way I longed to be. “Me too.”

  After a minute, I looked back to find him watching me with a yearning I knew must be reflected in my own eyes. His throat bobbed. “I want to touch you so badly. I wish I could show you how much you mean to me.”

  I wanted him to touch me, too, but the Minax had ruined any chance of that. It had tried to take a beautiful, intimate moment, intending to use my emotions to gain power over me. I wouldn’t allow that. I wouldn’t allow it to ruin this memory.

  “You gave me your heart.” I turned to face him fully. “The rest… well, we’ll have to wait until this is over. After tomorrow, it will be. And then you’ll be mine, and I swear I’ll never let you go.”

  A slow smile curved his mouth. “When this is over, nothing will stop me from binding you to me in any way I can. I want as much of you as you’re willing to give, whatever that is.”

  “That’s easy, Arcus. Everything.”

  THIRTY

  DAWN REVEALED OUR DESTINATION: two triangular silhouettes rising into the clouds.

  My body drank the heat, and elation expanded my chest on a lungful of ash-scented air. The Minax, already humming with excitement, carved a wildfire path through my veins.

  Even though the Fireblood and Frostblood ships still hadn’t arrived, and we still watched every hill and curve suspiciously for signs of the Servants, the Minax expanded, making me feel invincible. I could do this: enter the Obscurum, save the trapped souls, fix the Gate, get safely out again without losing myself.

  I could do anything.

  As we crested the final hill, we all stood speechless at the unbelievable sight. Nothing could have prepared me for my first glimpse of Cirrus’s Gate.

  The low cliff enclosed a semicircular plain of smooth black rock. Two pillars sat on the opposite side of the cliff. The immense round supports had been carved into irregular shapes by wind and water. It would have taken a dozen men with their arms outstretched to surround each one.

  Between the pillars, a rectangular sheet of golden light crackled and sparked, while tiny golden specks appeared and disappeared, making it glitter like fireflies trapped in amber. High overhead, the light ended at a horizontal beam, also made from black lava rock. The contrast of solid, dark rock and warm, effervescent gold was stunning, the image burning into my mind.

  Lucina proceeded down a set of stairs carved into the cliff. The rest of us followed.

  When I reached the ground, a surge of energy almost took me off my feet. Arms out, I barely managed to keep my balance. Everyone looked a bit unsteady as they stepped into the arena-sized clearing, as if we stood on the deck of a storm-tossed ship.

  “Ruby!” Lucina called. “It’s time.”

  I dropped my arm and moved forward. As I got closer, I could see that a dark vertical line marred the Gate, with a thin membrane of light keeping it sealed—the opening I would use to enter the Obscurum. Like a crack between two doors where light seeps in, but reversed. Instead darkness was trying to escape the light.

  The Minax fed off my fear, easing it away.

  I turned to face Arcus. He’d followed as I walked forward and now stood a few paces behind me, his attention on the Gate. With a quick look, I made sure that Kai and Brother Thistle were a few paces away, moving closer, as we’d discussed.

  Agony tore through me, and the Minax gorged on the emotion. It was a terrible thing I’d done, not telling him until now. Why hadn’t I told him sooner?

  I turned and took his hands. His eyes flicked to me and he smiled.

  “It looks like we beat Eurus here,” he said with satisfaction.

  “Arcus.”

  My tone got his attention. His hands gripped mine.

  “I have to go now.”

  “Go?” He said it as if it were ludicrous, as if I were making a poorly timed joke.

  Squeezing his hands back, I explained. “You can see there’s a crack in the Gate. The only way to repair it is by releasing the spirits that are inside trying to get out. And I have to put the fire Minax in there, too. I’m the only one who can do it.”

  He continued to stare at me. “What are you talking about?”

  “As a Nightblood, I’m the only one who can go in there. The Minax would kill anyone else as soon as they entered.”

  He shook his head, his brows knit tightly together. “Our job is to guard the Gate and to repair it. Not to go inside.”

  “Going inside is how we keep it closed. Lucina can tell you more after I’m gone.”

  “After you’re gone? What—” He turned his head as Brother Thistle moved closer on his left. “Did you two concoct some ridiculous scheme?” His voice rose as he turned to his right to find Kai just as close. “Let me guess, the prince is in on it, too.”

  Kai didn’t reply, just stared back, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

  Arcus turned back to me, breathing hard, battling his anger, trying to keep himself under control. “We talked about this. We agreed. I would stop being so protective and you would tell me your plans.”

  “I’m sorry. There was just no way you were going to agree to this one.”

  “So you hid it? You lied to me?”

  “I… I didn’t lie, but I did conceal the truth. I’m so sorry.”

  His grip on my hands tightened. “I thought I could trust you.”

  “I promise this is the last time I’ll risk myself without telling you first. Next time I’m about to do something foolish, you can forbid me to your heart’s content.”

  “Next time?” he asked furiously. “Can you guarantee me a next time?”

  I swallowed as I felt the stares of the soldiers, everyone around us. I hated that this was playing out in front of an audience. “I can’t. Lucina isn’t sure if I’ll be able to get out.”

  His eyes flickered through shock, fear, accusation, and a tortured look that seared my soul. Finally, a grim mask froze into place.

  “Please forgive me.” I begged him with my eyes, heard the pleading in my voice. This was no way to say good-bye.

  “You are not going in there!” he thundered.

  Lucina said gently, “She must. She’s the only one who can.”

  He turned on her. “Ruby was right when she told me not to trust you. You told me—”

  “No, Arcus,” I interjected before he could turn his wrath on her. “It was the Minax that made me distrust her.” I freed my hands and reached up, taking his cold face between my palms. “Listen to me. Either you embrace me and tell me good-bye and let me go…”

  “Tell you good-bye!” Pure outrage. “Let you go!” His voice shook. “You just told me last night that you’d never let me go.”

  “…or they’ll hold you back and I will still go in there.”

  The icy mask broke and fury stormed across his features. “Well, I think you know which one it’ll be.” He whipped around, raising ice-covered hands to Brother Thistle and Kai. “And let me warn you, I will never forgive either of you if you try to restrain me.”

  Brother Thistle regarded him with sadness, but also with resolve.

  Kai watched Arcus warily, even as he spoke to me for the first time in days. “I would agree with him if I didn’t understand that you going in there is our only hope. You had damn well better make it out, though.” His eyes flicked to me for half a second. “He’ll be murderous if you don’t, and I won’t be too happy, either.”

  I smiled, tears coming to my eyes, grateful for the forgiveness and the levity he’d offered in that statement, even if Arcus clearly wasn’t. His palms were still raised threateningly. He looked ready to fight the world.

  My whole body trembled. This was so much harder than I’d thought it would be, and I’d known it would be gut-wrenching.

  “Don’t do this, Arcus,” I said, my voice shaking as I made one last attempt. “Don’t make me walk away from you feeling as if you hate me.”

  “I could never hate you,” he said fierce
ly, “but I am furious right now, Ruby.” His icy eyes burned with betrayal. “I don’t know if I can forgive you for this.”

  I had to swallow twice before I could speak. “I hope you can. I love you.”

  He inhaled, his voice hoarse as he said, “I love you, too, and that’s why you are not going in there.”

  He knew me, knew my determination. He had to know this was a losing battle.

  “Have you ever known me to lose a fight?” I asked, trying to reassure him. “I know I can do this.”

  As our eyes held—mine imploring him to understand and accept, his angry, betrayed, and determined—a shout rang in the hills behind us.

  Two streams of fire shot toward the sky from where our people guarded the pass between the lava field and the Gate.

  A signal.

  The Servants had arrived.

  THIRTY-ONE

  OUR FORCES EXPLODED INTO ACTION, rushing from the Gate toward the battlefield.

  Arcus watched the other generals disappear along the twisting, rocky path, then turned back to me. “I have to go with them.” He stared at me with feverish intensity as he took my shoulders and pressed a hard kiss to my lips, crushing me to him for a moment before setting me gently back. He opened his mouth as if he meant to say more, then jammed his lips together and, with a last all-encompassing look, strode off.

  Paralyzed by indecision, I looked from the Gate to the rock formation that formed a rampart over the pass. It rose twenty or so feet above the lava field where the battle was taking place. Without conscious thought, I started toward the rampart.

  “Ruby!” Lucina called from behind me.

  I swung back toward the Gate, where she stood waiting.

  “You can do more good in the Obscurum than in the battle,” she said.

  She was right. If I completed my task successfully, we could stop Eurus in his tracks. But Arcus was risking his life. It felt wrong to leave him now. It felt wrong not to be defending the pass alongside the Fireblood masters.

  I turned a desperate look on Lucina.

  She gave a resigned sigh. “However, you might have a harder time fighting the darkness if you are worried about your king. Do what you need to do.”

  “I just need to see that he’s in position.”

  “Hurry!”

  I nodded and rushed toward the rampart, scaling the bumpy rock that provided a kind of natural staircase to the top. A dozen masters were spread out from the cliff to my right to another hump of rock that formed a barrier on the left. The pass was like a doorway below us, the opening less than twenty feet wide, though the rampart was more than double that in width. Overnight, Frostblood soldiers had quickly built ice barricades at five points on the battlefield to slow the enemy.

  The battle rippled below like a moving tapestry under a low, gray sky. Kai was also on the rampart, shouting orders, as he was in charge of the Firebloods. He stood about ten feet away from me with a few masters between us.

  I saw Arcus with his generals almost directly below, along with Brother Thistle. With Frostbloods below and Firebloods above, they formed the last line of defense at the pass. There was a cacophony of commands and movement as our forces moved into place.

  On the plain below, some three hundred of our forces faced off against more than double the number of Servants. They were moving onto the battlefield from the direction of the beach, pikemen in tight formation at the front, archers behind. Outnumbered, and more could be on their way. Our best hope was to hold them off until the Tempesian navy arrived.

  But we had no guarantee our reinforcements were coming. I watched Arcus hopelessly. I wanted to stay near him, to provide cover from above if needed. But I should go back to the Gate.

  Just then, enemy pikemen crashed into our front lines with the force of a storm wave. Our interlocking shield wall—round shields held in a tight formation by the Frostblood front line—held for the first strike, and the second, but the third felled soldiers at two points. The wall was reinforced with fresh soldiers, and held for another strike. But the Servants, death in their eyes, came at us relentlessly. Working together with pikes, stabbing through gaps, and finally through sheer force of numbers, they cleaved an opening in our defense and poured into the breach. Screams and shouts ricocheted off rocks and surrounding hills.

  Our front lines retreated to the first fallback point—the second-farthest ice barricade. That put the enemy in range for me and the most powerful of the Fireblood masters.

  I could no more leave the fight now than I could fly. I had to help.

  On Kai’s command, I poured out fire.

  Kai and I focused our fire on the Servants’ front lines, knocking the strongest down first, though our attacks were weakened by distance. Targets were chosen with care to avoid melting the barricades. Archers stood with us, raining down flaming arrows, which the masters lit between strikes.

  The Servants pummeled our ice wall, most with swords and axes, their Frostblood soldiers battering at it with ice of their own. They had a few Firebloods on their side, but their power was nothing compared to the masters.

  Still, in minutes, the first barricade was nearly destroyed. Our shield wall reassembled behind it. A second fallback point was ready. How long until they were forced all the way back to the pass? More Servants arrived, pouring onto the plain with their inky clothing and shining weapons. Again, I hesitated, remembering my duty to go to the Gate. But I watched Arcus shouting orders below and thought, I can’t leave him. Not yet.

  Kai spoke loud enough to be heard above the chaos. “This would be a really good time for the Frostblood navy to show up!” He lit arrows for the archers on either side of him, then directed a column of fire at an enemy soldier.

  “I’d take Queen Nalani’s fleet right now, too,” I answered, seeing a breach in our second fallback and throwing a bolt of flame. A direct hit, which turned one of the Servants into a human torch. His scream reached my ears, even above the tumult. My stomach turned upside down. For a second, I thought I would vomit.

  Numbness eased the nausea. The Minax fed on all this. With every cry of pain, my blood rushed stronger, faster. With every death, I received a jolt of power. Especially from the ones that fell by my own hand.

  In a moment of clarity, I understood Rasmus’s obsession with the arena. All that fury and desperation. Pain and fear and grief. A banquet for the Minax. Power vibrated through me until I trembled with it.

  Thoughts of the Gate faded.

  I contemplated using the Minax the way I had during the sea battle, making the Servants turn on one another, fogging their minds or picking them off one by one. I was sorely tempted, and the Minax urged me on. Yes! Freedom! Kill!

  But I wasn’t sure I could direct it among so much stimulation and distraction. Our forces were tightly packed. If the creature slipped its leash, it could kill indiscriminately, not caring if its targets were friend or foe.

  So I used my fire, letting the Minax suck power from the battle and siphon it to me, making me stronger, even as my gift should have run dry. As the minutes ticked by, a kind of haze settled over me. A mindless intoxication.

  Archers loosed shafts with a rhythmic twang. Frostbloods showered hail and sleet and icy knives on enemies. Steel flashed like the scales of fish in sunlit shallows. Soldiers wearing metal helms, leather breastplates, or chain mail hefted swords, halberds, axes, and maces. Frost and fire spiraled in bright arcs, ricocheting off shields, piercing armor, and taking lives. The scents of blood and burned flesh filled the air.

  Some of the Servants were ill-equipped, with axes that looked more suited to chop firewood. Others hefted fishing spears useless for close combat. Farmers and fishermen, not warriors.

  What had Eurus promised these people? Riches? Power?

  Did they all worship him? Or had he threatened them? Coerced them?

  After a while, I ceased wondering. My muscles ached. My hands burned. My mind emptied of anything but eliciting the next scream. I stopped fighting the euphoric
rush and allowed it to consume me. It was easier than letting myself consider the horror of it, the waste of life.

  Without the Minax, I would have been sickened. Wrecked.

  With the Minax, I felt nothing more than a distant twinge of regret, easily drowned out by the other sensations crowding my mind and body. The battle blurred into a sea of movement, losing meaning.

  There was a kind of macabre beauty to the ebb and flow of bodies, the frenzied movements, the prismatic reflections off armor, the passionate, blood-drenched struggle to survive.

  “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”

  I jerked, searching for the owner of that familiar, silky voice. At the same time, a surge of joyful recognition erupted from the Minax.

  Eurus stood on a tall rock formation, above and behind where I stood, devouring the scene with bright green eyes. No one else seemed to notice him, their attention on the clash below.

  In his current form as an unwelcome guest in Prince Eiko’s body, he looked much as I remembered: extraordinarily tall and spare, with silver-streaked black hair, carved cheekbones, and leaf-green eyes. He wore a long black cloak, which he now filled out, his cheeks not quite so sunken as when we last met in Sudesia. He appeared to be thriving in his stolen mortal body.

  For a second, the numbness faded. The idea that we could be similar, two callous observers enjoying the beauty of battle, made my gorge rise.

  I warred with myself. I needed to fight, to kill Eurus above all others. But the Minax struggled inside me, wanting only to get closer to him, to obey its master.

  “Think, Ruby,” Eurus said, shifting his bold gaze to me. Arrogant. Serene. “You can kill this mortal body, but you cannot extinguish the god within.”

  With a shuddering sense of failure, I let the fire in my palms die. He was telling the truth, and I knew it. I could kill Prince Eiko’s body, ruining any chance of saving the mortal man I hoped was still somewhere inside, and it wouldn’t do any good.