“Not all of us are so limited in our magic.” Velyn smirked as he reformed the ice-spear. “Must be terrible, being the youngest of us all.”
I grinned, flipping my dagger to reverse my grip. “You’re forgetting that I’m not fighting you on my own.”
Velyn’s eyes widened and he turned just in time to avoid Kestral’s sword sweeping down on him. The spear shattered again, sending shards of ice flying. A dozen tiny cuts appeared on Velyn’s arms, neck and face before he faded to mist. I was ready for his mist tactic this time, though. A quick shift had me in cat form, racing for the spot I expected him to reform in. By the time he became solid, I was there with a sideways slash. Velyn got his arm up in time to protect his throat, but I tore his arm open from wrist to elbow, grinning wildly. Before he could form another ice weapon, Kestral was on his other side, sword drawn back for a powerful thrust.
Lightning roared down on us. Kestral dropped his sword and dove to the side. I dropped down into rat form, scurrying away as the smallest target possible. The lightning cleared, revealing Velyn holding his arm and panting, trails of smoke rising from his clothing. A quick roll had Kestral up and armed again and a rapid shift had me coming up behind my brother.
We might have had him, but the rushing sound of fire sent us dodging again. Velyn spun, facing the flame head-on through a sudden downpour of rain. He sneered at Eagan, who rolled his shoulders in a shrug, seeming not to care whether he had caught his ally in the inferno or not.
Kestral and I backed away, looking for Kila. She walked calmly towards us, drawing a cloth along the length of her blade. The cloth came away bloody. I looked back at Eagan, noting for the first time that he had lost his cloak and held his left arm close to his side. As I watched, Velyn encased the arm I had cut in a sheath of ice, sealing in the blood.
“My battle isn’t going as well as I anticipated, brother.” Eagan sheathed his sword, taking an easy stance next to Velyn.
“Mine isn’t either,” Velyn growled, white-hot hatred in his eyes for both me and Kestral. I smiled and waved at him, earning an enraged snarl. Eagan laughed as he hooked his hands around his belt.
“Kila, are you injured?” Kestral asked, his eyes never leaving our enemies.
She chuckled softly. “As if that feather-fingered noble could touch me.”
“This feather-fingered noble still has a few tricks.” Eagan gave her a tight smile. “Courtesy of your twin, as a matter of fact.”
Kila gritted her teeth. The leather of her hilt crackled as her grip tightened.
“That is, if you’re prepared, dear Velyn?” Eagan glanced sidelong at his ally.
“Do you ever shut up, you rusting fool?” Velyn asked, raising his arms to the side, one still encased in ice.
“Hm.” Kestral shot a look at me.
“What?” I asked acidly.
“One more thing you have in common with that one.”
“Rude, Kestral. Just rude.”
Kila laughed but stopped abruptly as freezing rain showered over us, wind whipping it up and around, forming strange shapes that froze in place in the middle of our battlefield. The wind died but the air stayed cold, our breath puffing before our faces. I barely got a look at the strange ice-sculptures—like giant, headless preying mantises, each nearly half as tall as a building—before Eagan threw his arm out dramatically. The ice-mantises scuttled towards us, swinging their fore-arms like ice-bladed scythes.
“Gotta say, I did not see that coming,” Kila called to us, meeting an ice-blade-arm with her sword. She turned it aside, shattering it, but freezing rain swirled around it, reforming the blade. Kila cursed and backed away.
“I’m sure I said we should have a contingency plan in case of giant ice bugs,” I called from behind Kestral. He crushed a mantis arm with a powerful swing then countered the second arm, ice screeching as it slid along the metal blade. I ducked as ice shards went flying. There were five of these giant ice bugs, all slowly converging on the three of us.
“Kila, what can you do for us?” Kestral shouted as his mantis slowly recovered its forelimbs.
Kila took a minute to respond, tapping her foot against the now-frozen ground. “Not much. I could punch through, but it would take a lot from me.”
“Reshi, anything?” Kestral asked, countering a flurry of strikes.
“Yeah, I think maybe . . . no. I got nothing.” I shook my head, still half-cowering behind the mage hunter. “There aren’t any animals big enough to fight these nearby, and even if there were, I doubt I could convince them to fight something so obviously unnatural.”
“Right.” Kestral spun suddenly, grabbing me and throwing me flat to the ground, narrowly missing a scissor of ice-blades. He raced forward, ducking the swings of the headless ice-bug to get beneath its long body. He dragged his blade along the belly of the beast, then thrust up at its center, twisting his blade as he did so, causing the abdomen to crack along its vertical axis. The two halves fell away from each other, spindly legs thrashing. I picked myself up out of the frozen mud, half annoyed, half grateful. Kila whooped joyfully as she used her twin shortswords to scissor off a bladed forelimb.
“Kila, I need two things,” Kestral shouted as he engaged the next ice-bug.
“And they are?”
“A boost.” He turned aside a stab and pointed with his free hand. “This is taking all their concentration. If I can get close, I can kill them.”
Kila grunted acknowledgment, driving a sword into a bug’s chest and twisting it as Kestral had. A large chunk of ice fell free, but the bug didn’t fall. “And what else?”
“Keep Reshi safe.” With a crashing swing, Kestral disarmed both forelimbs then darted forward, racing between the ice-bugs coming at him.
Kila switched her swords to one hand, spinning them to ward off a flurry of ice-blades. She stomped one foot firmly down into the frozen ground, cracking the ice beneath it. Just as it had for me, the ground rose beneath Kestral, giving him an earthen spire to leap from, landing well behind the ice bugs. Eagan moved to meet him, but I lost sight of Kestral as an ice bug skittered up to me, swinging those deadly bladed arms.
I slammed my fae blades together and drew them across each other, elongating the daggers into stilettos, giving me a little more reach to block the ice-blades. Nothing I had would cut through them anyway, might as well keep my distance. Kila retreated from her bug until she could put her back to mine.
“Does he always do that?” she asked, crushing a blade between her swords.
“Run off like a big, dusty hero?” I asked, catching a blade along my stiletto and redirecting it safely to the side.
“Take command,” Kila panted though she looked more exhilarated than exerted.
“Oh, throw around orders and expect absolute obedience? Yes, he always does that.” I grunted as the flat of a forearm caught me, slamming me into Kila, who was surprisingly solid for someone so short.
“You must have something helpful here,” Kila said. She craned her neck trying to see through the shifting, skittering ice-legs. “It looks like Eagan is able to fight while he controls this magic.”
“Dust, rust and ashes,” I cursed. “Yes, I have something.”
“Something not suicidal?” Kila glanced back at me over her shoulder. “I don’t need your hunter coming after me if you die.”
I grinned, baring more teeth than necessary. “No, not suicidal. Kestral doesn’t know all my tricks yet. But I could use one of your little throwing knives.”
Kila switched her swords back to one hand, running the other through the braid in her hair. It came out clutching a tiny triangular knife between her fingers. She tossed it to me casually, then darted beneath the body of her ice bug, driving both blades up into its stomach. Her arms trembled for a moment, then tore the blades free, causing the bug to break in two pieces, aft and fore. With a fierce battle cry, she threw herself at the next beast.
After turning my stilettos back into daggers, I slipped one away to hold onto K
ila’s tiny dagger. I crouched low, leaping as the ice-bug slashed at me. I landed on the flat of the ice-blade and ran along it, skidding as I reached the bug’s body. Dropping to one knee, I drove my fae blade into the ice to keep from sliding off. As the bug tried to contort itself to slash at me, I unwound a thin copper wire from around the top of my boot: garrote wire. Bracing my foot against the dagger, I quickly tied off one end of the wire to the loop on the end of Kila’s throwing dagger. Ducking beneath an ice-blade that nearly gave me a haircut, I slid along the beast’s back until I could brace my feet against the joints of its legs. Using the dagger as a weight, I looped the wire around the spindly limb and pulled the wire tight, sawing once before the limb snapped clear.
The bug staggered, spilling me off its back. I threw the wire around the next leg, catching myself before I could fall. The second leg snapped clear, the final leg on this side of the beast buckling. I shifted to my crow form, snatching the knife and the wire in my talons as the ice-mantis crashed to the ground. Lying on its side as it was, the spindly legs couldn’t reform properly.
I flew over to Kila, appreciating how she played the final two ice-bugs against each other, dodging so they struck each other’s forelimbs off. At some point she had lost her shortswords and switched to her bastard sword, using it more as a shield than a weapon.
I landed on one bug’s scythed forelimb, balancing precisely on the raised joint to loop the wire around it before snapping it clear. Before it could reform, I slid down its arm to its back and repeated my trick, sawing off its legs with the wire. As my beast crashed to the ground, Kila’s shattered, an earthen spike driven up where its midsection had been. As one, we turned towards Eagan and Kestral, Velyn standing a-ways back, pale and out of breath.
Kestral backed a step up, disengaging from Eagan as the last of the ice-bugs fell. Eagan looked worse for the wear, blood staining his tunic and trickling down his arm. His hair was matted with sweat and his eyes had lost that look of amused disdain he usually wore. Instead, they blazed with an intense hatred, as if they could scorch Kestral where he stood.
Kestral had blood running down his side, coloring the left side of his leggings. Red welts covered his sword arm and one shoulder of his armor had turned black and brittle, the shirt beneath burned away. The ice in his eyes as he stared down Eagan was enough to make me shiver.
“Stand down, Kestral.” Kila stepped in front of him, bringing her longsword up into a guard position. “I can finish these two in a single attack.”
“We don’t have time for that.” Kestral sheathed his sword, turning slightly to the east. Kila and I glanced up. Her jaw tightened but mine fell open.
“Is that the army?” I asked, voice pitching higher than I intended. “But why—?”
“That’s not the eastern army,” Kila said softly. “Those banners . . .”
“The southern houses.” Eagan slid his sword into its sheath, squinting at the banners in the distance. “House Clarion, House Hazen.” He chuckled darkly. “My old house, too. What an honor.”
There was a curse from behind us before Velyn scrambled closer, putting his back to Eagan’s. “Over there. Viaparaiso.”
Kestral turned, glowering at the forces gathering west of us. “I should have expected this,” he said, speaking softly. “With Kila telling the whole kingdom where we were, it only made sense for the king to send forces to crush us.”
“But the southern army?” Kila asked.
“It’s because you’re too friendly with the eastern army,” Kestral guessed. “The king probably thought they would let you run.”
Kila cursed in a soldier’s colorful tongue.
“Our king mobilized a foreign country’s army, too?” Velyn asked, sounding as panicked as I felt. I slid back a step, putting myself slightly behind Kestral.
“Most likely he offered some concession to them if they could kill you four.” Kestrel turned, sizing up the battlefield.
“I think I would like to extend to the three of you a temporary truce,” Eagan said formally, nodding to each of us. “Dying here would defeat the purpose of killing you.”
Kila laughed darkly. “Like you weren’t already losing.”
“I could still kill you,” Eagan said, shrugging casually.
“Try it, fire-starter.”
“I think a truce might be in our best interest,” I said, carefully putting my hand over Kila’s sword. “Those are two really big armies coming at us from two directions.”
Kila snorted dismissively, but she lowered her sword.
“So we have an agreement?” Kestral asked, still speaking quietly. He looked first to Eagan and Velyn, each nodded, though the latter appeared reluctant. He glanced back at Kila and me. I nodded eagerly. Kila barely inclined her head. “How full are your wellsprings?”
“Mine is a depthless inferno,” Eagan replied, smirking.
“I’ve been keeping the storm at bay.” Velyn rolled his wrists, sparks of lightning dancing between his fingers.
“I’ve got magic for days,” I bragged, raising my chin at the others.
Kestral paused, meeting each of our eyes once. “So you three are lying.” He turned towards our sister. “Kila?”
“I barely used any magic,” she admitted, sounding as if the words were dragged from her. She pointed to the southern army with her sword. “And each soldier who falls only feeds my magic.”
Eagan breathed deeply, as if smelling something sweet. “Soldiers are always so passionate. I can already feel myself regaining my power.”
Dust it. Why can I only gain magic from sleeping people? Judging by a quick look at Velyn, though, I doubted he was regaining power here, either.
“All right.” Kestral took a moment to size up each army. “The plan is to break through the center of the southern army’s line.”
“The center—” Eagan started to interrupt. He froze under Kestral’s intense glare.
“The foremost tactic of the southern army is a pincer. The cavalry on the sides will close in, hemming us to the center anyway. We charge straight through.” Kestral unhooked the gauntlets from his belt, never taking his eyes from the army’s lines marching steadily towards us.
“They’ll have bonded mages,” Kila said, also watching the approach of the army.
“Leave those to me.” Kestral pulled the gauntlets over his hands, snapping them tightly around his forearms. Eagan eyed the gauntlets warily, Velyn backed away from them. Kila laughed as she noticed them.
“Anti-magic wards.” She shook her head, grinning. “You’ve been holding back.”
“Everyone knows they only work against bonded mages,” Eagan sneered, though he still looked nervously at the gauntlets.
“Or mages I’ve already encountered.” Kestral gave the fire mage a dark look. Hatred rekindled in my brother’s eyes.
“We don’t have time to fight with each other,” I reminded everyone. “Viaparaiso’s army is getting closer, too.”
Kestral nodded, turning so he faced the southern army squarely. “Kila and Eagan, you two are going to break through the first ranks of the center. Don’t get held up, just push through. I’ll be right behind, grounding the mage spells.” He ran a hand over the steel of his gauntlet, runes glimmering where he touched. “Reshi, you’re going ahead. Get in the middle of their ranks and hide. When Kila and Eagan crash into the front, carve us a hole.” He glanced over at me. “No flying. They’ll have archers.”
I nodded, trying to look confident. I was afraid if I spoke I would throw up.
“What about me?” Velyn asked, voice small.
“You.” Kestral glared darkly at the weather mage. “Give Reshi cover until he gets behind the front lines. After we break the first two lines, you’ll protect our backs. Got it?”
Velyn dropped his gaze to the ground, shifting his weight back and forth nervously. “If any of them fall, I’ll risk it all to coalesce their power.”
“Go ahead. I’ll cut you down before you can reach them.”
Velyn shivered at the ice in Kestral’s voice.
Eagan rested a hand on Velyn’s shoulder. “In case you don’t die, meet me where we anchored the Silver Minnow.”
Velyn nodded.
Kestral glanced back at Kila and me. “If we get separated, meet back by Shan. Reshi, whenever you’re ready.”
I took a step forward, gritting my teeth and trying to keep my knees from knocking. We were still out of arrow range, but how far could the mages strike? I knew dust about war magic. Movement behind me made me look back. Kestral had Velyn by the collar, tossing him forward next to me. For a moment we eyed each other with open disdain before turning to face the oncoming army.
“What do you need?” Velyn hissed.
“Fog would work.” I turned back towards the army. “A nice thick burst of it should do.”
Velyn nodded. I took a deep breath then ran, charging a whole army all by myself. I could hear Kestral mustering the others behind me, but I lost all sight and sound as Velyn’s thick, cold fog rolled over the battlefield like a blanket. Hidden as I was, I shifted to my cat form for speed. I saw the army well before they could see me, shifting again as I drew close. They would be looking for a full-sized mage, not a scurrying black rat. I dodged plated boots and horse hooves, driving for what I judged to be far enough in to carve out a hole. Shivering, I hid in the shadow of an armored horse, already reaching out with my magic for all the army’s horses. They were going to regret bringing cavalry here.
I heard steel crashing against steel, the screams of men and my sister’s terrifying war cry. I could almost see her leaping the front line of pikemen, soaring into the second line. Instead of trying to catch a glance back, I focused on the army’s horses, stirring up their natural urges to flee. Once I had them stomping and snorting nervously, I used the same tactic I had used on Kestral’s former soldiers—I shifted to my snake form.
The nearest horse screamed in pure terror, rearing repeatedly until it threw its rider free. The other nearest horses mimicked it, fear catching like fire. I shrank back to my rat form, dodging trampling hooves as horses turned and fled, turning the battlefield into complete chaos. I ran further ahead into the lines, where men still stood in ranks, trying to figure out why the horses were breaking. Behind me, thunder rolled. Beneath me, the ground shuddered and shook. My siblings were giving our escape attempt everything.
Sorcerous Rivalry (The Mage-Born Chronicles Book 1) Page 25