by K. A. Linde
She was too far away to see where the rider was or if the dragon was okay. But the noise the creature made as it collapsed onto the battlements, crushing House of Shadows soldiers, was enough to make her stomach turn. The sound was deafening.
“Gods,” she breathed. “We need to be in there. We need to be helping.”
Alura didn’t respond. She simply moved them farther from the archers and continued on their route. Someone else would be there to save that dragon. But Kerrigan’s throat closed up as they moved farther away. Had there been more merit to Arbor’s words than she had given credit?
Alura stopped beside the river that wended through the mountains. She gestured for them to land. The shouts of battle were far behind them. Lethbridge wasn’t a long distance from the mountains, which was how the House of Shadows had reached them so swiftly, but far enough for the battle to feel distant.
“Do you think they’re dead?” Audria asked when they were once again on the ground.
“I don’t know,” she whispered back.
“Our mission is to dam the river,” Alura said. “We’ll use our magic and the dragons to hoist rocks in the way of the river. It won’t do anything to stop it once the snow melts, but it’s good enough for us right now.”
It was grueling, backbreaking work. They quickly moved into an assembly line with the dragons hitting the stones to loosen them and the rest lifting them with their earth magic and depositing them in an array that slowly, throughout the hours, began to recede the river.
No one wanted to admit that they’d rather be in the thick of the fighting, prove to everyone they were worth it. It was hard not to feel like they’d been given this job to get them out of the way. The youngest of the lot of Society members, and they were farthest from the battle.
They spent days working on the dam. Each day, when they returned to camp and found more wounded, the feeling only grew that they could be doing more. But Alura stopped them from ever voicing that opinion. All work was valuable, and what they were doing would make a difference if the House of Shadows tried to retreat. It was a big if.
Because as far as Kerrigan was concerned, the House of Shadows was doing way better than they had predicted. Only one dragon and rider casualty, the one she’d watched fall, but they’d had barely any reinforcements come in. They were still waiting for the bulk of the dragons and the foot soldiers that they’d promised would be there. And still, they worked on the dam.
Kerrigan stretched her aching back. Her magic had already been low, and after days of work, it was down to sputtering. She felt useless as Roake and Fordham picked up the slack. She drank long and deep from her waterskin and ate a small lunch to try to bring back her bottomless well of magic. It was the wrong time for her to be pulling up short.
The food did help. She could feel herself managing to knit it back together, if slowly. But as she sat on a nearby rock with Audria at her side, she tilted her head.
“Do you hear that?” she asked.
“I don’t hear anything, except us,” Audria grumbled. She turned for the hundredth time back to Lethbridge, as if she could go to the thick of it by force of will.
“No, no, there’s something.”
She closed her eyes and listened harder. It was a whooshing sound. Like wind through the trees or an avalanche or…
Her eyes snapped open. “Get back!” she screamed. “Get away from the river.”
She scrambled to her feet and tugged for Tieran to come to her. He broke free from his work instantly, rushing to her side.
“Get back to work!” Alura shouted. “I didn’t say you could stop.”
“I hear it now,” Audria said. Then, she pointed north. “The river!”
Alura jerked around. Her eyes widened in horror. “Move, move, move!”
Kerrigan jumped on Tieran’s back just as the first rush of water came flowing down out of the mountains. It was enough water to fill the river and then some. It was the flood that came with the first snow melt. It was easily a month early.
Tieran jerked straight upward, and Kerrigan clung to him with all her might as the river hit the top of the rocks and obliterated the dam in a matter of seconds. She screamed and closed her eyes as water cascaded all around them. Tieran leveled off when he was high enough to be out of the way and then circled back down.
Audria and Alura had gotten out, but Fordham and Roake weren’t as lucky.
“Fordham!” she yelled over and over again.
A head bobbed up out of the water. Kerrigan recognized Roake and gestured for Audria to dive down for him. Roake’s dragon, Luxor, had just pulled himself out of the torrent of water on the opposite bank and would be no help. But still, no Fordham.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. She’d thought so many times that she and Fordham were connected because of the visions she’d had. Even when she couldn’t always tell what he was thinking, it felt like she could always sense where he was. She followed that, as she would the tether with Tieran, and directed Tieran back toward the mouth of the river they had been damming.
“There!” she shouted.
With one hand, Fordham clung to a rock on the surface. His face was half-in, half-out of the water.
Tieran dived toward him, going directly into the spray of the water and picking him up in his claws. He carried Fordham away from the river, depositing him safely on the riverbank. Netta appeared a minute later, coughing up water and checking on him.
“I’m okay,” he said as they landed next to him. “Thank you.”
Kerrigan nodded. Alura, Audria, and Roake were stranded on the other bank. She waved to them to give them the all-clear.
“How did that happen?” she asked when they were all together again in a clearing a short distance from the river.
“It’s months too early for that much water,” Audria spat.
“They must have melted it in the mountains,” Alura speculated. “Is there a place they could do that?”
Fordham cleared his throat, spitting out more water. “We collect the snow melt every year. We have an underground well, but melted snow is safer for drinking.”
Kerrigan shuddered at the thought of what they’d had to do all those years to survive. “Then, they must have released it. Does that mean they don’t plan to escape?”
“We don’t know what their plan is. All we can do is our next move. If we can’t block the river,” Alura said with a savage grin, “then we destroy the boats.”
58
The Boats
Kerrigan tapped her boot on Tieran’s back as she watched the Battle of Lethbridge from the trees. She and Fordham had found a hidden space to the west of the docks. Audria and Roake were somewhere to the east. They waited for the signal from Alura.
“Do you think this is going to work?” she breathed.
Tieran tugged on the bond. He had been doing it reassuringly the last couple days. It must.
“I know. I know. But oleander-tipped arrows.” She shuddered.
We will work together, as we have always wanted to. Don’t worry. You’re not that bad.
She chuckled. That was the Tieran she knew and loved. Always making fun of her. At least it kept her centered on the attack ahead.
Alura zipped out of the trees, heading straight toward the northern tower. Archers had been stationed at the top with enough arrows to keep anyone from getting too near the docks. Most of the fighting was taking place to the south, where the main gate was. The boats and the river had been mostly ignored.
As Alura drew within their range, the Fae were suddenly alert, and arrows volleyed down from the tower. Alura was a sight to behold. She maneuvered from Gemina’s back with speed and agility. Kerrigan’s jaw dropped as she watched her evade the first arrows with ease. One hadn’t even scratched her shield.
“Wow,” she whispered.
Together, they are straight out of myth.
Tieran wasn’t wrong. The archers had enough time to pull another arrow and let loose. Gemina swe
rved to avoid the arrows. This time, just one grazed her shield but didn’t break it. Not a direct hit then.
Then, they were there. Alura launched off of Gemina’s back and dived headfirst into the tower. She pulled her sword from its sheath and cut two of the archers down before they even moved from their station. She flowed through the motions as if she were an element all on her own. Every movement timed perfectly to block and parry and slice. The archers were no match for a trained warrior, and Alura was one of the best. Within seconds—seconds—the tower was empty, and Alura jumped back down on Gemina, who slammed her body into the top of the tower, sending the roof tumbling inside. No more archers could come up and disturb them.
“That’s our signal,” Fordham said.
Kerrigan leaned into Tieran as he took off toward the city. They flew harmlessly over the burned husk of the outer ring. They came into range, and another volley of arrows shot toward them from the parapet. Kerrigan waved her hand, a blast of air knocking them off course. Fordham pushed forward, diving in while they were fitting another arrow to the bow, and Netta let loose a full blow of fire.
The majority of the archers were smart enough to duck behind the stone for cover, but a number were instantly set on fire and ran screaming toward the nearby water trough.
Kerrigan led Tieran into a steep dive as the archers were distracted with Fordham. They came up on the first set of boats, and Tieran let loose his own breath of fire, whipping his tail into the first mast and sending it toppling into the second.
“Look out!” Fordham shouted.
She looked back, tugging Tieran far away from the battlement, and wrapped her shield harder around them. The first puncture of the arrow felt like a stab wound. She gasped as it knocked the shield out entirely. She jerked another one up in place, even as the poisonous oleander felt like it’d hit her personally.
Tieran circled as she caught her breath. Already, a team of water Fae attempted to douse the dragon fire. She wasn’t strong enough in water to counteract them. And it didn’t matter—no one was moving a ship with no mast.
Fordham regrouped near her as Alura made a second run, dropping onto Audria and Roake’s side of the wall and cutting down archers like picking daisies.
“Second run?” he asked.
She nodded. Fordham flew Netta in for another run of the archers. They were smarter this time, and only one was still up when he came through. That one managed to get an arrow into Fordham’s shield.
“Traitor!” The word echoed through the clash of battle.
Fordham used his air magic to nimbly grasp the arrow out of the sky. Then, he whipped around and threw it straight back at the Fae who had uttered that terrible word at him. The force of his throw, propelled by the weight of his magic, thrust the arrow straight through his throat.
Kerrigan gulped at the fury on Fordham’s face. He was a soldier. This was what he was best at. She just hoped she could get him back after all of this was over.
While Fordham engaged the archers, sending the majority of them scattering when they saw their prince in all his fury, Kerrigan took Tieran down to blow fire on the rest of the western docks. Fae were trying to stop the spread of the fire, to douse the decks to keep them from going up in flames. But it did nothing to dragon fire.
Kerrigan was pulling out of the next turn when a stray arrow hit her shield. She gasped, feeling weak in the knees at the poison. Then, just as she was about to pull the shield back up, something grabbed ahold of her.
She tried to turn to see what the hell was happening, but she couldn’t move. It was as if someone had grasped all of her limbs and frozen them in place. Then, with a yank like a rope around her middle, she was bodily pulled off of Tieran’s back.
She screamed as she free-fell toward the docks. She couldn’t even brace for impact because whatever had her was still locked on. Kerrigan prayed to the gods that she wouldn’t die.
Then, Netta’s body was underneath her, cushioning her fall and breaking whatever spell had hit her. Fordham grasped her round the middle, and the both of them rolled off of the dragon and onto the docks.
Kerrigan groaned. “What was that?”
Fordham shook his head as he came swiftly to his feet, pulling his magic close to himself.
Kerrigan was slower to get up. Whatever spell had been cast on her, it made her sluggish. She felt Tieran’s tug of concern, and she touched the bond to let him know she was okay.
“Well, this looks great,” Kerrigan muttered as she rose to her feet, the heat of the burning boats at her back.
Standing before them was a group of Fae in the black and silver of the House of Shadows. Each held a different color orb in their hands. Kerrigan’s gaze shifted from one to the other in confusion and then realization. These were illegal magical artifacts. The same ones that Basem Nix had been selling last year to make him rich. The ones that Clare Rahllins had claimed they sold to Lorian Van Horn. And now, they were here.
She didn’t know how that was possible, but illegal magic had never meant a good thing for her in the past. Basem had used orbs just like that to do all sorts of horrible things. Not to mention to make quick escapes in the way that Fordham did. The last thing they needed was for an easy escape for the House of Shadows.
Fordham straightened. “I am your crowned prince. Surrender, and I will be merciful.”
The leader stepped forward. She was a beautiful female with raven-black hair and a cruel expression. “You were exiled for your involvement with those beasts, and here you stand, with one of them against us. You are no prince of mine.”
Kerrigan didn’t dare look to Fordham to see his reaction to that comment. She could feel the knife go through her own heart, and she had never truly belonged to the House of Shadows. But she knew abandonment, and this had the same shape and feeling.
“That’s the thing about royalty,” Fordham said, low and lethal. “You don’t get to choose who your betters are.”
Then, the shadows surrounded him. A second later, he was behind the lead Fae. He had her head in his hands. The snap of her neck pierced the air, and then she collapsed dead.
The fear in the rest of the group’s eyes was beautiful. Kerrigan rushed in after him, drawing her sword at the same time as he did. She engaged the first soldier, feeling the hours and hours of practice snap into focus. Lorian had beaten her over and over again. He’d called her weak and pathetic. He’d spat on her confidence. But he’d also molded a fine soldier out of the dirt he ground her into.
She got inside the guard of the first, slicing through his ribs before he had a chance to use his magical artifact. The second one was ready for her, using the magic in her orb to cast terrifying monsters. Kerrigan stumbled as the first black creature came for her. She sliced through it with ease, and it dissolved into smoke. They were… illusions. Scary, potentially dangerous illusions but nothing more. She pulled deep from her well and blasted the illusions off of the docks and then ran the soldier through.
She reached Fordham by that point, and he’d taken out a half-dozen on his own. His sword was slick with blood, and his face was perfectly blank as he stared down the last pair.
“You are on the wrong side of this fight,” Fordham growled.
“We fight with the king,” he said, holding his amber orb aloft.
Kerrigan shuddered at the sight of it. Was it the same one that Basem had used against her in their final fight? She didn’t want to find out.
“Don’t let him…” she began.
But then he threw the amber orb at Fordham’s feet and spoke the ancient Fae word to activate it, “Carthai.”
“No,” Kerrigan shrieked as the world exploded around them.
She covered her ears as they both dropped to the ground. It was as if she were back in the Dragon Ring, back with Basem’s knife at her throat, back at the riot with the Red Masks tearing down buildings. It always came back to this.
Her eyes watered as she reached for her magic. Her ears were bleeding, and still,
she forced herself to pull the damn thing toward her. She got her hands on it, and it all evaporated in an instant. Then, she threw the damn orb into the river, so no one could ever use it again.
The pair of Fae stalked toward them, presumably to finish them off, but they missed Alura dropping in behind them. She swept the legs out from one and thrust her sword into the other, making a full three-sixty to plunge her sword into the gut of the second. She kicked the black orb, which Kerrigan guessed was their escape route, out of reach.
“Are you two insane?” Alura demanded. “We’re not on the first wave of this battle. We’re taking down the boats, not fighting! Call your dragons and get back in formation.”
Kerrigan and Fordham stumbled to their feet. Her ears were ringing, but she was still there enough to see who stepped out of the fortifications to meet them.
“I believe this has been a long time coming, brother,” Wynter said from the head of her acolytes.
59
The Shadows
“Do not engage,” Alura said as she drew her sword up and came between them and Wynter’s dozen zealots. Aisling coming to stand just off of her lover’s right side.
“You can’t stop this one, Alura,” Fordham said. “Take Kerrigan and go.”
Alura snorted. “You must think me insane to leave you here to take on twelve soldiers and your crazy sister alone.”
Two more bodies dropped onto the docks at their backs. Kerrigan whipped around, prepared to engage more fighters, but it was Audria and Roake. Audria sauntered forward, as if she were here for a party. “Can’t let you have all the fun, now can I?”
“I guess we’re all in this together,” Kerrigan said.
Alura assessed the situation in a split second, and then to everyone’s shock, she took a step backward, angling for Fordham to take lead. Alura was the best of them. She was their commander. She’d trained them for the last year, but she’d deferred to Fordham.