Ravinder continued, “We’ll thin their ranks here.” He swirled his hands, forming a tornado in the clearing ahead, sucking enemy soldiers into its tunnel like a straw.
Hope glimmered anew. Tio lifted me onto the horse, grunting through the pain. He then mounted behind me. “You get us there. I’ll clear our path,” he said. With a jerk of the reins, we bolted to the river’s edge, dodging trees and enemies. When they got too close, Tio sent out his magic, pulling their boots out from under them. None got close enough to stop us.
The second we emerged along the bank, I yanked the horse to a stop. I took heart, seeing that half the army had still yet to cross.
“You’ve got this,” Tio whispered his words of encouragement.
Arms raised to the sky, I reached for the light. From within and from the stars. Threads of power from both merged, a force I could feel but not see. Not until they wove together, strengthening their ties. I yanked my arms down, and a bolt cracked from the sky.
It flashed and crackled, shaking the air. Men cried out, and wood pieces scattered like shrapnel. The strike had been so precise it snapped their plank in two right from the middle. Fifty or so men dropped into the coursing river, carried away within a couple heartbeats.
Tio didn’t give me time to marvel, gathering the reins, and then we were fleeing into the night.
35
Dae
Somehow, I dozed for a few hours. The kink in my neck felt like a boulder had been stitched to it. Sleeping upright against a log in front of the now smoking firepit did my body no favors, but at least I’d rested.
The sky ripened to a lighter shade of blue, a hint at the soon arriving dawn. I straightened, and only when I moved did a quiet throb echo in my thigh. That salve had already worked wonders.
Knowing we had a couple days of travel remaining before we returned to base camp, I mentally mapped the next outpost on our route that would hopefully harbor more supplies.
Unable to resist looking over my shoulder to my left, I peered at my would-be tent, where Ro hopefully found better sleep than I did. Reluctantly trailing my vision to my right, to a post where a dead woman remained strapped, I replayed yesterday’s events. Every conversation, every question, every act.
I knew what I needed to do.
36
Ro
The rumble of distant conversation dragged me from sleep. It only took a moment to remember where I was at, who I was with, and what I had done…
Battered fabric draped over branches didn’t do much to filter the rising sun, and I had to squint when I opened my eyes, bringing my hand up to create a shadow over my face. Braxius stirred. He’d tucked under my shirt at my stomach and stayed curled there all night.
My bow remained in my hand the entire night, partially resting on my face. Not that it would have protected me from an intruder if they’d decided they wanted me dead, but easy access just in case.
The skin around my cheek felt tight, the result of salty tears that burst forth like a waterfall last night after I had privacy. Part of me still struggled to accept how I’d ended up here, but there was no time for wrestling with it all now. My plan had begun. I’d used every bit of information I’d received yesterday from Daeto present myself as an ally, and somehow, miraculously, it’d worked.
Depending how our next interaction went could mean the difference between life and death. I sat up, allowing myself a moment to inhale the fresh scent of the forest and exhale my apprehension. I slid on that cool mask of indifference.
“You’ll need to trail behind today. I don’t want them seeing you. Wait until I leave, then dart for the woods behind us. Stay high in the trees, alright?”I said to Braxius.
“What if something happens to you?”he asked.
“Then you fly directly back to Rahana and warn them about the king.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“We’re going to be okay,” I lied, running the pad of my finger down his scaly spine in that spot between his wings he liked so much. He blinked those black orbs for eyes, and I stroked his cheek with my thumb.“Ready?”
He nodded.
After exiting that poor excuse for a tent, I stretched my arms out wide. A flash of heat raced to my cheeks when I realized I was the last one up. Not the reputation I wanted to earn. With what Dae had told me about the leadership at his camp, they were ruthless. After seeing how they treated Alba, I knew the collective would be the same.
Alba. The sun streamed orange light through the leaves, illuminating an empty wooden pole across the firepit. My stomach knotted, wanting to throw up if it weren’t so gods damned empty. She wasn’t there. The red painted divot in the wood marked where my arrow had stuck, firm evidence of what I’d done.
“We’re leaving in five,” one of the men said, the one who’d tried charging me last night, baring his teeth in a subtle snarl.Clearly less happy to have me around this morning. Great.Mental note, don’t let any of them walk behind me today.
