“We have to make the most of it.” I pointed to the king’s ship. “We have to defeat himtonight.”
Thyra nodded. “But first, what happened to Vale?”
My heart swelled at her concern. “He’s knocked out, but alive. I have shadows guarding him. Saga, maybe you should join him? Make sure he’s well?”
Her father could die, and though she understood that fact and didn’t support him, it wasn’t fair to have my friend be present for such violence.
“I’ll fly us there,” Qildor said, and Saga gave a nod of agreement, her gaze dipping down only briefly before the pair soared off into the night.
When I turned to my sister again, it was to find that she wasn’t alone. Two shadows floated alongside Lasvin.
“Find Thantrel. Bring him to the same place Isolde has kept Vale safe and help guard over both of them. Do not harm Vale or his sister. Attack only mages and those in Aaberg colors.”
“If the ship sinks, save them,” I added.
“Yes, if that ship sinks, save them. Take them to one of our ships and lock them up to protect others.”
“That should be good.”
The shadows disappeared, and Thyra exhaled. “I couldn’t resist doing the same as you.”
“How much more of that power can you use?” As much as I wanted to dive and kill Magnus right away, regrouping was far more intelligent.
“Not much. One or two more figures probably. If I switch to tendrils, I can last longer.”
“I think I’m at my limit,” I admitted, tugging at the magic again. Usually the darkness inside me was eager to come forth, but no more emerged from me. I’d drained myself at the worst possible time.
I did what I had to do. Aleksander would never have survived on the ship. And Vale . . .an image of him breaking Sigri’s neck made my breath catch. He needed to be where he was. Guarded.
“We don’t need them,” Thyra assured me. “We’re powerful enough with our winter magic, and if Érebo is there, we have Sian. He can signal the other limiters.”
I glanced at Sian, and he nodded back. Despite his bravery, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of apprehension. We’d promised Lord Balik that we’d do our best to keep his family safe, but we were bringing both Filip and Sian into a fight with King Magnus and potentially the Shadow Fae King too?
“We won’t leave.” Filip’s jaw tightened, and suddenly he looked far older than he really was.
“Half of us took vows to protect you against whatever may come, and we intend to honor them.” Astril said.
I leaned over Arava’s neck and peered at the ship below only to find that King Magnus was no longer there. Only chunks of ice littered the upper deck. Was he hiding in a cabin?
“Let’s find him,” I said.
We flew lower, the four gryphons and their riders behind Lasvin and Arava. A more thorough investigation revealed that no one was on the exterior portion of the Aaberg ship. I was debating having a vampire do a search of the interior when Thyra barked out a cold laugh.
“There he is!” She pointed ahead of us, to the west, at a ship that was separating itself from the battle.Fleeing.King Magnus stood on the upper deck, his telltale hair gleaming in the ship’s faelights as he gesticulated at the dragon not too far away.
I snorted. “I think Rynni might have scared him.”
He would have been stupid not to fear a dragon. And luckily for us he didn’t know Rynni, unlike most pure-blooded dragon shifters, could only breathe fire once or twice before she needed a day to recover. Her flames were no longer a threat. However, the healer still had teeth and a wicked tail that she would use to great effect.
“He has more than a dragon to worry about!” Thyra cut west.
We dodged a coordinated assault of mage magic, and I peered down at the ships on water. Thanks to Rynni, many mages had been forced to jump ship and swim to other vessels. Those that weren’t on fire. Some, however, seemed to be staying in the water—no matter how tumultuous the waves were. To them, the threat of being on another ship that a dragon might attack was too great.
The dragon rounded back, readying to target another ship with her claws, when suddenly, Rynni’s maw opened. A roar blasted through the night, and the dragon began to thrash in the air.
“What’s going on?!” I could see nothing attacking Rynni. No mage magic, which from what I’d seen, generally gave off light or looked like fire. But Rynni looked as if she was fighting an invisible force.
Not invisible.The answer suddenly became clear. “Shadows are attacking her.”
