Iliria whips around fully to face me. The woman at her feet lies still, eyes open to the sky. Her eyes flicker against the firelight, widening before fury fills them. “Traitor.”
I taste the word on my tongue, weighing it. My next arrow releases, but she has skill. More than I expected. Not a Sharder, like most of the unit seem to be.
A Luminar, like me. Far more skill than blunt force. The shimmering shield she casts between one moment and the next knocks my arrow aside as she races toward me. A sword materialises in her hands, and I reform my daggers, extending them into longer twin swords to meet her swipe. Pushing her back, I follow, my rage filling the air. “You’re killingchildren!”
“Traitors,” she hisses. “All of them, dealing with Darkwielder filth. Andyou. I’m going to stake you to the ground for this.”
My next hit lands. Iliria stumbles back, her armour dented over her left shoulder before she launches herself back at me.
We both collide with the shimmering wall of light at the same time. I pull the swords back just in time to avoid stabbing myself, stumbling back with a curse as Iliria hits the other side.
Twisting, I look for Cindral. I know his work well enough. I’ve seen it before.
When he steps into my line of sight, blood coats the gold crest of his rank carved into his own armor. I flinch back from the sight of it, my lip curling before I roar at him. “What the fuck was this? I will inform the Commander, Cindral.”
We came to gather information, and massacred innocents instead. Only silence echoes around us now. His face glows brighter from the fires as the rest of them set to work burning the remaining shelters at my back. “You killed one of our own, Lyra.”
I don’t deny it. “He was hunting an innocent child.”
And Cindral… laughs. Almost as if he’s surprised. “Vaelion was right about you.”
I shift as he approaches, lifting my blades in warning. “About what, exactly?”
His head tilts. “Why do you think we’re here, Lyra? Why areyouhere?”
Why am I here?
He stares as if waiting for me to catch up. Frowning, I flick my eyes to the rest of them. The other soldiers—fifteen, now—form a circle around us, and unease tightens my gut. “To travel on to Umbraxis.”
“You think they’ll let you walk right in?” Cindral laughs again, but there’s no humor in it. His eyes are like flints as he takes another step. “You think you can just walk into Umbraxis and ask to speak with Kaelen Duskbane? You think Vaelion would let you wander off without assurances?”
Does he think me a fool?“I would have assessed from a distance and planned accordingly. Thatwasthe plan.”
And the bastard smirks. “Well, we made a new plan, the Commander and I. The Darkwielders are sending a group to investigate the burning villages. They’re going to head straight for the smoke. And they’re going to findyou.”
We made a new plan.
This… all of this… was a set-up. For me, and for whoever is coming. My breathing staggers. “You didn’t need to do this.”
“He said you were too soft.” Something like pity lingers in his eyes. “Too weak to do what needed to be done. It’s why I didn’t tell you. I suppose he was right.”
“There’s no strength in murdering children.”
“I did my duty.” His voice raises. “There is nothing I would not do to win this fucking war, Lyra.Nothing.”
And the evidence is burning around us. The scent of flesh fills my nose, and I force back a retch, swallowing the nausea down as I take in the rest of them. None look friendly, although Iliria is smiling.
They’re not just going to leave me here to wait around for the Darkwielders. Not unscathed.
I look around once more, assessing, words tumbling out to buy me time to think. “Did this plan come into play before or after you asked to keep me like a possession, and I told you I’d rather fuck the entire Darkwielder army?”
His lips press together. “You have a vile mouth.”
“Better a vile mouth than a vile soul.” I came dressed as a victim, as someone who needed sanctuary, and it’s about to bite me in the ass. No armor. Only my luminth to fight with.
I could take some of them. Not all at once, but maybe enough to buy me time to run. Cindral isn’t the only one who can create walls of pure light.
But they’ve chosen their positions well. I’m surrounded on every side, none of them leaving a gap big enough to attempt an escape.
