I pressed a hand to my ribs. “Gone. Since we started heading north.”
“I thought about leaving you here.” His thumb brushed my jaw. “Then I remembered who I was dealing with.”
“Rheya’s in there.”
He smiled grimly. “I’ll kill Vaeris before he can call it in.”
We both knew what Vaeris would ask me for, and we were riding toward the only rune that mattered.
His hand slid to my neck. “If Vaeris gets close, run. Don’t argue, don’t try to be a hero. I will handle him. If he asks you to break the seal, fight it.”
I bit on my lip and nodded.
“Aelie.”
“I heard you.”
Rain sheeted against my face.
Wraithspine was already behind us. The mairen had swallowed the descent in minutes, and now there was nothing between us and Skalgard but frozen plains and the black fingers of dead trees.
The wind tore at my hair and clothes, trying to rip me from the saddle. I clung to Kairos’s waist, my thighs burning with the effort of staying mounted.
“Have you ever done anything this stupid before?” I shouted.
Kairos let out a short laugh. “No.”
He urged Morvaen faster as lightning split the sky. The strike hit our left, and the thunder shook through my bones. The mairen screamed and bucked, nearly throwing me. Kairos pulled on the reins, forcing Morvaen back on course.
“Easy,” he growled.
What remained of the army sprawled before us. Tents lay flattened. Cookfires had become bonfires. Soldiers ran in every direction, panicked. A cluster of officers yelled orders that no one obeyed. A Skaldir warrior stumbled into our path, sword raised.
Kairos’s scimitar whistled in a silver arc, and the soldier’s head flew off his shoulders. We rode through the spray of blood.
Bodies everywhere. Some were burned, still twitching. A Skaldir warrior knelt, screaming as the air cracked with light, turning him to dust.
Kairos veered hard right, dodging another strike. The impact threw mud and stones into the air, and something hot sizzled past my ear.
“Fucking dragons!” Uther snarled.
His blade carved through warriors who stood their ground. Elwen bent low over her mairen’s neck, evading a spear thrust and answering with a dagger to the thrower’s throat. The others were spread out, weaving through the carnage like wolves through scattered sheep.
A group of Skaldir warriors spotted us. Five of them held spears. An officer shouted, trying to rally them into a line.
Kairos held out his hand.
His mist exploded in a white wave. Soldiers scattered, choking, blind, and we tore through the gap before they found their feet.
The gates loomed ahead. Massive. Iron-bound.
Lightning struck, so close I felt the heat. Morvaen reared. I slipped, grabbed at Kairos, and dragged myself upright. We kept riding.
“Fifty yards to the gate!”
A bolt of red gathered above us.
“Kairos!”
