The woman hardly saw the flash of Eira’s silver dagger in the rain. She swiveled and slit the woman’s throat without a second thought the moment she saw the Pillars’ pin on her breast, too. Blood splattered Eira’s cheeks, washed away almost instantly by the thundering rain as she moved on to the third man.
But he had recovered enough to regain his focus. “Mysst soto larrk!” Light condensed into a dagger, parrying hers. Magic exploded behind them. “You’re lucky he wants you alive,” the Pillar snarled.
Him. Ulvarth.
“Yet another one of his many mistakes.” Eira disengaged, dodged the wild swing of his blade.
“You’ll go to him.” The Pillar closed the distance again. Eira danced around the blade, parrying it with her own. “He has your uncle after all.”
Her stomach dropped from her body. “Liar,” she snarled. The Pillars would say anything to try and get her to go back.
“Is that a risk you’ll ta—” He didn’t have a chance to finish before Eira shoved her blade straight through his throat. Ulvarth should have killed her when he had the chance. Now she would leave a trail of bodies of his followers as she made her way back to cut off the serpent’s head. If he really did have Fritz, or her parents, it would only make his agony that much worse for that much longer.
A flash of light. The ship crunched and exploded, lurching to the starboard side. Eira lunged for the port railing, grabbing on. The vessel stabilized, still at an awkward tilt. When Eira glanced back behind her, the river was a sheet of ice that the ship had been frozen into—the only reason it hadn’t completely capsized.
Circles of light surrounded her hands. Eira let go right as the wood and deck exploded. That would’ve been her fingers if she’d waited another second. She slid down the deck, bracing herself for impact on the hard ice waiting for her below. To her surprise, the ice curved, making a chute for Eira to slide down and land easily on her feet.
Adela stood amid the pile of bodies that had slid off the deck and onto the ice. Their blood was striking against the sheet of white. “You’re not as worthless as I thought.”
“Just wait until I get my magic back.”
Adela’s other boat was a commotion as well. The deck was crowded with eleven people, all bustling about crates and sacks that hadn’t been there mere hours ago. Eira recognized each of the faces—from the pirates, to her friends. Guilt tried to choke her, but selfish relief got to her first. They hadn’t left her after all; and the Pillars hadn’t managed to corner them in the streets.
“Don’t delay now.” Adela was already halfway to the other boat, running up a bridge of ice.
Eira raced behind. As soon as she was on the bridge, the ice holding the broken boat they’d just been on turned into water. The remnants of the vessel plunged back into the harbor, sending a wave across the docks, soaking the Pillars that remained. It then tipped back. The sounds of cracking wood and the cries of people filled the air. It was too quickly replaced by the calls of more Lightspinning.
“Juth—”
“Mysst soto larrk!” a male voice cut off the first speaker. Eira paused, two thirds of the way across the bridge. Her heart sank as the familiar sound drew her attention.
“Mysst xieh!” a young man shouted as he stepped in front of an attacking Pillar, holding up a shield of light with his fingertips alone.
Olivin and Yonlin. The two brothers had engaged the Pillars on the docks. Olivin was no doubt still nearby when he had heard the commotion. She couldn’t imagine any world where hewouldn’trun back. “Somewhere safe” for Yonlin must’ve been just out of sight, ready to support his brother.
“Eira!” Noelle shouted from the deck. Adela was just crossing the threshold of the vessel. She reached into her coat and handed a small key to Pine, who subsequently began going to each of the Solaris and Qwint competitors and unlocking their shackles.
“Get over here!” Cullen called as Pine was fumbling with the shackle on his wrist.
“It’s Olivin,” she shouted back. Cullen’s eyes darted from her to the docks behind them and back. “If we leave him, theywillkill him.”
Perhaps it was Olivin the Pillars had been following the entire time—because of his sister, Wynry, he was equally a personal target. Wynry no doubt wanted to end their family lineand finish the job she’d started years ago. Or they had picked up Eira’s trail in Warich and had been hunting her.We have your uncle. The words haunted her. Real, or not? Either way, they wouldn’t stop and this was their best opportunity to tie up a loose end with the other.
Cullen’s expression was one of pure torture. Eira remembered the night neither of them could sleep during the tournament.I can’t stand seeing you with him, he’d said. Wounds were still there. Tensions. Questions. But things had changed. They had all changed. This was more than complicated feelings; it was life and death.
“If we don’t help them, their blood is on our hands. The Pillars want them dead as much as us.” With those simple words, Eira brought Cullen back to the reality of the situation. She’d never felt more helpless. If she had her magic, she could go over there. She could make it.
Cullen ran to the opposite side of the deck. She didn’t know if he was trying to get help, find a way over, or if he had abandoned her plea. If she’d asked for the one thing he wouldn’t give.
Eira turned back to the docks where Olivin and Yonlin were fighting. She thrust out her hand, willing her magic to come.Heed me, Eira commanded.
It didn’t.
She repeated the motion. With a shout and all her might, she searched the depths of her very being for power she knew was there. Still nothing. Shoulder aching, fingers straining from the tension of the movement, Eira resolved to make the attempt one more time. If not now, when her friends needed her, when? Taking a deep breath and gathering her focus, Eira threw out her hand.
And the ice moved.
The bridge shifted and stretched, connecting to the other dock. Eira stared at her palm.Had she… No. The bridge wasn’tshaped like she’d been intending. There wasn’t the same pull of power she was accustomed to when she used her magic.
