A cannon shot whizzed toward them from one of the ships in the wharf and Ulvarth did nothing more than hold up his hand. The glow extended farther from him, enveloping the column. The shot exploded against the barrier and scattered harmlessly. The magic wavered, but held fast as Ulvarth drew it around himself again.
Eira’s hand balled into a fist that was instantly coated in ice. It quivered. The whole world fell away into obscurity. There was nothing but him…and her. No fighting in the bay. No smoke and explosions in the city.
Stillness overtook her. All that filled Eira’s ears were her ragged breaths and the thundering beat of her heart. It was time to end this.
But time had not stood still. The column was slowing to a stop. Pillars were bustling about Ulvarth, attending to the cannon.
Reality snapped back, and with it her full attention. She drew her eyes down the wide street and sloping hill, toward the open water—in the direction the Pillars’ cannon was pointed. It was a clear shot to the full naval battle in the bay and wharf.
“They’re trying to funnel them,” Eira realized. The stolen ships from Meru’s armada were pressing in on the Solaris andQwint vessels. The only one free of it was theStormfrost. But Adela had her hands full enough.
Taavin’s attention swept over the city. He made a choked strangling noise and attempted to lunge to action. Eira caught his wrist but didn’t explain. Her focus was on the river that split Risen.
Come to me,she instructed the water. And it did. A veil of water taller than the highest building drew up from the river. It loomed over Risen, casting a tall shadow that gave pause to the Pillars’ efforts. With a curl of her fingers, she drew back her hand.Come hither. The towering wall of water roared forward, crashing against buildings, ripping through Risen.
“Eira!” Her name was a mix of shock and horror from Taavin.
But she didn’t relent. The massive tidal wave crashed over the Pillars and their weapons, sweeping the frontlines and scattering the men. Bodies rolled and currents churned with wriggles of her fingers as she held them under. Yet, against her magic as well, Ulvarth’s barrier held fast. The water parted around him and his section of the column as though it were a boulder in a river.
“There were people in those buildings!” Taavin shouted.
“I tried to keep the water from inside of them,” she snapped back, her focus wavering and the water falling limp. Eira glared up at Taavin. The frustrations she’d been harboring for weeks now burst loose. “We’re not going to defeat an enemy who thrives on cruelty and inhumanity byplaying nicely. I am going to try to avoid anyone else being lost in the fray but, damn it, it’s going to take a monster to defeat him and I will be that monster.”
Taavin held her stare, looking almost like he was going to object or reprimand her again. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned back to the Pillars, working to recover as the water sloughed down drains and troughs on either side of the road like rainwater.
The moment she released him, Taavin was off like an arrow from a bowstring. Eira was close behind, drawing water up the hillside. It formed a smooth plane of ice underneath her feet that she slid down. Taavin summoned spears from sunlight, outlines glowing like threads of molten gold, breathtaking amid the death and destruction.
Eira sped past him, smoothing the ice, keeping it under the soles of her boots. At the bottom of the hill, her slope curved up and Eira ramped off, launching herself over the initial barricade of Pillars.
It was then that Ulvarth’s attention slowly turned. Their eyes met as she landed. His barrier didn’t extend outward to block her. Perhaps because he saw her too late. Probably because he wanted her there.
Once more, the world narrowed onto them alone. A tiny smile cracked the corners of his lips.
“Finally,” he whispered for them both.
41
She crashed into him, time speeding up once more. A spear of ice was in her hand that sheered against his armor. Magic sputtered and crumbled into a thousand glistening shards that skittered across the cobblestones.
Eira rolled, using the momentum to get herself away. Ulvarth was much slower in all his heavy plate—armor that was absolutely covered in Allun’s runes. They crackled as if alive, connecting with arcing, protective magic. That was what was making the golden haze and she’d bet that, much like a trigger ring for a flashfire, the runes on his gauntlets were what gave him control of it.
“You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” Ulvarth reached for the saddle now beside him. The horse was of miraculous stock, still standing and calm among the chaos. Strapped across the saddle was a flashfire, runes emblazoned upon it.
“I certainly hoped not.” Eira stood and placed her feet down heavily. Water cleared the ground around them, pushing out and rising up as ice—forming an arena before any of his men could rush in. “You and me, Ulvarth. No others, no tricks.”
“I don’t need a trick to defeat a pathetic child that has only been kept alive out of my own amusement.” He made ashow of loading the flashfire. Eira watched with keen interest, eyes flicking from the movements of his hands to his face as she began to slowly approach. She didn’t want to seem too nonchalant. Otherwise, he might suspect something was amiss.
A whisper of familiar magic had the hairs on the back of her neck rising. Soaking the city hadn’t just been for show, or defensive purposes. She now had a clear picture of every building as it dripped in the late morning sun. She could feel the people moving within and around them. Familiar magic scuttled up her spine on the edge of her awareness.
Not yet…
“But I will give you a chance to barter for your life,” Ulvarth continued, none the wiser.
“You’re so much more generous than me…” Eira unsheathed the dagger, holding it between them as she continued to circle, drawing closer and closer. “The best I could offer you would be a quick death. But even then…I’m not that charitable.” The words grew cold.
He chuckled and lifted the flashfire, pointing its open end at her. “Return my magic to me,now, and I’ll let you leave Meru so long as you swear to never return.”
“Bartering with a heretic.” Eiratsked. “What would your followers think?”
