“A Diaforaté,” Will muttered. “They’re here.”
***
Aya searched the battlefield desperately from her place on the Wall, but there was no sign of Evie. And yet that Diaforatéhad succumbed to their power right there, and she knew there were more of them, and—
“We have to go,” Will urged, his grip tight on her wrist. “Aya, if you know where she is, we have to go.”
He tugged her off the edge and pivoted so he was in front of her, blocking her view of the battlefield. His hands were warm as they cupped her face. “This is how you help them, remember?” he said breathlessly. “This is how you help.”
Aya swallowed, shoving the guilt away as she nodded. She tore her face from Will’s hands, her steps quick as she went to the small pile of supplies they’d brought with them and unearthed a second quiver of arrows.
She turned and shoved it at Aidon.
“What are you doing?” Aidon asked with a frown.
“Someone needs to fight the Diaforaté here. You have the perfect advantage,” Aya said as she nodded toward the Wall.
She pressed the quiver further into his chest, her heart sinking as she saw the moment he realized her intentions.
“No,” Aidon said. “I am coming with you.”
Aya’s stomach twisted, but there was no time to argue. She glanced at where Will was untying the horse they’d held back for this very reason—in case they had to go elsewhere, and quickly.
“You saved my life with a bow once,” Aya rushed. “Now go save the realm’s. Please.”
“Aya—”
“I cannot stay here and help,” Aya argued, desperation bleeding into her voice as she held Aidon’s gaze. “But you can. Please, Aidon. Save our people.”
Aidon’s face shuttered, and she took it as surrender. She rocked up onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Stay with him, Aster,” Aya ordered the black wolf.
“Wait,” Aidon gasped, his eyes darting across his face. “I-I don’t—”
“No goodbyes,” Aya cut him off as she backed towardWill. “Not today.”
“Not today,” Aidon echoed. He cast her a lingering glance before he turned back to the field. Aya fought against the burning in her eyes as she took in his silhouette on the Wall.
No goodbyes.
No goodbyes.
She turned and ran to where Will was waiting for her. He heaved her into the saddle before tugging himself up.
“Where exactly are we going?” he asked as they took off, their wolves at their heels.
“To an old amphitheater,” Aya answered, her heart pounding as she urged the horse on. She’d seen it in a dream. It was the first time Evie had revealed her true self. Aya didn’t know how to explain how she knew that was where Evie had called down the gods, but she could feel an urging in her gut spurring her on, like the gentle touch of her goddess’s hand was at her shoulder, steering her in the right direction.
They raced past the palace gates, curving around the grounds and into the thick of the forest that stretched up the mountains. The air seemed heavier the further they rode, its usual thinness lost to a pressure that pushed down on them as the sky continued to darken.
Aya knew this feeling. She’d felt it on the skiff in the Anath as they approached Sitya.
“Come on,” she urged the horse, her heels nudging her forward. “Come on.”
The horse put on another burst of speed, the trees and rocks blurring as they continued up the winding path, further into the peaks of the mountains.
A deep sense of familiarity settled in Aya, a recognition from the blurred memories of her nightmares.
They were getting closer.
