She might not kill you,asmall voice offered from the back of my mind. But I knew the truth. I would. I did.
“He’ll take you toPrimafirst,” Roman said suddenly, nodding up toward where Rainier flew above us. I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of the Captain’s voice, low in warning. “They’re always suspicious of us. And now that we’ve brought you along, they’ll be even more wary of allowing us into their camp.”
“Shouldn’t they be?” I asked with a raised brow. “I mean, you do intend to use me as bait to lure their shiny new weapon away.”
Roman frowned but his brow furrowed in confusion.
“Away?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. “Is that what you think? That we want to lure Adrian away fromArchí and take her home?”
I blinked back at him, stunned at the insinuation that wasn’t precisely their plan.
“Is that not your intention?” I replied, genuinely surprised.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “We don't wish to steal from theArchíans. Least of all an untenable powder keg of dark magic.”
“Then why are we here? What do you hope to accomplish?”
“A partnership. We have the same enemy. Why shouldn’t we join together to defeat those who murdered or enslaved scores of our mutual ancestors?”
“So why haven’t you before?”
“There have been attempts throughout the centuries from both sides. But neither was ever willing to sacrifice what would be necessary in a war. Not without a greater chance of winning. We have that now.”
“She’s that powerful?” I asked, gaping at him.
“She will be,” he assured me, jaw set in grim determination, “with training.”
We fell silent then. The only sounds between us were the trotting of our horse’s hooves in the sand and thewingbeatsof theZvercrowding the sky above us.
“You truly believe it, don’t you?” I asked a moment later, unable to keep the awe from my voice. “You truly believe you can defeat them.”
“I have to,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “Otherwise, we've failed our ancestors. We've failed all of humanity.”
“You could live. Your walls have stood for thousands of years. You could stay behind them and live. Keep existing, keep procreating, keep going. What does it matter if beings who fancy themselves deities live across a stretch of arable wasteland if they never come to you? If you never see them?”
“This is our world. It’s time we took it back.”
I stared at him, wondering if he was serious.
“But—” I began but got no further.
At that moment we crested a hill and I saw the most lush land I'd ever laid eyes on. Tall towering trees littered the landscape, so many I couldn’t see between them. A rushing river wound around them, beckoning to those of us who'd spent so long in the stifling heat of the desert. I had the nearly unbearable urge to run toward the water, strip off my clothes, and bathe until the dirt, grime, and blood from the road washed away along with my sins.
“Welcome to theArchíanForest, Betrayer,” Rainier called down from where hisZvercircled above, a cruel glint in his eyes as he uttered his preferred nickname for me.
I ignored him, focusing on the mile after mile of uninterrupted trees. It was the most incredible show of natural life I’d ever seen and, after so long in the dead desert, it felt like nothing short of a miracle.
So, even though I knew each step forward was one closer to my death, I began to take them with a smile.
How lovely it would be to die here among the trees.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Adrian
“Rise or your family falls with you. Rise or die in the streets, forgotten and afraid. Rise or live in chains forever.”
— Rebel Leader Marsh Ackley in his Speech of Unity during the Uprising of 1897
