There would be plenty of time for that in the days to come, but dwelling on what we could not change would only serve to distract us from the coming fight.
A fight that was sure to be bloody and riddled with death.
Just hopefully not mine.
I shook my head, heart pounding with adrenaline for the upcoming battle and knowledge that if I died, Faylinn followed.
And I would simply not allow that to happen.
“Steady,” Torin whispered, drawing imperceptibly on the torrent of magic that pulsed beneath his skin. Earth coiled in one hand, the grass beneath his palm stretching as if to reach the power held there, while Fire held the other, the heat of it so deep I could feel it feet away.
My own hand clenched around my sword, the leather creaking in my grip. Now was the only time I truly wished for access to my magic. A last hurrah to protect those I loved so fiercely.
But it was not to be.
Steel was my only hope ofsurvival now.
The jangling of metal and crunch of boots grew louder in the quiet of night. Signals passed down from Torin to the other rebels hidden within the plains, each of his Mages readying their own powers. I sent similar signals to my Mages and Vessels, the sound of silently rasping steel filling the air as pressure built just as quickly with so many Mages drawing on power at once.
There was no way a goddess would be able to miss the sudden charge in the cool night air, and my heart leapt at the thought of our surprise being foiled before we could use it properly.
I inched closer to Torin, making sure to keep away from the Fire that crackled between his fingers.
“We are going to lose the element of surprise if we do not move soon,” I growled low enough for only Torin to hear. “The magic in the air is too heady. She will discover us.”
Torin jerked his head in a quick nod before signaling to his men farther north, the first line of defense against Solace.
We’d nestled ourselves deep within the middle of our soldiers, needing the vantage of both north and south to communicate with our armies.
And, as much as I wanted to be on the front lines, the reality of battle meant we’d all have a chance at Solace and her sycophants.
If they don’t discover us first.
“Earth Mages,” Torin whispered to me as I signaled down my line seconds later.
The ground rumbled beneath my feet, the earth itself groaning and cracking as it split into two, fissures erupting from dozens of palms.
Cries and shouts of alarm rang out through the night as our attack struck a few of Solace’s followers, plunging them to their deaths hundreds of feet below the surface.
We used that moment of surprise to our advantage, widening the fissures further to swallow as many Mages and Vessels as possible before stitching the ground back together once more, burying them deep underground.
Our Air Mages responded next, pushing a swirling vortex of wind that should have swept up half of Solace’s army in one fell swoop. But much to my surprise and Torin’s unease, the wind died almost as soon as it had started.
“Solace,” he muttered.
Fuck. If our Air Mages were useless against her, that meant our Water Mages would encounter the same blockades.
“Can you do that to their Earth and Fire?” I asked, listening to the shouts and cries of battle and the ring of steel against steel as the first portion of our troops met Solace’s resistance.
“Yes,” he clipped, eyes rapidly darting about as if trying to decide the next best move. “But it would mean I would be completely focused on that and not on?—”
His words cut off sharply as the sky was suddenly lit with fire from a thousand hands, the previously darkened plains awash in a sudden reddish glow, exposing the rabid, hateful gazes of hundreds—thousands—of men and women as they stood just beyond the hills.
My breath caught in my throat, bile coating my tongue.
“ATTACK!” Torin screamed, my voice quickly following.
As if spurned into action by his words, Solace’s army descended upon us, stuck in the hills, with a frenetic energy that had my heart beating an erratic rhythm in my chest.
