He knows exactly what I want to know. “Fifty females, including my mother.” He points to particular soldiers as he speaks and they return my questioning look with expressions of rage and betrayal. “His mother. His aunt. His grandmother. His sister…”
I inhale a sharp breath, shaking my head at the extent of Pedr Bounty’s cruelty. “Then I order you to go home.”
Gwynn is taken back, his chin jolting upward. “My Queen?”
My eyes swim with the pain of so many senseless deaths. “Go home and bury your loved ones.”
“But… don’t you need us…” He gestures to the battle a thousand paces away.
“It’s true that I do need your swords. But what I need more is that your swords are not raised against me. Please, take your soldiers and do what is right for your families.”
He rises, advances on me, towers. He is a giant. I once thought of him as a bull and that is still an accurate description. He presses his lips together, turning them white, his emotions spilling over. “You could make us stay and fight for you, but you have chosen not to. You are already a better ruler than we have ever had.”
He spins and signals to his House, roaring. “House of Bounty! Fall out!”
They march away, their boots thudding resolutely on the ground. The other Houses watch them with alternating expressions of surprise and alarm as the empty space where the House of Bounty used to stand grows wider and wider. Confusion grows on the faces of the other elves. Some of them grab their weapons and aim them at me. Others are having trouble picking up their jaws. There’s nobody here to give them orders and they don’t know what to do.
As Gwynn and his soldiers march away, they stride right past the cage of shadow panthers. I walk up to it as the beasts growl at me, baring their teeth, their hackles raised. Their silver eyes flash in the sunlight, steel claws extended, gripping the earth. They smell my gargoyle blood.
Erit once told me that the ancient gargoyle Grievous only gave his life to become part of our new world because it was an opportunity to give birth to such dreadful creatures as shadow panthers and talon crows to forever remind the gargoyles that life is cruel. I take hold of the bars, gritting my teeth as the nearest panther leaps for me, its jaws open, ready to rip my hands apart. I release Incorruptible power into the entire cage, lighting it up like a bonfire. Every beast glows for a moment, skeletons burning bright beneath their skin before they shatter.
Seconds later, the smoke clears. Piles of dust waft away in the breeze. The panthers won’t hurt my friends now.
Nearby elves back away from me as I stride away from the spot where the cage used to be. I scan their faces and raise my voice. “I could kill you all. Just like that. But I won’t. Because you are my people too.”
Their confusion grows, but I don’t have time to say anything else because an explosion nearby has me running. A banner bearing the crest of the House of Elder floats past me, half-shredded.
Baelen!
As I take to the air, searching for him, I quickly assess the progress of the elven army at the border. Despite the gargoyles’ ferocity, the elves have made ground. My heart sinks to see Grayson fighting a gargoyle as he advances further along the ravine than I anticipated.
But I frown as I realize… he’s fighting with his hands, not his power.What is going on with him?
And where is Priscilla?
I find her soaring to my right. She smirks at me before she sails away on her stallion, headed for my ladies again. I spin between Grayson and Priscilla, assessing both threats.
I shudder hard because I know I should go after Grayson, but my ladies are more vulnerable right now. Speeding after Priscilla, I finally locate Baelen to my right, on a cliff top further along the border. Elwyn Elder is throwing everything he’s got at him, his sorcery colliding with Baelen’s storm. The air around their battle explodes and shards of rock blast in all directions as Elwyn aims a death blow at Baelen, narrowly missing him. Baelen retaliates by creating a tornado that tosses Elwyn into the air. It looks like Baelen has deliberately drawn Elwyn away from the main battleground to avoid collateral damage, but it places him much too far away from me.
My head spins as I reassess my priorities.
The gargoyles in the ravine need me. My Storm Command needs me. Baelen needs me. And they’re all in different places.
Priscilla doubles back, zipping past, stinging me with a painful blow to my side. She’s definitely trying to get my attention. She hits me again, her next shot more insistent, striking the side of my neck. Grayson told her to be afraid of me, but she obviously didn’t listen. She ducks the lightning I send in her direction and soars straight for my ladies, drawing me away from both Grayson and Baelen.
Curses.She knows I won’t leave my ladies unprotected. I speed after her, mere seconds behind.
On the cliff top, my Storm Command forms another protective box, prepared for Priscilla’s attack. As she flies over the top of them, cackling her heart out, their shields open and I’m surprised when Elyria leaps up from the middle, boosted high into the air. Elyria slides neatly up beside Priscilla and slices open her leg with a dagger. The stallion Priscilla is riding bucks at Elyria’s sudden appearance. Priscilla screams, scrambles to get away from the knife, and ends up falling off her ride. As soon as she hits the platform, Welsian and Roar leap out from behind the protective shields and leap toward her, tearing at her with their clawed feet. She screams and flails as she heals and breaks, over and over.
Her power is fading. Her screams tell me that. But I also sense that she is building for another explosion. My friends, my Storm Command, even Elyria, won’t survive if Priscilla releases her full force right now.
Light builds around her edges, casting her silhouette green like an emerald stone. I soar toward her, stretching out to grab her before she can release it. Roar and Welsian see me coming and jump out of the way. My electrified fist closes around Priscilla’s arm and I wrench her upward, using all my strength to fling her into the sky, creating a tornado to compel her higher.
Just in time. Her power explodes harmlessly inside the storm. She screams with rage as she fights to escape the tornado that I’ve imprisoned her in.
Once I get my friends out of the line of fire, I’m going to end her.
Jordan is covered in blood, her hair dripping. “Marbella!”
