A bell later, Vadim’s consciousness was once more soaring through the night on threads of Azrahn, only this time it headed south, into Celieria.
Celieria ~ Allied Encampment
Ellysetta dreamed again of a ruined building and a secret, windowless room housing the dark mirror that began to glow silver-blue like Lord Hawksheart’s mirror pool in Elvia when she approached. As the phosphorescent surface began to swirl, the face of the stranger who somehow seemed so familiar appeared in the mirror’s depths. Blond hair billowed gently around the stern, Fey-beautiful masculine face.
She lifted her hands. Magic swirled around her fingertips in a bright glow, threads of gold and black weaving in a pattern she’d never seen before. The eyes of the man in the mirror went bright. He began to speak, but she couldn’t hear the words.
Suddenly, a dark shadow enveloped her and the world went dark. When she could see again, the scenes from vivid and familiar nightmares raced before her eyes. Herself, bound by heavy chains and clad in a green, boat-necked gown, standing beside a cowled Mage. Her sisters, Lillis and Lorelle, trapped in a pit and screaming for her to help them as a pack of snarling darrokken closed in for the kill.
And then, the most terrifying scene ever to haunt her nightmares: Rain, chained to a wall, as a knife drove deep into his chest. Rain, his dying eyes fixed upon her, as a sword severed his head. Lillis and Lorelle, their eyes black as night, dancing in the shower of his blood.
Ellysetta’s eyes flew open, and she came awake with a gasp. She sat up and lifted her hands, expecting to see them covered in Rain’s blood. Instead, she saw the spotless white linen of her nightgown with its soft lace cuffs. With a shuddering gasp, she buried her face in her hands. She wasn’t in some dark Mage fortress. Her sisters weren’t Mage-claimed and Rain wasn’t dead.
A dream,she told herself.It was only a dream.
But when she reached for Rain, needing to verify his safety, her searching hand encountered only cold, empty space.
Alarmed, she spun a swift Fire weave to light a candle lamp. The soft glow of light blossomed, revealing the rumpled pile of furs where Rain had been sleeping and the barren rack where he kept his steel at night. His war armor was missing—and so was he.«Rain? Where are you?»
Even before she finished the worried call, the tent flaps parted and he ducked inside, glowing silver and gold in his war steel. “Forgive me,shei’tani,”he apologized. “I didn’t mean to alarm you. I was just outside, trying to let you sleep as long as I could.”
Relief that he was here, and unharmed, left her drained. “It’s time?”
“Aiyah.The rest of the camp is already packed.”
Ellysetta ruthlessly banished the remnant terror from her nightmare. They were riding to war. She wouldn’t add her fears on Rain’s already overburdened shoulders. She rose without hesitation and spun her own armor and steel into place. “Then let’s go,shei’tan.”
In less than a handful of chimes, herlu’tanspun the bulk of the tent and its furnishings back to the elements, and condensed the rest into small, lightweight parcels for easy transport.
And then the Fey army began its march towards Orest and war.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Tairen roar a battle call
As warriors gather one and all.
Face the foe that now steps forward
With Fey’cha red and glinting sword.
To save the magic Fey of lore
Answer now the call to war.
Call to War,by Tevan Fire Eyes, Tairen Soul
Celieria ~ One hundred miles south of Orest
10thday of Seledos
At midday, as the Fey army halted to rest and eat, Rain and the commanders of allied forces gathered in a magic-warded tent several miles east of the main militia. Fearful of the Mage using her eyes to spy upon the allies, Ellysetta remained behind with the othershei’dalins.
When Rain introduced Farel and his men to the other commanders, the air in the tent became decidedly chilly. The cool reception was not unexpected. Deeply ingrained Fey beliefs would not change in the blink of an eye, and thanks to the Mages’ relentless subversions and thedahl’reisen’sown murderous actions along the borders, the Celierians were no more eager to welcomedahl’reisenamong their ranks than their immortal neighbors.
“I understand your reluctance to trust thedahl’reisen,”Rain told them. “A week ago, I shared it. But I have since learned that thedahl’reisenwho form the Brotherhood of Shadows are not so honorless, nor so irredeemably soul-lost, as I have always believed their kind to be. They saved Ellysetta and me not once, but twice, without any thought for their own safety or even their own survival.”
He swept a hard gaze across the gathered commanders. “That is not, however, the reason I have welcomed them. Simply put, we need them. Our numbers are few while our enemy’s are great. We cannot win this fight without them.” He turned to Bel. “Bel, show them what we are up against.”
