I met her weapon again. The steel sparked a third time, Starfire slipping sideways.
I dropped, rolling away as her ax swung where, a moment before, I’d been standing. The Engrossian grunted, spinning to face me.
Her dark hair was chopped at the shoulders, her eyes endless pools of black ink. With Starfire raised weakly, arm shaking, I feared those eyes might be the last thing I saw.
But then, an arrow shot through one of them, jutting out the back of her skull. Blood burst between us. She swayed.
Her ax fell first, then her armored body tumbled to the ground.
More arrows rained down across the streets. Across the city.
They arced through the air, shot from the highest points of the mountains, finding homes again and again.
Not a single one missed.
And—I realized with a wildly hopeful beat of my heart—not a single one hit a Mystique.
Seawatchers. I nearly sobbed as they emerged atop buildings and cliffs, their light tan leathers bright against a sky fading from navy to pale yellow, stars slipping away with the night. They’d come to our aid.
One by one, Engrossians fell across the stone streets.
The Mystiques fought back, finishing off those who became distracted by the sudden appearance of the archers.
Hope bloomed across the faces of my people, even as bloody and defeated as they were. Their fire ignited once again, setting a peace burning through my chest, and I collapsed to the cobblestone.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Malakai
The streets werequiet by the time we left the temple. While the battle I’d feared still echoed in my head, there was no clang of swords around us. Smoke drifted through the brightening dawn, clouds thinning into a yellow haze, pink rounding the edges. No buildings rumbled as they collapsed. No screams echoed as lives were taken.
But the moans of the dying could be heard across the city. They were being tended to, though, so we didn’t stop. Not with Cyph finally awake but stumbling between me and Mila, and Vale still weak on our heels. Mystiques lay in the streets, comrades tending to them and—Bodymelders, I noticed with a drawn brow. A small host of them walked through the city, healing where they could.
The number of Mystiques I saw upright was encouraging. How they’d defeated the Engrossians, I didn’t know.
But when we reached the palace, I found out.
I left Cypherion, Mila, and Vale to walk to the infirmary when I saw Ezalia, the Seawatcher chancellor, and her sandy mare. One look at the few arrows remaining in the quiver on her back, and I understood who we had to thank for this victory.
“They crossed through our territory while the queen led their diversion east,” she explained when I asked after her appearance here. “The moment one of their less obedient warriors killed a Seawatcher, I declared it an act of war. We left two weeks ago to travel here with some Bodymelders. It appears our timing could have been slightly better.” She frowned, looking at the warriors spread across the lawn.The less severely injured had been given sleeping tonics, unconsciousness taking over as their wounds were healed by the mountains.
“Your timing was magnificent,” I thanked her.
Her lips pulled into a thin line. “This is our fight now, too.”
“What about the coasts? Who will guard them?” I asked. Their posts were a defense of the entire continent, never to be abandoned.
“We will always monitor the seas as guided by the Angel.” She lifted her chin, sea-glass eyes blazing. “But avenging our own is our priority.”
I understood that sentiment all too well.
“Malakai!” a deep voice shouted.
Barrett charged up the hill to the palace, a nearly unconscious Ophelia draped in his arms. The sight knocked the wind out of me.
“What the fuck happened?” I stormed up to Barrett. “What did you do?”
Ophelia looked up at me as I shifted her weight into my arms. At this proximity, I noticed an echo of a beat in the Bind.
