But if they’ve gone for the forge, that means they’re also going after Jax and the queen.
My breathing feels so tight and shallow.
We’re alone— and there are dozens of scravers out there. Even if we can somehow defeat them, there are Truthbringers coming along behind them.
But Malin and Alek have been at war before, because their expressions are fierce, revealing no weakness or hesitation. I try to school mine to match.
That way, when Malin nods toward the back of the bakery, indicating the next part of our plan, I can nod.
Jax, I think.We’re coming.
My breath shakes for one bare second, and then I tack on one more thought.
Please be alive.
CHAPTER 33
TYCHO
At first, the forge felt like a good hiding place, because the deep corners and shadowed overhang kept us out of sight. Jax and the king once held the high ground from here, and they were able to fend off the Truthbringers as they came up the narrow lane, while I used my magic to set the woods on fire, fighting traitorous soldiers from behind.
But today’s battle is different.High grounddoesn’t matter when your opponents can fly.
My magic is wild and unpredictable, too. The wind and snow swirl around us like a blizzard. Power is everywhere— in the air, in my veins, in mybreath—but I’m unpracticed with this much of it. It’s like trying to ride a wild stallion in the middle of a hurricane. I have no idea how to control any of this. Out of desperation, I try to call for fire, hoping to catch the trees around us so the scravers don’t have quite as much room to travel. But when I try to summon a flame the way I’d light a campfire, lightning blasts from the sky to pierce the snow and scorch the ground in front of the forge, resulting in a tremendous thunder-crack that shakes the ground and makes Jax fall backward.
If nothing else, it makes the scravers retreat for a minute.
“Sorry!” I call to Jax. He’s six feet away from me, and at some point, a scraver must have gotten close enough to take a swipe at his arm. Blood soaks his sleeve all the way down to his bracer, but it hasn’t affected his aim. Despite the strong winds, Jax has a singular focus, and I don’t think he’s missed once.
But in our brief reprieve, I can see that his quiver is empty. His chest is heaving from the exertion, and only two arrows are left in his palm.
“Don’t be sorry!” he calls, scrambling back onto his feet. “Do it again!”
I do. This time the lightning bolt strikes a tree, and the upper branches explode in a rain of twigs and leaves and shards of wood that spray everywhere. We duck back under cover, but the scravers screech again and take flight, going higher into the air to escape the falling debris, though I know it won’t last. Jax and I are both breathing hard, the wind still blowing snow everywhere.
I cast a quick look down the lane, peering through the weather. I haven’t seen Malin or anyone from the bakery, so I have no idea if they’re fighting their own battles or if they even know a fight has begun— though there’s no way they haven’t heard this screeching. If these scravers get past me and Jax, however, it’s only a matter of time before they take on Sephran— and the queen.
Then I realize scravers are ripping apart the doors to the barn.
They’re going after Nakiis and Igaa.
Wind blasts around me, and I try for another lightning strike, wondering if I can aim for the barn.
It works— kind of. I hit the barn itself. Wood explodes outward in the snow, but that’s all I can see before the scravers attackingusswoop down for yet another attack.
Swip. Swip.Jax shoots those two arrows in rapid succession. One
strikes a scraver square in the chest, and the creature jerks midair, then falls to the ground, screeching. The other one banks, dodging the arrow and snatching it out of the air.
Then it dives right for me, fangs bared, the steel- tipped arrow held straight out in front of it. We’re both out of arrows, and I think Jax shouts, but I’m too focused on the sparks of magic in my eyes and the sword in my hand.
But I don’t have to swing. An arrow catches it right in the neck, and the scraver cants sideways, then crashes into the forge, landing in a crumpled heap on the other side of Jax’s anvil.
I’m panting, but I look up to find Sephran in the doorway, a bow in his hands, the queen right behind him.
“Good?” he says.
“Yeah,” I say, a little dazed.
