It’s clear the scravers hate it, too, because they scatter away from the barn, taking to the air.
I look at Tycho, and the strain on his face is clear. There’s blood on his hands and in a wide spray across his armor, and his eyes are all but glowing. He simultaneously looks like he’s full of lightning himself, yet also like he could collapse at any given moment.
Maybe I should care, but I don’t.
“Can’t you hitthem?” I demand.
“I’m trying,” he gasps.
“I can,” says Jax, and with that, he nocks another arrow.
And just like that, the scravers attackagain.
We’re badly outnumbered, and it’s painfully obvious that we’ve never all fought as a unit, because there’s no easy fluidity to our fighting. Most of us have never trained together, or even trained in the sameway. There’s no real trust or cohesion. At one point, Malin drives a scraver away with his sword, but it spirals into me, and I strike it with mine, but it leaves me open to the winged creature coming right behind it, talons outstretched.
From behind me, throwing knives streak through the air, embedding themselves right in the scravers’ throat.Snick. Snick.The creature drops, twitching.
When I look, I’m shocked to see thequeen.
She’s in the doorway. She’s a little breathless, but she already has a new set of blades in her hands.
“Stop looking at me like that!” she snaps at all of us. “You think I can have a husband like Grey and be defenseless?”
I laugh under my breath and turn back for the next attack— because it’s coming. One of the Emberish soldiers dives for the bodies, pulling arrows and tossing them back to Jax. It seems useful, but I can already tell that this is going to be fruitless. It feels like we’re holding them off, but we’re really not. They’re playing with us, only sending a few scravers to attack at a time, because they know it’ll tire us out. No, it’s more than that— they know it’ll tireTychoout.
And it’s working. His strain is obvious. I can hear his breathing from here. Not just his either. I don’t know how many arrows Jax has shot, but it’s probably been a lot. He’s drawing a seventy- five- pound bow at least, and his arm is likely on fire. There’s a reason archers in battle empty a quiver and then retreat to be replaced by someone else. It’s a miracle he’s lasted this long.
The scravers can tell, too. In battle, you can feel victory in the air from both sides.
Right now, we don’t have it.
“Get the queen back in the house!” Tycho snaps at Sephran. “Now!”
“I can help!” she snaps back.
But Sephran is already trying to maneuver her back in the house.
Callyn has drawn close to me. I’m not sure how I know, because I don’t look at her. My focus is on the air in front of the forge, on the winged creatures that keep attacking. But it’s like part of my heart keeps paying attention to her location, centering on the exact space she takes up in the universe so I can make sure she’s safe.
“Alek?” she says.
I can read nothing from her voice. I hope I killed whatever gouged me under the ribs, because it hurts likehell. “Callyn?”
“Are they going to win?”
She says it so softly, but the question is piercing— especially because I really don’t think we are.
But somewhere over the howling wind and the screeching of the scravers, I think I hear hoofbeats. It’s only for a moment, and then it’s gone.
And then thunder rolls through the sky, and I realize I must be wrong— it must be Tycho’s magic. But if I’m right, it could be a second wave— of Truthbringers this time— coming to finish us off.
Lightning flashes. Another tree cracks and starts to fall. Then another. A third tree crashes right in front of the forge, rattling the ground and making us leap backward a little. The scravers scatter wildly, trying to avoid the falling limbs.
But then the thunder goes quiet. Tycho is breathing hard, and the wind is settling. I glance to my left. The queen is back inside the house— with Sephran blocking the doorway, sword in hand. He’s out of arrows. So is Malin. So is Jax.
My gaze shifts to the sky. Between here and the barn, at least ten scravers are left. I have no idea whether others lie in wait in the woods.
I swallow. Callyn moves closer to me. I can hear her breathing shaking from here. Or maybe that’s my own.
