“Asteria has Prince Altan and the forces he was able to gather from Sunrise here,” I explained, concern growing. “We knew Gravadain would side with Cyrus, but we didn’t think it would be this soon.”
“Maybe the disappearance of just under half his soldiers motivated him,” Beltane suggested, and I nodded in thought before motioning them both forward as I broke into a run.
“Altan! Zakat!” I screamed toward the two princes. “To me!”
Thank Hyperion for Fae hearing, as the two princes quickly made their way over.
“My father’s here.” Altan greeted me grimly.
“Way to state the obvious, bird brain.” Zakat rolled his eyes, leaning on his sword with all the casual confidence in the world.
As if he wasn’t also a bird?
Altan scowled at him, opening his mouth to say something until he seemingly thought better of it and instead turned to me. “What are our orders?”
“I need you two to help fight your father. Let Asteria and Calix focus on Cyrus without distraction,” I commanded them. “We’ve already lost a number of warriors due to iron. They aren’t healing quickly enough to get back into the fight. Thankfully, our forces still outnumber Cyrus’s since he had no compunction about taking down his own men.”
I couldn’t help but worry that another round of iron shrapnel raining down on us would leave us in a position we couldn’t recover from.
But it was the blood magic Cyrus seemed to now be relying on, if the plethora of lightning was anything to go by, that truly made me anxious.
The two princes ran off, and I took a moment to observe the battle, seeing if anyone needed help. Callisto was busy leading a group who were working to take out the iron weapons. Their ability to handle the material made them extremely useful there, and she had only the best of the human resistance fighters with her. They were working to take out another colossal contraption, and were cutting through Fae with an efficiency that showed their years of training for just that task.
I was surprised to find Soren, his copper hair easily identifiable, leading another group of humans through the battlefield. He had them taking out the wounded enemy soldiers who’d been weakened from the iron projectiles. He called out orders, showing a surprising ability to lead I hadn’t recognized before. They snuck past healthy, strong soldiers and snuck up on those limping along or trying to pull themselves up off the ground. I couldn’t help but feel vaguely impressed.
The sound of a crash had my head snapping to the right, where I spied a giant wave of water rising from the ground. A tidal wave ready to sweep through the city, taking out any in its path.
Enemies, allies, and innocent bystanders alike.
Fuck.
I had to hope Altan could hold back the waves his father was amassing.
“Uncle Dali!” I called, and he ran over. “How’s your air magic? Could you help hold back the waves?”
He bit his lip and tilted his head as he considered. “I’ll try. I have enough royal blood to access the power, but it’s not as strong as Tariq’s.”
“Anything will help,” I told him with an appreciative nod.
I watched Altan step forward, hands raised, as he summoned a wall of water to block his father’s wave. Zakat flew up in the air, his fire magic best used on Gravadain’s forces directly. I yelled up at him, ordering him to fly up over the clashing waves of water and target Gravadain directly. If we could force him to lose his attention on his wave and let it go, that would be ideal.
Zakat nodded, and with a last long look at Altan, he flew up high over the water, flames rising from his hands as he sent balls of fire down on Sunrise’s army. Watching fire meet water, I could only hope it would be enough.
Chapter Fifty-eight
Cyrus
I would applaudthem for their resilience if it weren’t for the risk of all my plans being ruined.
The memory flashed through my head.
A crown of gold, streaked with red.
A throne built on a pile of human bones.
A power that electrified the masses, everyone in line and in their proper place.
Once my enemies were out of the way, all of that would be possible. The dreams had been clear about that. But I would never succeed as long as Calix lived and Asteria wore a crown.
