Orion clicks his tongue. “Not to mention that she still has that hourglass thing that functions as a shield against magic like mine and Selena’s. We need to separate her from it.”
“I… might have an idea about that,” a hesitant but cheerful voice says.
We all turn towards the source of it. Fenriel blushes at the scrutiny, but the hawk on his shoulder just ruffles its feathers and looks back at us all with determined eyes. After glancing over at Diana, Fenriel begins explaining his plan.
“That might work,” Draven agrees when he’s done. “However, our initial problem remains. We can’t get close to her.”
“What if we do what they did?” I say, looking from face to face. “Sneak a force around the back? If we can get behind Jessina, we could spring an ambush on her.”
“Excellent plan,” a low and smooth voice suddenly says from my left.
We all jump and whirl towards it, weapons drawn. It takes my shocked brain another few seconds to realize what it is that I’m looking at.
A woman made of the woods stands there on the grass. Her dress and hair, all made of vines, ripple slightly around her even though there is no wind here right now. And a pair of ancient brown eyes watch us all with a wicked glint from underneath a crown of red flowers.
The Dryad Queen.
“Mabona’s tits,” Alistair blurts out while extinguishing the fire in his palm. Shaking his head, he stares at the dryad that just appeared out of nowhere. “Where did you even come from?”
She just flashes us all a wolfish smile. Then her gaze sharpens, and she locks intense eyes on Orion. “You have it.”
It’s not a question. But Orion answers anyway. “I do.”
The Soul of Trees pulses cheerfully in his pocket.
A wide smile, so otherworldly that it’s almost terrifying, spreads across the Dryad Queen’s mouth. The fact that the smile is somehow filled with relief and joy but also looks sharp and ruthless at the same time makes a primal sense of fear pulse through me.
“Then the dryads will now go to war,” she says, that vicious smile still on her mouth.
Diana glances around at the otherwise dryad-free landscape around us. “Your people are here?”
“Yes.” Her gaze slides towards the forest a short distance from us. “In there.” She shifts her attention back to us. “We will move through the woods and towards the other side of the battlefield for this ambush of yours.”
“Good,” I pick up. “And we’ll send a small fae strike team around the other side.”
Draven snaps his gaze down to me, no doubt about to protest that he doesn’t want us to split up. But before he can do that, Galen points out the obvious.
“There is only a mountain range on that side.” He motions at the tall mountains that flank one side of the battlefield. “There’s no way you’ll be able to sneak along the bottom of it without being seen.”
“That’s why we’re going through the mountain.” Raising my voice, I call, “Trevor!”
Trevor turns towards us. When I beckon for him to approach, Kevlin and some other fae from the Seelie Court follow as well.
“Look,” I begin while they make their way towards us. “Most of us need a break from using our magic. But we can’t just sit here uselessly and wait for it to build back up. So instead, we’ll use that time to sneak around the battlefield while all of you keep Jessina and her army focused on you.”
“I don’t like splitting up,” Draven says, his eyes narrowed.
“I know. But if you’re missing from the battlefield for too long, she will get suspicious. And then the trap will never work.”
He draws his eyebrows down, looking like he wants to argue but can’t find any actual faults in my plan.
“I’m still waiting for the part where you explain how you will get to the other side unseen,” Galen says, looking at me with raised eyebrows right as the other fae join us.
I turn to Trevor and then point towards the mountain. “Can you open a tunnel for us in that?”
He blinks in surprise and then turns to look at the mountain. Drawing a hand through his blond hair, he considers for a few seconds before saying, “Yeah. It will take almost everything I have, but yes, I could get us through.”
“And if we walk on the other side of the mountain range all the way to the other end of the battlefield, will that be enough time for you to build your energy back up so that you can open another pathway through?”
