I reached along the connection to Res. A flutter of power echoed back. The moonlit sky began to darken, and a quiet wind poured through the streets.
“Some of those soldiers have bows,” Kiva warned.
I nodded. The cloud cover deepened.
Malkin looked up, his smile fading as the sky grew thick and charged. Whispers spread through the crowd, and the archers nocked their arrows, searching the sky.
I felt Res before I saw him. A flash of lightning lit the sky, illuminating his black form against the clouds. People shouted and soldiers cursed. A bowstring snapped, but the arrow careened off course, knocked aside by the wind.
Res shot upward, rising out of the range of arrows and beyond the clouds.
“Tell Razel,” I called above the rising winds, “that if she wants me, she can come get me herself.”
Then the rain began. It fell in patches, first over Malkin’s clearing, then over the Illucian soldiers at the edges of the crowd.
To ice.
The drops hardened into razor-sharp hail. The first of the mercenaries screamed as the ice shredded through cloth and skin. Malkin threw up a shielding arm, but the hail drew lines of red in his golden skin.
The movement shocked Caylus back to himself. He seized the Rhodairen man, dragging him back into the crowd as the mercenaries bolted. The crowd parted as the soldiers fled, Malkin screaming after them to stop, the hail chasing them like a swarm of angry wasps.
Bring down the throne.
A piercing call echoed over the voices of the crowd and yelling soldiers. Light crackled in the sky. Then a bolt erupted, striking the throne. Splintered wood shot in all directions, a fire rising from wood. Fueled by Res’s magic, the flames flared higher, snapping at Malkin with vicious teeth.
Malkin stumbled away. Lightning struck again, hitting the ground a few feet away from him. Then he bolted.
The crowd cheered as the hail and wind chased the fleeing mercenaries and soldiers back toward the coast. I followed, leaping easily to the next of the closely packed buildings. Kiva followed, leaving a cursing Samra behind.
The main road emptied onto the boulevard that ran along the bay. Kiva and I ran to the edge of the final building, Res hidden in the clouds above.
Malkin’s men had already boarded the ship and were moving as quickly as they could to get out to sea. I saw a flash of copper hair as Malkin dove into the captain’s quarters, barricading himself against the hail.
In the midst of the chaos, a tall, slender figure stood at the bowsprit of the ship. Cloaked and hooded, I caught only a flash of gold before Res’s wind swept down, shoving the ship roughly out to sea. It rocked and bowed, the churning waves turning it about.
Res broke free of the clouds, keeping well out of arrow range as he banked in low, wide circles.
Make sure it can’t come back.
As the ship grew smaller on the horizon, the unruly waves tossing it left and right, the hail tore down once more, turning the ship’s sails to ribbons.
I smirked at the fading sight.
Then something moved at the corner of my eye.
I spun, bow raised, and came face-to-face with Ericen.
Four
Everything stopped.
I stared at the prince, and he stared back, his black Vykryn uniform transforming him into a shadow in the night.
And then my mind caught up, and I was lifting my bow, and his hand was reaching for one of the swords strapped to his back.
But I was quicker.
I lashed out with my bow, striking the back of his sword hand with the upper limb. He hissed and leapt away to put space between us.
