With a flap of his wings, Res sent a wave of wind barreling down through the grounds, and then another, and another. With each stroke, the smoke thinned, carried away by the growing current. The beats became a steady rhythm, funneling into a stream of air that dispersed the last of the smoke and grew still.
The first arrow nearly took Res in the wing. The second one split my cheek, sharp enough that I didn’t even feel it. Only the hot rush of blood along my skin told me what’d happened.
My heart faltered. I gripped tighter with my knees as Res beat his wings in a powerful flurry, driving us higher and out of range. We swept over the landing platform, landing slightly off-kilter, both of us breathing hard.
“Saints,” I breathed. Not thinking, I touched my cheek. Pain seared and I winced. Soft golden light wisped off Res in response. “No,” I said quickly. “It’s not bad. Save your strength.”
The shouts of soldiers echoed from below. I peered over the side. With the fire out and the smoke cleared, our soldiers poured out the main door, meeting Razel’s forces in a clang of metal. With Valis in her ranks—and I had no doubt the flames were his doing—we didn’t have the luxury of battening down the castle and waiting them out. We had to defeat her strike force and end this before too many soldiers came through the road.
I turned Res toward the other side of the platform. Soldiers poured out one by one from the Sella road inside the mausoleum. A lean figure stood before them, his hands wreathed in flames. Valis. Which meant the shadow Sella was inside holding the road open.
“We have to stop them and destroy the road,” I said. Res trilled softly. Because it was made of black gold, he wouldn’t be able to bend it with earth crow powers.
I scouted the air path from here to the graveyard, noting a pair of archers guarding either side of the mausoleum. Their bows were nocked with glass arrows, aimed at where we’d landed. Waiting.
If we leapt from here, they’d shoot us down.
“How do you feel about being a shadow crow for a while?” I asked.
Res lifted his wings, power thrumming through the cord. Shadows coalesced around us in an inky cloak until we peered out at the world through a haze.
Go.
Res leapt, wings snapping out to catch us. He circled around behind the mausoleum, banking hard to drive us down.
Attack.
Lightning exploded from Res’s beak. It struck the side of the mausoleum, crumbling and melting its side. Soldiers yelled. They turned, bows raised, but couldn’t find the source of the attack.
A ball of flame narrowly missed my shoulder. Res cut sharply to the side, letting out a piercing cry. He turned his wings down, forcing us along an updraft and back toward the landing platform. I glanced back. Valis regarded us with hooded yellow eyes.
He could sense us.
Another fireball whizzed past my ear. I leaned low to Res’s body, shrinking his target. Res beat his wings, driving for the platform and safety. An archer released an arrow, guided by Valis, and the others followed suit. Res flung back a wind, knocking the rush of arrows aside. But they were coming from too many angles. He’d no sooner sent one scattering than another barely missed his flank.
Then suddenly, a shrill, piercing sound erupted through the grounds. Soldiers clapped their hands to their ears, their faces twisting in pain.
Crack, crack, crack!The sound of breaking glass split the night like shattering ice. Res reared up and over the side of the landing platform, shaking his head as if to toss away the horrible noise.
The next moment, one of the archers shouted, throwing aside his quiver. The other followed suit, his hand coming back stained red.
I stared, uncomprehending, as a chorus of shouts echoed among the breaking glass. Then I remembered.
“Caylus,” I breathed. Leaning over the edge, I spotted Ericen near the base of the castle. He tore his hand free from the crank, drawing a sword with the same motion and meeting the blade of another Vykryn. No sooner had he than another Vykryn intercepted the fight on the prince’s behalf, protecting him. Two more joined, fending off the attacker.
Shearen had said he wasn’t the only Vykryn on Ericen’s side. He’d been able to organize ranks so that some of them joined Razel’s personal guard, but he didn’t think they’d act unless they had a reason to. It seemed Ericen had given them that reason.
I leaned close to Resyries, eyes set on the mausoleum. “Go!”
He leapt.
Thirty-Three
We dove.
Wind bit at my skin and snapped at my hair, barreling past quicker and quicker. As the earth grew closer, I squeezed my knees, and Res’s wings shot out, carrying us fast along the ground.
The soldiers had yet to recover from the sudden sound. The exploding glass had cut them and Valis, who held his side. He pulled his bloody hand free, and a rush of fire enveloped it. Shouts rose, swords being drawn. Lightning gathered at the tip of Res’s open beak.
