“Yes,” Teo says. “He is too valuable not to have against all that brutish force.”
Mrath sighs, “Very well, but you will send at least one of the stone benders with us. Having someone create a smoother passage would be invaluable.”
Vann, who has been watching quietly, nods. “I will speak with the men.”
Ka’Prinn glares at him, but doesn’t press further.
I splay my hands across the cool stone beneath me, growing anxious with the endless planning.
“To continue, along with the stone bender, the rest of your assassins will then attack from the top of the mine. This will leave the entrance unguarded,” Vann says.
Everyone nods, and I realize we’ve reached my part.
“Two hundred elven soldiers will approach the entrance, with my flying above ondrathorinna’sback with Teo. The giants have catapults, which could be problematic, but they should be too distracted to launch any.”
The image of massive boulders being hurled at me while soaring through the air makes my stomach twist.
Teo watches me as I think through the plan, then he shares.
“There are two options with Rholker: either he rides into the battle like his father did, or he is holed up in the house with his witches protecting him. They command the vaimpírs, so we must be prepared for anything. If he is indeed inside the manor, we will fly straight there and land. Most of the compound should be cleared from humans and giants by this point.”
“If we see Rholker on the battlefield, should we kill him?” Ka’Prinn asks, eyes glittering in the low lights.
“Yes,” Teo says without hesitation.
I bristle.
A part of me understands the bloodthirst in my mate’s eyes, and yet I don’t want anyone else to lay a finger on Rholker. It should be me to kill the man who made my life a living hell.
Endu’s words ring in my ears:
Fell the giant king. Free your people in the name of your goddess—Ashra.
With him gone, the giant government will collapse. My people will be free.
“The question remains: daybreak or midnight? King Teo, you can’t honestly expect us to leave this evening,” Ner’Feon says.
“I have already said I prefer the moment the sun cracks over the horizon,” Teo reiterates, clearly frustrated. Mrath is an efficient woman. She’s been reasonable, professional, and wise. But… she brought the majority of the troops. She gets final say.
Her response is interrupted by a commotionoutside the tent. I stand up just as a few hunters pull back the flaps and in walks three great ogres. Their heads tilt to the side, and they crouch to avoid ruining the fabric roof. Though they aren’t as large as giants, they clearly are much taller than the elves.
Sounds of shock manifest behind me as the elves and Enduares congregate in front of the map, blocking the strategy from view.
Chirping crickets, gurgling water, and the smell of humid bog take over the tent, and I stare at the armor of moss and branches that cover their lumpy skin.
I recognize the man in the middle almost instantly.
“Shaman Ogre King Braareg,” I say breathlessly, giving him a slight bow.
His green eyes snap onto mine, and he frowns. He looks less out of place than he did in Rholker’s library, with the spell lights casting sharp shadows over the planes of his face.
“It is you again,” he says gently. Though his expression was soft as it landed on me, he casts a glare at the elves.
“Trolls, elves, you have come to our lands without permission,” he says.
Maldita sea.?1 The border between their land was unclear when we scoped out a place to rest. The tension in the meeting reaches a new high. Teo steps forward, about to speak, when Braareg holds up his hands.
“Save your words, king. I am the shaman of my people, and as such, my connection to the astral plane is greater even than your human light weaver. Yde has whispered your intentions in the wind. You have come to kill Rholker.”
