Bunny hopped outside of the tent, pecked at the dirt again, and then flew off, taking to the sky. Snorri was nowhere to be seen.
“Sir, I have their numbers,” Snorri said.
Years of experience in the battlefield was all that kept Farrin from startling as he turned around to find Snorri nestled with him in the prickly branches.
“Well done, Snorri,” Phile praised. “Now let’s get out of here.” She slipped from the tree, as quiet and sure-footed as a cat.
Farrin—and Snorri—followed her, though Farrin gave Tenebris’s tent one more inspection.What will it take to force him out of Verglas? Killing him might be the easiest way, but I suspect Kavon and Grimick would not give up on the mirror even with Tenebris gone.
Farrin stifled the desire to massage his forehead and slipped through the shadows, refocusing himself on his task.
He needed to get out of the Chosen’s camp, first. Then he would see what General Halvor, King Steinar, and Rakel had to say.
CHAPTER 12
THE BEAUTY IN MAGIC
“Princess, look out!” a soldier yelled.
Rakel spun around, but Farrin was already there, bearing down on the would-be attacker with his speed and two-handed broadsword. In a few heartbeats, he had the soldier disarmed and immobilized.
“Thank you,” Rakel said. She froze the boots of five Chosen soldiers to the ground with chunks of ice, letting the Verglas troops chasing them catch up.
“Of course,” Farrin said. He lunged forward, slicing his sword through the air in front of her. The orb of black fire that had been creeping towards her bounced off his sword and flew back at its caster.
The Chosen magic user screamed in pain.
“We’ve got more enemy soldiers rolling in, Princess.” A reckless grin lit up Pordis’s face as she strode towards Rakel and Farrin. “About thirty paces behind me.”
“Thank you for acting as bait,” Rakel said.
“My pleasure. Tryggvi is going to be thoroughly jealous.”
A squad of Chosen soldiers scrambled around the corner and ran for Pordis, freezing when they realize they had run straight into the street Rakel and Farrin had claimed. Rakel raised a wall of ice behind them to keep them from fleeing, then pelted several dozen ice daggers at them.
The soldiers shouted and tried to charge, but Rakel froze over their weapons—making them too cold to hold. Their hands formed clawed shapes—and ached with the unbearable temperature, probably—and they turned to dart up an alley, running straight into Bunny and Tollak. The men screamed, Bunny roared in her snow bear form, and Tollak chuckled.
“Good show!” Tollak said.
“I must say, battle is certainly nothing I would wish upon any person or country, but there is something satisfying about paying back these wretches for all the damage they have rained down on our pure Verglas,” Pordis said.
“I am glad to see you made it through your captivity without any injuries.” Rakel raised her hands, and snow started to drift down from the sky—causing shouts of panic from Chosen soldiers.
Armed with the knowledge that Tenebris was going to disrupt their supply caravans, Pordis had volunteered to take a number of her wagons near the medium-sized city of Kiby. It was smaller than Glowma, occupied by the Chosen, and positioned near the Verglas-Kozlovka border.
A number of soldiers and magic users—including Bunny and Phile—had gone with Pordis as her “employees,” and also to serve as her guards in case of violence. As predicted, Chosen forces intercepted them and took them captive. Once they were taken inside Kiby, they waited for dusk to fall, then Phile broke everyone out and opened the city gates, letting Rakel and additional Verglas troops inside.
I think this might be the easiest battle we’ve had so far. All the extra magic users make quite a difference,and having Farrin has greatly improved my ability to fight.It was a wonder how much easier it was to use her magic when she wasn’t always listening for an ambush.
Rakel heard a number of soldiers stomping in their direction. She listened for the familiar clink of Verglas armor. Not hearing it, she iced over the street and strewed powdery snow on top of it.
The Chosen soldiers moved from the alley to the street and wiped out.
Rakel raised an eyebrow at Farrin. “Your soldiers would have worn ice cleats.”
“Kavon has been south—out of your reach—and he doesn’t much care about his front lines,” Farrin said. He stalked towards the fallen soldiers like a cat.
Rakel turned her back to him. “His indiscretion is our gain.”
