“Fuck.” My thoughts spin, struggling to come to terms with my newfound power. “Invisibility, huh?”
Jihun quickly sobers. “Do you remember how you did it?”
“I move like a clumsy orangutan compared to you,” I mutter. “I wished I was invisible so I wouldn’t give us away. I didn’t know it would happen literally.”
“Good.” Jihun wraps the Queen of Sky in a light blanket and lifts her into his arms. “Just do that again.”
“Yeah. Sure. Piece of cake,” I grumble under my breath. “Wait. What about you two?”
“You can expand your protective dome to shield other people. I believe your invisibility works the same way,” he says with confidence. “It is a new power, but it is still yours, Ethan.”
“You have enough faith for the both of us.” I walk to the entrance and reach for the tent flap. “It’s do-or-die time.”
“Let’s aim fordo.” Jihun steps outside with the queen in his arms, and I follow him with a hand on his shoulder.
My heart pounds as the gazes of the bound soldiers shoot toward us.Shit.They saw the tent flap open and close.
But did they seeus?
Cold sweat runs down my back, and anxiety tightens my muscles. This is how I felt the first time I turned invisible—desperate and scared.
Jihun sets a steady pace away from the tent. “Are we invisible?”
I have to get Jihun and the Queen of Sky out of the enemy’s camp. Once the queen regains consciousness, she can stop this war—end this whole nightmare. I might even get to have an aunt.
“Yes,” I say, more from hope than conviction.
“Good, because I can’t hold the binds anymore,” he groans.
The moment of truth.
I glance behind me at the recently unbound soldiers. They’re running in and out of the tent and gesticulating wildly. Relief rushes through me. They don’t see us.
But I strain to hold the dome over the spell maiden as we move farther away. She casts spell after spell to break through, and a sharp pain pierces my chest. With a grunt, I let the dome dissolve. Invisibility has top priority.
“The spell maiden is free,” I warn Jihun quietly.
He nods without looking back and continues taking measured steps until the tent is lost in the shadow of the woods. After what feels like hours—but it couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes—Jihun juts his chin toward the dense trees ahead.
Our soldiers are hidden well, but I glimpse two of them stationed at the front. My knees go weak with relief.A few more steps.But just as I let my guard down, dirt and leaves hit the back of my head and rain down my back. The assholes figured it out.
“Shit.” I shove Jihun toward the trees. “Go. Take her to safety.”
“Ethan.” He looks over his shoulder for the briefest second, conflict clenching his features.
“That’s a command.” My low voice rumbles through the forest. “Go.”
Jihun runs, his feet barely touching the ground, with the Queen of Sky pale and unconscious in his arms. When they reach our troops, I cast aside my invisibility and face the enemy battalion.
“Well, come on then.” I summon my axes, then pivot to the side, raising the golden axe over my head and the silver in front of my chest. “I don’t have all day.”
Standing in the midst of the magnificent trees, I am surrounded by an army mightier than theirs. Thegiof Mountains streams in through my very pores, and my magic swells and grows.
The archers let loose their arrows with high-pitched screams. I block every one of them as though they come at me in slow motion. Then the infantry runs headlong toward me. I plant one foot in front and bend my knees, bracing for the impact I’m about to deliver, then cross my axes over my chest. With a roar, I send out a wave of power, my feet skidding back from the force.
The enemy soldiers ram against the wall of gi. When one falls, another replaces them, battering endlessly into my magic. I send out another pulse, then another, until the soldiers pile high on the ground—the opposing force of my power the only thing stopping them from toppling to my feet in an avalanche of bodies.
Only two more rows of infantrymen remain beyond the wall of magic and the dam of fallen seraphim. Then a wiry male steps out from behind the soldiers still standing—a general, based on his brass scaled armor and reinforced helmet.
