She reached for the knives, old friends always there to help. Ellie buckled several straps and slid the blades against her thighs. She tested her movement and made some adjustments. She needed to be light on her feet out there, able to pivot at a moment’s notice.
Ellie found a thin sword in a box. She stared at it longingly, but it wasn’t the type of blade that would hold up in a battle like this. Instead, Ellie found a set of twin daggers similar to the ones Arianna liked to use. She was just as proficient with them. They slid easily against her shoulder blades.
Quick footfalls echoed down the hall, then Gavin slid into the doorway, gripping the frame, chest heaving. She turned to stare at him briefly, then went back to slipping on a pair of fingerless gloves before inserting two more blades against her forearms.
Gavin didn’t speak, but his eyes asked all the questions. She knew he’d gone to see Rion and Talon off. She wished he’d marched out to die with the rest of them.
“I’m going,” she stated matter-of-factly. She let the threat in her voice say the rest.
But instead of begging or convincing or anything else she’d expect from Talon, or Rion, or Arianna, Gavin merely walked over and grabbed his own set of knives and buckles. “Let’s go to war, then.”
Chapter Forty-One
Rion
Clouds moved quickly overhead, rolling across the sky as if attempting to flee before the two forces collided and ripped the beautiful land to shreds.
He’d been able to see them for several minutes now, the horde marching across the once peaceful plains. They dotted the entire landscape and sky in nothing but a mass of dark bodies.
No lines. No clear formations. Just animals ready to destroy.
Rion scanned the masses, searching, searching, searching for the faces that were burned into his nightmares. Niall. Vairik. He didn’t care who he encountered first. They were both dying today.
Those surrounding him had settled into the quiet calm before battle. They were warriors, ready to meet their end if it meant giving their queen time to save them all. Gods, he prayed she could. Even if he fell, he wanted her to live out eternity in peace. Perhaps she’d remember him on occasion, feel a tang of sadness, write a ballad not only in his honor, but Talon’s as well.
His heart ached. It would be less painful if she never remembered at all. If he died today, he prayed she wouldn’t.
Rion watched from his peripherals as Talon took Raevina’s hand. To his surprise, the female let him. They squeezed once, then Talon released his hold, his entire focus on the enemy before them. Maybe he’d sensed something from her down their bond. Maybe he just wanted one final moment to say goodbye, just like Rion had.
The horde was closer now.
Wings beat through the sky, pulsing in time with the warriors’ rapid heartbeats. Even if the clouds managed to escape, it would be raining blood soon.
Rion took a steadying breath, then drew his sword. Talon and Raevina followed, then their entire line echoed the movement, filling the silence with the sound of steel.
Lightning cracked above the regiment to their right, evidence of Avalon’s magic preparing to strike. Rion briefly glanced to his left, imagining his sister standing just behind Alec, their mother in the line directly behind her children, all three ready to unleash hell.
The goodbyes hadn’t been nearly long enough.
A roar echoed across the field, followed by many others, the Dark Fae announcing their arrival.
Animals.
Rion’s magic lifted the earth to their front, pulling all manner of dirt and rocks up, up, up. Giants ready to crush and maim. Ice solidified between the stones, forming jagged spears that towered like massive waves ready to crush everything beneath them. The wind swirled next, carrying with it the scent of the impending storm. But Rion felt Brónach’s magic the strongest. It buried beneath the earth, stretching far, waiting and ready for the command to break through and unleash itself.
Fire flickered in Raevina’s palms. He wished they had more Shadow Weavers and prayed Vairik hadn’t recruited those from Fiadh. Monsters were bad enough.
The Dark Fae closed in. Closer. Closer. Closer.
His hand flexed.
Be patient,his mother used to tell him.Watch. You’ll know when the time is right.
Her voice had always guided him.
One.
Two.
