“You wanted a waterwielder. Here I am.”
The water sloshes into a sphere, settling over his head and swallowing his panicked screams.
I don’t waste a breath. Sword poised, feet sure, I lunge forward.
The glint of metal.
A whisper of resistance.
The dark gleam of blood.
My brother’s head drops one way. His body tilts the other.
My feet are already propelling me toward Mayah before his corpse hits the ground. It’s an effort to master the trembling of my hands as I slice through the roots at her ankles, then her wrists.
She tumbles down into my arms, and we sink to the ground. Mayah winces as I peel the thorny roots from her skin.
Unbidden, my eyes fall to Faramir’s headless corpse. Something tight and sharp and brutal spears my chest.
“Are you all right?” I ask Mayah, unable to tear my gaze away.
“Yeah,” she rasps, turning to follow my gaze. “Are you?”
I manage a stiff nod. “Come on. The kitchens.”
They’re dead. Both of them are dead. I can’t escape the image of Faramir’s head rolling one way, his body crumbling in on itself.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Mayah murmurs. We’ve walked nearly half the perimeter of camp. Another few minutes, and we’ll be ready to head into the smoking chaos. We could’ve ventured back into the fray sooner, but I wanted to give Mayah more time to replenish her reserves.
“He … he was still your brother.”
Thorned vines twist around my heart andsqueeze, as though even in death, Faramir is tormenting me. “I had no love for him.”
“That’s not a yes.”
“It’s all I can give right now.”
“You—”
Every muscle in my body stretches tight, feet halting mid-step, head snapping toward the thick tangle of trees to our right. Four energy signatures, heading our way. Large. Male.Angry.
Fuck.
“What?” Mayah asks, but I barely hear her. Her reserves must still be too low. Mine are near drained as well, but I don’t need to summon a storm to kill them.
I unsheathe my sword.
“Let me handle this.” A whispered plea.
“What—”
“They’re coming closer,” I grit out, angling my body in front of her.
A low rustling behind the trees.
The scrape of steel as Mayah unsheathes her sword.
And then four Tundrayni warriors emerge from the clearing.
