“That gives us what? A day?” Sariah asks, her gaze pinned on Blaise as he straightens with a sigh. His hand brushes her slightly in a movement so infinitesimal that I’m not sure if I’ve not imagined it.
“Half a day if we’re lucky. Most likely hours,” he answers with a grimace.
“I’ve sent word for the Umbras to collect all the sleeping concoction we’ve been able to produce, to prepare the wing bones, to dip arrows in it.” Soren intervenes from his place by the hearth. “It’s not nearly enough, but it will do.”
Panic seizes my chest, and I shake my fingers to chase the pressing numbness away. The light dims in my vision, although no clouds obscure the sun. On instinct, I try to control my breathing—the familiar mental exercises somewhat foreign, like a rhyme you once knew by heart but now struggle to remember.
My shadows press gently against my limbs, the sensation meant to ground me, to bring me back to myself. Yet all I can do is obsess over the same jarring thought.
I stupidly believed we’d have more time.
I’m not ready.
I’m not ready.
I’m not ready.
“One is never ready in the face of calamity, Omri,”comes K’haram’s gentle rumble inside my head. “Disaster has a way of striking when you least expect it, even when you’ve prepared for it with carefully laid plans. Fate bows to no creature, and tragedy even less so.”
His gravely voice dispels my rising anxiety, the room around me coming back into focus. They’re deciding where to stage an ambush for the onpyrs, to thwart their advance. I force myself to pay attention to the words coming out of Blaise’s mouth; the sound disjointed, as if I’m underwater.
“The forest outside Drovillan is our best bet. They won’t see us coming. We can use the landscape to our advantage.”
I frown when no one objects.
“It’s too close to the city, to Sangeries,” I interject. I hate how my voice comes out high-pitched, betraying my inner turmoil. I’m the fucking Foretold One. If I can’t gather my wits now, how will I do so in battle?
“It’s our best option on such short notice, umbra,” Killian states, his hand coming to rest at my waist. I gaze at him with dreadful understanding, and he silently mouths, “Are you okay?”
I shake my head just barely. There is no point in pretending. Of course I’m not fucking okay.
Nothing is.
“We could send K’haram to survey the land ahead. Find out their exact location. How fast they’re moving,” Celine says.
“No,” I instantly respond. “I will not have Morweena know about his existence. She will try to subdue him again. Or kill him.”
“Omri,”comes his voice in my head, and I know what he’s about to say. He’s all too willing to sacrifice for me, for us, but I won’t have it.
“Don’t you fucking dare. You want to fight this time around? Fine. But I will not send you out to slaughter just to save a few hours.”
“But…”
“No! My word is final, K’haram. Don’t make me invoke the soul bond.”I slam my mental doors shut on him, knowing he won’t act against my will.
“The Foretold One is correct,” Ereshkygall intervenes, speaking for the first time since we entered this room. “Keeping his presence hidden is our greatest advantage. He shall be the element of surprise in battle.”
Celine nods curtly, her protests dying on her tongue at Ereshkygall’s words. She might not be a Goddess, but her tone carries the finality of ancient wisdom. She’s the only one here to have faced these horrors in the past, the only one that survived them.
“Then it’s settled,” Blaise continues his earlier strategizing. “We plant our warriors in the forest and we face those bastards head-on. Between vampires, Dark Umbras, and the remaining human army, they won’t stand a chance. Tomorrow shall bring a new world order. Peace.” His words aredetermined and hopeful, but his azure eyes betray his fear as he casts Sariah a furtive glance.
“We fight together, we die together,” Soren vows, thumping his fist lightly against his heart. Sariah utters the same vow, and one by one, each of us does the same.
“I’ll go check on Mael and prepare our army,” Kahlya says before she leaves the room with Celine.
“And we shall make sure our Dark Umbras are prepared,” Sariah says, gesturing Soren to join her. “Blaise, we need you to explain the layout to them.”
He nods, walking out after the brother and sister.
