And he turned out to be right.
Inside the tent were half a dozen large tables, each scattered with different vials, beakers, small, controlled flames, and countless ingredients. It was, in all honesty, a mess—but Chessalways seemed to know exactly whereeverything was amongst his space.
Upon noticing my presence, Chess held up a small bottle of elixir thatappeareda murky, light gray color.
“We finished just in time, Viva!”heexclaimed. “We’dfinalizedthe main ingredients earlier this week, but I wanted to make it a little more potent. It turns out that burdock root was just the thing we were looking for!”
“Chess, Ezra, you two are incredible,” I praised them.
The two males shared a proud look as I ducked deeper inside. Once I got near enough, Chess handed over the vial.
“We only had enough time and resources to make this one dose. If your predictions are right, then oncewe’rein and deep enough to be away from the wall, the rest of usshouldn’tneed a dose, anyway,” Ezra explained.
And there it was.
A new weight settling onto my shoulders.
My duty was to somehow find a way toopen upthe wall for our people to get through.I was the one with the largest arsenal ofziriliumat their fingertips—not to mention that with my wings, I wasessentially theonlyfaewho could blend in effectively.
The entirety of the battle relied on my ability to be quick on my feet, use myziriliumwisely, and not get caught.
“Thank you,” I said, looking up from the elixir vial. “Thank you both. I’m sure it’ll work great.”
Chess beamed at that, but quickly seemed to remember something else.
“I almost forgot to give this to you,” he said, fishing a second vial out of his pocket—that one with a darker liquid in it—and handing it to me.
Though when he handed it to me, I realized he was handing me more than just the ink-like substanceI’dused in the North before.
He’dalso slipped the now slightly dirty cloth out of his pocket, holding it against the vial as he placed both items in my palm. The same cloth that held the small piece ofalychite—the material fitting in the palm of my hand as he gave it back to me.
“Just in case.” He nodded.
To anybody else—even Ezra—it looked likehe’djust been handing me a second vial.
But what I held in my hand now was much more than that.
“Just in case,” I repeated, tuckingboth of the vialsand the shard away into one of my own pockets. The dark gray leathers I wore wereformfitting, thoughI’dalso managed to snag one of Caelia’s black chain-mail tops, whichI’dslipped on over my leather tunic.All ofmy sun and moon stones had been charged, the gloves adorning my hands.Even my hair was braided tightly down my back, courtesy of Teagan.
I was, more or less, readyfor what was to come.
Or at least, I was as ready as I could be.
As I wished Ezra and Chess the best before slipping out of the tent, I tucked the vial into a small pocket against my ribs. Ezra had insisted on playing a part in the battle that time around, so Chess had offered him a spot with histrokavs. Ezradidn’tpossesszirilium, but he could still be an extra pair of hands and eyes wherever needed—not to mention his vast knowledge. The male had gladly accepted the task, though if you looked at him long enough, you could see the anxiety etched into his features.
Margo had gone to stay with Nan and Pops—they’dbeen the onlyfaeleft that Byn, Teagan, and I felt comfortable enough around to leave the young female with. Byn and Teagan knew theAshfordsfrom years of them serving as nobles, but to me, they were family.
They’dbeen more than happy to help us, and once Nan answered the door with residual paint on her trousers and baked goods in hand, she had quickly won Margo over.
Now, I walked through the forest aimlessly.We’dalready eaten dinner, and though I knew I should be doing my best to rest before the battle looming over us, Icouldn’tfind it in me to sit still.
Who would I face on the battlefield this time?
And what would this cost us?
Questions such as these bounced around in my mind as I started walkingfaster and fasteruntil I broke into an all-out run. Icouldn’tfly forriskof exposing our position.
So I ran.
