She grabbed his hand and clung to that thought, letting it fill her. With barely any effort at all, her golden magic spilled out and down into the valley below. The effect was immediate. One by one, the soldiers faltered, blades slipping from loose hands as her enchanted sleep claimed them. Kara felt each collapse – a faint tug at the edge of her mind, like lights dimming one by one as every consciousness surrendered to her power.
Swift. Ruthless. Unstoppable.
It was over in seconds. Twenty-four men down. The silence that followed was absolute. Unsettling.
That was fast. Too fast. Too easy.
“Kara,” Sebastian looked at her in awe. “That was amazing.”
She flushed with pleasure at his compliment. He stood quietly and pulled her up by the hand. “Let’s go, we need to be in position before the patrol comes past and notices. We have twenty minutes, at most.”
They moved cautiously down the slope, the loose stones crunching lightly under their feet. Kara bent once, crouching beside the nearestsoldier. His chest rose and fell with slow, heavy breaths. She hovered her palm by his temple and her usual emerald snaked out. The enchantment was deep. Strong. And holding.
“At least an hour,” she murmured.
Sebastian gave a sharp nod, eyes already sweeping ahead. Together, they wove through the silent ranks of slumbering men, scaling the last stretch of valley in silence – pulling themselves higher with careful movements – their hands scraping against jagged stone. The walls around the Fire Temple loomed above them now, vast and sheer, rising like the base of a mountain. On the ramparts above, archers and guards faced outward, watching the distant approaches. Sebastian and Kara crouched low in the shadow of the rocks, hidden from sight, just beneath the outer patrol path. Footsteps approached. Sebastian froze, body tense, listening. Judging the distance.
“We have to hurry,” Sebastian hissed, gripping his blade, “If they look down into the valley before we take them...”
He didn’t need to finish that sentence. A single shout was all it would take to alert the guards inside. The patrols reached the southern wall almost in unison – one pair pacing in from the east, the other from the west. Perfect. They would cross their position at the same time; they could take them together if they moved fast enough. As Sebastian had planned. But then the eastern pair slowed. One of them stopped, scanning the shadows behind them. For what, Kara couldn’t tell. His companion turned back to speak, holding his torch high. They lingered too long. Now their timing was off.
They’re too far apart – we can’t take them together.
Sebastian swore under his breath. He knew it too. “Damn it. I’ll take them both.”
“Sebastian, no.” Kara grabbed his arm, pulling him back down before he could be seen. “The second you rush one pair, the other will raise the alarm.”
His eyes snapped to hers, storm-dark. “I’m not leaving you to take them alone.”
“I can do this,” she said firmly. “It’s only two. My emerald is enough for that. You take the west, I’ll take east. Quick and quiet, like you said. We meet back here.”
Slowly, and with obvious reluctance, he muttered, “I hate this.”
“I know,” she said. “But trust me. I can do it.”
“If anything goes wrong–”
“I know, we run,” she assured him. He’d said it about a hundred times.
He nodded once and slipped silently westwards towards his targets, crimson already glowing. She turned her attention eastwards. The two soldiers had stopped again, heads bent in lazy conversation several paces away along the southern wall, oblivious and mercifully not looking in her direction. She moved carefully by the rocks, keeping low and silent as Sebastian had drilled her.
Almost there.
As soon as she was close enough, she reached up and unfurled her emerald light from her palms. It wrapped both men in seconds. It enveloped the first guard in an instant – his sword clanging to the ground, his body slumping heavily after it.
Shit. If someone heard that–
More would come. But no time to worry about that now. The second had stiffened, staggered, and shook his head violently, fighting to break free of her spell. It was too weak. He was going to shout. Alert the others. Ruin everything.
She caught sight of the nightshade cuffs at his belt, and the memory hit her. Sebastian’s arms twisted behind him, Thorne soldiers dragging him away, her powerless to stop them.
Not this time.
She moved forward, but his hand shot out and caught her wrist, yanking her towards him. Her emerald magic flared hotter, sharper in response. It bit into the man’s consciousness with a viciousness she hadn’t felt before. His heartbeat raced.
Go to sleep.
Go.
