“Agni! Agni, what’s wrong?” I ask. Kali and the practicing women have fallen silent, watching us both now with apprehensive faces. I ignore them and focus on the mare, who is snorting, her back slick with sweat.
It’s all right, I whisper through our bond. What is it? Tell me.
It’s Ajib, Agni responds. He slipped past the southern boundary—must have found a gap in the bars—and into the desert outside. I called for him to come back, but he didn’t.
My stomach plummets. Ajib isn’t a stallion who wanders off easily; he is as even-tempered as Agni is fiery. It’s possible that something—or someone—drew him outside. Another whisperer, perhaps. Yet, if Ajib can’t find a way back in, it means the magic spun by Subodh and the living specters must still hold to some degree.
Or someone else got to him.
Are they outside? I ask Agni. The Sky Warriors?
Yes, she replies. About fifty soldiers. There’s a boy with them as well. He can see living specters.
A seer. I bite back a curse.
“I need to find Subodh or Esther,” I tell Sami. “Ajib found a way out of the southern boundary and into the desert. There are fifty Sky Warriors out there and a seer!”
“Raja Subodh was on patrol duty, but he should be back by now,” Sami says. “I’ll come with you.”
“Can we do something?” It’s Falak and some of the other women who have broken apart from the practicing group, their weapons in hand.
“Stay alert. Keep your weapons with you at all times,” I tell them, trying to sound calm despite my quaking insides. My gaze falls on a frowning Roda. “And I’m sorry. I behaved abominably at practice today.”
Roda nods, but her expression remains the same. “Go on, Star Warrior.”
And so I do, with Sami and Kali in tow, nearly running into Subodh and Esther at the temple entrance.
“Where’s Cavas?” I ask, looking around.
“He should be back any moment,” Esther says. “He was patrolling the northern boundary with his mother.”
Subodh and Esther listen to my story about Ajib’s disappearance and also to what Agni said about the Sky Warriors congregated outside.
“Fifty,” Subodh mutters, as if calculating something in his head. “We will need to send a message to Rani Sarayu and—” His voice cuts off abruptly. Without warning, he lunges forward, his body uncoiling to sprint across the courtyard.
When I see the reason for his distraction—Cavas racing toward us, carrying his spear and shield—I run as well, my pulse pounding in my ears.
“There’s … breach … northwest boundary.” Cavas can barely get the words out. “Nearly four specters disappeared at once … There’s a wide gap between the bars. There are Sky Warriors outside and Ambari foot soldiers—all geared for battle.” His face is as ashen as mine feels. “There must be a hundred of them.”
I bite back a curse. A hundred Sky Warriors and foot soldiers at the northern end and fifty or more at the southern end—that’s thrice as many as us. Without another word, Subodh gallops toward the reservoir, likely to talk to the Pashu queen, Sarayu.
“Is that the only breach?” Esther asks Cavas.
“Yes,” he says. “Though there might be more now that I don’t know of.”
Esther nods and then turns to the Tavani women.
“Saavdhaan!” Esther booms for the Legion’s attention in the Common Tongue, the silver stars on her forehead gleaming in the afternoon light. Within moments, the women form into three columns, the familiar instruction making it almost feel as if we’re back at lathi practice.
“Can you hear me?” Esther shouts.
“Yes, Commander!” the Legion roars.
“The war has begun and the enemy is at our boundary. We must outwit, outmaneuver, and do our best to evade any attacking spells.”
“Yes, Commander!”
The Legion are surprisingly calm. On Esther’s command, they draw their lathis, now reinforced with gleaming iron tips; they hold up those old, rusting, magic-repelling shields, almost as if it’s second nature to them.
“Do not fear the enemy’s greater numbers. There will be Sky Warriors, yes, but also foot soldiers like yourselves. You are the Legion of the Star Warrior. You have been practicing for this very moment for the past two decades. So tell me now: Whom do you fight for?”
“The Star Warrior!” the women bellow.
“What do you fight for?”
“Freedom!”
“One of us must fight three of them,” Esther says. “Have we trained for this?”
“Yes, Commander!”
“Is victory ours or the kabzedar rani’s?”
Voices merge in a resounding chorus, followed by a familiar chant:
The sky has fallen, a star will rise!
The sky has fallen, a star will rise!
“I will take the right flank,” Esther commands. “Kali will take the left. Falak, you’ll be in charge of the command center and the reserve army.”
I frown, seeing the look that passes between them and Falak’s sharp nod.
As I make a move to step forward, Esther pulls me back. “No, Gul. You and Cavas stay back with Falak. You are not to go into battle until she says so.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Esther says firmly. “If Rani Shayla targets anyone first, it will be you two. Whatever happens, you cannot get caught. So don’t do anything rash. And always stick together.”
Ignoring my protests, she turns back to the Legion and shouts: “Charge!”
13
GUL
Esther, Kali, and half of the Legion march to the north end of the city, toward the training center and the barracks. Agni stays with me, her presence allowing me to maintain a semblance of calm in front of the reserve army.
As we wait, Falak paces back and forth without looking at anyone else, and I can tell she hates being left behind as much as I do. But Kali is the only one in Tavan, apart from me, who can fight with death magic. She can help hold off some of the Sky Warriors’ worst spells. Maybe.
“Is she there, too?” I ask Cavas in an undertone. “Shayla?”
“I don’t know,” he replies, equally quiet. His face is taut in a way I’ve seen only once before—when he told me he’d signed up for King Lohar’s army. “General Alizeh is, though.”
My already tense insides coil. “Cavas, I know what you’re thinking. But, please, by all that’s holy, don’t do anything rash.”
“Like killing her, you mean?”
He holds up his spear, as if examining it, the newly sharpened tip reflecting in his cold brown eyes. He does not look at me.
“Cavas, you can’t!” As dearly as I agree with his sentiment, Alizeh is a seasoned Sky Warrior. She’ll kill Cavas before he knows what happened. “We need to stick together and protect the Legion as much as possible. Now isn’t the time for revenge.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he says, locking gazes with me. “If I get close enough, I won’t even need magic to kill her. I won’t need you.”
My face smarts as if slapped.
“Cavas, listen. I know how it feels,” I speak quietly, though I want to shout. I sense that some of the reserve army is watching us, trying to listen in. “I felt the same way whenever I saw Raja Lohar or whenever I heard his name. But I was shortsighted. I didn’t see how my actions would affect the people around me. I didn’t—”
“Saavdhaan!” Falak’s sharp command severs all thought. I inhale sharply upon spotting several figures racing toward us. It’s Sami and some others from Esther’s contingent, their faces and tunics splattered with blood.
“Esther Didi’s dead!” Sami cries out. “Kali’s trying to hold them off. But they’re coming, Falak Didi! They’re coming!”
The shock of Sami’s announcement hasn’t even registered when Falak takes control. “Arms at ready!” she shouts. “Keep your shields raised high!”
“Stay close,” I tell Cavas. “Don’t leave my side!”
&nb
sp; Though he doesn’t answer except for a nod, his brown eyes hold none of their earlier animosity. I force myself to breathe in and out, visualizing the sky goddess in my head. Slowly, but surely, my heart rate grows steady and I enter a state of sthirta. Everything else in the real world moves at half its normal speed. My magic surrounds me, suspended in the air like shimmering, rainbow-hued particles of indradhanush—metal drops ready to be shaped, to change color at my command.
I turn to Cavas, whose eyes are glowing white.
Can you hear me? I ask telepathically.
A few seconds go by before I hear his answer. Yes. Are you planning to attack first?
Do we have a choice?
Ambari foot soldiers in russet tunics and brown leather helmets are now racing toward the temple, headed by a pair of Sky Warriors on steeds. I recognize Captain Emil in his blue-and-silver Sky Warrior garb, and next to him, General Alizeh in white, the cloth winding her helmet flying behind her.
I raise my daggers and shoot a beam of green light at Captain Emil, neutralizing the attack from his atashban. To my left, Agni rears on her hind legs, scaring off one foot soldier and trampling another who attempts to throw a dagger at me.
Up ahead, Falak slashes out with her spear, killing a burly foot soldier and then spinning around to knock heads with another. The Legion’s reserve army follows her lead, its lathis rotating in deadly arcs, and soon enough several bodies are strewn across the ground, the foot soldiers knocked out cold. In fact, I’m surprised at how inexperienced some of the soldiers are. I can tell they have never seen battle before, their terrified faces appearing barely older than mine.
Gul! To your left! Cavas’s voice rings in my head. His magic merges with mine like a jolt, much stronger than expected. I spin and throw up a shield, barely deflecting twin spears that two other soldiers aim our way.
Don’t lose focus, Cavas says. They may be young, but they’re armed.
I heed his warning. The foot soldiers might be magi, but not all are capable of death magic. Of the lot here, few are able to throw up magical shields. The Legion are more than a match for the foot soldiers, their lathis cracking over heads. The only attacking spells come from General Alizeh’s and Captain Emil’s atashbans—and Cavas and I block each one.
They thought … weren’t strong enough … them. Cavas’s voice, so clear in my head before, begins fragmenting, some words fading before I can hear them. The battle has forced us to drift a few more feet away from each other, though I can still catch glimpses of him between other fighters. I’m still close enough to feel Cavas’s anger—and his triumph—when Alizeh snarls out loud with frustration.
Don’t move too far, I warn him. Our magic needs proximity to work. I also want to tell Cavas that the battle isn’t yet over, that things could change at any time.
But before I can, General Alizeh raises her atashban and aims it behind her, at a sky-blue figure leaping into the air—a Legion soldier, whose spear misses the general’s ear by an inch. There’s a single, terrible flash of red light and the Tavani woman drops to the ground, her body trampled by Alizeh’s horse. Before I can react, Alizeh forces her horse in a circle, shooting her atashban simultaneously. Three more Legion soldiers fall in quick succession, no match for her deadly skill.
Shield! I call out to Cavas. Amplify!
But there’s no answering energy—no sign of Cavas’s power merging with mine. I throw up a shield on my own, somehow protecting myself and another woman behind me from the stray red beams of Alizeh’s rapidly shooting atashban.
Cavas! My heart quickens, panic rising. Cavas, where are you?
I spin around—and spot Cavas aiming his spear at General Alizeh, shooting a spell at her.
“No!” I scream out loud. Cavas, what are you doing?
It’s a mistake. Distracted, I break out of the meditative state, everything around me rapidly returning to normal speed.
General Alizeh easily sidesteps Cavas’s attempted attack. Her spell slashes the air like a whip, a flaming coil aimed right at Cavas’s shield. “Gul!” Sami shouts before I can neutralize Alizeh’s attack. “Behind you!”
Narrowly missing the sharp edge of a spear, I shoot at a pair of foot soldiers, targeting their legs instead of their hearts. The soldiers—boys who look no older than thirteen—flee, abandoning their weapons and shields. But by the time I turn around again, Cavas has disappeared—and so has Alizeh.
I force myself to breathe deeply and focus on the image of the sky goddess again, trying to find the sthirta Subodh had always stressed during practice. To my relief, everything around me slows again.
Cavas? I call out. Cavas, can you hear me?
Sand erupts in clouds around the fighters—more spells from atashbans blurring my vision. I lose sight of Agni, though I still hear her neighing in the background. I’m about to plunge into the melee when I think I hear my name. Feel the skitter of a heartbeat other than my own.
Cavas, where are you?
My voice is a lone scream in my head.
“Cavas!” My magic erupts from my daggers with a boom: a veil of red light that obscures the sun for a brief moment. “Cavas!”
Bodies part, making way for me. In the dusty haze rising around us, I can no longer distinguish one face from another. But I can see color. A figure in white astride a horse, dragging along a prone body on a rope.
Before I can move, something hits me from the side like a battering ram. A spear cuts through the air overhead, while I hit the ground, teeth rattling within my jaw. I turn to the person who pushed me out of the way—Sami, her face terrified. “Gul, you can’t follow them! We’ll lose you, too, otherwise!”
“She has Cavas! General Alizeh—”
A roar cuts off my voice, making my hackles rise. Subodh races on his hind legs toward us, a giant mace in his hands. Behind him, a flock of screeching shvetpanchhi streak the sky, diving down to peck at the soldiers’ hands and faces. Rani Sarayu’s army of birds. Captain Emil struggles to control his skittish horse from bucking him off. He raises his atashban, aiming right at the rajsingha’s heart.
I’m about to hit Emil with a spell when Subodh leaps into the air—all ten feet of him—and gives the captain what appears to be a light smack on the cheek with his mace. The impact throws Captain Emil off his horse. His face bleeding profusely now, the captain raises his atashban again. But instead of shooting the way I expect him to, he shouts something inaudible, slashing the air before him. In the distance, I see them again—Alizeh and Cavas, growing smaller and smaller as they move past the boundary.
“Cavas!” I shout, racing toward them, the battle around me forgotten. “CAVAS!”
White light erupts from Captain Emil’s atashban, followed by a darkness so thick that it obscures everything. My lungs seize at the smell—sulfur and smoke and the coppery odor of blood. Tears flow out of my eyes as I cough. I fight the pair of arms that go around me, but they’re much too strong.
“Don’t, Gul!” Sami’s voice sounds as tearful as I feel. “Don’t go farther! That smoke is poisoned!”
The smoke dissipates to reveal bodies lying on the ground: a woman in blue with stars on her forehead and two Ambari foot soldiers. In the distance, I watch Subodh twirl a mace with his powerful arms, crack it over a Sky Warrior’s head. Falak snarls, fighting one of the last remaining foot soldiers. Everywhere is chaos and blood and noise.
“Retreat!” Alizeh’s voice, magnified by magic, makes my skin crawl. “Infantry, retreat!”
But when I finally break free of Sami’s grip and go to look, I don’t see her anywhere. Neither do I see Cavas.
* * *
The foot soldiers disappear as soon as the general calls for a retreat.
“Most of them weren’t even magi,” Subodh mutters after sniffing one corpse. “Probably poor tenement dwellers who were persuaded into battle for a few coins.”
Pain flares sharply within me as I think of Cavas, my heart pulsing, my breaths turning short. Cavas, captured by t
he Sky Warriors and taken to the usurper queen. It will be difficult to catch up with them now.
Unless …
I race to Subodh, gasping out the words in the wrong order: “Rani Sarayu … can she … Cavas … rescue.”
New lines etch Subodh’s scarred face. He shakes his great head. “I’ve been trying to contact Rani Sarayu myself. I have been doing so even before we learned of the breach. But her birds can’t find her yet. It might still take a few hours, perhaps a day. By then, it will be too late. I’m sorry. The boy is lost to us.”
“No, he’s not! I won’t let him! I’ll go after him myself!”
“And it’s exactly what they want!” A shadow cuts across my path, familiar hands falling firmly over my shoulders. It’s Kali, her pale face streaked with someone else’s blood. “Think, Gul. They failed to capture you, so they’ve captured him, instead. They want you to follow them to Ambarvadi.”
“That is what I’m supposed to do anyway, isn’t it? To go back there and fight them!”
Too late, I feel the shackles of Kali’s immobility spell, the sort that not only restrains my limbs but also freezes my tongue.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “But you need to calm down first. The other women are scared.”
My eyes move from side to side, taking in tired, blood-streaked faces, frightened expressions.
They are looking for a leader, Subodh whispers through our bond. If you react this way, you will die before Cavas can be saved. And you will kill everyone else who fought for you.
His words claw at me, forcing me to think.
Ask Kali to unfreeze me, I whisper back to Subodh. Please. I won’t do anything rash. I swear on the sky goddess.
Subodh stares at me briefly and then nods at Kali. A moment later, my tongue unrolls itself, my limbs feeling strangely loose.
“We can’t stay here much longer,” Subodh says. “Tavan is no longer hidden from outsiders. We’ll have to take the risk of crossing the desert now and finding Raja Amar.”
The golden bars that once surrounded the city, making it invisible, have now mostly disappeared, many living specters fading as soon as the breach occurred. Wails rise around me, but they aren’t coming from the remaining women of the Legion or Kali. It’s the specters, I realize. Those who have still not faded.
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