Slight and Shadow (Fate's Forsaken: Book Two)

by Ford, Shae

  They’d hardly taken a step out of the courtyard when the moonlight disappeared. Kael looked up, and was surprised to see the once-clear sky covered in a thick mass of clouds.

  “Our good mother has sent her lover to look after us,” Brend said, smiling up at the sky. “He’ll keep his head covered while it suits us. But the minute we need him, he’ll be back.”

  A cool breeze brushed over them, stirring up the dust at their feet. And Kael didn’t know if it was the wind or Brend’s words that chilled him.

  The clouds hid them as they made their way to the castle. Darkness covered the red walls completely, not even the braziers were lit. Apparently, the guards had gotten so lost in their tankards that they’d forgotten about their duties. Every one of them was likely fast asleep, wrapped tightly in a fog of ale.

  They reached the kitchen tower without incident. Kael led the giants into the shadow of the wall before he let out a low whistle. His ears pricked against the night, listening for Eveningwing’s reply. But it never came.

  “What’s keeping them?” Brend hissed.

  Kael wasn’t sure. When he chanced a look through the gate, he saw the door beyond was still closed. Jonathan was supposed to have the women gathered up by now. What could he possibly be doing?

  Brend tested the gate with his heel. “She’s sturdy, but we might be able to lift her enough for you to slip inside. It wouldn’t take much of a gap,” he added, with a glance at Kael’s skinny frame.

  He couldn’t think of a better idea. And as the minutes dragged on and Eveningwing still didn’t answer him, he began to think that it might be for the best. He was about to give the order when the door creaked open and a familiar, lanky figure popped out.

  “Evening, gents!”

  “Jonathan!” Kael reached through the gate to clasp his hand, and Jonathan grinned back. For once, his scruffy face was a welcome sight.

  “I heard some whistling and thought I’d better take a look. Our little feathered friend has gone to raise the ole girl up,” he said, slapping his hand against the gate. “It’s a simple lever. We’ve seen the guards do it loads of times. It shouldn’t take too — ah! There she goes!”

  With a groan, the gate began to rise. It clicked and clacked along its chain, moving steadily upwards. Jonathan threw the door open and began waving the women outside.

  The first giantess ducked under the gate, and Kael was taken aback by how tall she was. He’d expected the women to be larger than average, but never thought they would dwarf him as easily as the men.

  This giantess kept her long white hair bound in a skillful braid down her back. Her skirt swept gracefully behind her as she sidestepped around Kael. “Watch out, wee thing,” she said with a smile.

  His face burned when he realized that he’d been staring.

  Three women passed him before he noticed that their hands were full: they carried pikes, swords, bows and quivers of arrows in the cradle of their arms — which they deposited into the cart. Then a few seas women trailed by, carrying sacks heavy with vittles.

  “Well, the guards all passed out after their drinking,” Jonathan said when Kael asked. “And Clairy thought it might be a good idea to do a bit of raiding. The only weapons left are the ones the guards had tucked into their belts, and there’s hardly a crumb worth munching on, in there,” he added, jerking his thumb back at the kitchens. Then he sighed, grinning like a fool. “Isn’t she brilliant?”

  Brilliant, indeed. Kael hadn’t even thought about raiding the armory or the larders. He would have to thank Clairy, when they met.

  Everything went smoothly for a few moments, and Kael thought they had a real chance of escaping quietly. But when the gate reached the end of its chain, mayhem broke loose.

  A steady, shrilling note cut through the air. It flew out into the night and covered the whole of Gilderick’s realm in a never-ending scream of terror. The noise stabbed so mercilessly at their ears that Kael thought even a deaf man would’ve been able to feel it.

  “You didn’t kill the witch?” he shouted at Jonathan — who had his lanky arms clamped protectively over his head.

  “That old bat must have woken up!” he cried, grimacing. “I told Clairy we should’ve put a few more herbs in her tea —”

  “You can’t just put her to sleep! I told you — you have to kill her!”

  “What?”

  But at that moment, a bright light flared up at the castle. The braziers burst to life and several monstrous shadows popped up around the walls. Torches were lit, someone let out a bellowing command, and the shadows began to cross the wall at an alarming pace — moving towards the covered passageway.

  Kael turned and slung his arm at the giant in charge of the women. “Start running for the Pens! Go!”

  He did, and the women who were able to run followed along behind him. Two had bellies so round that they couldn’t make the journey, and Brend helped them into the wagon. “Is that all of them?”

  Kael turned to ask Jonathan, but the fiddler had suddenly vanished. He’d slipped back through the doorway without so much as a warning, and Kael had no idea what he was doing. He was about to go in after him when a familiar screech sounded overhead.

  He looked up and saw Eveningwing fighting above the passageway. Several guards sprinted across the roof, heading straight for the tower. Eveningwing dove in among them, beating them with his wings and raking their helmets with his claws. He managed to knock one guard off his feet and sent a second plummeting from the wall. But the others made it across.

  There was a small door on the roof of the tower, one that would open into the kitchen’s upper levels — Kael remembered it from Jonathan’s maps. He could do nothing but watch as the guards scaled the remaining few feet of wall and reached the tower’s top.

  “They’re going to cut the gate!” Brend hollered. “Is everybody out?”

  Kael started to reply when he saw a giant down the road waving frantically. “The castle’s opening up — they’re sending out the army!”

  “We’ve got to run!” Kael said to Brend. “Get the women back to the Pens — tell Declan that trouble’s coming!”

  He nodded and passed the order back. The giants strapped to the wagon took off at a sprint. The rest followed Brend at a jog, their eyes on the castle gates. When Kael stuck his head through the door to yell at Jonathan, he saw the fiddler was not alone.

  He and another giantess were helping a second giantess down a narrow flight of stairs. Her belly was round and swollen beneath her dress. She moved as quickly as she could, but her face was white with the effort.

  Kael swore.

  The wagon had already left without them, and he knew they would never be able to outrun the guards at her waddling pace. What little hope he’d had of making it out alive was quickly evaporating. And they still had Gilderick’s army to deal with.

  He charged forward, prepared to carry the giantess over his shoulders, if he had to. But a noise stopped him short.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Jonathan looked up, his eyes wild. “Eveningwing jammed the gate — they’re trying to cut the chain!”

  No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a horrible groan spun Kael on his feet. The gate snapped at its chain — and it began to fall.

  The blunted bottoms of the gate’s teeth stretched for the ground, trying to clamp down upon the clear night sky. Once the gate fell, there would be no lifting it. There would be no getting through it. They’d be trapped inside this tower, left to wait for whatever miserable death Gilderick had planned for them — provided the guards didn’t skewer them first.

  No, Kael knew that their only hope to live lay beyond that gate. And their only chance of escape was to keep that gate from falling.

  There was no time to panic, no time to doubt himself — he simply did what had to be done. He threw himself between the ground and the gate. In his mind, he held a memory of the Scepter Stone.

  He saw the mighty red rock of the giants — so tal
l and thick that not even the mages had been able to split it. He raised his arms over his head and imagined that he was the Scepter Stone. He saw his skin turn scarlet, bespeckled in black. He imagined that his arms hardened and his legs sank deep into the earth.

  I am the Scepter Stone, he thought to himself. Nothing can break me.

  He felt the thrum in his chest when the gate crashed down into his open palms, but his arms didn’t shudder. His legs stood strong. For a few moments, he held the gate above him as if it was no more trouble than an open door.

  Then his head began to ache.

  He realized that he was exhausted. He hadn’t slept in two days. He hadn’t eaten. He’d been too busy battling in the arena, fighting the Countess’s guard, and killing Hob to do much of anything else. And now his weakness was catching up to him quickly.

  Pain glanced his skull so sharply that it felt as if an axe had split it in half. His arms began to tremble. The barely-healed wounds in his back tore anew, and hot blood trickled down his shirt. Dots of light burst across his vision, blinding him. His strength was draining fast — crushed out from under him by the impossible weight of the tower door. He knew he might very well kill himself if he pushed much further.

  But he had to try.

  Jonathan and the two women were almost there. If he could hold on for another few seconds, they would be free. He pushed back stubbornly against the pain, holding it at bay. The women passed him, then Jonathan darted by, and Kael could hold the gate no longer.

  His head struck the ground hard, and a black cloak threatened to cover him.

  No! he said to himself. You can’t pass out — you’ve got to get up! You’ve got to get the women to safety. He bit back against the fiery torment that raged through his skull and worked his arms beneath him. He tried to rise — only to find that he couldn’t.

  The gate had come down on top of him, and now his head was trapped between the bottom rung and the ground. He tried to pull himself free, but the beam was wedged very firmly over his throat. Any other time, he might’ve considered himself lucky to be alive: a few inches were all the difference between being trapped and being crushed.

  But with Gilderick’s army unleashed, he thought he would’ve rather been crushed and done with it.

  Dirt sprayed across his middle as someone slid in beside him. He heard a pair of hands scrabble desperately against the rung. “I can’t lift it, mate!” Jonathan grunted. “Can you wiggle your head a bit?”

  Kael wanted to scream at him — to tell him to get out of there and follow the women. But he could hardly think about speaking before a fresh wave of pain blinded him. He fought the blackness back a second time, struggling to stay conscious.

  An explosion split the air above them. Kael felt it through his chest as it rumbled the earth. A burst of orange light burned across the doorway, and he saw Jonathan’s worried face peering down at him. He had his head pressed against the upper rungs. Kael only got a quick look at him before he disappeared.

  An ear-piercing whistle cut through the night, and then Jonathan hollered: “Oi! Some of you larger blokes come give me a hand — Kael’s stuck!”

  The earth shook again as several giants rushed to his side. More explosions rattled the ground, startling the dust from the archway. He heard cries and the sharp clang of steel coming from the castle gates. He tried to speak again, but had to shut his eyes when lights burst across them. He grit his teeth against the pain, holding it back.

  When the lights faded, his eyes opened — and he was shocked to see a familiar, sandy-headed boy grinning down at him.

  “Don’t worry, Kael — we’re going to pop you out of here,” Noah said.

  Noah? How on earth was Noah here? He should’ve been at least a day and a half away, traveling with the other pirates. There was no way he could already be at the castle. Perhaps Kael had fainted without realizing it.

  But then a high-pitched shrill cut across his ears, erasing any doubt: “Kael! Is he all right? Oh, he’s not hurt, is he?”

  “No, he’s fine —”

  “He isn’t fine!” Aerilyn cried. And Kael felt her hands tugging at his belt. “Oh, he’s bleeding — and he’s got his head stuck in a gate! Get him out!”

  “Just keep those blasty arrows coming, lassie,” Brend shouted. “We’ll handle the rest. Ready, lads?”

  There was a collective grunt in reply, and then a loud creak of wood as the gate began to rise.

  “Heave, lads! Heave —”

  “Pikes on the wall!” someone cried.

  “No time — pull him out!” Brend grunted.

  Two pairs of hands grabbed onto Kael’s legs. He left a good bit of his skin behind as his body was dragged forward. A pike thudded into the ground beside him, inches from his nose. Another whistled over his head and he heard someone grunt in pain.

  “Noah!” Aerilyn screamed.

  “We’ll take care of him — now fire, lassie!”

  An arrow struck the tower above them and exploded. Pieces of brick rained down. Through Kael’s foggy eyes, the chunks of the tower seemed to glide to earth as calmly as flakes of snow. He watched them curiously, but didn’t have a chance to see them fall. Someone scooped him up, and the motion rocked his skull. Lights flared before his eyes. He fought them back.

  And when he forced them open once again, he saw something that stopped his heart.

  Noah lay in the arms of the giant next to him. A red, gaping hole split the symbol on his pirate tunic. He pawed at it desperately, trying to staunch the bleeding.

  Kael could fix that — he could save Noah. He was certain of it.

  One last time, he forced the darkness back. He pressed his hand against the hot wet of Noah’s wound. He felt for the ragged edges of his flesh and thought hard: You are cl … clay …

  Light — a light brighter than any he’d ever seen — erupted across his eyes.

  And Kael knew no more.

  Chapter 41

  Where All Men Fall

  Kyleigh woke to a strange feeling.

  At first, she thought it might’ve just been from the vast amount of salted meats that she and Silas had eaten. But the longer she thought about it, the more she began to realize that she didn’t feel too full: she felt empty. She felt as if she’d never eaten — like she didn’t need to eat because there was absolutely no point in it. The light dulled and all of the color around her seemed to fade.

  She forgot the sound of laughter. When she tried to remember it, all she could think of was the lonesome call of the wind. No matter how she begged them, her lips wouldn’t bend into a smile. She might’ve propped them up with her fingers … had she been able to move her hands. But instead, they lay limply beside her, as if her very bones had crumbled away.

  It was fear that finally gave her the courage to stand. She had a horrible feeling that something was wrong.

  The pass between the Red Spine called to her, and she went for it at a jog — skipping over the sleeping forms of her companions, moving as fast as her legs would carry her. She was so focused that she didn’t see the man in her path until she’d already run him over.

  It was Eveningwing. He sprang up from the ground; sand clung to the sweat on his chest and neck. He panted and grasped for her, tugging furiously on the front of her jerkin.

  “Your Kael!” he gasped, shaking her. “Come quickly — your Kael!”

  For the first time in a long while, Kyleigh was afraid.

  A new instinct gripped her, a sense she never knew she had. The Spine loomed in her vision. Her wings beat against her head. She no longer cared if she was spotted. She no longer cared if she was in danger.

  Something like a thread wrapped around her heart, ripping her towards Kael. She followed it over the Spine and across the plains. Four barns stood out sharply against the flat land, like footprints in the mud. Little fires danced all around them.

  It was for Kael’s sake that she dropped down into the shadowed fields. She’d left Eveningwing far behind her,
she didn’t know if Kael was among enemies or friends. She wouldn’t land in full dragon form and risk starting a battle — a battle would take far too long, and she had to reach him quickly.

  She’d hardly gotten her human legs settled beneath her before she sprinted towards the barns. Giants jumped from their fires as she passed, but she didn’t care. Her eyes flicked over the many structures looming around her, and the thread wavered. Panic scraped against her chest as she tried to figure out where to find him.

  “Kyleigh!”

  Someone grabbed her arm, and she ripped it away. It wasn’t until she was grabbed a second time that she recognized Aerilyn. Her nose was red and swollen, her eyes burned and her face was wet with tears. When she breathed, there was a different scent on her breath — one that was slightly muddled by another. This scent meant something … but Kyleigh didn’t have time to remember what it was.

  She had to find Kael.

  Aerilyn pulled desperately on her arm. “He’s in here — oh Kyleigh, he’s hurt so badly. We don’t know what to do!”

  As Aerilyn led her away, Kyleigh felt as if she walked through a nightmare. There was noise all around her, but she couldn’t hear it. Light shined, but it brightened nothing. There was solid earth beneath her feet — there must have been …

  But for some reason, she couldn’t feel it.

  Familiar faces blurred out of the corner of her eye. More hands reached to grasp her, thumping hollowly against her flesh. She passed through wood, through steel, and then the thread suddenly ended, jolting her.

  When she saw him, the world snapped back.

  Kael lay in the corner of a horse stall, curled up on a pile of filthy clothing. He was exactly how she’d remembered him: his straight nose, his lips … but there was something wrong with his brows. There was usually a little line between them, one that went deeper as he furrowed them. And they were usually always furrowed, even when he slept. He was always thinking about something.

  But now his brows were smoothed — relaxed, even. And it startled her.