by Candy Crum
Removing the bow, she pulled an arrow free from the quiver, nocked it, and aimed at the guard farthest to the left. She shot, rapidly nocking another and aiming for the guard all the way to the right.
The guards were surrounded by torchlight, while the clouds Arryn had created covered the moon and shrouded her in darkness. They were illuminated, easily visible while they scurried about trying to find her, while she picked them off one at a time.
The last guard managed to load a crossbow and aim it directly at her. The moment his eyes found her, she loosed, the arrow piercing his throat and sending him tumbling over her side of the wall.
Snow skidded to a stop, and Arryn slid off. Dante was just behind; each of the animals expectantly awaited their orders.
“This will be dangerous; they’ll have magitech weapons. Stay out here,” she commanded.
She started to go, then turned back. “But I know the two of you… If you do go inside, stick to the shadows. Snow, remember Arcadia. Be smart.”
Wasting no more time, Arryn ran toward the outside wall that faced the ocean. She rounded the corner and opened her senses. She could feel people moving around, but it seemed no one was aware yet of what she had done.
It had been a risk, but she knew the alarm that had been set earlier had been from inside, not from the men on the wall. The fact that everything was still quiet proved her theory correct.
Once she reached the halfway point, she once again threw the bow over her shoulder. She placed her hands flat against the wall, feeling for plant life on the other side. Sand wasn’t exactly something she was used to, and she didn’t feel that it would be an easy feat to conjure a vine.
The edges of the inside wall were lined with raised boxes filled with soil. Each box contained a different plant: tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, watermelon.
Her eyes flashed green as she focused on the watermelon vines, thickening them as they traveled over the wall. She grabbed hold of one and placed her feet against the stone.
When she reached the top, she placed her hands on the ledge and searched for nearby life. She felt no humans in the immediate area, so she quickly pulled herself over and lowered her body into the plant bed.
Ducking down, she looked around at the immediate area. She was surrounded by tents, but they were over ten feet away—far enough that sun would easily reach the plants during the daylight hours.
Jumping down onto the sand, Arryn stayed low as she ran to the first tent to her right. She crept up behind it and sensed two life forms inside. Pulling the knife from the sheath on her hip, she jabbed it into the fabric near the ground. The quiet cutting was completely drowned out by the ambient sounds of fires and passersby.
Ducking down again, she slid inside the hole she’d made.
“Yes, I think she will,” a man said.
His female companion laughed. “That was a bold move on Esmerelda’s part, but I think it will scare them, all the same. Some think it will only make things worse, but I think those disgusting people will retreat to whatever hole they hide in.”
“Meh… I wouldn’t bet on that last bit,” Arryn said as she stood. Both speakers turned to face her, their eyes wide. “That ‘only making things worse’ bit, though? Oh yeah. Much worse.”
The woman opened her mouth to scream, and Arryn’s eyes flashed black, as her left hand reached out and gave a twist.
The woman’s head spun to the side, a sickening crack echoing inside the tent.
Her companion turned hateful eyes on Arryn, but before he could even take the first step, the blade in Arryn’s right hand was buried in his chest.
She crossed the tent quickly, pulling the other blade from her left sheath before jabbing it upward under his chin. She silently lowered him to the ground and removed both blades from his body. After cleaning them off using his shirt, she made her way out the back of the tent, and moved onto the next one.
This tent only held one single man, who had apparently gotten drunk and passed out early. She could smell the scent of blood permeating the air as soon as she cut the tent wall open. When she made her way inside, she found his clothing lying beside the bed, soaked in blood, and she knew it belonged to the mother and child she had so recently laid to rest.
She stalked over to the bed and leaned over, placing a hand over his mouth. The man’s eyes opened just as her knife touched his throat. “I got your fucking message. And now, you’re part of the message I have for Esmerelda,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
His hand made to grab for her, but she slit his throat, stopping it midair. His body flinched and kicked as he fought against his death, but she fought back and kept her hand clamped over his mouth until the bitter end.
Then Arryn made her way to the next tent. She managed to kill two of the three men inside, but the last one proved to be quite the opponent. As she rushed for him, he ducked out of the way and kicked her in the stomach. She fell to her knees, and he kicked her hard in the side.
She rolled onto her back as he jumped down on top of her, pinning her hands down to the ground. He smiled as he wedged his knee between her legs. “Nice of you to come to visit,” he said.
She smiled in return. “Thanks for having me. But I don’t think I’ll be staying for long.”
He thrust his head forward, crushing her nose. She groaned loudly, but bit down hard, grinding her teeth to keep her from crying out.
He placed both of her wrists in one hand. She’d wanted to get out without a sound, and continue making her rounds around the camp, but it didn’t seem like that was going to be an option.
Fuck, she thought. If I’d been practicing mental magic this whole time, I might have been able to pull an illusion out of my ass. At the very least, I could’ve knocked his ass out.
He thrust his head forward again as she kneed him in the side, and the sound of her nose now breaking echoed in her mind, disorienting her again. The next thing she knew, the sounds of shots from a magitech rifle and shouting were ringing through her ears.
Shit. Plan B, it is.
Arryn twisted her fingers, and the blades on either side flew through the air to stab her target through each temple. As he fell on top of her, she quickly reached up, grabbed the ram’s horn handles of her weapons, and pulled them free.
She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose, giving a rough jerk to push the bones back together. Heat filled her face as the broken pieces began to heal, allowing her the ability to focus again.
Loud footsteps quickly approached, and her eyes flashed black. Her magic swelled around her before imploding, teleporting her out of that tent and into the next.
Inside, she was met by two men quickly climbing out of separate beds to get dressed. Without saying a word, Arryn rushed toward the one on her right. She shoved her foot down on the side of his knee, then pushed her knee upward into his face as he stumbled forward.
The man behind her punched her in the face as she turned. She fell back a few steps, then dove forward, ramming her shoulder into his abdomen and tackling him onto his bed. She kneed him in the groin, then lifted him up and headbutted him in the face.
As she ran her knife under his chin, she heard a large pack of dogs growling and barking outside. The animals sounded vicious, and she could feel their intense need to impress their screaming masters.
As Arryn stood and wiped her blade off on the man’s only partially pulled-up pants, she smiled. “Oh, that was not wise of them.”
As the first dog burst through the open flap of the tent, her eyes flashed green and her hand shot forward. The dog was immediately overcome with a sense of tranquility.
“I am not your enemy,” she said softly enough for the dog to hear, but no one else. Her hand moved to point toward the door. “They are.”
The dog lowered his head as he backed out of the tent, and she immediately heard a man scream, as the dog attacked his cruel master.
These people were not nature magic users, so Arryn knew these dogs had to ha
ve been trained by force. Beaten. Mistreated. Tortured. That was how they were trained to obey, how they were trained to kill.
These dogs would get their revenge today, as well.
Arryn heard a large crowd closing in on her as men and women barked orders at dogs and guards. Then the unmistakable sound of two tigers roaring into the night sky descended upon the camp like a death call. Arryn closed her eyes, focusing on her familiars.
Dante took one side of the camp, while Snow took the other. They took turns intimidating the attack dogs and the shouting people before returning to the shadows. They never walked out past the outermost line of tents, making them more elusive and terrifying.
Through what little mental magic she was able to touch—especially without risking the headache—she could feel the uncertainty and fear rising among the people.
That was exactly what she wanted; she wanted them to feel intense fear. She wanted them to know exactly what was coming for them, as payment for what they had done.
Just as the crowd began to descend on the tent she was in, she once again allowed her magic to swell around her. In a flash, she teleported from the tent to near the largest fire in the center of the encampment.
People rushing through the area immediately stopped and turned toward her.
She smiled. “Is all this for little ol’ me? Aw, ya shouldn’t have.”
“Attack!” one of the guards shouted, sending a rush of dogs running straight for her, growling and jaws snapping.
She flexed her entire body, and a barrier exploded around her, knocking back several approaching guards. Green began to bleed into the blackness of her eyes as she focused on the wall of dogs coming at her.
She threw her hands out, and the dogs slowly came to a stop. The growling became quieter, and then stopped altogether as she continued to push her influence on them. The effect was slow and steady—not overwhelming and overpowering, like the magic the dark druids had used.
“What the fuck?” one of the guards in the crowd said. “Attack!”
A dark smile formed on Arryn’s face. “You heard the man. Attack.”
The dogs immediately dispersed, growling and snapping as they rushed into the crowd of people. Everyone screamed and rushed around, trying to avoid being bitten.
Another roar, quickly followed by another, completely swallowed the other sounds, as the tigers jumped into the middle of the crowd where Arryn was. She opened her barrier just enough to allow the tigers to rush inside, expanding it enough to cloak them, as well.
Fireballs began to rain down on her, but the shield protected her and the tigers. She looked to her left to see that Dante still had her bag. She reached inside and pulled out a box, carefully opening it with telekinetic magic. She used that same magic to lift another box from the bag; the only two mines she had.
She levitated both mines out of their respective boxes, well aware she only had enough magic left to get them free.
She couldn’t afford anything else. The sounds of fireballs hitting the shield brought her attention back to the crowd, and she saw several men now aiming magitech rifles at her. Her shield was more than enough to deflect the magitech rifle blasts, but not while also deflecting fireballs and levitating mines.
Drop down, she sent to her familiars.
They quickly followed her orders, and then she used the very shallow bond she had with the dogs to send them fleeing from the camp to safety. She had a feeling the front gate was wide open now, with people trying to flee for their lives.
She took a deep breath and smiled as she addressed everyone in the immediate area. “We’ll be waiting for you. And if you think I’m bad, there’s far worse forces waiting for me to return.”
She dropped her shield and spun, telekinetic energy bursting from her body to deflect everything coming for her, and also slinging the mines into the approaching guards and Raiders.
She quickly placed her hands on both of her tigers, her eyes flashing completely black as her magic wrapped around all three of them. In a large implosion of magic, the force fueled by her fear, the three of them were teleported out of the camp and nearly halfway to the Daoine village.
She hadn’t meant to put so much force into it, but the brief flash of fear she had felt forced her to put everything she had left into the magic.
The landing was not gentle. As her magic spat them out on the other side, Arryn lost consciousness and hit the ground hard, breaking her arm before rolling to a rough stop in the sand. The tigers hit just as hard, but their large, muscled bodies took the fall much better.The tigers quickly recoiled and jumped to their feet, rushing over to Arryn.
Snow nudged her, first with a large paw, and then with her warm nose. Neither one seemed to work. She laid down on the ground, grumbling at her cub. Dante quickly grabbed Arryn’s feet in his mouth and dragged her body over Snow’s back.
Once she was secure—as secure as she could be—Snow stood and began trekking back toward the Daoine village.
They hadn’t traveled far before Snow heard rustling in the trees, high on the edge of the mountain. She felt a calm wash over her and sensed Cathillian’s magic. She stopped running as she and Dante waited for the druid to approach.
Arryn stirred on Snow’s back, and the tiger heard the distinct sound of bone breaking. She could feel the heat emanating from Arryn’s body, and she realized someone was healing her. Snow carefully laid back down in the sand as her passenger began to come around.
Two bright, neon green orbs glowed as they approached from the darkness. The eyes of young Corrine. Her arms were outstretched, and even Snow could sense the magic emanating from her tiny body.
Arryn groaned as she slid off Snow. The tiger turned just enough to look at her, and licked her face as she came to.
As the young woman began to sit up on the ground, the tiger blew out a loud huff of relief, and then flopped her head down on Arryn’s feet to rest.
23
Esmerelda stood in the middle of the camp; the fires were barely smoldering as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her teeth nearly breaking from how tightly her jaws were clamped, and her nostrils flared as her female guards stood around her. She stared at the heap of bodies next to the largest fire pit in the center of camp.
“Thirty. One girl took out thirty of our men and women. How? How is this possible?” Esmerelda asked no one in particular. “When I heard that number, I thought several druids had broken in here. I mean, seriously. That’s impossible, right?” Her voice began to rise as her irritation grew. “It’s impossible that a single girl could do the work of a dozen fucking men!”
Her personal guard stood taller, preparing to carry out any orders she might give, but the men in the area shrank back a little.
“I want her dead. I don’t just want her dead… I want it to be painful. Torturous. I want her fucking ancestors to feel it. We know where those sea beasts live now. We know where that bitch fled to. It stands to reason the other storm ship is down there, too. Everyone we want dead, all in one place. So convenient.”
“We can’t just go charging in blind. You heard what she said last night—there are more of her. If we’re worried about her, why the hell would we charge in without knowing who else is with her?” Captain Seth asked.
Esmerelda turned, cocking her head to the side as she smiled. “Well, Captain. I suppose that’s why it’s a good thing this has nothing to do with you. You’ve been relieved of your duty.”
His brows furrowed as anger etched across his face. “What the hell did you just say?”
Esmerelda rolled her eyes as she waved a hand. Selena came to stand by her side, a dark smile on her face. “I said, you are relieved of duty. You are nothing but useless scum. Selena will take your place; she’s the one with all the power on the ship, anyway. You are just a novelty. A title,” Esmerelda said with ice dripping from her voice.
“You will not take my ship from me. If you think for an instant the men will
follow y—”
Captain Seth’s head was violently relieved of his body by a man loyal to Selena.
“Unfortunately, Captain Seth is no longer available to work with us,” Esmerelda said with an almost seductive smile. “I’m going to allow Selena to take it from here. If I stare at this pile of bodies any longer, I’m going to have all of you slaughtered.”
Esmerelda gave Selena a curt nod, and the new captain stepped forward to address the crowd. “She snuck up on us last night, but that was a terrible mistake. Her actions here have only angered us and made us stronger. Consequently, her actions have made her weaker. All magic users suffer fatigue, and you can bet your ass she’s feeling the effects today.
“We may be down thirty men, but we have a couple hundred more—most of whom use magic—not to mention the magitech weapons. She has an army of pacifist ocean dwellers. Even with the Storm Callers on their side, their numbers are nothing to speak of. Our time is now! Let’s move and attack them directly!”
One of the men stepped forward, obvious concern on his face. “And what if they take to the water? They are water dwellers, after all. And you know as well as I do the storm crew is best in the water, too.”
Selena smiled. “But I’m better. The ocean will bend to me, and it will become their grave. Follow me, and we will have victory. And with Esmerelda, we will have the weapons to make sure no one can ever stand in our way; the world will be ours for the taking.”
There was a moment of hesitation before cheers erupted and fists rose into the air. Esmerelda sat back, a smile on her face as she felt the excited nervousness rising in her belly, felt the electric tingle of power in the air. She suddenly understood why her late husband loved going to war.
Slowly, Arryn’s eyes fluttered open. Only a bit of light shone in through the air vents built into the walls of the mountain. She squinted her eyes as she rolled over to her side, realizing she was lying directly in one of the rays.
