by Rosie Scott
Finally, the back ends of the fleeing soldiers were just yards before me. Perhaps the men and women thought they weren't being pursued, because no one looked behind them. Ice crackled in my palm before I leaned over my horse's neck, stretching my arm just past its head.
Icicles rippled forward with the sound of hurtling blades, the noise only muted by the hard rainfall. Horse and man alike fell, at the mercy of an arc of ice. My own horse jerked left from the line of corpses on the ground, and I pulled the reins to the right once we were past them.
Muted screams sounded out from ahead as Terran's soldiers relayed my pursuit to their general. Far in the distance, I could see the bright white of a brand new energy shield as Raphael sought to protect my brother. My nostrils flared with irritation. Even if I caught up to him, I didn't think I'd have enough energy to break down his shield and kill him. Most of his men were far behind us. I could not regenerate from them, and all the while, the god was able to regenerate by himself and continuously refuel Terran.
Raphael was weak in combat, but he was proving to be the hardest god to kill and the biggest thorn in my side. My eyes heated with unshed tears of frustration, thoughts of the battle and things I could have done differently swimming through my head as nagging doubts. I'd done so well in separating Orzora from Raphael to kill her, but I hadn't had the time to do the same with my brother. After ten years of promising Cerin I would kill Terran in this battle, I had failed him.
Not yet. I shoved all doubts to the side, settling back into my usual confidence. It hadn't failed me yet.
Echoes of my brother's voice sounded out far ahead, but the gruff, pained breaths of my horse were so deafening I couldn't hear what was said. My mind racked through spells, trying to find the one to turn the tides of my situation.
Then, the tides were turned, but not in my favor. I flipped through the air so abruptly I couldn't tell what had happened. I landed in a lump over sopping wet grasses and cool mud, the breath knocked out me. Yards away, my horse was lying still, its skull split in half by an icicle and bleeding out into already forming puddles.
I scrambled to a stand, my chest cluttered with anguish.
“You coward!” I roared, the distortion of my angered voice traveling far through the falling rains to my brother's retreating back. I nearly screamed it again, but there was no use. The horses were no longer visible under the darkness of the falling night. Terran had no intention of coming back.
I collapsed in a heap, overwhelmed with torment. After a string of military successes over the last few years, defeating Terran's army was another one. But right now, the fact that one man in particular had gotten away made all of that for naught.
I laid back on the grass in a puddle of rain and equine blood, and allowed myself to give into heartbreak.
Forty-four
“Kai.” Plush lips kissed me once on my left temple. “Kai.”
I was awake, but my eyes were closed. A harsh ache pounded through my head. I remembered every bit of the battle the day before, but I had no recollection after Terran's escape. All I knew was that I was in a bed. Given the chattering of a waking city, I must have been in the midst of Hallmar. I didn't want to open my eyes. I felt like a failure. I'd torn up the far northeastern plains of Chairel, and yet my main target had escaped unscathed.
“Kai.” Cerin murmured again, landing a few more kisses over the side of my face. “I know you're awake. I can see your eyes moving behind your eyelids.”
“Because I want to see you safe, Cerin,” I replied, my voice raspy from all of the screaming I'd done the day before. “But I also don't want to look into your eyes and admit that I've failed.”
“What have you failed at?” He asked, nuzzling his nose beside my ear. “You won. We are in Hallmar. It's taken. Maggie lost her leg, but at least she's safe. All our friends are safe. We're both here and alive. All is well.” Another kiss.
My eyes burned as tears of frustration overwhelmed them. “Terran is alive.”
“So are we.”
I sighed heavily. “Are you purposely being obtuse?”
“No. I'm purposely being optimistic.” Cerin's hand worked its way through my hair, causing shivers to run down my spine. “Open your eyes, Kai. Your efforts of hiding from me only make you more adorable.”
I finally heeded his request. We were on the top floor of a single-family home made of stone. A clear window at the far end of the story to my left showed a view of the northern ocean. Just the tops of blue sails of Hammerton warships were visible near its bottom ledge. Below the window and much closer to me, Cerin's silver eyes looked over my face. He smiled softly when I met his gaze.
“I love you,” he said.
“I failed you,” I replied, my voice thickening with remorse. “After ten years of waiting. After ten years of promises. I wanted so badly to protect you.”
“I'm right here.” Cerin took my chin in his fingers and moved my head so we faced one another completely. “I am safe.”
“But you resent me for letting Terran go in the Battle of the Dead. I was desperate to prove my loyalty to you. Desperate to kill him once and for all. Before he could send anyone else your way.”
“I don't resent you. You had nothing to prove to me,” Cerin argued lightly. “You have never lied to me. I believed you when you said you will kill him. And you will because you always accomplish everything you set out to do. Just not yet. Fate has other plans.”
“Fate is superstitious bullshit.”
Cerin chuckled. “I know. It was a matter of speech I not-so-eloquently chose, I guess.” He sobered, looking down at my bare forearm as he started to scratch his fingertips along my skin. “There was one day in Monte almost two years ago when you and Azazel spent the day together. This was soon after Calder and his army showed up and we had our argument. I went out to the ocean to fish. Thought I was all alone until Nyx came right up beside me and plopped down like she was invited.”
I huffed in amusement. “As she does.”
Cerin smiled with acknowledgment. “After I told her she'd scared away all the fish, she got around to asking how things went between us. I told her what you'd said. She offered to get you alone and use illusion magic on you to find out your true intentions.”
My stomach ached at that fact. “Nyx didn't believe me.”
“I don't think it was that,” Cerin said quickly as if to dissuade negativity. “I just think she could tell the whole thing bothered me. She wanted to give me peace of mind by knowing for sure. But I already felt like I did know for sure, and I told her that.”
“You doubted me on the battlefield when you told me you would kill him.”
Cerin exhaled slowly. “I had doubts, yes. When I say I knew for sure, I mean that I knew you were honest with me. You'd told me you would kill Terran, but you wouldn't enjoy it. I told you I would do it to save you from the heartbreak.”
I nodded shakily in understanding. “My rage affected many of my actions yesterday. Once Terran was far from me and the adrenaline was out of my system, I felt that pain.”
“You still love your brother,” Cerin said softly. “I understand that.”
“I...don't think I do, Cerin,” I murmured. “I love the brother I knew. I love the brother who used to laugh when Sirius would yell. Reassure me when Sirius would criticize. Marvel at my abilities and spend time with me throwing his ideas of my origins out to see what would stick. Sometimes he would apologize to people for Sirius's actions. He was just kind. Fun-loving. Caring. Once, when I was a little girl, I asked him if he thought he'd been dropped off at the University's doorstep like I'd been because he was so unlike Sirius that I couldn't believe they had the same blood.”
Cerin listened to all of this, kissing me softly on the shoulder as I continued. “Now, all I can see in Terran is someone who is blinded by ignorance. Against progress. Like Kirek, he is marching down the same path laid before him by a ruler who is unworthy. These people don't dare ask questions about why something i
s illegal, or even if it should be. They just accept the law as is and refuse to listen to others. I can't respect that. How can I love someone if I cannot respect them?”
“By loving who they were,” Cerin said. “If you don't love who Terran has become, that pain you felt was over what could have been. What you've lost. Perhaps killing him will allow you to heal. For as long as he is alive, you will be in a state of mourning.”
I nodded. “You're right. In a way, I feel like I did after the Battle of Highland Pass. Broken and in a state of limbo. I respond to pain and tragedy with actions. If something keeps me from it, I will stay broken.” I lifted my arm up, rolling my fingers into a fist. “Terran was in my grasp. And then?” I spread my fingers. “Then he was gone.”
“Not for long,” Cerin murmured, scooting closer to me to slowly kiss my neck. “We'll be headed straight for him before long.” His husky voice was muffled against my skin between his affections. “Though you may not have killed him yesterday, you did some rearranging of the land to get to him.”
I let my eyes flutter closed as he continued kissing, a smile pulling up my lips. “And this turns you on because you're as crazy as I am.”
“Watching your prowess turns me on,” Cerin retorted lightly, his fingers finding the edge of my undershirt beneath the blankets. “You told me that everything you did out there was for me and to think of you. And I did. You carved me some nice rivers to fish from, didn't you?”
I chuckled roughly with desire.
“I'm going to name those rivers,” Cerin went on, tugging my shirt up toward my head. “And the story of how one goddess bested a massive army because she loved a mere mortal will be passed on through the generations.”
“The story will be told regardless,” I replied, turning to meet his lips with mine. “But I don't trust you to come up with a good name for the rivers.”
*
63rd of New Moon, 429
Over half a year after Hallmar's takeover, our invasion of Hammerton was considered a success. Smaller armies had been dispatched in the weeks after the last battle to Oeric and Boreas. Both towns were in northern Hammerton along the coast, and their locations on the far side of the Quakes made them quite isolated. For that reason, the Sentinels and I had long ago decided they would be our last concern. As soon as all three major settlements had fallen, we figured the two smaller towns would cave into intimidation alone. We were correct. Oeric and Boreas were ours, and by using dwarves with knowledge of Hallmar's takeover to persuade them, both battles had few casualties.
I hadn't been present for the negotiations of either town because I'd been busy getting ready for our final goal of marching on Chairel. Before I left for my last offensive war campaign, I promised myself I would at least visit Oeric. I hadn't yet had the time, but visiting Bjorn's hometown was important to me, particularly before the end of the war.
Our army had taken Chairel prisoners of war from the takeover of Hallmar. We'd received intel from many of them about my home country and its plans. In addition, I found my powers of persuasion were excellent when dealing with soldiers of Chairel. Many of the infantrymen who'd dedicated their lives to serving the country were magically literate, but their soldier's wages kept them from affording an education from Sera. It wasn't too long before I'd turned many of the prisoners to my side with promises to teach them magic for free.
Calder had requested more reinforcements, and now Hallmar was cluttered with Alderi. There was a nearby tunnel exit to the underground in the Firn Caps halfway between Quellden and the now-combined cities of Hazarmaveth and Demiz, so reaching Hallmar was a fairly straightforward walk, if a long one. There were also tunnel exits in the Seran Peaks and the Golden Peaks, close to Sera and Narangar, respectively. We foresaw having to utilize both in the coming years. Now that Calder was aiding only me, he requested larger armies. All of my hard work during the Underground Liberation of 420 was paying off tremendously. The one ally I'd never previously considered was turning out to be my best.
I had other supporters, of course. Beastmen, mercenaries, and stragglers of various countries were traveling in groups via the underground tunnels that reached every land to offer their service. In addition, Hasani and the Naharans had been offering their support for years, keeping some of Chairel's armies busy at the southern border in distraction. One of the Chairel prisoners of war had told me that their soldiers had a new nickname for Hasani: the king of the dead. Apparently, the prince who had once been distrusting of necromancy was now reveling in its power as king. Hasani was not a necromancer himself, but many of the dark-complected Naharans were predisposed to death magic, and many of the Alderi reinforcements were as well. Altan's previous intel that the Naharan Army was turning into an intimidating prospect for Chairel was correct. Due to my actions just a decade ago, one feeble country full to the brim of the poor was rapidly developing.
I waited to call for Hasani's support in Chairel because it wasn't necessary yet. I wanted him to continue distracting the enemy army at the border, and for now, we weren't leaving Hallmar anyway. The Eteri Army could not go until Tilda's reinforcements and settlers arrived, and even then, Cyrus and I were still suspicious the army would be leaving at all. Because the seizure of Hallmar was up in the air at the time the settlers were sent, they were expected to arrive in Olympia's port in early New Moon. Here we were in late New Moon, and nothing had been heard.
Cyrus, Altan, Uriel, Cerin, Azazel, and I were spending time at the harbor in the midst of celebration. The dwarves in Hallmar liked to hold a big festival here every year to celebrate the warmer weather of New Moon, and the seasons seemed to be delayed in the north. Though it was the 63rd of New Moon and two-thirds of the way through the season, the warm weather had only recently arrived.
Hallmar's harbor reminded me of Scirocco's, for the docks lined the coast at the tip of an inlet. The inlet was wider here, leading to the open ocean within viewing distance. The Firn Caps rose into the skies to the left, and even though they were far away, the mountains in the Quakes which held Oeric were visible to the right. The city wall kept the harbor contained at the tip of the inlet, but if someone truly wanted to, they could swim out and around the wall to gain access to the city. Watchtowers were posted on either end, but I imagined many assassins had slipped past them from the Firn Caps and used such an entrance to gain access to targets within.
Dwarven warships rocked calmly in the harbor, some with blue sails, while the rest were equipped with the yellow sails of Eteri now that Hammerton belonged to them. Tiny fishing boats waded through water to points ripe with catches, while others simply floated idly while the fishers tried their luck.
On the docks, the festival was in full swing. In Sera, festivals usually only lasted a couple of days. This one had been happening for three days and didn't look like it would stop until it would need to be renamed to make sense with the changing seasons in a few weeks. The dwarves loved to party, and so did Altan.
The first Sentinel was in the middle of a conversation with a dwarven ale vendor about brewing techniques, and both of the men seemed much too enthused for the subject. Altan's boisterous laughs were so loud they nearly overrode the merry dwarven music.
I leaned over to Cyrus and said, “Looks like Altan made a friend.”
Cyrus chuckled and said, “Altan tries to make friends wherever he goes.”
“It's a good sign, considering,” I commented, and Cyrus nodded toward me in acknowledgment. Altan had been much kinder to the dwarves than Kirek during Hammerton's takeover. It was mostly due to his higher position that he'd gotten her to accept leaving the dwarven civilians alive in each of the settlements, which was against Tilda's orders. Even still, Altan had often shown some bias toward the dwarves by throwing around the slur metalhugger and teasing others for congregating with them. For a long time, I couldn't tell whether the bias was born out of hateful racism or the circumstances he'd lived throughout his life fighting for a country always at war with dwarves. Given that
he was as open and friendly with them as anyone else, I was happy to know it was the latter.
“Hey!” Zephyr's voice was bright, but a bit labored as she came up to us from the inner city. One pale finger swirled around the group of us as she asked, “Which one of you received the messenger?”
Cyrus frowned. “What?”
Zephyr turned back to point to the skies over the city. There was nothing there now other than soft clouds that inched slowly from east to west. “The messenger griffon. I thought it was mine until I checked the log.”
“Maybe it was yours,” Uriel spoke up. “Maybe somebody took one out to stretch its wings.”
Zephyr shook her head. “No. It came over the city from the south, and about an hour later it headed back. That's why I checked the logs. It didn't make sense to me.”
“Altan!” Cyrus called, as the first Sentinel was still in friendly conversation with the dwarven vendor.
Altan turned around, walking over to us when Cyrus motioned for him. “Yeah?”
“Messenger griffon.” Zephyr jerked her thumb back to the city. “Yours?”
Altan wrinkled up his nose. “What?” His red eyes flicked up to the skies. “No. I didn't get a damn thing. Been waiting on one, though. It'd be nice if the reinforcements sent one out to let us know what date they'll be arriving.”
“Well, that doesn't make any sense.” Zephyr wrinkled up her nose and glanced back at the city.
“What about Kirek?” I asked.
“What about her?” Zephyr replied.
“Have you asked her if she received the messenger?”
Zephyr shook her head. “I couldn't find her. Asked Dax on my way here, but he just told me where to find you guys. I thought maybe she'd be with you.”
Altan caught my eye and said, “I wouldn't worry too much about Kirek, Kai. The messengers are told to abide by the hierarchy. If they couldn't find me, they would've found Cyrus. And we've been here for hours at a festival that's so loud they can probably hear it in Olympia. They would've found us.” Altan switched his gaze to Zephyr. “It's one of your griffons.”
