I’d barely slept, only about two hours, but it was enough. After finishing our breakfast while the sky was still dark, we made our way to the stables.
The maker of the saddles that had been used on the dragon king and queen was able to retrofit a couple horse saddles for Axil and me. We’d finalized the plan and it was decided that Axil would carry Raife on his back and I would carry Kailani. Meanwhile, Arwen and Drae would take to the skies, watching over us from above and Madelynn would stay on the ground, using her wind to blow back any assault on the Winter Castle where her little sister and Arwen and Drae’s twins were being kept safe.
Surrounding us would be the armies of Avalier mixed with dragon-folk, elves and fae. And our elite royal wolven army. If the war went on for days, then the wolven would arrive and bring an even stronger show of force. Ten thousand strong all together with the others. The necromeres were a surprise but nothing we couldn’t handle together. I was feeling good about things.
It was a great plan, nearly a perfect plan if everything went accordingly.
I turned to look at Axil and ask him something when I saw the color drain from his face. I frowned as he stared far off into space, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
“Axil?”
His gaze snapped to mine and he swallowed hard. We were in the stall of a barn, about to shift and have our saddles put on. He crossed the barn and reached for my face with shaky hands. “My love, one of my advisors has given me grave news.” His voice cracked and something inside of me broke.
It was bad. Whatever it was, was so bad. Axil had a constant mental link to his advisors, it was part of his alpha magic. It meant that no matter the distance, or form, they could communicate.
By the look on his face, his advisor had just told Axil something truly awful.
“No,” I whimpered, not wanting to know whatever it was that had made Axil look as if he’d seen death.
Tears filled his eyes and his bottom lip quivered. “Last night, Queen Zaphira sent an army of necromerian raiders to Fallenmoore. She must have been watching—”
“Axil, tell me!” I screamed, a sob already forming in my throat.
He released a shaky breath and looked me right in the eyes, his own still welling with tears. “Cyrus was killed and Oslo was taken.”
Nothing in this world could have prepared me for those words to come out of his mouth. My legs collapsed beneath me and everything went dark.
I CAME to in Axil’s arms a few moments later. Raife was there, some purple light glowing from his palm to my face as I blinked rapidly.
Why was I lying on the floor of the barn? Pure grief poured through me at the memory of what Axil had told me.
I sobbed and rolled onto my side as my wolf took over. I couldn’t be strong, not in my human form, it was too much to bear.
Cyrus. My sweet big brother. My coach. A husband. Father.
No. This couldn’t be happening.
But it was.
I welcomed the pain that the snapping of bones and ripping of muscles brought. It felt good in this moment. I wanted to feel hurt, it was better than feeling hollow. Like a huge gaping hole had opened in my chest.
Tipping my head up, I let loose with a gut-wrenching howl. I couldn’t help but wonder if Axil hadn’t claimed me last night if I would have felt Cyrus dying through the pack link. Something strong like that, a death, could be felt by all pack members. Maybe it was a small mercy I didn’t.
I expected Axil to take me into his arms, to try and sooth me with words but instead it was Raife who knelt before me, grasped the sides of my wolf’s face lightly and forced me to look into his gaze.
“I know,” he said calmly, eyes glowing with rage. “I hate that I know exactly how you feel but I do. Zaphira took my mother, father and all of my siblings from me in one fell swoop and I’ve waited years for this revenge.”
My wolf whimpered as I held his stare and I felt in that moment that he was the only one in the world who understood me and what I was going through.
“But you don’t have to wait years for your revenge, Zara,” he said. “You can get it now and you can save your little brother before she takes him too.”
Oslo. At the mention of his name, I sprang into a standing position, forcing Raife to let go of my face. The only thing that parted the dark clouds of my grief was the thought of my little brother.
“Ready?” Raife asked.
I nodded eagerly. If the Nightfall queen did have Oslo, she was about to learn that she’d messed with the wrong woman.
Just then the barn doors were thrown open and Kailani ran inside, panting. “I heard about your little brother getting taken. I know where the queen would hide him, and how to get into the castle.”
This had just become a rescue mission.
I looked up at Axil and he appeared conflicted for a moment. This changed everything, Oslo was taken – we had to save him first.
“Let’s do it,” Axil agreed.
Kailani rushed forward, making quick work of strapping the saddles to our backs. If she grew up in Nightfall City and knew the area like the back of her hand, then I needed her to get Oslo back. If we were to infiltrate the castle, she was our best bet.
“Where are your clothes for after you shift?” Kailani asked and I indicated to the pile of clothing in the corner. She scooped it up, stashed it in her bag and then leapt onto my back without fear.
I looked over at Axil, and he spoke into my mind using our newly formed pack link. ‘We’ll be able to communicate in wolf form. Leave the dangerous stuff to me and Raife, and you just worry about getting Oslo free.’
I dipped my head. ‘I will.’
With that, we stepped out of the barn and onto the snowy ground. Our small contingent of Royal Wolven Guards was waiting for us in a V pack formation. Axil nodded to them as he passed and they fell into line behind us. I tried not to allow my mind to wonder what I could have done differently to save Cyrus. Arwen and Drae had made so many runs last night getting the Royal Guard here, it was almost like the necromerians had waited until they were done before they attacked. The calculated ruthlessness of it made a flame of rage burn within me.
It had been snowing for hours and there was a permanent chill in the air which was to be expected in the Winter portion of the fae realm. I had thick wolf fur and the Mud Flats often got snow, so it didn’t bother me. The only thing on my mind was my little brother. I’d lost my parents, now Cyrus, I couldn’t lose him too.
It was about an hour’s sprint to the border. The fae, elvin and dragon peoples had done a wonderful job of coming together to amass a united front against the Nightfall army. I saw fae standing beside elvin folk and everyone working together. It was a beautiful thing given the circumstances, and I was proud our people were on their way to lend a hand.
Kailani was holding on to the saddle tightly so I rode fast and hard with Axil and Raife right beside us. When we reached the ice wall at the border, I steeled myself.
The necromerians were sailing over the wall only to be skewered by the elvin Bow Men.
‘How are we going to do this?’ I asked Axil, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.
There were people dying left and right and blood-sucking necromerians stood in our way. I would have said that flying by air would be the best option but as I looked up, I saw the glint of metal wings. Their skies were littered with them. The Nightfall queen and her machines seemed to have no end to what they were capable of.
‘The Royal Guard and I will carve a path for you,’ Axil said and I trusted him enough to take him at his word. I had to think about my brother now, everything else was secondary.
Hold on, Oslo, I thought. If that madwoman hurt a hair on his head, I would skin her alive and all of her children too. I could not be trusted to remain reasonable where my family was concerned. If you harmed those I loved then all honor was dead and I wasn’t going to play by the rules. This was my game now and I intended to win. By the end of this day, I would either lie dead on the ground or the queen’s head would be stuck to a spike in the center of Nightfall City.
Nothing in between.
With a growl, I took off running and Axil followed. We gained speed and then, as if sharing one mind, we leapt up and over the giant ice wall together and landed in the center of the chaos below. The Royal Guard jumped high over the wall as well and settled at our side, fanning out to flank us.
The Nightfall warriors and the necromerians immediately turned their attention to us and I steeled myself.
But nothing happened.
They stood frozen like marble statues and I knew in that moment that Axil was controlling them.
“Now!” Raife cried, and a barrage of arrows rained down from the trees, piercing the frozen warriors in the chest. Our Royal Guard leapt from their positions and ripped out the throats of the necros.
It all was happening so fast I couldn’t process it.
“Go!” Kailani lightly kicked me with her heels, like you would a horse, and that got me moving. I bolted from the crowded space and through the woods, towards the center of their lands and where Nightfall City castle lay beyond. A great wind rushed past us and I assumed it was Madelynn for a second until I saw a human male with short-cropped ears running towards us with his arms outstretched.
He had wind power!
I remained calm, pulling on the wolven king’s power that Axil had shared with me and imagining the man freezing to the spot, his knees going stiff. Then I threw the power over him. Suddenly he tripped over his feet and then lay on the ground, stiff as a fallen log.
Good enough.
I pressed on, trying to remain out of sight, darting through the trees in the direction Kailani gently coaxed me in. As I was barreling through the woods, freezing one or two warriors in our way, we suddenly came upon a cluster of necromerians. They were standing around a map talking battle strategy as I burst from a thicket and right into their midst.
There were over a dozen of them and they leapt backwards, startled, a few of them hissing. I skidded to a stop before them and Kailani let a curse word fly. I felt that king’s power course through my veins but before I could even concentrate to use it, the necros pounced.
They were so fast. I blinked and then they were on us.
My first fear was Kailani. I had no idea of her abilities and so I darted to the side to avoid two of the bloodsuckers but took a third head-on. It leapt onto my back, right where Kailani was riding and I steeled myself. A fourth came for me and I tore into her leg with my jaws. A body flew from my back, landing before me, and I was relieved to see it wasn’t the elvin queen. A dagger lay embedded in the chest of the necro.
Freeze, I thought and pushed it out like a net. The necros slowed but didn’t stop.
I remembered Axil’s advice. It was less about the word and more about the vision of it. Which was impossible to do when panicking! I imagined all of the necros suddenly grasping their heads in horrific pain, and one by one they dropped to their knees screaming.
I gasped, feeling like I’d done some dark thing, but again Kailani clicked her heels.
“Go!” she urged.
I ran, but the sick feeling that I was no better than Ansel stuck with me. Why did I feel bad for causing pain to someone who was trying to kill me? It was the dominant in me. It just felt wrong to control someone else like that, though it was needed in this moment. Axil was right, it was more of a burden than a blessing.
I went slower this time, creeping through the woods and watching for clusters of Nightfall warriors. I could see the castle looming on the horizon and with renewed strength, I ran harder.
“Near the west wall there is a storm drain, we will cross into the city that way if we can,” Kailani told me.
It was early morning. I feared we would be seen and killed by an arrow but kept that to myself. Best to assess the situation when we got there. I slowly made my way in that direction, only stopping when I heard a twig snap behind me.
‘It’s me.’ Axil’s voice came into my mind before I saw him. He ran up alongside me with Raife still firmly on his back. Both were covered in dirt and blood and wore signs of battle but otherwise seemed okay.
‘The Royal Guard?’ I asked him, relieved he wasn’t hurt.
‘They are helping on the front lines. I’m going to get Raife inside and hopefully he can assassinate her and be done with this before too many more people have to die.’
Raife looked at his wife. “Storm drain?”
“If we can,” she responded.
With that we moved our way through the woods, keeping watch for more warriors making their way to the front lines. The entire war seemed to be amassing along the border of Thorngate and Archmere.
There were a few sparse necros or Nightfall soldiers here and there but nothing we couldn’t handle. When we finally made it to the west side of the wall that surrounded Nightfall City, my heart sank into my stomach.
There were over fifty men pacing along the top, bows in hand as they readied themselves to defend their home. There was no way we could get past all of them. Could Axil force his will upon that many? Probably … but for how long? And if even one person raised the alarm, there were more inside, surely? We hid behind a cluster of bushes, all silent and lost in our own thoughts.
Kailani stepped off me and started to unhook my saddle.
I looked at her, perplexed, but she turned to address her husband. “We need a distraction. Draw the men to the north side of the wall so that Zara and I can slip inside.”
Okay, that was smart. Her ideas were good.
‘I can do that. Take Raife in case you see the queen. Just end this,’ Axil said for my ears only, but I felt anxious at the idea of him taking this risk for me, for Oslo. What if they killed him?
“I need you human to fit in the storm drain.” Kailani looked down at me and placed the stack of clothes at my front paws.
‘Axil, what if you get hurt?’ I peered at him, trying not to let the fear leak across our bond.
He looked over at me with blazing blue eyes. ‘What if they are hurting Oslo right now?’
That statement caused a whimper to form in my throat.
‘I can’t live with that, Zara,’ Axil said. ‘He is of you, and therefore he is of me. Go get him and I will take care of things out here.’
I padded forward, out of the heavy saddle and nuzzled his neck with my snout. ‘I love you,’ I whimpered. ‘Now. Forever. Always.’
We stayed like that for a moment, Raife and Kailani giving us our time to say goodbye. The importance of what he had said pressed upon me then; Oslo could be getting hurt right this moment. When I felt I had said a proper farewell, I started my shift. After changing quickly, I crouched in my human form and kissed the top of Axil’s wolf head.
Then I stood, careful to remain behind the bushes and walked up to Raife. He held my gaze, having no idea what Axil and I had said to each other.
“Axil will cause the distraction alone. You come with us and if we find the queen, we finish her. End this war.”
Raife grinned in approval but then the smile slipped from his face as he glanced at his old friend. One man taking on fifty warriors was not a fair fight.
The sound of crunching leaves pulled my attention to the right and I reached for my knife but stopped when I saw the shock of red hair.
Madelynn jumped into our little hidden bush alcove and gave Axil a lopsided grin. “Need some help? I’ve always wanted to ride on a wolf.”
Relief rushed through me and I pulled her into a hug, crushing her tightly in my arms.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I barely knew this woman but she was a very powerful fae, and alongside Axil, she might just be the only person able to help him fight that many men and keep him alive.
She squeezed me back and nodded.
Without further fanfare she leapt onto the saddle atop Axil’s back and then looked over at Kailani, Raife and me. “I heard it was going to be windy today.” She winked and then Axil took off, darting out into the open as a giant wind tunnel appeared in the field above the northern end of the gate.
“I love her,” Kailani said.
“Me too,” I added.
Raife went very still then, taking in a deep breath and pulling an arrow from his quiver. He nocked it and then looked at us. “The Nightfall queen is inside these walls. I can sense it. And I will not leave without the tip of this arrow embedded in her heart.”
It was time to seek revenge. When Zaphira took my little brother, she had no idea who she was dealing with.
