"Leave him be!" I yell, rushing down the hill.
One of the soldiers looks up at me. "Well, well. There you are."
That voice.
That armor. Red and gold.
He wears the scars from his torture.
Levi stands before me, leading the attack on Yami.
He draws his silver sword. "Remember, girl. I bested you at Stonehill, and I will best you now."
He is the better swordsman, true. But he has my dragon. And no one. No one keeps me from Yami.
I draw Spero and Lux. One blade half white, half black. The other a pale blue, glowing like the moons. Then I close my eyes, recalling the advanced forms Fen taught me. I do not let his memory distract me. There is only the present. Only now.
I open my eyes.
And I charge.
Our blades meet, filling the air with the ringing of steel. Levi is faster than me, parrying blow after blow, but I use my two swords to full advantage, striking twice each time he strikes once. It's the only way I keep up. The only way I keep us tied.
The other soldiers don't enter the fray. I wish they would. Instead, they keep attacking Yami, stabbing at his legs. The dragon whimpers, and I let myself get distracted by his pain.
Levi strikes through my guard, cutting my shoulder. My armor is the only thing that keeps him from taking off my arm. Instead, he gives me a deep cut. I bite down in agony.
Levi hops back, grinning. He could have pressed his advantage, but he gives me a chance to recover. The bastard's enjoying this! He wants to drag out the fight. Wants to hurt me.
I need to end this now. Before a more dangerous enemy like Lucian arrives. Before the soldiers tear Yami apart, causing him to dematerialize.
Every second I waste is a second an innocent Fae or vampire dies in battle.
I need another plan. A better plan. I can't win in a fair fight against Levi. Maybe I could…
"Where is Fenris, I wonder?" asks Levi, prowling around me like a predator. "I would have expected to see him at your side. Did he abandon you, princess? Has Fenris finally run?"
I can't let him get to me. I must focus. Plan. Levi wants to fight me, beat me, humiliate me. I can't let him get reinforcements, but maybe…
Maybe I can get reinforcements of my own.
So I do the hardest thing I can think of. I leave Yami behind.
I turn, running away, running around the wall of fire, toward the armies.
Levi curses behind me. And then he does as I hoped. He follows me.
I sprint as fast as my legs can manage in my heavy armor, my lungs burning with effort. I weave my way through the battlefield, between Fae killing vampires, soldiers fleeing in terror, their morale broken. With an incantation, I enhance my hearing, listening for Levi. His footsteps amongst thousands. I hear him. Drawing closer. Closer. A blade rings through the air.
I turn.
Levi's sword flies at my throat.
He threw it.
I toss up my swords to block.
I'm not fast enough.
His sword rips through the air.
It's almost at my neck.
Something knocks it away.
Dean.
His blade knocks Levi's to the ground. He stands between me and Levi, his black chainmail shimmering in the dim sun. "Get to your dragon," he roars. Then he turns on Levi. The Prince of Envy scrambles, grabbing a sword off the ground, and brother fights against brother.
My plan worked. Dean came to my aid. But now I see the battlefield up close. Corpses upon corpses. Limbs cast to the side. Decapitated faces. My stomach twists and turns, making me sick. I see men and women die before me. People crying for mercy as they bleed out, clutching at their cut open stomachs. And then others die with no passion. They kill mercilessly. The Fae. They are winning.
Lucian is winning.
We need to tip the scales.
We need Zeb's ambush.
But the signal… I can't signal without Yami.
I run, leaving Dean and Levi to fight. I run for Yami. For the soldiers who torture him. They barely see me approach, and I cut them down, not allowing myself to think, to feel sorry. I slaughter them, and when they all lie dead, I pull the bolt from Yami's wing. "Now. The signal!"
Yami opens his mouth, and blue fire erupts into the sky.
I look away from the battlefield, to the forest where Zeb's army hides.
Come on. Come on.
No one comes.
Come on, dammit.
No one comes.
What's happening? Did Zeb betray us?
I wait longer.
No one comes.
I see our army start to break. I see Levi disarm Dean, kicking him down into the sand.
And then, on the hill, I see Lucian.
I see him laugh.
PART II
—Asher—
"What's so funny?" I ask, sitting by my father.
We have a whole tent sent up. Torches on pillars. A nice cozy place with chairs for each of us, me, Lucian, Niam, while a battle rages on below. While innocent people die. This isn't right. Any of it.
We barely even command. Instead of issuing orders, Niam and Lucian eat snacks as we watch, like this is some bloody show, some bloody game.
We only have one guard. A man in golden armor, his entire body covered. Only small slits in his helmet, so you can't even see his eyes. So inhuman. So cold.
Like them. Like me.
No. I must remember why I'm doing this. For Varis. For all Fae.
If I can get a moment alone with Lucian, if I can catch him off guard. I could end this. All of it.
Lucian laughs again. "They just sent their signal," he says, pointing at the blue flames in the sky.
I glance around, studying our backline, our flanks. "Should we be expecting an ambush?"