Oath of War (The Cursed Bonds #2)

23. Chapter 23

T he following two days were the most torturous of my life.

After Annika had called Vahin to the palace, I thought she would disappear into his coils, warding herself from the world, as she did when Alaric left. Instead, she dragged me onto his back, insisting that we immediately fly to Zalesie.

I thanked the gods that she’d had enough patience to let me send a message to my brother before we set off. I asked him to bring Agnes with the army; Annika was distraught, and if she didn’t want me near, she would need someone to look after her. Somehow, her maid had become the only person my Nivale listened to.

As we sat before our campfire, resting Vahin’s overworked wings, I couldn’t stop myself from covertly glancing at her. It pained me to see her so quiet and withdrawn, snuggled into the crook of Vahin’s elbow. She looked so small as she gazed, unseeing, at the fire.

‘We’ll be at the fortress by the morning,’ I said, hoping to ease her worry. ‘I asked for Agnes to be sent with the army, and I don’t want to get in trouble if she doesn’t find her mistress there.’ When I didn’t get a response, I sent a silent message to Vahin, but his only reply was a feeling of disquiet.

‘I told you, I’m going to Zalesie. If you want to go to the fortress first ... fine. I know the way to town. I can walk if I have to,’ Annika said as she flipped burning twigs with a stick.

‘No one is walking anywhere as long as I can fly. Orm is just worried. As am I,’ Vahin rumbled, curling protectively around her.

‘Ani, we are too late to help. Why not go to the fortress, find out what happened, and go there prepared?’ I asked, wincing as the stick snapped in her hand.

She shook her head, throwing the stick into the flames. ‘I’m not stupid. I know it’s too late, but what if someone survived? What if they are hiding, waiting for a miracle while we sit here, warmed by the fire? I should be there . It was my duty to protect them, and I failed. Gods, I left them because I thought I could help!’

She squeezed her eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths. Vahin reacted instantly, moving his head until she had no choice but to lean into him.

‘I’m tired, Little Flame. I could not fly any farther tonight, but we can continue as soon as the sun rises,’ he said, a rumbling purr rolling out, which seemed to calm her. Annika forced a smile, stroking his eyelid as I marvelled at hearing my dragon lie for the first time. Vahin could fly day and night, but he had lied to protect her.

‘ She feels guilty but she’s exhausted. My Little Flame blames herself for Alaric’s departure, and now she blames herself for Zalesie. She needs time to gather her strength. She can’t face the destruction of her town like this, ’he said, answering my unasked question.

‘I’m sorry, Vahin. I didn’t realise ...’ she murmured, and something inside me broke. I, too, wanted to give her time, but the beast inside me was restless, and before I knew it, I’d walked over. She raised her head as my shadow fell over her.

‘Annika, please. You can’t do everything, and you can’t blame yourself for something beyond your control. Why do you take such a burden upon yourself?’ I argued, again feeling utterly helpless.

‘Because someone has to. You saw them during the war council meeting, heads up their arses and bickering like children. None of them cared about the borderlands ... no one ever cared.’ A tear slid slowly down her cheek. ‘Do you remember telling me how you first saw me? You saw me as a weapon, as someone who could make a difference. What difference did I make to Zalesie?’

I was speechless, seeing the haunted look on her face as she looked up to the stars, gazing into the vast darkness while her tears fell silently to the ground. I would have given everything to take her hurt, but no one had taught me how to console a broken heart. Instead, I kneeled next to her and held her hand.

‘How arrogant I was,’ she said, finally looking at me. ‘Thinking I was some great conduit mage just for killing some spectrae and an olgoi worm, for bartering with the Dark Mother.’ She continued in a whisper as she swallowed her tears, ‘How ridiculous. I thought ... I truly thought I was strong enough to change the course of the war.’

I wanted to tell her, to remind her how brave and strong she was , that it was not her magic, but her compassion that changed so much for so many. That she wasn’t just a warrior or a weapon, but someone who loved and lost and still stood firm against the worst of odds. That I would love her even if she hadn’t Anchored my soul.

I cursed myself for being unable to find the words. Cursed that my mind was locked behind the stoic, emotionless soldier I’d been trained to be. Instead of talking, I moved closer, leaning my head against her shoulder, and joined her scrutiny of the stars.

I felt a warmth through my bond with Vahin, his silent approval.

‘ Just be there for her when she is ready, ’ he rumbled in my mind, his tail moving to envelope us. ‘ She loves you, and she will come around. ’

‘ How can you be sure? ’

‘ Because I know her heart, and right now, she is afraid she will lose you, too. But my Little Flame’s spirit blazes brighter than the darkness coiled around her, and she needs you maybe more than ever, ’ he responded with such certainty that I slowly relaxed.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to rest. Not when, even in her sleep, quiet sobs escaped Ani’s lips. I wiped away the salty tears with my thumb.

Despite Vahin’s reassurance, my helplessness was killing me, until finally, I gave up, climbed to my feet, and covered Annika with my cloak.

My dragon gave me a questioning look, seeing I had drawn my sword, but he didn’t comment when I marched into the woods to practise until I was covered in sweat, and exhaustion drove all thoughts from my mind.

After returning from my practise, I’d collapsed against Vahin’s tail, desperate to be close to Annika, and slept until morning dew and bird song woke me from my sleep. Somehow, in the course of the night, I’d found my way to her side.

As I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was her tired, pale face. She was in my arms, snuggled to my chest, awake yet unmoving, but I was grateful even for that small mercy.

‘Good morning, Nivale,’ I said, kissing her forehead. Her breath stuttered, and she opened her mouth as if to say something. I felt her nestle closer, but as soon as she’d started to, she was gone, pulling away with a tense smile.

‘We need to go,’ she said simply.

I stood, nodding as I began to pack up. ‘Of course. As you wish, my sweetheart.’

We had one last flight to go, and I dreaded what would welcome us when we arrived. Annika sat stiffly on Vahin’s back, lost in her thoughts, until, with a sharp curse, she pushed closer. I wrapped my arms around her trembling body and saw what had startled her.

Zalesie was a smoking ruin.

The cosy mountain town, with its picturesque houses and patchwork fields, was pockmarked with olgoi worm tunnels and jagged, smoking rubble. Bodies littered the streets, just like they had at Roan Fortress, and as much as I was prepared for the view, Annika was not.

‘Land,’ she ordered, and I winced as her magic bit at my skin. Her power danced over Vahin’s scales, and I felt his concern about her loss of control.

Annika leapt off the dragon’s back even before he fully touched down and stalked slowly towards the town centre. I drew my sword and followed her, vigilant to danger, eyeing the carrion birds that looked on as we neared the town square. There, we encountered the town’s last stand. Peasant carts and tavern tables had been overturned to create a barricade. Around it, the ground was soaked with blood and covered in arrows, but it was the smoking ruin inside of the barricade that turned my stomach.

The stench of burned flesh still lingered in the air, even if the funeral pyre was already a pile of ash.

Annika wordlessly sank to her knees, picking up a small rag doll from the dirt. She looked at it for a long while, brushing the bloody mud from its painted face before she dropped it back on the ground.

I was ready to deal with her rage or her sorrow, but the woman who’d cried herself to sleep last night stood up without a word and silently walked away from the people who’d been her neighbours for years.

‘We need to search the ruins,’ she said detachedly. ‘Someone may be trapped beneath the debris.’

Annika was open with her emotions, but the cold mage ordering this search wasn’t the Ani I knew, and this quiet before the storm worried me to no end.

‘ Vahin? ’ I asked, hoping to gain insight into what was going on in her mind, but my dragon flooded me with his own worry.

‘ She’s cut me off, too, ’ he said, his gliding shadow sweeping the ground . ‘ But the aether currents around her are too strong. ’

We searched one house after another, Annika using her power to remove fallen roofs and debris as if they were nothing, sending them flying with a simple sigil and a flicker of her wrist. Vahin was right. The aether built up around her until even I could feel it.

No one had survived. We only found more and more bodies as the debris from Ani’s digging rained down on us. I ground my teeth as her elemental spells got worse, evidence that her power was becoming increasingly volatile.

‘My love,’ I said, grasping Annika’s shoulder. ‘Stop. Please stop. If anyone has survived, my men will have taken them to the fortress. There is nothing here but death and destruction.’ The shuddering breath that escaped her was the first sign I’d seen that my Nivale was still there.

‘No one buried them,’ she whispered. ‘All that remains of my friends are corpses left to rot.’ She pulled away from me, kneeling on the ground. ‘How is this right? How the fuck is this right!’ she screamed as she drew her dagger, drawing a sigil in the dirt and muttering a cantrip until blood trickled from her nose.

‘ Zareta erm, te erm o’ praxis. ’ 1

I nearly fell as the ground shook violently. Instinct took over, and I covered Annika with my body as dirt and dross erupted from the earth. The soft caress of her power turned vicious, biting the skin the moment I touched her.

I loved when she cast her spells—the wave of warmth, like a summer breeze, that came with them filling me with energy. But today ... Today, it felt like I had placed my hand on a sizzling skillet, and all I felt was pain. Worse, I wasn’t sure if Ani even realised her spell was burning through too much power.

I pulled her closer, blood humming in my ears as my soul strained against the onslaught of aether she was channelling through the bond, Vahin’s agonised roar mirroring my own struggle. I didn’t dare move, however, as each body we’d found was carried on rolling waves of earth into the town centre to join those on the funeral pyre. Eventually, the debris hanging above us was slowly, reverently lowered, gently covering the bodies of Annika’s friends and fellow townsfolk.

When it was all over, Ani dispersed her residual power, and I was overwhelmed by the backlash, suddenly filled with the energy of a thousand warriors. Meanwhile, the woman in my arms could barely stand, her nose bleeding and her breath coming in a rapid, broken rasp.

She’d just performed three separate spells with a single incantation. And with that level of control? Even though Ani thought herself powerless, I knew she could change the tide of this war.

‘Come, Nivale. There’s nothing left to do here,’ I said, silently asking Vahin to land. We climbed on the dragon’s back and Annika swayed, shaking her head as she tried to keep her eyes open.

‘Don’t let me fall, Ursus.’

Her words were so quiet that I only just heard them as she placed her head on my breastplate. A few moments later, her tiredness caused her to sag into my arms and fall asleep. I needed this, her trust that I’d never let her fall and reassurance that she still welcomed my touch. The pet name she had for me had never sounded better, and the tight knot in my chest eased a notch.

‘I’ll always protect you,’ I whispered, kissing her temple before bundling her up in my riding cloak. I knew I had to prepare myself for what was to come. Before Reynard’s army arrived and we could push the battlefront to the Barren Lands, I would have to ensure every town and village was either guarded or evacuated.

That was a daunting task, even for me.

‘My lord, you’ve returned,’ exclaimed a young rider as Vahin landed. Several others saluted but kept their distance. I simply nodded an acknowledgement, noting the state of their gear and injuries, a silent testament to the efforts my men were making to hold off the Lich King’s forces. I couldn’t help feeling proud of each and every one of them.

As I carried my sleeping woman into the fortress, I noticed the increased number of civilians and just how many wore dark mourning clothes.

‘Where is Tomma?’ I asked a passing sergeant. My Nivale was dead to the world and didn’t even stir as I spoke.

‘With the herbalist, my lord,’ he answered. ‘They’re tending to the wounded.’

‘Good. Find him and tell him to meet me in my office with the report on Zalesie. And tell a maid to get Lady Annika’s room ready.’

As the man bolted to fulfil my orders, I adjusted my arms to make Ani more comfortable, wishing I could ease the frown on her face and erase the dark circles under her eyes. When we eventually made it to her room, she murmured something in her sleep, grasping my riding cloak so hard that rather than prise it from her grasp, I simply slipped it off, using the fabric to cover her as I lay her on the bed.

She looked so peaceful, yet so fragile. I smiled sadly as I bent to remove her boots before I sat next to her, unbraiding her tight plait.

She was the miracle this world didn’t deserve, a woman of immense power with a heart full of scars. I didn’t know how she was still willing to fight for what she believed was right, but I would forever be grateful I could be there to help her.

‘I love you, Nivale,’ I whispered, brushing the chestnut hair from her forehead. ‘Please don’t push me away because you are hurting. I’m not a dragon, but a simple soldier who yearns to give solace to your soul.’

‘My lord!’ Tomma stormed in, and I had never been so close to killing a subordinate.

‘ Shh ... sleep, sweetheart,’ I cooed when Ani inhaled sharply, gesturing for my second-in-command to get out before I took the head off his shoulders. Unfortunately, the damn man just stood in the doorway, a relieved smile on his face, as if my presence was some divine intervention he had long prayed for.

I stalked toward him, grinding my teeth, but as soon as I reached him, my anger abated. Tomma was injured. His left hand hung limply at his side, and deep gashes ran down his neck, disappearing under a shirt that couldn’t hide the thick bandages.

‘Commander, is Master Alaric with you?’ he asked, wincing as his lifeless arm swung against the door. ‘We have many wounded, some gravely.’

‘No, Alaric left for Katrass. Let’s talk in my office. Annika has to rest, and we need to get ready to host an army. Did you know we lost Roan Fortress? Everyone was killed in a massacre a few days ago—’

He audibly gasped, and I paused, giving him a few moments to process the information.

‘I’ve heard nothing, my lord,’ he said. ‘Though, a couple of days after you left, the attacks began. Initially, small groups of the usual monsters were targeting villages and forest settlements. It scarcely warranted any attention—a squad of soldiers or a dragon or two to deal with them—but last week was different. The monsters became more organised, and we noticed they were acting with purpose.’

I frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Draugrs 2 were in command, sir. They still looked like the fae nobles they once were, dressed in gilded armour, even if their desiccated skin was more like tree bark. But when we approached, their eyes shone with otherworldly violet light, and wherever the draugrs pointed, the monsters attacked. One even got me with its sword and almost severed my arm.’

‘Fuck, that must be how the Lich King controls them,’ I said, opening the door to my office. My adjutant jumped to his feet, dropping a stack of papers on the floor, but I only nodded without paying too much attention. ‘Tell me if we have any survivors from Zalesie. I saw the funeral pyre ...’

‘We evacuated most of the families when the attack started. It was Katja who convinced them to move to Varta Fortress, but some men were just too stubborn, convinced they could defend their homes.’

Steeling himself, Tomma continued, ‘I was there for the last stand. We tried to take them, but there was just a few of us—a regular patrol group—when the attack started. The men who stayed behind were gathered in the middle, fighting with whatever weapons they could find. We were swarmed by spectrae and couldn’t help much, but they fought with bravery rarely seen amongst the common folks. In the end, we could only burn some bodies from above before the spectrae chased us away.’

‘Annika, she wanted to go ... I couldn’t refuse her.’ I sighed. ‘That town meant so much to her. She buried what was left of it. Someone will have to tell the survivors there is nothing to return to.’

‘Do you want me to talk to them, sir?’ Tomma’s question dragged me out of my brooding.

‘No, I’ll do it tomorrow. Your task is to establish regular communication with Dagome’s army,’ I said, shaking my head as a delayed wave of tiredness blurred my vision. ‘Use the junior riders. Send the first message at dawn. Reynard should be leading the troops along the river. That’s what I’d do. Tell them to try to find him—he must be briefed on what’s happening here. And call Katja. Ani will feel better having her around.’

‘Katja is with the wounded,’ he snapped before lowering his gaze under my scrutiny. ‘I’m sure she can find a moment for our lady, but I can’t force her to abandon her patients.’

The protectiveness in his tone made me smile. Before all this mess, I knew Tomma had hoped Katja would choose him. From the few interactions I’d observed between them, I’d guessed that if anyone had a chance with the no-nonsense herbalist, it was him.

‘How did she take it?’ The attack on Zalesie?’ I asked.

‘She is working herself to death,’ he said. ‘Katja eats and sleeps in the hospital. I’m worried, but she won’t listen to me. Still, if not for her, I would have lost my arm.’

I nodded. ‘Well, if she finds time, tell her to come to the castle. If not, just make sure she knows Annika is back, and tell that blacksmith, Bryna, too. Veles’ pit, why do I feel the best way for them all to cope would be locking them in the tavern’s basement with access to all of Ian’s spirits? Fuck, at this point, I’d happily join them.’

‘If you decide to do it, sir, count me in.’ Tomma nodded, a half-smile momentarily tugging at his lips. With a quick military salute, he turned and left. I looked at my adjutant, who had been silently trying to pick up the scattered documents from the floor, as I contemplated what to do next.

Annika had started opening up to me, and I didn’t want to jeopardise it by sleeping in her bed uninvited. That just meant I had to busy myself tonight, as I was sure I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

‘Bring the armoury register, contracted suppliers record, and the up-to-date storage reports to my room,’ I finally said. After a moment of hesitation, I added, ‘and ask Ian to send his strongest mead there.’

When he acknowledged my order, I turned and left for the bath chamber. I was filthy after the long flight, but my first glance at the billowing steam reminded me of the beautiful moment we’d had at the manor in Truso.

‘I hope you are safe, Ari. I miss you ... and I feel so lost without you,’ I said, whispering a short prayer to the All-Father to protect him before entering the bath. I didn’t have time to indulge myself, nor did I want to. So, I focused on washing quickly and planning what I should do next.

Something woke me.

I shook my head, trying to remember where I was and what I was doing. With an annoyed grumble, I removed the piece of paper that had gotten stuck to my cheek. It took me a moment to remember I was in my bedroom, and apparently, I’d fallen asleep at the desk. All that was left of the candles I’d used to read by were sputtering stubs, drowning in their own wax, the smell nearly obscuring the scent of Ian’s apple cider.

I looked around, wondering what had pulled me out of my slumber, blinking at the sight of my visitor. Annika stood by the door in a white nightgown, hesitance written all over her face.

‘Come, join me, sweet Nivale,’ I murmured, welcoming her. She crossed the room and stood in front of my chair. Still half asleep, I reached out and pulled her onto my lap, inhaling the gentle scent of verbena lingering on her skin.

She didn’t resist. Instead, she straddled my legs, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her loose chestnut hair fell against my cheek, melting away the tension I’d carried all day. I stroked her back, pressing my face into her bosom, allowing the newfound peace to seep in.

We were both people of few words, but she had come to me, and that was all that mattered. We could talk when she was ready. Right now, I just wanted to hold her, to feel her breath on my neck, to be with the woman whose presence made everything better.

She rocked her hips, kissing my neck, nipping the skin hard enough to leave a mark. ‘Ani, what are you...?’ I asked. For a moment, I thought I had misunderstood her intention, but then she repeated her movement, and I felt my trousers tighten against my rising erection.

‘Make me forget,’ she whispered, sliding her hands under the collar of my shirt. I pressed them to my chest, searching her face for answers. Ani opened her mouth as if to say something, only to shake her head.

I knew the feeling all too well, the struggle to find the words when you needed them most. But she found a way, the Anchor bond flaring to life, a maelstrom of emotion hitting me like a hammer, choking me with its intensity.

‘Please, my Ursus. I’m drowning,’ Ani whispered. ‘The images ... they keep coming. I can’t—’ She leaned in for a kiss, her heart racing under my hand.

‘It’s alright, sweetheart. Whatever you need, I’m here for you, but guide this clueless bear. Show me how to make it better for you.’

She came to me . . .

If my touch could help her survive the night, I wouldn’t deny her. I let her pull at my shirt, lifting my arms so she could remove it, and when her soft lips trailed over my bare skin, I grasped her gown, pulling it up to reach between her legs.

Annika was soft, wet, and ready for me. Finally, I could do something to soothe my mate.

1. Bury them, give them peace.

2. Draugr /pron:drow-gar/ — a revenant awakened in his grave that retains some mental capabilities. Their primal reason for existence is to protect their treasures, but they can be tethered to the necromancer’s will.