44. Eva
Chapter 44
Eva
T he looming battle felt like the air a heartbeat before a lightning strike. Our horses galloped as quickly as they could through the snowy trail, their ears pricked with anticipation as if they, too, could sense what was coming. Even the snowfall seemed to pause mid-flight, thick, pillowy flakes hovering around us as if forever suspended.
There was a palpable energy in the air as we stopped one last time to feed and water the horses and ourselves. I shoveled down a few handfuls of food I barely registered, even as I ate it, listening to the clink and clatter of metal as soldiers adjusted their armor—strategically placed metal plates, their matte black matching their leathers. Bash had helped me with my own battle gear this morning, the new adornments so magically light and perfectly conformed to my chest and back that I barely noticed the difference in wear. Or perhaps that was because I could hardly focus with what came next.
Our next stop would be the mountain. The only question was who would get there first.
The forest was too still. Too quiet as I returned to Nisa, offering her the apple that I had been unable to stomach. She snorted softly, nuzzling against me in comfort, and I rubbed a gloved hand against her mane. As I swung my leg over her, my hood fell back. A few snowflakes landed on my braid; its pleats so intricate, they felt like armor.
I felt more than heard Bash approach, Smoke’s steps muffled by the sounds of our armies and the fallen snow. When he came up next to me, our thighs almost touching with how close our horses stood, his gaze had already filled with swirling shadow.
“I don’t like this.”
I knew what he meant. Every part of me was coiled with tension, my instincts screaming that something was wrong.
“A little late to turn back now,” I half-heartedly quipped.
Bash’s attempt at a smile barely managed to curve his lips upward. “I sent a few of my rangers ahead to report back. While I expect we’ll have to defend the mountain against Aviel’s forces, especially depending on how long it takes to locate the Seeing Mirror and for you to go through the Choosing, I can’t help but wish we had a way to track him. Especially when the same likely isn’t true for us.”
I shuddered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold, the memory of Aviel breaking into my mind all too fresh.
A ripple of worry snaked down our bond. Then Bash pulled me off my mount and into his lap atop Smoke’s back, so I sat between his armored thighs. Nisa nickered softly, almost as if she was chiding us. Bash’s hands cupped my cheeks, and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning into his warmth. Savoring this last moment of contact before what was to come.
He brushed a wind-loosened strand of my hair behind my ear, his knuckles trailing down the side of my neck. “Tell me something true. Something real, hellion.”
I burrowed my face under his jaw, closing my eyes as I breathed in his scent—that musk of impending rain I knew better than my own. Wishing we already knew the outcome of today while simultaneously hoping the looming battle never came.
“I love you, Bash. No matter how this ends.”
That constant, steady love seeped from his soul to mine, warming me to the core.
“I think more than one person knows that, hellion.”
“Then you should have been more specific.” I smiled, the feeling of it almost strange as I leaned in, brushing a kiss against his lips. As I started to pull away, his fingers threaded through my hair to keep me there for an extra, selfish second.
It took me a second to remember how to breathe by the time he let me go. “Try not to die, freckles.”
Bash’s eyes narrowed, and a protective sort of helplessness drifted across our bond. “Right back at you.”
The crunching sounds of hoofs on the frozen ground came closer, but I didn’t open my eyes as our friends surrounded us. Just let myself stay in the comfort of Bash’s arms for one moment longer.
“Eliav’s forces are nearly at Morehaven,” Yael said, and I resignedly opened one eye. She held a piece of parchment, looking startled that the missive had been delivered to her. “He’ll reach them right before we begin our own attack.”
Marin rode next to her, her mount keeping a healthy distance from where Arion had thrown back his head, shaking the snow from his dusky mane. Tobias and Quinn rode side by side behind them. My brother looked tense; his face wan as his eyes darted from us to the dark clouds overhead. Then Quinn said something in a low voice that brought his attention to her, that hint of fear melting into something more controlled. I shot her a grateful look.
“About time,” Rivan grunted. “A battle on two fronts.”
“Don’t sound too excited,” Marin said impishly.
Rivan’s grin was vicious. “Oh, believe me, I am. I’m looking forward to finally finishing the war that was never won.”
I shrugged. “Or die trying.”
“Please save the inspiring speeches for later, Your Majesty,” Quinn quipped, her voice droll.
My lips curved up into a smirk, and I saw Bash’s eyes fix on the dimple that appeared there, looking for all the world like he was memorizing it one last time.
I shifted back toward Nisa, but his arms held me in place.
“This isn’t the end, hellion,” he said in a low murmur, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. “Not by a long shot.”
His hand turned my face back to him, then his mouth met mine, devouring me. I was breathless by the time he returned me to Nisa’s back as easily as he had taken me from her. He brushed the snow from my leathers before wrapping my cloak more firmly around me. With a grateful smile, I pulled up my hood, tucking my braid inside to keep it dry.
Reaching down to give Nisa a comforting pat, I rubbed my gloved hand up and down the side of her neck as we started forward.
“It won’t be long now, girl.”
We broke through the tree line only for my heart to slam into my stomach as two rangers I recognized rode at breakneck speed back toward us. Bash’s shadows immediately raced before us, shielding us from view as we retreated into the safety of the forest, while simultaneously warning the expanse of soldiers behind us to do the same in a silent signal.
Something solidified in my stomach as they came to a stop in front of me. “The False King…” The hair rose on the back of my neck as I realized I already knew what they were going to say. “His forces are just ahead. They’re attempting to breach Adronix’s gates.”
Rivan swore loudly, though Yael’s string of curses was far more colorful. Pari swung her mount around from where she had been riding beside me, immediately rushing to tell the others what lay ahead.
Bash’s silence seemed to feed into mine as I dragged my eyes to his, my own fear reflecting in their whirling depths. Adrenaline raced through me, but I forced my panic down even as its accompanying despair almost overwhelmed me.
“We won’t be able to stay undetected for long,” Marin said, her tone unusually grim. “They’ll no doubt have scouts watching for our arrival.”
Slowly, I lowered my hand from where it had unconsciously clasped around my throat. “He hasn’t beaten us to the Seeing Mirror yet. Which means we still have a chance.”
My brother nodded, his face pale. “Then we take this time to make a plan.”
Bash’s gaze turned to his rangers. “Can we fight our way through in time to make it into the mountain first?”
One licked her lips nervously. “Not with their numbers. You should see for yourself.”
Bash’s shadows wrapped around the seven of us before I could ask what she meant, motioning for us to follow. We halted just before the crest of the ridge, the dissonant symphony of clanking metal and whinnying horses that had been hidden by our approach preceding the size of the force ahead. I silently slipped from Nisa’s back, following Bash’s footsteps through the snow as his shadows hid our growing horror.
Aviel had indeed beaten us here, though just barely from the look of it. But his army stretched too far and was too vast for us to have any hope of winning this. They spread across the snow- covered plain below us, reaching all the way to the bottom of a mountain so great its peak was shrouded by the ominous storm clouds that surrounded it. Adronix was an ancient, malevolent giant, its slopes stretching endlessly upward in jagged lines, its black rock jutting through the snow like spears. A blast of wind howled through the trees, blowing an icy gust of snow directly at me as if in welcome.
A colossal iron gate was built into its base, standing sentinel as blasts of fire melted the snow encasing it. The massive chains attached to each side of the doorway were pulled taut, like the mountain itself was resisting the intrusion.
Impending death hovered in the air like a specter seeking its next victim. I could feel it waiting in the eves—its darkness more eternal than anything I could produce.
There was a buzzing in my ears as I numbly looked around me. Yael, Rivan, and Bash exchanged a glance, some silent communication passing between them born of fighting side by side for so long. Marin simply palmed her dual blades as if she was picturing the battle ahead. Quinn’s hand trembled against the hilt of her sword. Before I could reach for her, my brother beat me to it, his gaze fierce as her eyes shot to his.
You cannot have them, I silently swore. Any of them.
Bash’s hand in mind tugged me back from my thoughts, and away from the army between us and the mountain, even as that vow rang in my head. As soon as we reached the horses, he lifted me onto Nisa’s back, his gaze steely.
“How?” Rivan asked hoarsely.
As if in answer, a flash of parchment appeared in front of Yael. She snagged it from the air before it could flutter to the ground. A breeze whirred around her as she read aloud, “Morehaven is abandoned. We will ride north as quickly as we can.”
The parchment crumbled to ash in a flicker of shadow.
A muscle feathered in Bash’s jaw. “A trick. They must have left only enough to fool our scouts if they got too close. He knew we would split our forces and wouldn’t risk being pincered in between two armies. And without Queen Sariyah’s people…”
We’re outnumbered . He didn’t have to say it for me to realize how hopelessly we were outmatched.
I swore under my breath, feeling Bash’s mix of rage, fear, and heady determination across our bond. We couldn’t wait for Eliav’s forces to arrive. And they wouldn’t get here in time anyway. Not to stop Aviel.
“If anyone has a brilliant plan, now’s the time,” Yael muttered under her breath.
Bash’s eyes shot to mine, the warning in them clear. Don’t even think about it.
But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. Without looking away, I pulled up my glove enough to expose my palm, then wrote one word.
Worrywart.
Bash shot me an exasperated look, though a hint of airy amusement floated across our bond.
A whirl of white lifted from the snowy ground, blowing clear over the heads of the army ahead. It flew up and over Adronix until it disappeared into the cloudy peak where I could sense the Seeing Mirror, its call like a siren coaxing me to my death.
“We don’t need to win the battle,” I said slowly, chewing on my bottom lip. “Just the war. Which means we need to get inside that mountain.”
A horn sounded that seemed to echo across the clearing, another adding to it. And I knew that our limited time was up. That we had been spotted.
“There’s the small issue of the False King’s army in the way,” Rivan said offhandedly, gesturing with his sword at the mass of soldiers in front of us now raising their weapons. A wall of them formed against the mountain, guarding its entrance from our approach, their efforts to open the gates renewed. But a group of warriors split off from the throng, running toward the ledge with their swords raised.
“Then we’ll have to find a way through.”
I lifted Nightshade into the air, my darkness winding around the blade as I stared down the oncoming death.