Chapter 43
Rykr
“Rykr, help us!”
Seren’s voice, which had gone quiet for a while now, came into my mind unexpectedly clear.
But weak.
Fading.
A rip went through the fabric of my soul.
Seren was dying.
Concentrate. I couldn’t let myself slip into her thoughts now. Leaving Seren had been foolish, but I had abandoned my duties to my people too many times over the last month not to take this opportunity.
I jerked my chin up, grabbing on to a handhold on the cliff I’d scaled as I followed Haldron and his council taking a mountain path back into Emberstone. If they reached the protection of the city, I might lose the chance to strike.
Conveniently, my ability to climb seemed to have improved, along with every other skill I’d once possessed.
The possibility existed that my uncle was unaware of the fact that I’d followed him—which I doubted—but there was an equal chance that he lay in wait for me.
I was willing to take my chances, but I prepared myself for the second option.
With the added protection from my powers, a sense of indestructibility had settled into my bones. Reckless, maybe, but what did it matter? Going after my uncle was the best way to strike a blow for my kingdom.
My kingdom.
Did the High Magister know what had happened? Surely, he had to know something hadn’t gone right with Iver’s coronation.
But now that the divine gifts had been given to me, I had a fighting chance. I had no sword, but I had newfound powers and strength at my disposal.
My feet dug into the toeholds of the rough rock, and I hoisted myself up, then stopped short.
My uncle waited on the path, on a horse.
What I hadn’t expected? Lucia Ragnall, bound by heavy chains and gagged, held at knifepoint by one of his guards.
Vangar soldiers flanked them—about ten in all.
But I’d be a fool to assume that the only strength these soldiers possessed were their swords.
I’d been in the Viori territory long enough to know these Unbound people had imperceptible skills.
“I don’t have a weapon,” I said, taking slow steps toward them, my hands in front of me.
“You are a weapon, Calix. I saw that well enough in the Havamal.” My uncle narrowed his gaze at me. “Not another step or my man will slit the throat of your darling wife’s mother.”
Fear pulsed through me, but I couldn’t allow it to show. I shrugged, still inching closer. “And why should I care? Do you really think I love a Viori gutter rat? I have many far more beautiful women waiting for me in Suomelin.”
Lucia’s eyes widened, pleading with me as the guard pressed the knife closer.
“You’re lying.” Haldron’s mouth turned up in a cruel smile.
“You think I haven’t had you watched this entire time in Emberstone?
You’re in love, Calix. Maybe it’s the effect of the Oath of Bryndis or maybe you’re just a simpering fool, but you care about Seren Ragnall.
How long do you think Seren would continue to love you if she knew you didn’t even try to save her mother? ”
I ground my teeth. Fuck. Despite my temptation to ignore him, he was also right. But I wouldn’t give that away, either.
Seren loved her family deeply.
She might never forgive me if I didn’t help Lucia.
I stopped my approach, weighing my options. Fire would be expected—and a sure way to make certain Lucia was killed. My fire wasn’t as precise as Seren’s ice was. Not yet.
“I must admit, I didn’t anticipate you, Calix. I’d heard of your powers, but you impressed me. You were magnificent in the Havamal, and that was before the gods chose to bless you with their divine gifts.” Haldron’s eyes glittered. “It will be a pity to kill you.”
I had to get Haldron away from Vangar protection. No doubt they’d interfere if I tried something from here.
“Then I suggest you do it yourself, Haldron. You wouldn’t want to leave the task to someone else and have them fail you again, would you?”
Haldron held my gaze. “I didn’t get where I am by being a fool. You shouldn’t underestimate me, dear nephew. Or what I’m capable of.”
“This from the man that murdered my entire family?” I threw him a hard glare. “I’m already well aware of what you’re capable of.” I shifted my weight forward with one foot.
“Clearly you don’t. That was yet another step …”
Before Haldron’s words had fully sunk in, the guard plunged the knife into Lucia’s gut, without the slightest hint of emotion on his face. She cried out, her voice muted by the gag, but a red stain appeared on the front of her dress as he pulled the knife back.
“No!” The word escaped me as the guard lifted Lucia and tossed her, face forward. She tumbled off the path, barely catching herself as she hung from the edge.
If I went after her, they’d kill me.
But I couldn’t stand here.
Fire burst from my hands once again as I plunged toward her. One Vangar member lifted her hands as a shield and the fire bounced against a transparent wall harmlessly—a protection charm.
I was going to die saving Lucia Ragnall.
Several of the other Vangar soldiers released ironstones from slings—small, sharp, flat, triangular weapons with sides as sharp as razor blades and points that pierced flesh easily when thrown with speed. Each sling released several ironstones, and they sliced through the air toward me.
With an unpracticed gesture spell, I sent a gust of wind, knocking the ironstones off their trajectory. I dove onto the path heading straight for Lucia.
As I reached her, more ironstones pierced my skin. Gods. They’d fired another volley. Pain lanced through me as I yanked Lucia by the chain at her back, dragging her up and over the side of the cliff.
She heaved for breath, the gag impeding her, and I tugged it out of her mouth as I heard another volley of ironstones fired. As I shielded her with my arms around her, the ironstones embedded in my back and the back of my neck. Nyxva.
Somehow, despite the agonizing pain that flared through me, I remained standing.
Bleeding.
But standing.
How?
I plucked the ironstones I could reach from the backs of my arms, then turned slowly to face Haldron.
“You should be dead,” Haldron whispered, awe and fear in his eyes.
I should be.
I had no idea in Solric’s name how I was still standing.
“And yet, I’m not. You keep failing to kill me, Uncle.”
I started for him and Haldron kicked his heels into the sides of the horse, taking off at a gallop, leaving the Vangar to close the path behind him.
Grabbing Lucia, I hauled her behind me as one soldier rushed toward me.
I sidestepped him, grabbing his shirtfront.
A savage twist to his arm yielded his sword, which I caught with my left hand as I lifted him and sent him hurtling over the cliff.
Dropping closer to the face of the mountain, I turned to face the Vangar.
The other soldiers fell into formation around me. Then they attacked.
The rawness of my powers had been the source of my ability to defeat anyone who’d challenged me in the sparring rings during the harvest festival, but I’d sensed that power growing.
And now, despite my pain, despite the ironstones still embedded in my flesh, every obstacle in front of me felt nonexistent—no more difficult than snapping a twig.
Above our heads, dark clouds stirred to life once again, as though the sky seethed with my anger, reflecting the violence in my heart.
I caught my breath, each exhale dissipating like mist in a fierce wind that battered us. My eyes locked with the commander of the Vangar as I deflected his soldiers’ inferior attacks.
The commander stood with relaxed poise, ready to strike.
My muscles twitched with the hum of energy that poured through me, barely contained. I lunged forward again, leaning into the power that filled my fingertips with surging heat. The commander met the blow with a deft parry, but the strength of my blow knocked him back several feet.
Surprise showed in his eyes. He spun, aiming a precise thrust at me that forced me to move with superhuman speed to block.
As our swords clashed, the sound echoed off the mountains around us. But he had time to recover that I didn’t have. I needed to thin the herd. Now.
I plunged my sword into the gut of the next soldier who attacked, not bothering with anything less than a killing blow. This wasn’t the time for a spar.
The scorching heat that now seemed to live within me roared to life and I adjusted my fingers over the hilt of my sword as it grew hotter.
Concentrate.
I risked letting go of the sword with one hand, then thundered my hand against the face of the slippery ridge—just to knock them off balance. The mountain gave a mighty crack and rumble, then stones fell as the cliff split open instead.
What the fuck did I do?
The Vangar commander stared at me, horror in his face as he caught his balance, the ridge splitting in two. A gap, about five feet wide, appeared between us. Two of the soldiers who had been standing near it tumbled into the chasm that had been created.
“Rykr!” Lucia screamed.
I turned to see Seren’s mother backing up. The path had split in two, and one of the remaining soldiers closed on her.
I charged, slicing through him before he could swing, but not before she slipped.
As the man fell dead, Lucia’s scream carried in the wind. I lunged for her, catching her by the chains that bound her.
“Hold on,” I yelled, flattening myself into the blood that poured from the man I’d just killed. It dripped onto my forearm and face, splashing down on her.
I darted a glance back. The remaining soldier jumped across the gap, charging at me.
He’d almost reached me when another man jumped from the ridges of the cliffs above us.
Brogan Ragnall.
He attacked the soldier who had crossed over, and I turned my attention back to Lucia.
The chains are suffocating her.
“Don’t let go.” I’d have to crawl dangerously close to the edge to get a better grip on her.
“I can’t breathe,” Lucia cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I can’t!”
A body went flying from the cliff—the last soldier.