Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
The magical barrier that divided Cascada from Pyros loomed ahead of us, stretching across the Undashine River in the heart of a green valley.
The sun beat down on me, the thick warmth of my land a balm against my soul.
I’d missed the beauty of Cascada, from her shining golden shores to her sun kissed hills, but here, standing on the deck of the White Mare, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing.
Harlon had been a constant in this land and now he was gone and my life looked nothing like it had before.
But how could I resent it when this was what I’d longed for?
To be honoured and recognised, to finally feel I was worth something to my people.
Maybe that feeling would come once the war was over.
I set my gaze on the shimmering barrier ahead, looking to the very same river beyond it which wound away through the wilds like a snake. It was dangerous out there, monsters awaited us and I finally felt a thrill break through the monotony of my days.
I was about to flex my magic and fight a true fight at last. Father had stolen a few more days than the four weeks we’d agreed, setting anchor here on the river for several of them until the entirety of his fleet had joined the entourage.
He’d summoned the cavalry too, but they would catch up to us after they’d assembled in Castelorain.
The White Mare slowed before the barrier, its halt aided by the Raincarvers who wielded the water beneath us. A few deer were startled away from the edge of the river, racing back into the thorny brush further up the hill.
The gangplanks were laid and I hurried to be the first to disembark, finding my father dressed for war at last, taking the lead as he disembarked.
His armour glinted in the sunlight, the thick plates of darkest blue marked with the sea serpent Typhon and the crest of Cascada.
His arms held only shoulder plates, but the rest were bare, ready to unleash his inner Merrow and coat himself in the armour of his kind.
When I walked down the gangplank to meet him, he offered me his hand to step off the end as if I was some princess from Stormfell.
I wore my own armour, newly crafted in the weeks building up to this moment.
I’d been gifted the most beautiful metal Cascada had to offer and I’d forged a breast plate and leg guards from it which were deepest green.
The clasps on my shoulders holding the plates together were decorated with the finest iridescent seashells of the Sunken Isles.
It was still a work-in-progress. There were plenty of experimental lacquers I wanted to add to improve its strength and magical resistance but for now at least, it was a beautiful start.
“I’m a warrior, Father, not a delicate flower,” I said firmly but he caught my arm, drawing me close.
“You’re precious, Everest. I have to look after you, that’s all.” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and my inner child melted, aching for more fatherly affection.
I knew what this man was. I knew he was ruthless, cold.
I’d seen what he’d done to people and yet this pathetic part of me still ached for these crumbs of tenderness.
It was a shackle I couldn’t break and maybe I didn’t want to.
I didn’t know what other home I had now.
But sometimes in the dead of night, I dreamed of the Sky Witch or worse…
of him. The one with the obsidian eyes. And he was far from dead within my dreams. His mouth found mine, his roughened fingers coursing over my bare skin.
I’d wake breathless, shamed, and heart aching.
There was no one I could voice this wicked secret to to better understand it.
Ransom descended the ship in his own fine armour and several of Father’s warriors followed. There were plenty of Fae disembarking from the ships in the White Mare’s wake and some of them raced off up the hills on either side of the river to scout the area.
Father nodded to the Fae gathering around us then took off along the riverbank toward the barrier. The warriors closed in around me, flanking me on all sides with Ransom close on my left as we followed.
“A little air would be nice,” I clipped at them, but they didn’t back up. Some unsheathed weapons and others shifted, a man to my right taking his Minotaur form with a large bull’s head and huge, curved horns protruding from his brow.
Ahead of me, two warriors had shifted into Nemean Lions far bigger than any horse, their golden pelts blocking most of my view of the barrier. Even Ransom had the scales of his Merrow Order showing on his arms, the iridescent blue plates glittering with strength.
“Scared of a few beasties, Ransom?” I taunted, noting the tension lining his posture.
“I’m not scared,” he scoffed.
“Then why are you walking like you stuffed a few rocks up your ass this morning?” I asked sweetly.
“Shut it, runt,” he tossed back, though it was without the malice he usually aimed at me. “Or I’ll make your day a living hell.”
“Is that what you told the rocks before you made them face their fate, pishalé?”
Ransom cracked a smile and I rolled my eyes at it, turning to look at the Nemean Lions instead.
“You shouldn’t talk to her that way,” a woman hissed. A real fierce-looking woman in fact. She looked like she could crush my skull with her bare hands, and there was something distinctly root vegetable-like about her face.
“I can do what I like, Agatha,” Ransom drawled. “Perks of being the commander’s son.”
“You think he still gives a damn about you?” Agatha cackled a laugh. “He only has eyes for his daughter now.”
I smirked at Ransom, mostly just to enjoy how it made his right eye twitch with rage.
“Guess I’m his number one these days. So that makes you a number two. Which suits you better, all things considered,” I jibed.
Ransom’s teeth ground together. “That’s not true.”
“Oh it is,” I purred. “You’re replaceable, brother. I always said it, but your head was too big to hear it. But no one can replace the Void.”
“Yeah? Well the only reason he tolerates you is because of that power. At least he actually likes me,” Ransom tossed back and I couldn’t deny it hurt. It wasn’t like I was a fool. I knew why Father showered me with attention. It wasn’t my winning personality, that was for sure.
“At least I’m respected now,” I muttered, my fingernails biting into the flesh of my palm. That was all I’d wanted anyway. Notoriety. Letting go of everything else was the price of it.
Harlon.
Vesper.
My anger towards Father.
The pieces of me which were rooted in the past.
My enemy whose death I’d finally claimed.
Caterpillars had to transform and shed layers to fulfil their true destiny. Wasn’t that what I was doing?
So why does it feel so fucking bad?
“You’re obsessed with being admired,” Ransom bit at me, earning another scowl from Agatha and a few wary looks from the other warriors. Apparently the rest of them didn’t feel brave enough to speak out against my brother.
“Well, try being marginalised your whole life, Ransom. Then maybe you’d get it.”
“Oh boo fucking hoo. Cry me a river, Everest,” he sneered.
“You loved being an outcast. You never tried to fit in. From your clothes to your weird habits. You always stood out and did your own thing, and honestly? I fucking envied that sometimes. Do you know how much pressure there is to keep up the pretence that–” he cut himself off then barrelled on, clearly changing direction.
“All I’m saying is that it’s not always fun being the most popular Fae in town. ”
I gave him a dry stare at that comment, wondering what he’d actually been going to say, but he was shooting furtive glances at the other warriors, his chest puffing up as he went into full peacock mode. Or just cock mode, more like.
“Hold!” Father’s voice boomed out across the army with the assistance of magic. He gestured for me to step forward and the warriors parted around me, fanning out in a wide semi-circle that ran right up to the boundary either side of us.
I walked up to Father who smiled warmly and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Like we discussed, daughter.”
I nodded, enjoying the squeeze he gave me before letting me pass and I approached the powerful boundary with nerves warring inside me. I’d been practising with the Void, able to wield it on command since the battle in Pyros, but I hadn’t yet attempted it on a huge scale the way I had back then.
This barrier had been cast by the hands of hundreds of Fae. The magic in it was ancient and legend told that the power of the great warrior Levenna Cascine was contained within it.
I raised a hand, recalling the time Ransom had pushed me through this very barrier further to the east at the highest peak in Castelorain.
I would have died had my magic been Awakened.
My hatred for him spiked at the memory, and the pain that had found me that day pressed keenly in upon me.
I closed my eyes, almost feeling my mama’s spirit lingering nearby, whispering her parting words to me.
Never rest, Everest.
I’d done what she’d asked. Kaiser Brimtheon lay dead in payment for her end. Was she at peace at last? Or was she just dust now with no cares to draw her from the grave?
I took in a deep breath, the sense of her presence leaving me and I feared it had been an illusion after all.
My gaze steadied on the barrier as I drew upon the Void, the power awakening quickly like a dog summoned to its master. Somehow during that battle, I had tamed it and it answered only to me.
The Void twisted through my limbs, serpentine and hungry as I let it pour from me, the power invisible to the naked eye, but I could sense where it was headed.
It brushed against the crackling energy of the invisible boundary and I gasped at the magnitude of the power contained within it.
This forcefield equalled death. One step into its embrace and not even the stars could save you.