Chapter 20 #2
I pulled on the armoured plates, positioning them over my clothes and tightening my boots before strapping my newly-made sword to my hip and racing for the door.
My weapon was forged of the best steel I could buy from Wandershire, the metal tinted green to match my armour and the hilt carved into the shape of Typhon.
It wasn’t perfect and it didn’t feel as right in my palm as my dagger had, but I could always improve it.
I just wished I’d thought to take my mother’s sword back from Kaiser when I’d killed him.
Mavus opened the door wide, noting my armour with an intrigued eye, perhaps weighing up the price it might fetch. “I like to observe the battles sometimes, can I join ya?”
“Do what you like, you’re a free man aren’t you?” I answered with a smirk then we raced onto the deck together.
The White Mare had weighed anchor within a thick forest that rose up the canal banks on either side of us and Wandershire was nestled among the trees.
At our rear, the Cascadian fleet had stopped too and warriors were leaping from gangplanks into the blue water.
They slipped away like arrows darting beneath the surface, using magic to propel themselves downriver towards our target.
“I’ll see ya shortly, lass. I’d better not let the big boss man see me hounding you about,” Mavus muttered then raced for the other side of the ship and created a wooden bridge that led him back to shore.
Father was directing Fae into the canal close by and I marched his way, my wild curls blowing back over my shoulders in the breeze. I felt Calcifiend hiding among them, quickly disappearing into their masses as I made it to Father.
“You’ll travel with Ransom. I’ll be close behind,” Father said. “You remember the plan?”
“Of course,” I said fiercely.
“I’ve got a cunning plan this time and a secret or two up my sleeves.
” He grabbed the back of my neck and placed a kiss to my forehead.
“Get going, child. Let’s claim Cinder Vale and herald our victory to the sky.
” He released me, leaving my skin buzzing with the warmth of his affection before he shoved me toward Ransom who was standing next to the closest gangplank.
His serrated Merrow scales glimmered against his skin, the dark blue colour of them catching rays of sunlight and highlighting the sharp spines that lined his arms and shoulders.
My hatred for him had made me disregard the beauty of his Order.
He was a fierce creature in all senses, but he was a rare and magnificent thing too.
Ransom grabbed my shoulder, yanking me toward the gangplank. “After you.” He smirked like a heathen and I remembered exactly why I despised him as he threw me straight over the side of the ship. I gasped as I hit the water, kicking up to breach the surface.
Ransom slammed into the water beside me, splashing me with a huge wave before surfacing with a gasp. “It’s fucking freezing.”
“Scared of a little cold, Ransom?” I taunted.
“Shut it, runt,” he tossed back, but somehow we both smiled.
Mavus launched himself into the water from the river bank, swimming over. “Fancy carrying a little limpet to Cinder Vale, lass?”
“Come on then,” I encouraged Mavus, drawing him closer and he wound his arms around my neck, latching onto me with his ankles. I wielded the water beneath us to keep us afloat. He was damn huge. And it didn’t help that he was gripping my head for support.
“Aren’t you that trader guy?” Ransom said in realisation.
“Mavus Angelico, pleased to meet ya fella. You’re Everest’s brother, am I right? The one who got a lugfish stuck on his cock?”
Ransom shot me a glare that could have burned through steel. I smiled sweetly.
Mavus leaned closer to Ransom to whisper in his ear, causing me to lean sideways in the water. “Did ya like it a little bit? You can tell me the truth, fella. I can see in your eye you liked the way that fishy felt.”
“Shut your damn mouth!” Ransom swung a punch, but I chose that moment as the right one to dive, wielding the water to drag Mavus and I under the surface with Calcifiend clinging tightly to my hair.
Mavus let out a laugh that became a stream of bubbles trailing behind us but as I guided the water over us to allow an air pocket to form, his laughter became clear once more.
We sped down the canal at a tremendous speed, the feeling of the water against my skin like a balm as it recharged my magic.
We were heading straight for Cinder Vale, a secret army gliding under the water’s surface. When the canal took a sharp right, I knew we were approaching the city, that the warriors ahead of us would already be arriving, enacting our plan.
The crash of a thunderous waterfall made the water vibrate around me and I rose to the surface quickly, chancing a look at the way forward.
The Cascadian warriors were pouring over the dam which must have been mended with earth magic since the battle, the canal spilling down into the city where the Avanis stronghold had formed.
I caught sight of the new palace made in the place of Mirelle’s structure of glass, this one a regal stone design, a monument to Avanis’s victory.
But it would not remain theirs any longer.
I pulled us underwater again, not even needing to guide us to the powerful waterfall that was tearing down over the edge of Cinder Vale and spilling our warriors into its belly.
We were yanked over the edge and Mavus’s arms locked tighter around me as we free-fell, my stomach lifting, adrenaline soaring through my blood.
It was five seconds of pure excitement, then we were flowing through a river again, only this time Cascada was guiding it.
The warriors split it into several forks and I remained on the central one that speared its way through the destroyed houses like an arrowhead, tearing toward the citadel which had been rebuilt.
The first wave hit the walls and it sounded like a crack of thunder echoing through the water.
I launched myself skyward, propelling myself out of the water with Mavus still clinging to me fiercely and I cast a ladder of ice ahead of us on the wall. We hit it with force, but I clung on and Mavus slipped from my back, snatching hold of the rung beneath my feet as water frothed up beneath us.
Pyros may have gone underground but Avanis spies must have been watching us travel this land. So the Avanis forces had retreated into these walls and awaited our attack but they hadn’t known when we would strike.
I climbed fast, racing for the top of the wall while warriors did the same on all sides, hundreds of our people sprinting for the top. I spotted Ransom climbing one to my right, his muscles tense with exertion.
The Void hummed inside me, ready to be unleashed. This day would be ours. No more mistakes.
We made it to the top of the wall and I looked down at the swarm of Avanis warriors that were waiting beyond.
Explosions tore out around us as our enemies shot cannonballs at us from below, but as their magic tried to join the fray, I guttered it out. I balanced on the top of the wall with all eyes finding me, recognising what I was as my enemies’ power faltered and they raised weapons instead.
Hundreds of Cascadians dove down to attack, using water to guide them to the ground. But there, pitfalls and hidden traps opened up before the enemy lines, sending our people to bloody deaths.
Ransom stepped close on my right and a line of Father’s best warriors filed up beside him. On my left, more of them gathered close as they fought to defend me, blasting away any cannonballs or arrows that came my way.
I couldn’t draw my focus from Voiding the warring Avanis soldiers below, but something told me Mavus was no longer close by.
My suspicions were confirmed when I spotted him running over a wooden bridge which he cast beneath his feet from the top of the wall to one of the buildings ahead.
He shot a look back over his shoulder, meeting my eye and winking before slipping away through a roof hatch no doubt in hunt of loot.
Even in the midst of battle he only had a mind for coin.
I focused back on my enemies and noticed the way Avanis were moving as they retreated, side stepping, avoiding secret traps laid beneath their feet. They knew where each of them were hidden, luring our warriors towards them as our people advanced.
“Freeze the ground!” I cried, and my command was taken up by the warriors around me as they realised what was happening too, all calling out to our comrades to aid our warriors.
And as Cascada moved in and the Void echoed out through our enemies, I knew this time we would not be stopped.