Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Emilie
“Get down,” I snapped, and we all dropped to our stomachs.
We had exited the cavern onto a platform several stories above an occupied campsite. Scooting toward the edge, we peered below.
“Do you see her?” Jade asked.
“Not yet.”
“How many do you count?” Cyrus asked.
“At least two dozen,” Jade answered.
The site below was made up of eight canvas-covered tents, including a mess tent with a table sticking halfway out of the opening. Another tent was twice the size of the rest with a unique web-like pattern on the closed flap. That had to be Reyna’s.
Which left six for her loyalists to share. Two dozen enemies seemed like a reasonable estimate, but we couldn’t be certain there weren’t more resting inside the tents or lingering outside the caverns and waiting to return when the tide allowed.
“I wish we knew what powers they possessed,” I said quietly. “It would make an ambush less risky.”
“I think we should go for the element of surprise,” Jade said, turning to look at Cyrus. “Send the whole place up in flames.”
Ladon shook his head. “They won’t be the only ones to suffer from breathing in the smoke. In case you’ve forgotten, our path back to the beach is blocked until the tide moves out again.”
“Ice them out,” I suggested.
Jade contemplated. “I can’t send one massive blast—I’m not that strong. But I can target one at a time.”
“That’ll have to do,” Ladon said. “Take out as many as you can before anyone notices. Thin their ranks as much as possible before they realize we’re here.”
“Will do,” Jade said. She sat up and pushed her shoulders back.
I watched as droplets of water began to seep from the cave’s walls and gather in her hands, freezing in the shape of a slender lance.
She carefully maneuvered it, and I helped to keep it lifted high in the sky and out of sight until she was ready to drop it on an unsuspecting camper.
“Okay,” she said, and I pulled back my magic.
The lance fell to the ground and pierced straight through a man’s head. He crumpled to the side.
Now we just needed to do the same thing twenty-three more times… without being noticed.
The next six targets went down without a hitch. But after the seventh, someone found one of the dead followers and shouted for help. Jade took him out quickly, but it was too late. He had alerted the camp that there was a threat in their midst.
“Time to go,” Jade said.
While Jade had been taking out followers, Ladon had been quietly crafting a slide down into the campsite. We flew down, and Reyna’s loyalists didn’t notice us until we were already attacking.
I threw my daggers left and right, taking out as many as I could. I only took breaks to retrieve my daggers from bodies, slicing throats if any of them remained alive.
I took out four people before I met anyone worthy of a challenge.
I had barely pulled back the opening of a tent when a woman shot out and tackled me, sending us both tumbling. She got in one good jab before I collected myself and punched her in the gut. She doubled over, giving me the perfect opportunity to throw her off.
Keeping my eyes on her, I reached for a dagger but came up empty. I had lost track of how many I’d thrown and how many I should’ve been collecting.
She noticed me scrambling and sent a blast of fire my way. Instinctively, I threw up my hands, and a wall of air encircled me, protecting me from her flames. The unfortunate side effect was a cyclone that burned through the two tents closest to me. So much for not inhaling smoke.
I threw out my hands and blasted the air away from me, singeing everything within an arm’s reach. The woman couldn’t control the fire inside the gale, and it slammed into her with such force that she was knocked off her feet. Her clothing instantly caught fire, and she screamed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another enemy sprinting in our direction. His wide eyes were locked on me. With one arm, he threw out a cascade of water to his burning friend and with the other, a wave came crashing directly toward me.
I dodged out of the way seconds before his magic could collide with me, rolling on my side until I came to a stop. Disoriented, I looked around the cave to see where he had gone, but something silver caught my eye—one of my missing daggers.
I snatched it from the ground and leaped to my feet, running back to the enemies who had evaded me. The man was kneeling beside his friend, checking her vitals.
He never saw me coming.
I grabbed his hair and pulled his neck back, sliding my dagger over his throat and watching blood spray the ground, and his friend, in front of him.
Stepping around his body, I moved to attack the woman too, but she was already burnt to a crisp, and very, very, dead.
Panting, I took a moment to assess the cavern. Cyrus was dueling someone who was already missing a limb. Jade was wrestling another, and Ladon was using his sword to fight two more. There couldn’t be many enemies left.
I began searching the tents for anyone who may be hiding, including Reyna. Every tent flap I pulled back led to disappointment, but she couldn’t hide forever.
Grinding my teeth, I stomped toward the next tent, whipping back the fabric just in time to see a woman with black hair escaping out the back.
“Bitch,” I screamed, running after her with a dagger clenched tight in my fist.
I flew through the opposite side and was met with a bolt of lightning. Dodging out of the way, I sent a low sweep of wind to knock her off her feet. She stumbled but didn’t fall, like I’d hoped.
Reyna ran, and I had no choice but to follow.
This game would end tonight.
Reyna sent strikes my way as she ran, but none of them hit their mark. She looked back, and I could see the fear on her face. Her time was running out, and she had no more places to hide.
I grinned as she ran toward the cave’s exterior, knowing she would have to stop and face me soon. But she surprised me, sliding and slipping into a small crack in the stone.
I almost skidded to a stop, but a blast came out of nowhere and the rock tumbled away. Glancing behind me, I found Ladon only feet away. Knowing that he was close gave me the confidence I needed to sprint into the hole he’d created, blindly chasing after Reyna.
I heard her before I saw her. Her maniacal laughter echoed in the next chamber, and I whipped my head around, trying to find her in the darkness.
Another bolt of lightning illuminated the room for a brief moment. She hadn’t aimed at me, but at the wall of the cave. The opening behind me collapsed, and I had to charge forward to avoid being buried.
“Ladon,” I yelled, but I couldn’t hear anything aside from the mountain rumbling and rocks free-falling. I scurried forward with my hands outstretched, not knowing where I was headed.
When the dust finally settled, the cave went eerily quiet. My own breathing felt loud, though I tried to suppress it. I inched forward, hoping my eyes would adjust.
A whisper came from the darkness.
“Emilie.”
I spun around, but I couldn’t discern where her voice had come from. The hair on the back of my neck rose, and a shiver slid down my spine.
“Emilie…”
Reyna’s voice was lyrical, singing my name like a tune and a taunt. She sounded like she was on the opposite side now.
“What did you think would happen if you followed me in here, Emilie?”
I growled, “I will kill you, you filthy, heinous bitch.”
“Tsk, tsk. That’s such unsuitable language for a future queen. Perhaps you should come back to my estate to be my maiden for a little while longer. Just until you’ve had enough time to learn a lesson or two in manners.”
“You’re one to talk. And last I checked, you don’t have an estate. You have nothing. You’ve lost everything except your life. And you’re about to lose that, too.”
Lightning flashed and, for a brief moment, I saw her standing in the center of the room.
Was this how we were going to play the game, then?
I knew if I went in her direction, she would be ready for my assault. So I did the opposite. I moved to the right and listened for her footsteps, waiting to see if she attacked the spot where I’d been standing.
She moved equally quietly, though.
I needed a strategy if I wanted to gain the upper hand.
I felt around my belt, confirming what I’d thought—the dagger in my hand was the only one I had left.
If goading her had brought out the lightning, then I would just need to do it again and again, until she ultimately snapped.
“Why are you hiding?” I asked softly, using my magic to let my voice flow throughout the cavern, disguising my true location. “Is the big, bad Reyna too afraid to defend herself? You’re not very brave without your guards or your followers.”
I kept my eyes peeled in case she lit up the cave again, but that wasn’t enough. I’d have to try harder.
“You said something earlier… about being the future queen. I’m surprised you didn’t hear that I’m no longer engaged to Cyrus.”
She chuckled. “He didn’t deem you worthy?”
“No, I broke off our engagement. Do you want to know why?”
My question was met with silence, but I thought I heard footsteps to my left, so I circled the spot, preparing to strike.
“It’s because I’m in love with Ladon. And he is in love with me. I know how badly you wanted him to yourself, but you disgust him. It’s important to me that you know that before I kill you.”
She screamed, and a ball of electricity circled her. The blue light burned my eyes. I couldn’t do much with the barrier surrounding her, so I dodged to the right and tried to hide from the light.
Eventually, the lightning sizzled out.
I came out of hiding with a smile on my face. “No one will ever love you, Reyna.”
A streak of light lashed out, but I had already leaped a few steps to the right. I lunged toward her and thrust my dagger into whatever flesh I could find.
Reyna screamed, but I didn’t stop there. I pulled the dagger out and kept one hand wrapped around shirt so I could swipe a second time. My dagger landed, and her flesh gave way easily. I had no idea what body part I was maiming, but I didn’t care.
When I pulled it out again, I tried to aim with more accuracy. I thought I had hold of a sleeve, so if I plunged the dagger a bit higher and…
Reyna’s tortured shriek pierced the air, ringing in my ears.
If I had hit where I wanted, and I believed I had, she had just lost one of her eyes.
I laughed. I’d never felt so crazed in my life, but knowing I had taken one of her nightmarish yellow-orange eyes filled me with joy. I’d take the other, too, if she would hold still.
A blast of lightning caught me off guard and hit me square in the chest. I flew off her, landing on my back and clutching my burning chest. It felt as though electricity was coursing through my veins and scorching me from the inside out.
I couldn’t breathe, and I was certain I was about to burst into ash.
My smile was long gone, and tears rolled down my face. The muscles in my neck strained as I bit down. I felt around for my dagger, but then I remembered it was still lodged in Reyna’s face.
Fuck.
The burning sensation slowly faded, or maybe I was just growing accustomed to it. I turned on my side and pressed up onto all fours, shaking and nauseous. I crawled away from Reyna, but she sent another strike at me, and I collapsed onto my stomach.
I screamed as the lightning seemed to ricochet through my bones and settle in my brain, throbbing like the worst migraine I’d ever had. If it lasted any longer, I thought my head might explode.
She finally let up, and my body went limp. I was desperate to drive another dagger into Reyna’s skull, but my mind and body were failing me. Tears of pain and frustration filled my eyes.
Lightning lit up the room and crackled across the ceiling. It continued long after she lowered her hand, and it would’ve been beautiful if it weren’t so terrifying. At least I could see her now as she approached me. She’d already tossed my dagger aside, and blood was gushing out of her left eye.
“Sweet, sweet Emilie. You should’ve known better than to chase after me on your own. What will Ladon think when he comes to save you and finds nothing but ashes?”
“Emilie,” a distant voice called. “Emilie!”
Was that Ladon? Perhaps I was further gone than I’d realized.
“Should I take your eyes like you’ve taken mine? Or maybe I’ll take those pretty lips so he can never kiss them again.”
I whimpered and clawed at the ground, but I had no energy to prop myself up.
Reyna’s spindly fingers wrapped around my ankle and dragged me toward her.
“Enjoy your last breath, Emilie. I know I will.”
The ground rumbled, and rocks began to fall all around us. I tried to raise my head, but I could barely muster the strength. I did see Ladon climbing over the pile of rocks, having just blown a hole through the rockslide from earlier.
I was so grateful he was alive and hadn’t been crushed in the cave-in that I almost forgot the fatal condition I was in. He was here; he wouldn’t let Reyna get away.
Ladon’s eyes narrowed on Reyna, and he pointed his sword at her.
“Do not touch her.”