Chapter Twenty Ethan
Chapter Twenty
Ethan
“Is she okay?” I ask Jihun, who presses his fingertips against the Queen of Sky’s wrist.
“There’s a pulse.” His lips thin into a grim line. “A weak one.”
“What do you think she’s doing here?” I study her pale face. My aunt.
“After your mother died, General Bak forced his younger daughter to marry the King of Sky, who was nearly a thousand years old.” Jihun pats her cheek lightly, trying to make her stir.
“The general wanted her to convince the king to wage war against the Kingdom of Mountains. But even after the king passed away, the war never came because the queen held her ground against her father.”
“How convenient for the general that she suddenly changed her mind.” My mouth twists with bitterness.
“Too convenient.” he says meaningfully.
“You mean General Bak poisoned his own daughter to usurp her army?” Nausea churns in my stomach.
“That seems to be the most likely explanation.” Jihun gently shakes the queen’s shoulder. “Your Majesty, can you hear me?”
“The general couldn’t leave her in the Kingdom of Sky, because he was afraid someone would find her and discover what he’d done.” It all makes sense now. “So he brought her to the Kingdom of Mountains and hid her in the middle of a battlefield.”
“And he needed her close to keep poisoning her to prevent her from regaining consciousness. I don’t think he intended to kill her, but he might have poisoned her one too many times for her healing powers to save her.” Jihun meets my eyes. “She needs a physician. It might already be too late . . .”
The Queen of Sky is the only blood relative I have that doesn’t want me dead. Unfortunately, she might pay for her nonmurderous nature with her own life.
I won’t let that happen.
“We need to get her out of here.” I glance toward the entrance. “How long can you keep the soldiers bound?”
“Not much longer.” His voice is strained but steely. “But you cannot take down the entire battalion.”
“You’re right. At least, not until we get her out of harm’s way,” I say grimly. “We’ll just have to see how long my shield lasts with hundreds of soldiers attacking us.”
“Well, actually”—Jihun’s lips curve in an unexpected smile—“you can test your endurance another time.”
“What?” I side-eye him. “You have a better idea?”
“I do, as a matter of fact.” He sounds positively smug. “We can simply walk out . . . after you turn us invisible.”
“What have you been smoking?” I sputter.
“Earlier, when we were approaching the tent”—he holds my gaze—“you turned invisible.”
If he were anyone else, I wouldn’t have believed him. But this is Jihun. He is much too dignified to fuck around with me.
“Whoa,” I breathe. “Is that why you freaked out and palmed my face?”
“You can’t blame me. You suddenly . . . disappeared.” He huffs a silent laugh. “I had to make sure you didn’t evaporate into thin air.”
“Fuck.” My thoughts spin, struggling to come to terms with my newfound power. “Invisibility, huh?”
Jihun quickly sobers. “Do you remember how you did it?”
“I move like a clumsy orangutan compared to you,” I mutter. “I wished I was invisible so I wouldn’t give us away. I didn’t know it would happen literally.”
“Good.” Jihun wraps the Queen of Sky in a light blanket and lifts her into his arms. “Just do that again.”
“Yeah. Sure. Piece of cake,” I grumble under my breath. “Wait. What about you two?”
“You can expand your protective dome to shield other people. I believe your invisibility works the same way,” he says with confidence. “It is a new power, but it is still yours, Ethan.”
“You have enough faith for the both of us.” I walk to the entrance and reach for the tent flap. “It’s do-or-die time.”
“Let’s aim for do.” Jihun steps outside with the queen in his arms, and I follow him with a hand on his shoulder.
My heart pounds as the gazes of the bound soldiers shoot toward us. Shit. They saw the tent flap open and close.
But did they see us?
Cold sweat runs down my back, and anxiety tightens my muscles. This is how I felt the first time I turned invisible—desperate and scared.
Jihun sets a steady pace away from the tent. “Are we invisible?”
I have to get Jihun and the Queen of Sky out of the enemy’s camp. Once the queen regains consciousness, she can stop this war—end this whole nightmare. I might even get to have an aunt.
“Yes,” I say, more from hope than conviction.
“Good, because I can’t hold the binds anymore,” he groans.
The moment of truth.
I glance behind me at the recently unbound soldiers. They’re running in and out of the tent and gesticulating wildly. Relief rushes through me. They don’t see us.
But I strain to hold the dome over the spell maiden as we move farther away. She casts spell after spell to break through, and a sharp pain pierces my chest. With a grunt, I let the dome dissolve. Invisibility has top priority.
“The spell maiden is free,” I warn Jihun quietly.
He nods without looking back and continues taking measured steps until the tent is lost in the shadow of the woods. After what feels like hours—but it couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes—Jihun juts his chin toward the dense trees ahead.
Our soldiers are hidden well, but I glimpse two of them stationed at the front. My knees go weak with relief. A few more steps. But just as I let my guard down, dirt and leaves hit the back of my head and rain down my back. The assholes figured it out.
“Shit.” I shove Jihun toward the trees. “Go. Take her to safety.”
“Ethan.” He looks over his shoulder for the briefest second, conflict clenching his features.
“That’s a command.” My low voice rumbles through the forest. “Go.”
Jihun runs, his feet barely touching the ground, with the Queen of Sky pale and unconscious in his arms. When they reach our troops, I cast aside my invisibility and face the enemy battalion.
“Well, come on then.” I summon my axes, then pivot to the side, raising the golden axe over my head and the silver in front of my chest. “I don’t have all day.”
Standing in the midst of the magnificent trees, I am surrounded by an army mightier than theirs. The gi of Mountains streams in through my very pores, and my magic swells and grows.
The archers let loose their arrows with high-pitched screams. I block every one of them as though they come at me in slow motion.
Then the infantry runs headlong toward me.
I plant one foot in front and bend my knees, bracing for the impact I’m about to deliver, then cross my axes over my chest. With a roar, I send out a wave of power, my feet skidding back from the force.
The enemy soldiers ram against the wall of gi.
When one falls, another replaces them, battering endlessly into my magic.
I send out another pulse, then another, until the soldiers pile high on the ground—the opposing force of my power the only thing stopping them from toppling to my feet in an avalanche of bodies.
Only two more rows of infantrymen remain beyond the wall of magic and the dam of fallen seraphim. Then a wiry male steps out from behind the soldiers still standing—a general, based on his brass scaled armor and reinforced helmet.
“Are you feeling mighty, young king?” He sneers. “I would have thought taking out foot soldiers with your high magic would be beneath you. Or has your common upbringing failed to teach you what it means to fight with honor?”
“Was it honor that made you hide behind your soldiers while they fell by the hundreds?” I cock my head to the side. “Or has your noble upbringing failed to teach you how to value the lives of others?”
“I challenge you to single combat,” the general says abruptly, his fragile ego faltering in the face of my condescension. He jerks his chin toward a soldier, who promptly draws a large circle in the dirt with his sword. “The first one to step out of the circle loses.”
“And what would that loss signify?” I keep my tone nonchalant while I struggle to keep up the wall of gi.
“The loser will surrender this battle.” The general rubs his hands together, hardly able to contain his vile glee.
The blood drains from my face. He intends to kill my soldiers—every last one of them. I see it in the sadistic glint of his eyes.
“You are down to less than two hundred men, General,” I drawl, hiding my revulsion. “I can easily end this right now, rather than wasting my breath on you.”
“I will not allow my soldiers to yield while they have life in them.” A sinister smile lifts the corners of his mouth. “Do you really want the blood of a thousand beings on your hands? More, if you count your own soldiers, who will inevitably fall.”
The bastard is threatening me with the lives of my soldiers, as well as his own. I can see why General Bak entrusted the queen’s imprisonment to this male. He is as savage as he is ruthless. A dangerous combination for a person in a position of power.
My fists clench around the axe handles before I lower them with a grunt. My magic cuts off, and the unconscious soldiers tumble to the ground in an avalanche. I leap back from the bodies, and my legs nearly give out as they hit the ground. But before I stumble, a firm shoulder props me up.
“The queen is safe, Your Majesty,” Jihun says close to my ear. “We will moon shift her to the Shinsi Palace tonight for the royal physician to tend to her.”
“Thank you.” I lean against him.
“Please allow me to be your champion,” he whispers. “I know General Gim. The sick bastard will employ every known dirty trick to take you down. He craves glory more than anything.”
“More reason why I can’t risk having you fight him on my behalf,” I argue, even as I struggle to catch my breath. My limbs jiggle like fucking Jell-O. The only times I enjoy feeling boneless are when Sunny is involved.
“With all due respect”—Jihun blows out a beleaguered sigh—“please stop being a stubborn ass. I can anticipate his moves ten steps ahead of him. There’s no need for you to waste any more time or energy on him.”