45. Bash
Chapter 45
Bash
T he sky had darkened, the very air crackling with electricity. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating Adronix’s sharp peak high above us. Snow blanketed the battlefield before us, huge white flurries momentarily shielding the opposing army. The imposing mountain loomed behind them, its icy white glowing strangely in the reflection of the yellowing sky.
“STAY IN THE TREES,” I bellowed, knowing my rangers would belay my orders. “Let them come to us.”
With the tree cover, we at least had a chance against their numbers. Especially as their forces split between those coming after us and those staying to guard our path to the mountain.
A soldier came at me, sword raised. I didn’t bother using my shadows, nudging Smoke forward to cut him down where he stood in one swift blow. The one behind him hesitated before lifting his blade. It cost him as I flung my dagger, blood spurting from his neck as he fell to his knees. My shadows retrieved it before he hit the forest floor, my sword already plunging into another.
I didn’t care about their lives. I only cared that they were on the wrong side of this fight—the side that wanted everyone I loved dead, and my anima enslaved to their king.
“We need to find a way in,” Eva yelled. “When he gets inside…we’re running out of time.”
Her sword clashed against her opponent, easily dispatching him even as her darkness wrapped around the throat of another. Utterly, almost effortlessly deadly. An entirely inappropriate reaction surged through me, and Eva’s mouth twitched as she caught my eye, the heat of my desire clearly having not gone unnoticed.
I winked, then raised my sword, blocking an oncoming blow just as my shadows rushed past me, eviscerating the soldier about to kill one of my rangers. She spun around, giving me a hasty two-fingered salute in thanks, before a branch from the tree above her pierced the heart of her next opponent.
Eva’s darkness reached for a soldier behind me. My blade beat her to it.
“Save your magic for him ,” I ordered.
Eva nodded, her darkness receding until only a thin strand of it latticed around her sword.
“We need a distraction,” Yael yelled. “Something that won’t drain either of you before we get inside.”
Tobias leapt from his horse, landing protectively in front of Quinn. A blow meant for her glanced off his sword as he swept it low. I saw the dagger in his other hand before his opponent did, just as he plunged it into their chest. Quinn’s eyes narrowed at him, then she threw her own dagger over his shoulder. Tobias turned around as the soldier behind him slumped off his mount, falling to the ground as the horse cantered away.
His surprised expression turned into a devilish smile. From the look in her eyes, Quinn’s flush wasn’t entirely due to the exertion.
“We should all go,” Tobias gritted out as he retrieved her blade, hastily wiping the blood from it on the snow in a slashing red line. “We don’t know how many we’ll have to face inside. And Bash and I need to make it to the Seeing Mirror with Eva before that bastard beats us there.”
“Oy!”
I spun around in my saddle to see Pari, Akeno, and Thorin following quickly behind, their swords raised.
“You lot just figure out how you’re going to get past them,” Pari shouted. “We’ll provide the distraction.”
Yael released arrow after arrow, buying us a brief respite without my even having to ask. Bodies fell from the ridge before they could even breach the tree line as her magic sent the bloodied arrows straight back to her quiver.
“Once we’re inside, pull back,” I ordered. Pari looked ready to argue, but Eva nodded in agreement. “There’s too many of them to win this battle outright.”
It was a risk to send them running with Aviel’s army at their heels, but better than the alternative. And I was willing to bet that the majority of his forces would continue to guard the mountain, and their leader within, rather than follow immediately.
“And if you don’t succeed?”
I swallowed, wishing I could refute that outcome. “Regroup with the Esterran forces. They’re headed this way, and if you hurry, you should be able to meet them in Soleara. With a united front, and the castle’s defenses, you might stand a chance.”
My gaze darted to Eva. “Between the two of us, we can blanket this place in enough shadow and darkness to keep us covered. But if that’s the only entrance…” I gestured with my sword at the main gate where the two massive steel doors were currently being wedged open, an entire army in our way, “…then we need a better way through than just brute force.”
“Cover me,” Rivan demanded, and Marin immediately rode in between him and the oncoming forces. Yael drew back her bow, an arrow finding its target. Another arrow was locked in her quiver faster than I could process.
Rivan dropped from Arion’s back to come to his knees in the snow, digging his bare hands into the frozen soil as his eyelids fluttered closed. Then his eyes shot open, gleaming with greenish light.
“There’s a tunnel.” Rivan pointed to the right. “Small. Likely used for drainage. About a hundred yards that way, built into the stone. We can take it to the side of the mountain, but it stops there. I’ll use my power to redirect it to those doors.”
Marin put a hand on Yael’s shoulder. “I’m staying here. Someone needs to help Pari rally our forces without you lot in charge.” She straightened. “And I’m Imyr’s queen.”
Yael turned to her, leaning across Indra’s back to catch Marin’s lips in a quick, chaste kiss that promised more. Her eyes stayed on my sister, even as she reached for another arrow—striking true despite her gaze never straying. “Stay alive, Your Highness.”
“You too,” Marin replied, raising both her blades threateningly. “That goes for all of you.”
I bowed my head solemnly.
My sister reached into her pocket, retrieving our mother’s stone. “But if Aviel’s at the mountain…”
“I’ll take it,” Tobias said. “I’m looking forward to a rematch with that bastard, especially if he can’t steal my magic this round.” Light crackled from his fingertips as Marin tossed the stone into his waiting hand.
Rivan swore, and I realized his power still spread through the earth. “They opened the doors.”
He didn’t need to say we needed to hurry, not when we all already knew. Rivan leapt onto Arion’s back, galloping through the trees without a backward glance.
My gaze automatically found Eva’s, our eyes meeting for only a moment before she kicked Nisa into a gallop, tearing after Rivan. The snow streaming through the trees nearly blinded me as I followed.
You can’t have her, I swore to the False King that waited for her and the so-called fate that I refused to bow to. She’s mine, and I’m hers, and we deserve the happily ever after she thinks is the price of winning this.
I idly wondered if willing it into being would somehow make it true.
We reached the edge of the stone tunnel, the entirety of it hidden beneath the snow, a swath of bodies in our wake. My shadows had covered us as we ran from the battle, streaking behind us to silence any soldiers so foolish as to try and stop us.
Smoke whinnied his dissent as I dismounted. I gave him a sharp pat on the rump, and a whispered, “Find Marin”, before he galloped back to the forest, the others’ horses behind him. We were far enough from the battle not to raise attention, especially not under the cover of my magic, but we couldn’t risk anyone finding this tunnel and raising the alarm.
My shadows flew from my grasp as I sidled closer to Eva, spinning in agitated circles around her. A blast of air cleared the snow in a split second, leaving only a frozen bramble of thorns and leaves atop a metal grate. I nodded at Yael in thanks. Rivan’s magic made short work of it, the metal curling in on itself, peeling away the grate like he was brushing away a curtain.
He looked up just as the first explosion went off.
I spun around, watching as a giant orb of spinning magic rose above Pari. Air rushed from her palm, somehow containing Akeno’s fire as she launched it across the battlefield, one after another sailing through the air. Where they hit, they burst apart, exploding outward in a blast of fiery gas and scarlet-tinged snow. Thorin stood in front of them, entirely in his element as he fended off those foolish enough to try to stop them by freezing them solid.
Eva’s mouth had dropped open. Tobias only smirked.
“That’s one way to do it,” Rivan said admiringly before lowering himself into the tunnel.
I took Eva’s hand as we followed. Tobias nimbly leapt down behind us, turning to catch Quinn as she slipped on the iced-over ground, before quickly letting her go. Yael slid down the small slope, using her power to steady herself.
The tunnel was indeed a drain, though it must have been built centuries ago. My shadows kept me from slipping on the frozen muck within as I bent over to keep from hitting my head on the icicle-covered ceiling. Eva ducked down beside me; the tunnel so small that she had to crouch. There was a tremor of fear across our bond, and I focused on the steady count of Eva’s breathing.
It was the dark , I realized as fury nearly consumed me. The confined space. The cold.
My hand found Eva’s instinctually before gritting out, “Tobias?”
A second later, three bobbing balls of light appeared, just enough to illuminate the tunnel in front of us. Tobias stared at the largest one sitting in his outstretched palm. I wondered if I just imagined how pale he had gone until I saw Quinn reach over to squeeze his free hand.
“I’ll go first,” Rivan said as though one of us might try to push past him in the narrow space.
Tobias gave Rivan a slight nod in a voiceless ‘ go on’ as one of the orbs floated in front of him.
We rushed forward as quickly as we could on the frozen ground, our hands bracing against the icy sides of the tunnels. Not daring to slow our pace when Aviel was already inside and hunting for the mirror. Maybe he had already thwarted the Choosing with my anima ’s blood and magic. Perhaps we were racing toward our own destruction.
What if all of this was for nothing?
Rivan came to an abrupt halt. I caught Eva around the waist as she skidded forward on a patch of ice. The tunnel narrowed in front of us where ancient copper piping dripped down into it.
Rivan grinned, pressing his hands against the solid stone wall. “Now for the fun part.”
The ground split in front of him, and I frowned, knowing how much effort it must be taking for this level of precision. It was necessary, yes, but the drain on his magic so early in the battle…
His eyes met mine as if he could sense the worry behind them. “It’s not far.”
A series of explosions went off, sounding distant from underground.
Yael smirked. “And I take it they’re too distracted up there to notice us bursting from the ground.”
“They’d better be,” Rivan muttered. “The magic is different inside the castle walls. This leads right up to it…but not in. So we’d better get the doors to the mountain shut fast, or we’ll have a whole army to contend with.”
Quinn’s brow furrowed. “And once they’re shut?”
Rivan and I exchanged a look.
“We’ll assess when we get there…” Rivan said slowly.
“But we need to find a way to keep that door closed,” I finished.
“If it’s metal, Rivan can warp it to the stone,” Yael murmured. “If it’s pure iron…”
Then one of us would likely need to stay behind to hold the door as long as they could, while the others sought out Aviel.
“It all depends on what we find inside,” I said firmly, unwilling to entertain the consequences of the alternative just yet, even if I was already planning for either outcome. “Maybe we can just block the right passageway off. Find a way to delay them long enough to get to the Seeing Mirror.”
“You say this like we have any idea where the mirror is,” Yael said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Eva cleared her throat, her voice hoarse as she said, “The top of the mountain.”
Five sets of eyes all snapped to her in surprise.
She audibly cleared her throat. “You can’t all feel that?”
“There’s a power emanating from the mountain,” I said carefully. “But no, hellion. Nothing that specific.”
I could feel her buzz of apprehension, though it lacked any real surprise.
She grimaced. “Lucky you then. My headache gets worse the closer we get.”
Quinn reached out a hand, already alight with her magic. She set two fingers on Eva’s temples, who let out a small sigh of relief.
Then Eva’s lips tightened. “Hopefully he doesn’t know the mirror’s location either.”
I hated the way she once again skirted around saying Aviel’s name—like to do so would give him power.
“Or already through it,” Tobias grumbled.
That fear of losing her was getting worse by the second, but I had given my fears enough of myself. They couldn’t have her too.
I stepped forward, taking Eva’s face between my palms. “We can still stop him. We will ?—”
She surged forward, kissing me so deeply it caught me by surprise—kissing me like it might be the last time—before breaking away far too soon.
Rivan cleared his throat as a cloud of dust appeared from the newly formed hole in front of him. “Shall we?”
He ducked into the self-made tunnel, and I saw the rock form into handholds in his wake. I followed closely behind, lacing my fingers through Eva’s as I led her onward. My shadows moved from my forearm to hers. If we were together, somehow, it felt like everything would be okay. I was determined to keep her close to me for as long as I could, like holding her hand could possibly stop the worst from happening. That if I could only keep her from being taken from me this time, we could win this.
The makeshift tunnel narrowed. I ducked my head against the falling silt, each far off explosion and the thunderous stampede of booted feet now above us shaking it loose. The smell of earth and metal hung in the air as the tunnel tilted sharply upward, our destination evidently approaching. Reluctantly, I let go of Eva’s hand to find Rivan’s handholds, copying his path as we climbed higher.
Rivan stopped abruptly, his hand splayed onto the frozen soil above him.
“We should be shielded by the left side of the door.” His voice was barely discernable over the shouts of the battle above. “Not a lot of space between it and the mountain, but we’ll fit.”
I clasped a hand on his calf. “Then we just have to get around a door.”
Rivan snorted. “How hard can it be?”
I reached out with my shadows. “There’s enough of them inside that even if we get those doors closed, we’ll have to fight.”
“How many?”
I smirked up at him. “Not enough to stop us.”
Rivan looked down at me, violet eyes gleaming in the reflection of Tobias’s light, his answering smile just as deadly. His tone was almost polite as he asked, “Ready?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
Wrapping my shadows around us, I tensed as Rivan pushed the last of the tunnel to the side. A gust of Yael’s magic kept a pile of snow from falling on top of us, pushing it back as Rivan pulled himself over the edge.
The storm had grown markedly worse during our brief stint underground, the temperature dropping drastically as we emerged. I drew my sword as soon as I was able, but no one saw us behind the enormous iron door swung wide, the only thing between us and the massive force in front of it.
Rivan swore under his breath as he caught my gaze. Because of course it was iron.
I reached down, silently pulling Eva over the lip of the hole. Snowflakes clung to the twists of her braid, the length of her lashes. I reached up to brush a few from her cheeks, feeling them melt under my thumb. Tobias climbed up next, Quinn behind him as they squeezed further behind the door and the snowy mountainside. Yael nimbly sprang upward, her boots sinking into the packed snow beside me.
I reached out with my shadows, closing my eyes as they dispersed around the door into the mountain itself, rustling over booted feet. It wouldn’t be an easy fight—especially when the more magic I used now meant the less I had to fight Aviel. But if we didn’t get the doors closed, and the False King’s entire army came after us…
Leaning over, I spoke directly into Yael’s ear. “Do you think you can get these shut if I create enough of a shield to hold them off until you do?”
She tilted her head down in the smallest of nods, then reached for the bow resting on her shoulder. An arrow, I knew, could be notched and ready to fire before I had a chance to blink.
I signaled over my shoulder, knowing Rivan would take up the rear without looking back to check. We had trained and fought together for too long not to sense what the other would do.
Raising my hand, I jerked my fingers forward in a silent Go, go, go.
My shadows wrapped around us as we came around the corner, even though I knew they couldn’t shield us entirely in plain sight. But the army in front of us was too distracted by the battle raging in the forest before them to notice the creeping shadow against the dark door behind them. Their forces were still busy raising magical shields against the continued barrage of earth-shaking explosions. Grimly, I wondered how long Pari and Akeno could keep that up before utterly burning themselves out.
We skidded into the threshold. A shout of alarm rang out from inside the mountain just as I ordered, “ Now !”
Yael’s hands were already up, spread wide apart as she tried to bring them together. Her magic whipped the falling snow into a cyclone as it pushed against the open doors. We might not be able to manipulate the iron door itself, but we could close it with enough force.
Soldiers rushed toward us, their swords raised, moving in from both sides of the entrance.
I quickly erected a wall of solidifying shadows, forcing the soldiers outside back. Magics collided against mine, swords clashing behind me as my friends fought their counterparts.
“ Yael .”
She gritted her teeth, snow swirling from the ground and the sky as her power barreled against the doors. They barely inched forward. Despite the warning in my head to save my power for the final fight against Aviel, we didn’t have time .
Shadows rippled down my arms, gathering from the corners of the room as they entwined with the current of air attempting to force those doors closed. With a groan of metal, our combined forces slammed them shut with an echoing crash, immediately dampening the magic outside it. My shadows wrapped around the two enormous door handles, chaining them together as the army outside turned its full attention on getting back in.
A myriad of magic bore down upon me, attempting to open what had been closed. Yael gasped in pain.
“I’ve got this,” I grunted, sparing a glance at the battle behind me in a plaintive gesture that she was needed there. While I knew she could handle herself, I could hear Eva’s pants of effort as her blade cut through the air, clearly taking my order to conserve her magic seriously.
Dimly, I realized our bond felt muted somehow, like the magic of this mountain was running interference. A chill ran down my spine, even as I forced my focus back to the task at hand.
Yael’s eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second. Then her arrows flew. I didn’t have to look behind me to know each struck true before she rushed forward, her sword raised.
My hands shook from the effort of keeping the door closed, and I clenched my jaw, my teeth grinding against the strain, barely able to hold out against the various powers trying to break my shadows’ dark embrace.
The clamber of the battle behind me grew somewhat quieter. I didn’t have to look to know my friends, my family, and my anima were making short work of our greeting party.
I grimaced as a renewed onslaught of magic turned my attention from that battle to the one that I had to control. My shadows seemed to shrivel against the sheer force of so many magics used against me, yanking at the door to try to muscle their way in—my power draining far too fast.
But without it…
Iron or not, I knew the door wouldn’t hold for long.