65
Raiden
They landed outside the front of Windspire Castle, guards stumbling as Rayne’s wings beat, the force of their power spreading a wave of wind across the gardens.
Nearby citizens sobbed, falling to their knees at the Pegasus.
Rayne huffed, clearly enjoying the attention as Raiden slid off his back, patting his neck.
They were safe.
Barron hadn’t attacked yet.
They’d made it back in time. Thank the fucking gods.
Kora landed next, followed by Aryn, then Aerion, and bells rang from within the castle. Distant figures were running up the hill from Mistros City, waving at them, crying out. But not in fear, or agony.
A Pegasus hadn’t been seen for nearly three hundred years.
Raiden wouldn’t tell his people they weren’t real, that it was an illusion from the Devani god’s phantoms. His people needed a sign, they needed a symbol of hope. They needed to believe the Pegasi had returned.
“Praise be,” voices whispered as rows of civilians bowed, their foreheads pressed into the pebbled path.
Kora pulled back her hood, and gasps followed as she dismounted, taking Raiden’s hand. Aerion followed, taking Aryn’s hand as well, their union evident. Eyes ogled the four of them, wide, uncertain, hopeful.
“Kordelia!”
“She has returned!”
“Our saviour!”
Kora visibly grimaced at the name, her fear tinging the edges of Raiden’s fragile bubble. She was still afraid of Barron’s darkness in the back of her mind, of the fugue state wiping her completely.
“Why do they think I’m their saviour?”
“Because you did save them. Repeatedly. So much so my father made you a leader of the entire war strategy. You were their symbol, their hope. Your magic protected them, your connection to the waters was an island-wide defence.”
Some whispers wove through the crowd, of darkness and corruption. Kora’s hand tightened around his as the empire was mentioned—that she turned on them once before, and would do it again.
Yet, the crowd ushered forward, their hands turned out in prayer, tears filling their eyes.
With the Pegasi, it painted the picture that Kora wasn’t evil.
Raiden raised his hands in response, his power flaring gently, winding through the crowd.
Wisps of wind blessed their foreheads, gentle touches, connecting him to every one of his people.
“Until it wasn’t,” she replied glumly.
“My people!” Raiden spoke and they paused, hanging onto his every word. “Haizea’s blessings have returned. The Pegasus, and your saviour’s presence, shows we have a chance. We will bring light back to this world. Galen will be free soon, and we will protect this world against the darkness!”
He tugged Kora to him, and she nervously glanced out at the crowd, her thumb and forefinger rubbing together with nervous energy.
“You may have known her as Kordelia once. But she has been through a trial, down a path of darkness, pain and reflection, and she has been reborn as Kora. You will always call her Kora.”
The castle doors flew open, the hinges creaking and snapping as steam wafted out. Zephyr followed, his stride wide as he marched towards them. Fuck. Aerion’s eyes flared, his brow furrowing as he glanced to Raiden, his question evident. When had he returned?
His father’s eyes blazed, rage encasing him in his preferred form of steam.
His hair was pulled back tight, and he wore his royal attire, reminding everyone who was in control here.
Raiden’s lips curled with a promise of a snarl as Skylar followed, her mouth gaping at the four Pegasus steeds.
Aerion grabbed her elbow as soon as she was near, whispering into her ear.
Raiden paused for a moment, thanking the gods that Skylar was safe. That Windspire still stood. That they weren’t too late. Kora bristled beside him, and Raiden couldn’t help pushing her slightly behind him, his inner beast demanding protection. That his father was a threat.
“You have no right to address the people,” Zephyr snarled, his voice low. “Get inside. Now.”
Raiden lifted his chin. He’d had enough. He would no longer bow.
“No. They need to see the truth. They need to hear what’s coming. Barron is sailing here right now! The empire will attack us once more! He’ll be here any moment. We need to prepare, we need to evacuate the city.”
Cries rang, civilians grasping each other in fear. Kora’s tension flowed down the bond, her striking eyes darting across the crowd, nibbling her cheek in concern. She was looking for something, her stare narrowing on shadowed pockets by the forest.
“Impossible! The Mist still protects us!”
“Look around you,” Raiden gestured. “We can see more now than we ever have for the past decade. I can see the spirals of Mistros City, the shimmer of the ocean, the ships in the promenade. The Mist is fading.”
His father’s steam incensed, the clear-cut sign of his anger. His raging stare whipped to the horizon, blinking for a moment.
“Do not listen to him! He’s been corrupted by the enemy. Even now, he protects her!” Zephyr motioned to Kora and her defiance crackled, alighting Raiden. “She’s no longer your saviour. She betrayed us, and hunted our kind down for a decade. She seeks to destroy us!”
“You spread the rumour,” Aryn growled, dreaded realisation pulling his face taut, his hands curling. “He’s the one who tried to turn the city against her.”
Raiden saved his eye roll for later. He knew it could never have been Hector. But still, disappointment weighed heavy at his father’s actions.
“She must be apprehended!”
Zephyr’s power snapped, and Kora crumpled to the ground, his magic binding her body. She yelled, and Raiden roared as multiple guards seized him, five in total, to wrestle him to the ground beside her. His face hit the pebbled path, grazing his skin, and Kora scowled in return.
“No! The Pegasi are leaving!” citizens pleaded. “It’s a sign!”
Cadence and Rayne neighed, their wings beating against the ground before taking off. Erebus silently followed, whilst Fajra’s coal eyes erupted into flames behind Aryn before retreating. The faintest of white lights bloomed and faded from Kora’s fingertips. She’d sent them away, Raiden realised.
“Take them to the royal chamber. You failed, Kora Cadell. Now it’s time to deliver your sentence.”
It’d been pointless to fight. The citizens of Galen held onto Zephyr’s every word as he told them tales of Kora’s past. The decimation of the pirates, the killings of rebels, the incarcerated prisoners to Deadwater Prison, where no human could ever survive.
Their faces had slackened into horror, stares narrowing as they realised their husbands, wives, sons and daughters were among the dead, and imprisoned. The original rumours had been fortified, the mirage of the gods-blessed Pegasi forgotten, unable to fill the empty space within their homes.
Kora slumped beside him in the heart of the royal chamber. White walls and pristine floors blinded him, as the white runner carpet cushioned his knees. His father was a fool. A belligerent, power-blind fool.
Hector sat to the side, his one good eye boring into Kora.
Leto was nowhere to be seen, lost on the seas, potentially killed by Barron.
Raiden swallowed his fear for his brother, setting it aside as he focused on his ruhni.
His father’s closest advisors lingered around the dais, whilst Zephyr sat on his throne, Skylar and Aerion either side of him.
Ilma’s empty seat was a painful blow, especially as Zephyr clutched onto its armrest, an occasional finger brushing the lone iris flower wilting on the plush cushion.
Aryn had disappeared, slinking away as Raiden and Kora had been dragged through the castle.
“The full moon has arrived, Kora Cadell.” Zephyr commanded the room, his voice vibrating across the air. “You have failed. Barron still lives.”
Violent tension rolled off her, and Raiden’s heart went into overdrive, his wrists aching against the bindings. His father had bound him, shackled his wrists behind his back, like he was nothing more than a criminal.
“By punishment, you and Erick Cadell will be sentenced. Honouring lives lost from your initial betrayal of the people of Galen.” His father’s smile was sickening.
This had been what he wanted all along. “Your sentence will be delivered upon the Infernal Highland. You will be escorted there at dusk, along with Erick Cadell.”
The . . . Infernal Highland? Aerion frowned, sharing worried looks with Skylar as Zephyr chuckled at his own words.
“Father, that’s sacred land. We protect it from the world.” Aerion’s windswept curls were barely contained by the red leather strap, and a dark cloak obscured the labradorite suit.
“A perfect setting for the desecration she caused upon us. The highland demands justice. It demands retribution. The Cadells will pay it with their lives, and usher us into a new era of peace.” Zephyr’s dark eyes were wild, strands of white hair unfurling from the knot at the back of his head. He’d gone mad.
“Father . . .” Skylar murmured. “She didn’t betray us. She was taken.”
“No!” Zephyr snapped at her, and Skylar shrank away, her head bowing as her hair formed a barrier between her face and their father.
His venom shifted back to Kora. “You were supposed to protect the island. You were supposed to deter the ships. You were assigned that responsibility alone. And hundreds perished. Their souls lost. You carry that burden.”
Kora whimpered, the truth Raiden had kept from her settling like a heavy weight, crushing the air within the chamber.
He’d never wanted to tell her how powerful Kordelia had truly been.
An impossible standard that no mage should have ever reached.
That she reached a level of wielding the seas surrounding Galen, forming protective barriers. Until that day . . .
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Even Kora’s voice in his mind was fractured.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Raiden replied. “It’s mine.”
Kora frowned as Raiden glared at his father.
“It wasn’t Kora’s fault,” he announced, and Hector leaned forward.
“I’d taken her away that day, far out into the sea.
I . . . I used magtrate to distract her, to calm her.
She hadn’t been sleeping, she was falling apart.
I had intel that Barron was still in Talmon, that we were safe.
I just wanted one day. One day with her.
Surely you remember what that feels like?
” Raiden pointedly stared at Ilma’s throne.
Kora gasped, her fists curling. She wouldn’t remember, but the pain still echoed deep in those eyes, deep enough into the shadow of her past.
She wasn’t the darkness. He was. He had failed everyone. Again.
Zephyr’s lips curled in disgust as Aerion staggered in shock.
“Your emotions have always been your weakness,” Zephyr snapped. “You are no son of mine.”
“It won’t matter anymore when Barron invades us again. He’s coming. He’s almost here!” Raiden yelled, pulling against his shackles.
“More intel?” Zephyr drawled. “How can we trust your intel ever again?”
“Cassidy,” Kora replied. “She arrived at Skybell after ambushed by the empire. She came to warn us as quickly as she could. Leto is still out there, in hiding with his power.”
“Where is she now?” Hector croaked. A red-and-brown striped longcoat smothered his frame. He’d lost weight since they’d departed. The weathered lines of his skin were deeper, dark circles rimmed his brown eyes.
“Still at Skybell. She’s setting up a base of defence in case Barron infiltrates the north. If he attacks here, we will evacuate to Skybell.” Raiden begged his siblings with his eyes to understand his actions of the past. To, for once, see him. To side with him.
He’d chosen love over war, and it had cost him everything.
“Mistros is stronger than Skybell, we will remain here,” Zephyr ordered. “You cannot distract me with lies. She will die, tonight.”
Aerion tried to argue but Zephyr silenced him, claiming Raiden’s lies were an infestation.
Raiden’s world cracked open as Kora’s fear hit him in the chest. Her hands wavered, and Raiden shuffled closer to her, the desire, the gods-damned fucking need to shield her from the darkness in this world practically suffocating him.
Zephyr’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared once, twice.
“You are . . . you cannot bond her,” he choked out, his voice laced with such deep disgust it made Raiden pause.
Kora glanced at Raiden, a question on her lips.
She didn’t know of the Galenite customs, that they were heading down a path they couldn’t turn away from.
And the fact his father could sense it .
. . fate’s weave was strong between them.
“Your death can’t come quick enough, so we can sever this atrocity between you. ”
The realisation hit Raiden like a ton of bricks.
He wanted Raiden to suffer. This was still punishment for Iris.
“You cannot punish me forever,” he broke into his father’s mind—into everyone’s—and Zephyr visibly flinched.
“Do not use that abomination upon me!” he roared.
“Father?” Aerion blinked, stepping away. “Raiden’s not an abomination. He’s the strongest of us all. We need to listen to him. Barron is attacking, we must prepare. We must get everyone to safety.”
“No,” he snapped. “You will atone for every year that Iris never got to see. Elementals do not mix. I won’t allow you to bond. Her deserved death will sever it, and that pain should be enough for you to know the pain you have caused me—that you caused this family.”
Silence followed. Hector even gaped from his chair at Zephyr’s uncontained anger.
Raiden’s fear developed into rage, and he blinked as Kora wrestled against his father’s power containing her.
Raiden’s pulse skyrocketed as her divine powers shone, forming in her chest. Her hair sparked, and Zephyr lurched as the restraints of his power snapped from her light.
“You will not fucking hurt him anymore,” she seethed, and just there, on the edges of her vision, a tinge of red. The haze she’d told him about lurked, waiting to consume her.
“I’m here, ruhni. He hasn’t hurt me.”
“But he will.”
Raiden panicked as she advanced, Kordelia resurfacing with her rage, the bond weakening as dark, corrupted magic leaked down it. He was losing her, and Zephyr’s smile returned. It was bait, he was baiting her to attack. Anything to ruin her—ruin them.
“It’s a trick!” Raiden yelled as Kora’s gaze darkened, her power breaking free, reaching from her back.
“Kora Cadell!” a voice boomed from the rear doors. Everyone froze, and Raiden craned his neck to see who it was. “You will stand down, now!”
Erick hobbled into the chamber, dressed in nothing more than a thin blue gown, with Aryn and Sirona supporting his sides.