Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Smoke rolls through the forest as Lyra shifts into her human form the moment we’re all back on solid ground again.
Through the trees, I can vaguely make out the city of Frostfell.
Silver dragons are circling the gleaming Ice Palace and flying restlessly back and forth across the buildings that spread out below it.
If everything goes to plan, they will all start flying off towards the battlefield soon.
First, Draven needed to meet up with the rest of his clan and the Unseelie fae they should now have bonded, and then they were all going to fly towards the battlefield while the Dryad Queen led her people there from the Unseelie Court.
The only one who is staying in the Seelie Court is Lavendera, who needs to be close to the thorn forest when we give her the Soul of Trees.
Since the battlefield is closer to both of our courts than the Seelie Court is to Frostfell, Draven and the rest of our army should already have reached it by now.
Which means that Jessina and the Silver Clan should have already gotten word of it.
Which in turn means that they should leave the city soon.
Should.
Goddess above, I really hate that word.
“Alright,” Lyra says, and sweeps her gaze over the four of us.
“I’ll circle around in that direction,” she points to the right, “and get as close to the city as I can without any humans or Silver Clan soldiers seeing me. I’ll try to get close to the Ice Palace so that we can get out of here and join the others on the battlefield as soon as possible. ”
We all nod. She flashes us a smile and then takes a step back.
“Be careful,” Alistair blurts out.
Surprise flits across her features as she stops mid-step. Then her orange eyes light up and a grin spreads across her mouth. “Careful? Never met her.”
A small cloud of black smoke appears as she performs a half-shift. Her black wings flare out to her sides as she spreads them wide and flaps them.
“Ah, this is so freaking convenient,” she says, that smile still on her face.
Then she winks at Alistair and flies off between the trees.
Alistair watches her disappear, a strained expression on his face. His mouth is still slightly open, as if he wanted to say something else but never managed to get it off his tongue. With a sigh, he tears his gaze from her rapidly retreating body and instead focuses on us.
He jumps when he finds all three of us watching him.
Drawing his eyebrows down, he tries to appear threatening rather than embarrassed as he growls, “Not a word. Not one fucking word.”
I suppress a chuckle but keep my mouth shut. Thankfully, so do Isera and Orion. Instead, we all just take off at a run so that we circle through the woods outside Frostfell in the other direction instead.
My pulse thrums as we run through the forest. The Dryad Queen said that the humans are supposed to live in the woods up ahead, but there is still no guarantee that they will actually help us.
They might be too frightened after the failed rebellion to try again.
Or too angry with me for the part I played in it.
I sort through several plans for how to convince them to help us while we make our way towards their temporary camp. If we can’t—
A bellowing roar echoes across the entire landscape.
It’s so loud that I miss a step when my hands fly up to instead cover my ears. Whirling towards the city, I stare at the parts that are visible through the trees. A jolt pulses through me as a massive silver dragon shoots up into the air above the Ice Palace.
Empress Jessina Iceheart.
Landing atop the roof of her glittering castle, she opens her jaws and lets out another deafening roar.
Silver dragons begin exploding into view all across the castle as well as the city below.
I draw in a sharp breath.
Looks like it worked.
Lowering my hands from my ears again, I exchange a look with my friends. This is it. Jessina and her entire army are about to leave. We need to finish this quickly so that we can rejoin Draven and the others before the full weight of Jessina’s forces descend on them.
Without a word, we all pick up the pace and sprint through the woods.
Trees flash past in the corner of my eye as we hurtle towards the human camp while a mass of silver dragons takes to the skies.
Their wings boom above us as they speed away from the city with Jessina at the head of their formation.
Leaves rustle in the canopy above us as the winds their wings create slam down over the woods, but the dragons never look down at the four shady fae who are sneaking along down there. Their eyes are solely on the horizon and the battle that waits beyond it.
“Not another step,” a female voice suddenly yells.
We all skid to a halt as a large group of humans step out from the trees. They close in quickly, surrounding us from all sides, and half of them are carrying bows. I quickly flick my gaze over their faces, searching for the source of the voice, which I recognized immediately.
“Kath,” I say, as my gaze finally lands on a young woman with dark blue eyes and red hair that falls down to her collarbones.
Recognition flits across her face. But instead of smiling at me, her expression darkens like a thunderstorm.
“You,” she growls, eyes flashing. “You’re the reason they’re dead.”
“What?” I draw back in surprise. “Who?”
“Hector. He and half of our organization died breaking us out of the Ice Palace, which we got locked up in because you led us into a trap!”
“I didn’t lead you into a trap. For Mabona’s sake, I had to fight my way out of it as well.”
“You fought your way out? Flying away like a coward while we had to fight in the streets!” She throws her arms out to indicate the forest around us. “Fight until we had to flee out here. Do you have any idea what it’s like to starve and scrape by like this?”
“Do not fucking talk to us about starving and scraping by,” Alistair suddenly growls from my right. Fire flares up and rushes down both of his arms while rage burns in his eyes. “And put the fucking bows down before I incinerate both them and you.”
Shock pulses through the circle of humans, and several of them cast worried glances between Alistair and Kath.
Then a sharp hiss sounds from my other side.
I snap my gaze towards it and find a human man holding a knife to Orion’s throat.
Orion, who couldn’t see the man approaching from that side because of his missing eye, stares down at the blade in shock.
But his expression quickly transforms into humiliation at his inability to see the attack coming.
Isera slowly turns towards them. Two ice blades form in her hands, and the expression on her face is so cold and lethal that half of the other humans behind Orion stumble a step back.
Fury burns like cold fire in Isera’s eyes as she stares at the knife pressed hard against Orion’s throat.
Then she drags that freezing gaze up to the human holding the blade.
“If you put one single mark on his skin, I will carve your fucking heart out,” she says slowly, emphasizing each word.
Terror washes over the human’s face, but it only makes him tighten his grip on the knife.
Anger crackles through me. I don’t have fucking time for this. Jessina is flying towards Draven. I need to get to him before she can hurt him.
“I’m the reason you’re still alive,” I snarl, whipping my gaze back to Kath.
Rage and frustration pulse through me like lightning as I stare her down from across the grass.
“I’m the one who made the whole city erupt.
If it hadn’t been for me, you and your precious little brother would’ve been executed! ”
She hesitates, her gaze flitting towards the guy with red hair and blue eyes standing next to her.
“And now,” I continue, my voice still hard. “We’re here to offer you an opportunity to take your city back. To take Stonehollow back,” I add when I remember that this city used to be called Stonehollow before the Icehearts took it over and made it the Silver Clan’s home instead.
Several of the humans exchange glances at that.
“The entire Silver Clan is flying to a battle they will soon lose.” I stab a hand at the mass of silver dragons that still speed across the forest above us.
“So now, we’re going to march right into the city and blow up the Ice Palace.
” I keep my searing gaze locked on hers.
“So do you want to keep threatening us or do you want to help?”
Almost all of the bows are slowly being lowered now, and the human who held a knife to Orion’s throat retreats while glancing towards Kath instead.
“This is your city!” I yell at them all.
“Your ancestors built it stone by fucking stone. The Ice Palace sits on the ruined bones of your castle. Stonehollow is yours. The one place in this world where you belong fully and completely. The place where you can trace your history back through every age of this world. This is the place where your people have lived and worked and loved and lost and bled for generations. It is your land. Your home. It is time to take it back!”
A shuddering breath ripples through the whole crowd.
Then battle cries split the air.
“Spread the word!” Kath calls across their group, determination blazing in her eyes. “We’re going into the city to gather our explosives.” Her gaze returns to me. “And then we will help you blow that fucking Ice Palace to kingdom come.”
A villainous grin spreads across my mouth.
She matches it with a feral one that makes her look more like a wolf than a human.
“We’re taking our home back.”