Chapter 32
“Tonight is the night!”
Cheers erupted at Verena’s words, hands flying into the air in triumph.
Everyone was gathered at the forest entrance, weapons strapped to bodies and war paint splattered across faces.
The sun colored the sky orange as it slowly made its descent.
As if it knew what was about to come, and it’d rather not witness the inescapable, bloody battle that would soon take place between the mortals.
It granted the space for the moon to shine brightly in the night.
It was almost ironic that the two planets that granted the casters their powers coexisted so peacefully when we were about to venture into war.
Dae’s hand squeezed mine, making me look at him. His face didn’t portray the same sinking dread that filled my stomach, but his amber eyes were crinkled slightly in worry.
Lili stood on my other side, bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation, hanging on to Verena’s every word. She looked up to Verena probably more than she’d ever looked up to me. She wanted to fight, and Verena gave her that chance.
“Today, we will conquer Erobred! We will end the tyranny of the King and his Defenders!”
Verena let the crowd cheer for a minute before she silenced them with a lift of her hand. Otieno stood behind her, his expression smug and satisfied as he watched her.
Hannan was nowhere to be seen. I knew from my chat with him a few weeks ago that he wouldn’t come to Erobred. But I’d thought that he would share a few uplifting parting words with us tonight.
“It’s time for Erobred to be ruled by a queen.”
Hundreds of voices called their support, whistling and cheering. My ears rang, deafening voices screaming their warnings inside my head, remembering the last time she’d said those power-hungry words.
“Honor the Moon Queen!” A man yelled, and the chants began.
“Time to go, Your Majesty,” Otieno drawled, running a slow hand down her arm.
Elvira and Archie found me in front of the crowd. Before I could stop him, Archie engulfed me in a hug that felt too much like goodbye.
“Be safe,” he whispered, squeezing me tightly. Then he threw his arms around Lili. “And you. Stay close to me.”
A flood of gratitude towards my oldest friend threatened my wet eyes to shed a tear, but with a few deep breaths, I managed to contain them.
“Ready?” Elvira asked, gesturing to Otieno’s boat.
All the mooncasters were going in the same ship so that we could flood the city with the waves we’d practiced.
The rest of the rebels would take the other boats, infiltrating the city on foot and hiding on the roofs and in the high towers to avoid the water.
The plan was that when the Defenders had been distracted by the flooding, we’d jump the wall to fight with the others. Then, the real battle would begin.
“They’re hiding behind their sun magic, barely knowing how to handle a sword,” Verena continued. “With the water flooding the city, you’ll be able to deflect their attacks. Remember what we practiced. Create waves. Drown them if you must.”
I couldn’t help noticing how her speech was geared mostly towards casters, even if only half of the rebels could wield.
“The Defenders have gotten sloppy over the years, too comfortable now that they’ve ruled the kingdom for over a century. But that. Stops. Now,” Verena seethed, puncturing the last words with her fist in the air.
“To the boats!” she yelled.
The moon hung high in the sky, its full circle illuminating the darkness of the night. Otieno and his crew steered the boat with quick precision. The other ships only managed to keep up because of the rope connecting them to this one.
I sat together with Elvira, Ashton, Jax, and Amari. The usually chatty group was relatively quiet. It was clear which ones wanted to do the attack.
Amari sat silently, sharpening the chain blades that Felix had made for her on her request. I’d seen her train with them in the forest, lodging the weapons into the trees with precise strikes before pulling them back and catching them effortlessly—a masterful, deadly dance.
Elvira’s leg bounced restlessly from where she was perched on a chair, her teeth nibbling at her bottom lip.
Jax and Ashton leaned against each other, their fingers brushing.
I’d honestly never met two people less alike yet more perfect for each other.
Jax was as calm and collected as Ashton was unhinged and unpredictable.
It’d only been a few hours when the boats halted, turning to face the huge wall encasing the city of Erobred.
The other boats released the ropes and drifted closer to the wall. Then shadowy figures climbed up, disappearing out of sight when the moonlight could no longer reach them. I gulped, knowing that three of those figures were Lili, Dae, and Archie.
“Take your places!” Verena called, the storming wind drowning out most of her volume. We lined up around the edge of the boat, our hands rising in unison.
My heart hammered in my chest. No matter what I thought of Verena, I had to focus. Everybody’s life was on the line tonight. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on feeling the power of the water in my hands. I moved them in slow circles like I knew the rest of the mooncasters were doing as well.
Then, I heard the first wave crashing over the wall in a powerful surge. It towered over the buildings before tumbling down to fill the cracks of the streets with water. Screams erupted from behind the wall. I imagined the people crowding around in the streets to see what was going on.
“Again!” Verena shouted, ordering us to wield another attack. We did that five more times.
With every wave, I felt my powers draining. My mind kept drifting to my three favorite people. I imagined them perching on the roofs lining the coastline to the west, a mere hundred or so feet away from me. Yet, they were desperately out of my reach.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I focused on creating the last wave. My fingertips had grown numb, too cold to function properly.
The strong scent of seaweed and salt had settled deeply in my nose, and I fought the urge to sneeze. Only Verena’s predictably scolding words made me hold it in.
The last wave rolled over the wall to collide with the water already flooding the city with a loud splash. Finally, I released my hold on the powers of the moon, welcoming the warmth that crept back into my fingertips.
All around, faint purple lights flickered in the darkness from my fellow mooncasters’ eyes. I heard sighs of relief from both Elvira and Jax.
My heart hammered as we drew closer to shore, Otieno’s crew steering the boat effortlessly with their small, precise flows on the ocean’s surface.
Verena pressed her index finger to her lips, silencing the already quiet army in front of her. I knew we wouldn’t have been able to see her if we weren’t mooncasters. But I’d learned that we saw better in the dark than anybody else.
Otieno threw a rope over the wall and waited for it to strain when the rebel who’d already jumped the wall pulled it tight. Then, we climbed.
Silent as the night, we collectively disappeared in the illusions of shadows. Pulled the shadows close, as I’d always thought I did. It was still the only way I could make my illusionary magic work.
Underneath the roof where we hid, the streets were flooded from our attack, the water reaching the waist of a man screaming for his children.
This was a mistake. The thought wouldn’t leave my mind, and if I weren’t careful, it might slip past my lips.
The man’s screams continued as he banged against the jammed door where his family was evidently trapped, the water creating too much pressure for him to rescue them.
My heart clenched at the thought. They might be safer in there…
Verena gestured for us to move forward. The wave had destroyed the houses they’d crashed directly onto. I didn’t let myself think about the people living there. They were surely either dead or severely injured.
As we jumped silently from roof to roof to reach the center of the city, my mind wandered to Dae and the heavy crown buried deep in my satchel. He’d insisted on carrying the bag. I would get in more trouble than him if Verena saw it. Besides, she’d likely keep a closer eye on me.
I knew it’d be just as difficult to break away from my squad as it would be to break the curse with Verena’s eyes constantly trained on me.
Her hand shot up, and we halted, looking down at the chaos beneath us. Suncasters had started using their powers to evaporate some of the water, but it was an impossible task. The water splashed around their middles, barely sinking an inch in the minutes we watched them.
Shadows jumped onto the roof next to us, and I immediately searched for Lili, Archie, and Dae. Archie kept close to Lili like he’d promised me he would, and Dae led the group forward as he’d been ordered to do.
Before Verena could tell us to do anything, Defenders stormed the streets, looking around for the people who’d caused the chaos. “There must be a hole in the wall!” one called.
“If there was a hole, this entire city would be flooded!” yelled another.
Perched from her brick throne, Verena’s lips curled into a smirk. She and Otieno shared a look too intimate for me to witness before they drew their weapons in unison, gesturing for the rest of us to do the same.
I impulsively felt out the daggers strapped to my thigh, though they didn’t bring me much comfort.
As mooncasters, our powers weren’t built to be offensive. Jax could create illusions that’d confuse anyone, and the menacing couple in front of me had shown frightening strength the few times they’d showed up to training.
But I was left to wield my mediocre sun magic or hope that my daggers would lodge in some part of an enemy if I threw it.
At Verena’s signal, we jumped from the roof to the street. Pain shot up my shin to my knee when I landed, but I ran with the rest of them toward the Defenders.