Chapter 55 #3
“Try me,” I said, unflinching. “Come here, with all your armies and all your weapons, and try to face me.”
Beren opened his mouth, but he was too slow.
“What happened to your soldiers is nothing compared to what I’ll do to you.
I’ll enjoy it, too. You think you’ve known pain?
” I leaned further, the wings of all my fearsome ancestors fanning my rage and courage.
“You haven’t been constricted by my power yet.
Felt the life leave you, breath after miserable breath, slow enough that you can fully understand what a grave mistake you have made.
The last thing you will see is my face, hallowed blue, as I will watch you die. ”
Lioran cleared his throat again. “Huntress–”
“You think you’re safe on top of your mountain?” I scoffed. “I will drag you into the pits of darkness with me. So many have tried to kill me. They’re all dead. What makes you think you’re so special?”
I righted myself, looking down my nose at them, like the worms they were.
“Solkar’s Reach is under my protection. The crater knows it–and you know what the crater’s power can do,” I said, voice low and ominous.
Beren’s nostrils flared.
There was a reason he’d only sent a few hundred soldiers in waves.
That he hadn’t had the balls to come conquer this land by himself.
The crater’s defenses might have fallen, but its reputation hid how dire the situation was.
The magic of Solkar’s Reach still instilled fear.
Powerful fear.
“The crater protects itself, as well.” I said. “You want its magic? Come and rip it away at your own peril.”
Beren’s lips twisted in an enraged grimace. “It will bring me great joy to watch you die, Huntress.”
The silver smoke of his palaver extinguished.
Lioran and Edrin looked caught off guard, but followed suit only a moment later, leaving me alone with Dax.
Only after I’d closed the journals facing me, to make sure the connection was truly severed, did I allow myself to release a sigh.
“Think that was enough?” I asked.
“You managed to scare me.” Dax came to stand next to me. “The hallowed blue imagery was a nice touch.”
I ran my hands down my face. “Clara would have negotiated better.”
“This was never a negotiation. They wanted to throw their power around.”
I sighed once more.
Whatever that had been, I hoped it was enough.
“Beren surprised the other two,” I said. “They’re not on the same page.”
“They didn’t contradict him, either.”
“So they’re cowards. We can use that.”
“They also didn’t mention the trolls,” Dax said.
“They did not.”
A small miracle.
We looked at each other, long and hard.
“Maybe my snooping stopped the traitor from delivering new messages,” he said.
Plausible.
Dax was the perfect stick in the ribs–but he hadn’t found anything.
At least not yet.
If not Dax–
The thought thundered in my mind, constricting my chest.
“Or–” I whirled toward the window, as if I could shout a warning into the void and he would be able to hear it. “The traitor has truly gone with Ryker to war.”
It would explain why the Northern Clans didn’t know the latest information.
No backstabber to witness everything–because he was behind Ryker right at this moment.
“Maybe your beloved Commander will deign to come back soon and you can tell him,” Dax said.
“I can send Sylvester again,” I said urgently.
“Maybe keep him around in case we’re attacked. Those three louses seemed cautious, but enough to not invade? We don’t know.”
“They’re cautious because they’re not sure what power the crater and I truly have. The last battle helped, let’s hope–”
Suddenly, my entire body blazed.
I swayed on the spot for a moment, before my vision turned black.
“Allie?” Dax asked.
I fell to my knees, bones rattling against the hard stone.
But it was nothing–absolutely nothing–compared to the pain searing through my veins.
My entire body scorched with despair so deep, I couldn’t imagine ever feeling happiness again.
The power inside of me flickered, crying out.
“Allie!” Dax yelled from above.
I writhed on the ground, hands scratching at my chest to rid myself of this ache. Just when I felt I couldn’t take any more of it, a howl of pain ripped from deep within me, so fast and strong, I was sure I would spit blood.
It vibrated through the room.
In the distance, I heard the windows shatter.
“Huntress!” Vylkor banged on the door, almost ripping it off its hinges with concern. “Permission to enter!”
“Get in here!” Dax shouted, desperate hands trying to keep my head from hitting the stone floor as I writhed out of control. “Stay with me.”
I couldn’t.
This pain was dragging me to unimaginable depths of despair.
Another wail tore from my lungs as Vylkor thundered next to me.
I was dying.
This endless, unstoppable ache would kill me.
I could never survive this.
Nobody could.
But even through the whirlwind, I sensed this pain didn’t belong to me.
“What did they do to her?” Dax roared. “The palavers were supposed to be secure–”
“Not–not me.” I gasped, desperate tears streaming from my eyes down onto the cold floor. “It’s Ryker.”