Chapter 25 #2
Draevyn, Sam, and Tommy raced toward the horse post. Draevyn reached them first, throwing himself onto the back of the black stallion he rode in on, gripping the reins as Sam vaulted up beside him on one of the guard’s grey mares.
Tommy was older, slower, but scrambled after them, narrowly dodging a crossbow bolt that slammed into the wooden post behind them.
“Tommy, hurry!”
He’s not going to make it. Draevyn’s heart leapt in his throat as he kicked his heels into the stallion’s sides. The horse burst forward, hooves thundering across the earth.
He barreled toward Tommy, his hand outstretched as arrows rang out from all around them, coming down from the prison’s roof.
Draevyn reached out, grabbed Tommy by the arm, and heaved as hard as he could, his horse never halting. Tommy leapt up, slamming into the saddle with a grunt. They turned and bolted as he just barely pulled himself up behind Draevyn.
“Godsdammit, boy,” Tommy grumbled behind him. “You should’ve left me. I’ll only slow you down.”
“You know me better than that,” he yelled over his shoulder.
“Aye,” Tommy said with a half laugh. “That I do, lad.”
The stallion staggered under the weight of them both but held.
“Let’s go!” Sam screamed as they raced toward him.
The wind whistled past Draevyn’s ears as they tore through the prison gates, dodging guards rushing to close the final barricade. Arrows sang through the air, whistling past them, just barely missing them all.
“Hold on, Tommy!” Draevyn boomed. His stallion leapt over a low stone wall in a spray of dirt, hooves hitting the road hard on the other side.
Behind them, the flames he lit glowed like a beacon, lighting the midnight sky in hues of blazing orange. Above, the owl shrieked again, circling over them once before vanishing into the clouds leading out toward the sea.
Dawn bled across the horizon with pale golds and purples spilling over the ocean. Tucked behind jagged rock formations and low cliffs, the hidden cove’s water glimmered in the early light as mist curled along the surf.
The pinnaces rocked gently in the shallows, half cloaked in fog. A low whistle came from Valor’s deck as it floated several yards away, and the last of the weary crew stumbled out of the forest and onto the narrow strip of shore.
“Got ‘em!” Jak called from the ship, and rope ladders were dropped over the side. He’d flown straight there as the rest of them waited for a way to get aboard.
Boots splashed through the cold surf as Draevyn and his bloodied, limping escapees climbed one by one into the pinnaces.
No one had spoken since they’d met up with Esmyra’s crew.
The look on Ren’s and Riven’s faces when they saw Draevyn had only returned with his own men was more than enough to let him know that they’d put two and two together—the rest of their crew was dead.
A tightness formed in his chest, knowing it was his fault.
Did they deserve it? Perhaps, after all the wicked sins they’d done throughout their lives. But two wrongs would never make a right. And his family had been the cause of so many wrongs lately.
They rowed out into the cove, halting at Valor’s starboard side. Draevyn climbed up first, heaving himself over the rail before signaling the rest to board. Boots thudded hard against the deck as the last of the survivors were hauled up, one by one.
“Oye,” Alec barked from Ren’s side, earning everyone’s attention. “Where the hells are the rest of us, Phoenix?”
Murmurs among them turned into growls of agreement across the deck.
“You said you were breakin’ them out,” Ren snarled, stepping forward. “But you only saved your own men?”
Draevyn’s jaw ticked, sucking in a heavy breath through his nostrils as he stared them all down. His stare drifted to Jak, who just stood in silence, watching them.
“I got there too late,” he admitted, eyes scanning the furious circle forming around him. “They were already dead.”
“Convenient,” Riven spat.
“It’s the truth,” Draevyn barked. “I tried to get there in time. I barely made it to save them.” He gestured to Sam and Tommy with his chin.
“How do we know you didn’t leave them to die while you made sure your own men got out unscathed?” Riven growled.
“Who says we were unscathed?” Sam’s voice cut through the air, his face wearing a grin. “Fucked up my elbow pretty bad.”
Fucking Irah. Draevyn turned to his first mate. “Is now really the time to taunt them?”
“You godsdamn cun—” Riven moved to strike Sam, but Draevyn stepped between them at the last second, and the elven bounced off his chest.
Draevyn lifted his hand, his fingertips lit with small flames. “Stand down.” He peered over his shoulder to look at Sam. “All of you.”
The pirates surrounding him all looked like they were ready to shoot him where he stood.
Their faces were smeared with dirt from their crawl through the escape tunnel and their skin windburned from the run through the trees.
Clothes hung tattered on their frames, ripped sleeves or makeshift bandages wrapped tight around wounds that hadn’t been properly cleaned.
Scars and fresh bruises made them look like ghosts of war, risen from the depths of some nightmare.
“I tried,” he finally said. “Gods, I tried. Your men were slaughtered before I even reached the prison.”
“You expect us to believe that?” Riven growled.
“He’s telling the truth, lads,” Tommy cut in, and they all eyed him curiously.
He took a step forward. “Sammy-boy and myself, we were tryin’ to help our captain free your friends.
But we were caught. Something happened while we were halfway through bringing them out.
The bells were sounding across the city, but I doubt it was because of us. Not at that moment anyway.”
“It must’ve been because of us then,” Riven said, guilt creeping into his features.
“It wasn’t,” Jak finally cut in. “Something else was at play while we snuck out. Isn’t that right, Phoenix?”
Draevyn’s jaw locked. “Aye,” he breathed, and a smirk tilted the edge of the owl-shifter’s lips. “It was because of Esmyra.”
All of their faces paled.
“Esmyra is here?” Riven gasped. “And you want to leave? What if they get to her!”
“We can’t leave without her,” Ren chimed in.
“Will you two let the man speak?” Jak snapped, crossing his arms. He gestured to Draevyn with his chin, and they all lifted a brow. “I think Esmi’s already come and gone.”
“She has,” Draevyn admitted. “When I got back to the castle, word had spread that she kidnapped Elowynne, the new queen. Or soon-to-be queen, anyway.”
Alec let out a snort. “Good. Let her face a nightmare of her own for once.”
Draevyn tried to suppress his laugh, but it escaped him in a few breathy chuckles. “Well, on that much we agree.”
Alec’s head tilted to the side, studying him.
Draevyn begged Esmyra not to come back to Lephyrin because velsinyte was now in every corner of the city, but of course she hadn’t listened. Truthfully, he should’ve known better, but he never would’ve guessed the reason she’d come back would be to take Elowynne.
“But,” Draevyn continued, “that doesn’t mean I can let Esmyra kill her either.”
“What exactly makes you think you can even stop her?” Jak said with a smirk and raised brow.
He has a point.
“Well truthfully, I don’t,” Draevyn admitted. “But I have to try. We have to find them.”
A heavy silence followed, but the fury that had nearly erupted into bloodshed slowly began to cool.
“Arguing won’t bring the others back,” Jak said to his crew. “Like it or not, we share common ground with our enemy. And that’s to save Esmi.”
“Do you realize how fucked up that sounds?” Riven gaped.
“Aye, in fact I do. But I think the Phoenix has made it clear where he stands.” Jak turned to Draevyn. “After all, he just betrayed the only family he has left for her.”
The words were like a serrated dagger straight through Draevyn’s heart. But he couldn’t even argue, because he was right. He did just betray the only family he had left and his kingdom along with it.
Again.
Draevyn “The Phoenix” Rowe was now an enemy of Lephyrin. An enemy to his brother and the king, along with his brothers in arms.
“I watched him fight against Atlas,” Jak continued with a shrug. “If he’s lying, it’s very convincing.”
“So, you’re on his side then?” Ren asked, his lip curling a bit.
Jak stormed across the deck and grabbed Ren by the collar, his breath heaving in his face. “I’m on one side and one side only. And that’s to do whatever it takes to get Esmyra back.” He shoved away from his friend and turned to face Draevyn.
Tensions were clearly running high for them all.
Ren steadied himself before straightening his already ruined shirt. “So where do we go from here?”
Jak went to open his mouth, but Draevyn beat him to it. “Anchorage Cove.” All eyes swung to him. “It’s south, closer to Maerinys. Maybe while we’re there we can gather more of a crew. Considering I would say we’re quite lacking at this point.”
“Gods, not that awful place again,” Sam said with a sigh, his head lolling back.
Jak shot him a look. “Why can’t we just go straight there? To Maerinys.”
A certain golden-haired sea witch appeared in Draevyn’s mind. “We’ll be killed on sight.”
Jak let out a laugh. “I mean, maybe you will be, but I doubt—”
“I’m not talking about Esmyra,” Draevyn interrupted.
“Her sister. Syrena,” he spat her name. “She won’t want anyone getting in her way of whatever the hells she has planned.
And I promise you, anything that could potentially take Esmyra away from her is a threat to that.
We need to get to her somehow without Syrena finding out. ”
Jak nodded along as he listened while everyone watched their exchange, deciding their fate.
“Let’s just make port there. At least then we’ll be out of sight and far from Lephyrin. We don’t need my brother’s sea fleet catching up to us,” Draevyn finished.
My fleet.
His stare went distant as he spoke of the men who once sailed under his command.
“Aye,” Jak agreed. “To Anchorage Cove, then.”
Draevyn gave him a subtle dip of his chin. “To Anchorage Cove.”