Chapter Fifty-Eight
I’ve always found it so curious how the Blackburn line always has three heirs, each with a very specific role. But most curious of it all, is that two of them always have names that start with the same letter. I wonder why that is.
Tabitha Wysteria
King Ozul’s wyverian army had begun its long march several days earlier, advancing steadily towards the Kingdom of Fauna.
They had chosen the route through the wastelands, for travelling north through wolverian territory would have taken far longer.
The witchlands posed their own dangers, of course, but King Ozul seemed entirely confident that his army could withstand whatever might lurk there.
Rio Hawthorne was not nearly so certain.
Still, she had no intention of arguing over such matters with the wyverian king. He was returning to her homeland with an immense army at his back to aid her people. For that alone, she decided it was wiser to keep her thoughts to herself.
‘Why do you have a little ghost following you around, Rowan?’ Rio asked suddenly. She felt the moment Rowan faltered beside her. The air shifted faintly as he glanced over his shoulder at something she could not see.
‘His name is Edur. He’s lost.’ She could practically picture Rowan narrowing his eyes at her. ‘How did you know?’
‘Elowen.’
Rowan huffed. ‘Of course she would tell on me.’
‘You can’t keep him.’
‘He’s not a dog.’
Rio snorted despite herself. ‘You sure about that?’ She reached over and pinched his arm playfully.
Before Rowan could respond, Rio felt a subtle change ripple through the air around them. Her brow furrowed as she glanced ahead at the slowing line of soldiers.
‘Why are we stopping?’ she asked.
‘I’ll go find out,’ Rowan said, already moving ahead.
Within moments, the sound of his footsteps faded into the restless murmur of the halted army.
Rio heard it first—the distant, thunderous roar of wyverns echoing across the wastelands.
Something was happening.
The Black Lotus surrounding her seemed to draw closer without a word, their presence tightening like a living shield.
Even they appeared to sense the disturbance ahead.
Rio was just about to send one of them after Rowan to discover what was delaying him when he suddenly came rushing back through the waiting ranks.
Though Rio could not see, she had long since learnt to read the world in other ways; the subtle shifts in the air, the movement of bodies around her, the quiet language of presence and absence.
And she knew her friends.
Rowan was always easy to recognise. Whenever he was near, it felt as though the world itself carried a hint of laughter, a restless energy that moved with him.
Elowen was even easier.
She always smelt of summer.
The moment Rowan returned to her side, his hand closed firmly around her arm.
‘Witches,’ he said, breath still quick from his run. ‘They’re refusing to let the army cross into the wastelands.’
‘Wasn’t there already a group of wyverians and wolverians in the wastelands, guarding the land from the witches?’ Rio had been told from Adriana that they had left a small portion of the army behind to defend the wastelands, to ensure the witches could not snatch it back from their grasp.
Rio felt the way the air shifted when Rowan shrugged. ‘I’m probably guessing they are all slaughtered by now and that’s why no message was received beforehand.’
‘Where is Elowen?’ Rio asked at once.
‘With King Ozul, further ahead.’
Rio inclined her head, then turned towards the Black Lotus and the other Fae travelling with her. Though they stood deep within the heart of the wyverian army, she could feel the soldiers around them slow, their attention drifting towards her words.
‘We prepare ourselves to fight,’ Rio said calmly. ‘Keep the injured and the healers to the rear. Let’s move.’
Without hesitation she turned and strode forward, weaving her way through the ranks of wyverian soldiers. Rowan followed close behind, and Rio became aware of another presence trailing them, someone unfamiliar.
‘Is the child still following you, Rowan?’ she asked as the army parted to allow their small group passage.
‘Wouldn’t surprise me,’ Rowan replied lightly. ‘I think he idolises me.’
‘War is no place for a child.’
Rowan gave a quiet breath. ‘War is no place for anyone, Rio.’
Rio sighed softly.
They were still some distance from the front lines, having travelled within the army’s centre. Thankfully their group was small, and they were able to move swiftly between the marching bodies, slipping through the living tide of soldiers with little resistance.
It took them the better part of the day to reach the front of the army, where the great wall that once divided the Kingdom of Darkness from the witchlands rose like a scar across the land.
Months earlier, part of the ancient barrier had been torn down, leaving a jagged gap where stone had crumbled and fallen.
Yet a portion of the wall still stood, and upon it King Ozul and his closest advisers had taken their position.
It was there that Rio found Adriana, standing close beside the wyverian king. But Elowen was nowhere to be found. Which meant, Rio suspected, that she was almost certainly somewhere she ought not to be.
‘The moment we reached the wall it must have triggered some sort of signal,’ Adriana explained.
‘Witches appeared ahead of us almost immediately.’ She lifted her arm instinctively to point before realising her mistake.
With an awkward cough she lowered it again. ‘The army left behind was slaughtered.’
‘How many are there?’ Rio asked.
‘A few hundred at least,’ King Ozul replied.
‘And yet this army alone numbers in the thousands,’ Rio said calmly. ‘We could easily obliterate them.’
‘They have magic,’ the king reminded her.
Rio smiled faintly. ‘So do we.’ She raised her hands, and faint sparks of gold flickered to life upon her fingertips.
‘Do we trust this isn’t a trap?’ Adriana asked.
‘The rest of the witches are likely marching towards Velunthar,’ Rio said. ‘They’ve sent this group here simply to delay our arrival. I would have done the same. Those witches waiting out there are little more than sacrifices.’
Adriana sighed quietly. ‘What if we march through wolverian lands instead?’
‘It would take far too long,’ Rio replied.
‘Then we continue with the plan,’ King Ozul declared. ‘Adriana and I will ride ahead on the wyverns. The rest of the army will follow on foot.’
The king did not pause to hear any objections. He turned and strode from the wall at once, his closest soldiers falling into step behind him.
Rio made her way back down from the wall to where the rest of the Fae were gathered, waiting in tense silence among the restless ranks of the wyverian army.
‘We prepare for battle,’ she said. As she spoke, a soft golden glow kindled at her fingertips. She brushed her hands across the protective guards on her arms, leaving faint streaks of shimmering magic behind. ‘We march now. We will try to raise a shield to protect us from their attacks.’
‘The wyverian army is enormous,’ Rowan pointed out. ‘We can’t make a shield large enough to cover them all.’
He was right.
Rio knew it.
‘But we have enough power to protect ourselves,’ Rowan added.
Rio hesitated at that.
‘We are meant to stand as one in this fight, Rowan,’ she said quietly.
Rowan snorted under his breath but offered no further argument.
It was not long before Elowen appeared. She touched Rio lightly on the arm, announcing her presence.
It was unnecessary, but it was something they had done since childhood.
Rowan and Elowen had always touched Rio’s arm when they approached, a gentle warning so they would not startle her.
By now she could sense them long before their fingers brushed her sleeve. And yet they still did it.
Rio had never once told them to stop.
‘I sneaked ahead to take a look,’ Elowen whispered, careful to keep her voice low so the others would not overhear.
‘I suspected as much when I didn’t see you beside the king,’ Rio replied lightly.
‘We’re about to walk into battle, Rio, and you’re standing here making jokes,’ Rowan said, reaching over to grab one of her short dreadlocks and tugging it playfully.
‘Well, if we don’t laugh now, I’m not sure when we’re meant to,’ Rio said.
She ran a quick check over her clothes and the daggers strapped to her belt, ensuring each blade sat exactly where it should, ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice.
‘Did you find anything?’ she asked, directing the question to Elowen.
‘Surprisingly, no,’ Elowen replied. She bounced lightly from foot to foot, a restless habit she slipped into whenever boredom crept upon her, and one that had always driven Rio a little mad. ‘It’s almost as if they know they’ve been sent out to be sacrificed.’
‘Which means we need to break through quickly,’ Rio said. ‘They don’t want this army reaching Velunthar.’
‘Then let’s make it quick,’ Rowan said far too cheerfully.
Rio drove her elbow sharply into his ribs.
‘This isn’t a competition, Rowan,’ she warned.
‘Since when?’
‘We need a plan,’ Rio said firmly. ‘If we do this right, we might spare the army the trouble.’
‘But before that,’ Elowen added, ‘what do we do about the child?’
Rio felt both of her friends turn towards a smaller presence lingering not far from their group.
Though she could not see the child’s face, she turned her full attention upon him all the same.
‘I think I have an idea,’ she said.
Rowan snorted.
Elowen sighed.