Chapter 7
RAINIER
“I hate this. Oh gods, I’m going to fall in.”
“No, you’re not,” I reassured Maurice.
“Quit your whining.” Based on the look on Gawain’s face, he had half a mind to pull the boy down into the water and strangle him. Though Maurice and I were safe on land, the rest of my soldiers waited in the middle of Seyma’s Gulf, at the middle point of the Aesiron.
Instead, he reached for the last obsidian orb the boy passed to him while I maintained the rift. It was imperfect, but I didn’t want to waste my divinity making a new one—especially since I couldn’t exactly pull from Em at this distance—and Maurice’s arms were the longest. I hadn’t wanted to give him such a delicate task, but I had no choice.
Though he laid on his belly, arm outstretched as he held each sphere, he hovered above the water. Somewhere beneath the underside of the bridge and the water, the rift wasn’t at a great height. Truthfully, the other soldiers were more likely to injure him than any fall. Gawain reached for the final obsidian orb, before passing it to Shade. Both of them were careful, making sure not to splash as they maneuvered.
It was hard to see in the shadow of the bridge, especially so near to night. My soldiers all treaded water in the relatively still waves. The men held two orbs in one hand, high above the water, but it still made me exceedingly nervous. So far, however, everything had gone according to plan. Truthfully, dropping an orb would not ruin us, since I’d brought spares, but I was still grateful my soldiers were being cautious.
Maurice held out the pack of matches to Gawain, and I tensed. “Split them up. That way, if you drop any?—”
“I won’t drop any.”
“I said , that way if you drop any, we won’t lose them all.”
Maurice did as he was told, though his expression laid bare his irritation. A moment later, when he fumbled a match, his eyes darted to mine. I didn’t say a word.
“We need to hurry the fuck up,” grunted Aurelia, who held two matches in one hand and an obsidian ball in the other. She was struggling to tread water. “I’m getting tired.”
Maurice finished his task, humbled, before he sat up. “Can’t I just stay here?”
“No. You need to help Shade,” I said. In case water had splashed too far up the pillars, I’d made sure one of each pair was adept at climbing. One of my soldiers would have to scale the stones, lodging the orb into any dry divot they could find, before striking it with a match and leaping toward my waiting rift. I had the most faith in Shade, so I paired her with the person I had the least confidence in.
The boy didn’t respond, only spinning on the ground. He laid on his stomach, unceremoniously scooting backward toward the rift.
“Oh, that’s terrible,” he groaned as he dangled before slowly lowering himself into the water. I followed after him a second later, allowing my rift to close behind me. The water was far too cold, and my extremities began to ache. With spring growing closer, I’d hoped the embrace of the gulf would be warmer.
The equinox was just a week away. Elora’s birthday. I closed my eyes, willing myself to push away the thought of my daughter. I could not grow distracted in this task. I missed her fiercely, and I worried daily. How in the gods’ names had Em survived those few weeks she was missing? How had my wife gone through life not being fearful at every waking moment? My heart felt vulnerable without her, but it was not safe to have her anywhere nearby. Every choice I made was to protect her.
If I were to ever see my daughter again, I had to block her from invading my thoughts.
Gathering my bearings, I turned in the water. Peering between the two rows of pillars, I counted them to determine the correct location to rift to, memorizing as much detail as possible. I couldn’t be exact, but I’d get them close, and my soldiers could swim the difference.
I searched the horizon for our enemies. In the light of the setting sun, it only took me a moment to spot the closest patrol boat. The conduit on board must have been able to control the element of water because there were no signs of a breeze, yet the dinghy moved rather quickly without the need of a sail.
An archer stood behind the conduit, slowly scanning his surroundings for a threat. They were close enough I could make out their general build, but I couldn’t see detailed features. I hoped to keep it that way.
“No more speaking from this moment on,” I murmured, pitching my voice low.
Pointing to Lasu and Aurelia, I gestured for them to move closer. Gently, I called upon my divinity to open a rift, hoping to quieten the sound. I realized I’d made the rift just a hair below where it needed to be, creating a stream of sorts, and it gently tugged my body toward it. Lasu and Aurelia glided through, and the current took them directly to the first pillar. Each point of attack was far enough away from the other that swimming—especially while keeping the orbs dry—would have been inconvenient as hell. Even though it pulled from my divinity, it made more sense to do it this way.
I couldn’t hold all the rifts open at once, so I allowed that one to close before repeating the action for Gawain and his partner, Robin. Then again, with Thyra’s friend Edwina and her partner Anton. Finally, it was Shade and Maurice’s turn. Anxiety churned in my stomach, and it made me turn toward the teenager treading water beside me.
“Tell me the plan,” I ordered.
“Shade will climb up and put the orb in its place. I will be there to help her. She isn’t supposed to strike the match until you open a rift beside us.”
“And once I’m there?”
“Swim like hell.”
I nodded. The plan was risky. It required me to be meticulous in my rifting and timing. Because if I hesitated, if any of my soldiers hesitated, we could be caught. Or worse, the bridge could collapse on top of us.
But we were past the point of worrying about risk. Living within Astana’s walls and fighting to defend them each day was dangerous enough. We needed an upper hand in some way. If we cut off their supplies, many of the Supreme and Nereza’s forces would flee, making it possible to break through their divine blockade. They wouldn’t be able to maintain their border.
I needed this one thing to go right.
“All right. Good luck,” I said, before opening the final rift. They both slipped through with the current.
I allowed myself a moment to mentally tally each task I needed to perform. I barely had a moment to breathe when the twang of a bow releasing sounded to my left.
“Shit!”
If it weren’t for the lack of pain, I’d have thought the arrow skimmed the back of my head. Looking wildly to my left, I realized I’d floated closer to shore, out from behind the protective cover of the pillars beside me. Refusing to hesitate any longer, I opened a rift to Lasu. Now that I’d been seen, any chance we had of success dwindled by the minute.
“Get ready!” I shouted, as I opened another rift to our shoreside retreat. As the water flowed through it, pulling Aurelia onto the beach, she watched her husband over her shoulder. Lasu clung to the stone as he waited for my order.
Though I hadn’t tested the orbs myself, Dewalt had said there was a short moment in which we’d have a chance to flee. He’d wanted to take on this venture himself, since he had been the one who ordered the creation of this weapon, but I needed him running things while I was gone. I wouldn’t entrust this task to anyone but me.
Spinning in the water, I made sure to keep an eye on the boat which had spotted me. Thankfully, they seemed to be exploring the place I’d just left, not realizing I’d rifted farther away from shore.
“All right, Lasu. The moment you strike the match?—”
“I know,” he grunted. “Now?”
“Now,” I agreed.
My soldier did as we’d discussed, before pushing off the pillar and swimming toward me as fast as he could. He was through the rift a moment later, and I let it shut behind him.
Either we had made our obsidian bombs incorrectly, or Dewalt had exaggerated. The force hit me before any sound, and as I opened the rift toward Gawain, I was propelled through by the blast.
“Fuck!” I exclaimed as pain shot through my back. The warmth of blood trickled down my neck, and I knew I’d been hit. But was it stone or the divinity-limiting obsidian that had struck me? As I opened the rift to the shore once more, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t seem any more exhausted than I had a moment before. I’d been using my divinity and swimming long enough that I was tired.
Robin swam toward the rift I created, falling into a wet heap on the ground beside Lasu and Aurelia.
“Go!” I yelled, as dust fell from above. We weren’t far enough away from the previous explosion, and I worried the bridge wasn’t as sturdy as I thought. If it collapsed on top of us, Em would still have a fighting chance in this war without me. But I didn’t want to die.
Not yet, anyway.
Gawain had climbed up the pillar, knuckles white from his grip on the stones. As he turned over his shoulder to look at me, I could barely see past the black curls hanging down into his face, but as his eyes met mine, he moved. Striking the explosive and diving into the water in one swift movement, he was quick. He swam beneath the water, easily getting pulled into the current from the rift I had to fight against.
This time, I was fast enough. I wasn’t sure I had a chance to exhale between closing one rift and opening another.
I hadn’t expected chaos when I arrived.
“Hurry!” Anton shouted at me, and I gaped in horror at the woman in his arms. Edwina had an arrow through her shoulder, and she grimaced as he adjusted her in his grasp.
Without a word, I ushered them both through another rift before pushing a wall of water toward the boat navigating its way closer. The conduit was timing his wind divinity with the waves, aiming between two pillars. The twang of a bow echoed beneath the stone bridge, but the corresponding arrow never struck. Just as the archer released their shot, my tremendous wave overturned the boat. A mild breeze tangled through my hair and caressed my shoulders, a measure of defense from the conduit I’d knocked into the water. I didn’t bother drowning them; there was little they could do to stop me, and it was likely they’d die within the blast I was about to cause.
The obsidian orb was lodged into a hole in the pillar—far higher than I would have liked. Edwina had likely climbed up the stone and found herself in the archer’s sights. I didn’t have time for this. Once the bomb was lit, I’d have to dive away and open a rift, and I didn’t trust myself to do it fast enough.
Glancing over my shoulder, I couldn’t tell how much of the bridge still stood. Dusk had turned to darkness quickly, and all I could see was a cloud of dust from the previous explosions. I wondered if perhaps I could manipulate the seabed far below. If I could use my divinity to shift the earth, it could destabilize the bridge without the explosives.
But I couldn’t quite sense the ground. The water was so deep here that I was too far away to use my divinity to its full extent. I did my best, but I could barely feel the deep vibration in the water. At the very least, perhaps I’d shifted the seabed enough that the next blast would complete what I’d started.
My only alternative was to use Em’s divine fire and hope. Because I had no idea what would happen. Would I have time to escape? Would I even be able to summon her divinity? Our bond had weakened with distance—both mental and physical. With my chest and head aching, I knew I’d expended far more divinity than I was comfortable with. Rifting so many times in a row had been difficult.
Was it worth the risk?
As I took a moment too long to ponder the best course of action, the conduit I’d thrown into the water surged toward me. Using his divinity, he propelled himself through the water. With an aching disappointment, I noticed he was barely older than Dickey. And with that knowledge, though it pained me, I drowned him anyway. Turning away as I forced water down his throat with my divinity, I decided I couldn’t take any more chances. I opened another rift.
“Where’s Shade?” I demanded when I could only see Maurice clinging to the pillar. He was trembling, blond hair wet and sticking to his forehead, and I was sure he’d lose his grip any moment.
“That way!” he yelled, nodding toward shore. “She heard a scream and started swimming!”
Spinning in the water, I turned to see Shade, swimming toward the destruction I’d just come from. It was unlike her to leave her post, but when Edwina shouted, she must have stopped what she was doing to go to her.
“Shade!” I shouted, but my soldier couldn’t hear me. Though we didn’t blow up the bridge where Edwina and Anton had been, I watched as it crumbled. Moving toward us at speed, it almost reminded me of the game Ven and I had played as children. We’d lined up tiles across the study and into the corridor, creating all manner of swirling designs, before we’d knock down the first piece. Rippling around the room, the tiles had fallen in their spiral patterns. But there was no pattern here. Like an approaching wave, the bridge crumbled, and I didn’t know what to do.
Could I rescue Shade and Maurice before we were all buried by the collapsing stone?
I chose the boy. Shade knew better than to leave the place I’d planned to meet her. I cared for the woman, but Maurice was here.
“Through my rift!” I shouted, and Maurice only stared at me.
“But the—” he started, pointing toward the orb wedged within the stone.
“It doesn’t matter!”
Eyes widening, he stared toward the rapidly collapsing bridge. “Shit!” he exclaimed before leaping into the water.
Lasu stood on the other side of the rift, hand outstretched to help Maurice.
“Come on,” Lasu said as I shoved Maurice through the water with my divinity. When I didn’t follow immediately after, he grew agitated. “What are you doing?”
“Shade needs my help,” I responded, not bothering to explain. Lasu opened his mouth to argue, but I allowed the rift to close.
The loud crash of stone behind me should have been enough to deter me from following after my soldier. But even the sound of a rift opening and soldiers shouting with their Nythyrian accents wasn’t enough. Shade had helped rescue me from death. She’d waded through literal shit with Dewalt to rescue her king. The least I could do was try.
The responding enemy soldiers were shoving their small boat through the open portal, unleashing twenty men onto us from the warship on the horizon. Without further delay, I opened a rift closer to where I’d last seen my soldier.
“Shade!” I shouted once more. In the time it took me to push Maurice onto the beach, Shade had gone even farther. What was she doing? She had to have known I wouldn’t have let anything happen to Edwina. I shouted my soldier’s name once more, and she halted. She was nearly impossible to see in the dark. With her long dark hair, she would have been easy to miss, especially from the dust which fell down around us. Larger stones rained down, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the whole thing collapsed on top of us.
Though exhausted with a raging headache, I intended to rift toward Shade once more. But as she turned to swim toward me, the section above her gave out. A large chunk of stone fell, and I couldn’t see her anymore.
“Fuck!”
Swimming through another rift, dodging large rocks as they fell, I knew she was probably already dead. But I wouldn’t give up before I knew it for sure. Expending far more divinity than I had any right to, causing white flashes on the edge of my vision, I created armor made of air. Using it to protect my body, I dove down after her.
I didn’t know what made me think I’d be able to find the woman. Night had descended, the water was murky at best, and pieces of the bridge slammed into the water around me. I grunted as a particularly large piece of debris slammed into my side, though the air pocket I’d created around myself softened the blow. My head was spinning as I dove deeper, and I increased the air pocket around my hand so I could call upon Em’s divine fire. It was difficult, our bond groaning and flaring a dark gold because of our distance.
I would run out of divinity soon enough, so I mustered every bit of strength I had to find the woman who had once saved me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw a massive fish, but I assumed it was a trick of the mind. The chaos and the explosions would have scared away all life nearby. The divine light in my hand did little to help me. It illuminated my surroundings, but all I could see was dust. Suddenly, something sped in front of me. Quick, like some sort of predator, it swam to my right before diving deep. I blinked, understanding dawning, before I followed after.