Chapter 37 Ariana
ARIANA
It was my third trip home with the Lysians, but they would not make it past the city walls this time. My sweaty palms held the reins of my mount as my mind raced. Everything was coming together, a silent storm building. We all stood on the precipice, and I hoped we would all come out unscathed.
I rode Rain on my own again. She was a reliable horse with both spirit and endurance. However, by the way her tail periodically whipped and her large gray ears flickered, I wondered if she sensed the growing unease within me, making it her own.
Edda was also allowed to ride on her own, making things a lot easier, for she could separate herself from the party when the time came. And it had finally nearly come.
Shay greeted us near the city, running parallel as we approached.
The wolf’s movements were soundless as she made her way across the grassland, keeping pace.
Erik periodically turned his head and looked at her.
Our escort. He did not know that her presence meant that Willis knew where we now were, tracking our movements.
Willis and the other Bavadrins would have been preparing for what was to come next.
For the first time in decades, the Sparrows lined our walls, my friend Kiora standing with them. My heart both swelled and retracted. I thought a silent prayer to the Spirit that all would go well.
Edda rode up ahead, leading the way for our small group.
The Lysians allowed for it because they had me amongst them, and they likely thought that the Bavadrins would never dream of attacking them when they could kill me in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately for them, I was not the utterly helpless girl they had come to know.
When the perimeter city wall came into view, my heart rattled against my ribs. If Erik could hear it over the horse’s hooves, he likely attributed the increased pulse to excitement of returning home.
“Agh!” Edda scowled from the front. “You are a Leader Superior! They know you are arriving today! What kind of welcome is this?” She made a show of pretending to be appalled that the dirt road was not lined with Bavadrins dancing with ribbons and playing their horns to celebrate my arrival.
“What, are you planning on running ahead and giving them an earful?” I commented. It was my allowing her to run, to leave me. She needed to separate herself.
“You can be sure that I am. This is completely unacceptable,” Edda snapped, voice filled with scorn, and with a sharp kick, her horse sprang forward, racing towards the wall.
None of the Lysians reacted or thought it odd.
They had grown accustomed to Edda’s strange behaviors.
Then, again, they felt content having me amongst them.
I stole a quiet glance at Erik. He had a relaxed look to him, completely unaware of what was coming. Nervous energy vibrated through my being. I did not fear Erik finding me out. I feared his response.
Rain slowed her pace and so did the Lysians as they followed my lead without realizing it.
I led them near the single great wide tree in the field outside of the outer perimeter gates of the city.
It was a deadly tree, for it marked a critical distance.
It was within the area where the Sparrows’ arrows could easily find their targets; much further, and some may be challenging by accuracy.
We entered the strike zone, where every archer was capable of perfection.
The wall seemed so far from where we were, and I couldn’t help but be impressed by the Sparrow’s skills, though I hoped I would not need to see those talents this day.
Rain came to an abrupt halt, barely breaking away from the group before the Lysians all stopped, turning to face me.
I gave the horse a gentle stroke along her mane before dismounting and scanning the perimeter.
Edda had breached the entrance. Everyone would have been prepared now, waiting for my signal.
I felt oddly sick.
Erik’s brows were drawn, dark brown hair tussled by the wind as he approached me on horseback. “What’s wrong?” Concern flashed across his features. Undoubtedly, he noticed my racing pulse. It was bordering a panic.
Erik was my jailer, but he was also tormented by that fact. He didn’t want to be what he was to me. I was going to release him from that burden. I just hoped that taking my freedom wouldn’t be my undoing. Our undoing.
Trust me. Please.
Drawing a deep breath, I willed my heart to slow.
“Don’t come closer,” I said, taking a few steps back after hitting Rain’s hide. The animal moved only several paces away, remaining closer than I wished her to be. If things got ugly, then she was liable to be injured in the madness.
Erik immediately dismounted his stallion, confusion touching his features. Sapphire eyes traveled over my body, searching for a sign of trouble, not yet comprehending that it was not I in trouble, but them.
We were separated by a few meters. Erik could close that distance in the blink of an eye. Which meant I had to act fast. I needed to shield and be ready to defend myself if it came to.
With another deep breath, I forced my body to relax.
Emptying my mind of hate and fear, of everything.
Burned it all away to nothing. Finally, I released the strength I kept locked deep inside, and it was gloriously sweet as it spread through me.
Filling me from within, the power grew until it bubbled over, encasing me in its warmth.
My hand moved toward the city’s edge, and I focused on what I wanted. A shield.
“What is that?” Kole asked, his attention drawn to something moving at the perimeter gate.
Both Erik and I followed his gaze.
Mist. My mist.
It shimmered in the light as it sifted through the dirt, waves splashing up above the grass.
I flexed my hand, flicking it up. The mist followed with the motion, and a thick wall molded outside the city’s wooden one.
No sooner had it formed, than archers appeared at the top of the wall just behind the one of mist. Arrows were nocked and pointed at the Lysians around me.
Erik’s eyes snapped to mine, and in that moment, I saw the recognition of a threat in his stare. His gaze darkened, narrowing with frigid intensity, sending a chill crawling up my spine.
A threat. That’s what he saw in me.
In my mind, I could almost hear Edda’s voice urging me to take action.
Drop them all, now, she would have said.
But despite the itch in my fingers to comply, I hesitated.
I didn’t want to force them into submission.
I wanted them to choose, to believe that the person they had come to know was on their side.
I longed for their trust as much as I wanted to trust them in return.
“You are all free to leave, but I am not coming with you,” I began, but they did not give me a chance to say more. Those still on horseback dismounted. Only Erik and Kole remained stone-still, not advancing towards me.
The other Lysians lunged.
With another flick of my wrist, a thick mist enveloped their lungs, choking off their breath. They dropped to the ground, gasping for air, while I took a few cautious steps back.
Meanwhile, Erik maintained his position. He observed his Lysians being smothered around him and then he turned to me with fury in his eyes. A dark simmering anger surrounded him, scorching away the calm, leaving a composed predator.
The way he looked at me caused unease to press into my chest. The discomfort constricted my breathing.
Relaxing my wrist, the mist dissipated, allowing the Lysians to catch their breath. “Please, just go,” I pleaded, taking another step back. “The Lysians in the city will be released as soon as I return home. I don’t want any of you to be harmed.”
A growl from Kole caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand on its ends. His icy gaze was the coldest that I had ever seen. No longer was he looking upon me as someone he knew. Gone was any trace of possible friendship.
He was a hunter, and I was the hunted.
“Don’t . . .” I warned, but it was too late.
Kole charged, closing the space between us incredibly fast, but not fast enough.
An electrical sensation spread through me, connecting me with my power.
It flowed swiftly through my body like liquid over my skin.
In an instant, it pooled in my palms, traveling to my fingertips and past them.
With the spread of my fingers, Kole’s lungs filled with moisture, and a step later, he stumbled, falling to the ground. His hand went to his throat.
I turned to Erik. “Stop this.” It was both a command and a plea. I did not want to fight them, to hurt them. I only wished to take my freedom. Could he not understand that?
Please, trust me.
I relaxed the mist within Kole, and he had a coughing fit on the ground.
The other Lysians regained their lung functions and stood, poised to strike.
Though this time, they all held an air of caution.
I was not just a Bavadrin. I was a conjuror.
Instead of acting again, they waited for their King’s instructions.
Erik’s stillness was predatory as he surveyed me.
“Go home,” Erik ordered his Lysians in a low growl. They hesitated. “Now!” he snapped, and with that, they sprang into action, following his instructions. All of them, except for one.
“I will not leave you with her,” Kole said with venom, and I felt the sting of it.
So quickly, he turned from being a companion to someone who saw me as something revolting.
So quickly, those moments that I had hoped could withstand the events of this day disintegrated into nothing of meaning.
All the time we had spent together lost all significance to him as soon as I tried to free myself of their control.
“Are you kidding me?” My voice was raw in my throat.
He had a lot of nerve acting as if I were the villain in the situation.
The way he looked at me hurt more than I would have liked to admit.
Was I foolish to have hoped for a different outcome?
Were they truly going to behave as the Lysians we were told stories of as children?
Aggressive and without consideration of the situation?
“I will join you shortly, Kole. I will not ask you to leave again,” Erik said to his friend while keeping his eyes trained on me the entire time as he would an enemy.
The Lysian King finally saw me as a worthy opponent, one deserving of his full attention.
Though a fight was not something I wished for.
A minute later, we were alone in the field with hundreds of Bavadrin arrows pointed our way.
Thoughts raced about my mind. There was so much I wanted to say to help him see I was not a threat. I hoped for a chance to spare our fragile relationship from crumbling altogether.
Sadly, I did not have the chance to tell him anything.
One moment we were standing in the open field, and the next, he was before me.
Had he always been this fast? The thought flickered through my mind before adrenaline drowned it out.
Erik grabbed me and slammed me against that single massive tree. Hard. His large hand caught both of mine, and he nearly crushed my wrists above my head into the rough bark, holding me firmly in place. My back stung from being shoved so forcefully that my breath was briefly knocked out of me.
His gaze pierced mine with fierce intensity. He barred his teeth. Had his canines always been that frighteningly sharp? In that moment, Erik was far more predator than King.
He caught me so easily.
Stupid girl, you should have just dropped him to his knees when you had the chance, I heard Edda’s voice chastising me.