She Knew
I climbed into the saddle that was strapped to Bernitha in her giant eagle form, the light-imbued pendant with Kaelor’s glythyr joined with my silver ring on the chain around my neck. Kaelor wouldn’t activate it until the last moment, since it would consume raw magic from him the moment he did so.
Drayce stood watching me from a distance. We’d already shared an intimate goodbye before I came up here, my cheeks still flushed from the intensity of his kiss.
Aerie stood next to him with Noxie on her shoulder and gave me a nod.
“Be safe, Naci. Don’t do anything heroic or stupid ’til we get there.”
I smiled at Noxie and winked in response, putting on a much braver face than I actually felt. Leaving my Familiar behind felt wrong, but I reminded myself it was only until I found a weak spot in the wards of Ashthorn.
Bramick was the last of my crew to say goodbye, giving my shoulders a tight squeeze before joining Drayce, Aerie, and Kellan.
“Ready?” asked Kaelor.
I nodded, which was followed by the caws and squeals of Bernitha and the other three smaller avian vey that would survey Dolvenar while I circled the castle.
Kaelor stepped up, and I pulled the pendant from where it was tucked into my undershirt. He took it in his hand, activating the glythyr, and I felt the hum of the magic when it rested back against my skin.
“Let’s go,” I shouted before we took off. I could see myself and Bernitha flapping below me, but Noxie confirmed they couldn’t see us from below—Kaelor’s glythyr bent the light around us and made us invisible.
The other three birds took off, flying just behind us. After a few minutes in the fog, the coastline of Ashenholt came into view, and it struck me how different the place felt. The temperature was far colder, but something else seemed…more cruel and unforgiving. I shuddered.
But the silver lining? I much preferred flying to riding a horse. It felt incredible and freeing, even though I wasn’t the one doing the flying.
Maybe an hour later, Ashthorn appeared, Dolvenar just visible in the distance. I’d thought the city was so vibrant and alive the first time I’d seen it, but after walking through Elyndor’s port town of Fallorian, Dolvenar just seemed…dull and lifeless. Drained.
“All good?” Noxie asked.
“All good so far. We’re breaking off from the scout team to head toward the castle.”
Not a few moments later, the three birds banked to the right behind us as we stayed straight toward Ashthorn. They would survey the woods and ensure no one was watching when they eventually guided the rest of the infiltration team through.
“Let’s come around the castle from the north side, careful not to touch the wards. I’ll let you know if you get too close,” I said to Bernitha.
She cawed her response while I silently celebrated my directional navigation. Naci from the banshee’s forest would be so proud.
As we got closer, the faint white swirling of the castle wards came into view, no different from those around the base.
It was incredible how much area they covered—they extended out from the castle all the way to its outer walls and towered at least double the height of the castle itself into the sky like a dome.
There would be no entering from that height anyway, so I directed Bernitha to fly lower, scouting the wards closer to the ground along the walls.
I placed a hand over my right eye, turning my total vision black and white to better see the shimmer of the wards.
So far, I had come up empty on any weak points or holes.
“Bank to the right slightly to get closer.”
Bernitha’s eagle form obeyed, keeping us just on the outskirts of the wards. We flew past the rose garden where I’d dined with the prince, and a ways later by the purple tree-lined grounds I’d walked through with him and the queen on separate occasions.
I hated being back here. All the memories and feelings were dragged back to the surface. I could feel my shadows stirring, my palms tingling as if itching to use my magic.
There were unresolved feelings lingering. But now wasn’t the time.
We’d circled nearly three-quarters of the castle’s wards and found nothing. I’d lost hope that there would be any accessible weak points.
Until I saw one small semicircle at the bottom of the stone border wall that wasn’t shimmering.
“There!” I pointed down and off to our right, and Bernitha brought us lower, circling twice before landing on the hard-packed ground. Most of the snow had melted in the early spring warmth, but some still lingered on the ground in the woods off to our left.
I walked slowly toward the open spot in the wards, slow enough to let Bernitha hop and walk awkwardly beside me. I wasn’t sure how far the light bent around us, so I told her to keep close, staying in her vey form to keep the saddle on and ready, in case we needed a quick escape.
“I found something,” I conveyed to Noxie.
“What is it?”
We approached quietly, knowing the bent light kept us hidden from sight but didn’t dampen our sounds. We were nearly at the wall on the backside of the castle when I realized it was a waterway.
The smell that drifted through the air, the closer we got, told me exactly what kind of waterway it was…
“It’s castle sewage. It’s not ideal, but it’s a break in the wards. Apparently, shit doesn’t flow through wards.”
“Lovely image, Naci… I’ll tell Aerie, hold tight.”
I motioned to Bernitha to follow toward the woods behind us. She spread her wings, prompting me to climb on. I guessed she didn’t much like walking as a bird.
So I hopped on, and we flew low until we got to the same forest we’d run through after exiting Bramick’s tunnel during my escape.
As we landed on a sturdy, low branch, Noxie was back in my mind. “Are there bars, a gate, anything?”
“Just a few metal bars, spaced too close to fit between.”
“Got it. We’re mobilizing here, and we’ll join you in the woods once we have a clear path.”
“Tell Aerie we’re in the same woods we ran through after my escape. And also have her tell Kaelor he can stop the magic. We’re hidden in the woods up a tree.”
“They’re on the way,” I whispered to Bernitha, who transformed back to her fae form after my tricky dismount from her saddle in the tree. I climbed one branch higher to give her space to get dressed while she balanced on her branch.
So far, phase one had been a success. It felt lucky that I didn’t have to unravel any glythyrs, that we’d found an open point instead. I wasn’t sure how the remaining aerial unit had fared in finding an easy path for the ground team through, though.
“The rest of my team is guiding the crew from above, ensuring no fae are patrolling the area. They’ll come through the woods,” Bernitha whispered to me from the branch below after she was dressed.
I nodded my response and sat down on my branch, straddling it and leaning back against the thick trunk. It wasn’t comfortable, but we were hidden. We both remained quiet, not risking talking in case anyone was near.
I grew suspicious of the lack of fae we’d seen—I didn’t recall seeing anyone on the castle grounds as we flew overhead, and it seemed too quiet. My unease heightened by the minute.
I started fiddling with the ring and the spent pendant on my necklace to keep myself occupied as we sat in the chilly silence. I couldn’t tell, but I assumed we were now visible, the pendant no longer humming.
The sun was setting, and I nodded off once or twice, trying to stay awake. I wouldn’t have minded a nap if the risk of plummeting fifty or so feet wasn’t so imminent.
Hours later, in the pitch-black of night, we heard a bird call.
Aerie.
“Nearly there, kid,” said Noxie.
Soon after, Aerie landed on Bernitha’s branch below me and I smiled as Noxie came to rest on my shoulder.
“What’s the plan?” I asked him.
“We camp out here for the night. Sneaking around the castle at this hour, even disguised as guards, is too risky. We wait until just before first light and go in through the…waterway. Bramick will bend the metal bars enough to slip through, and Drayce will use his water magic to part the…shit, and let the team walk through unscathed.”
His verbosity made me chuckle. I stifled it with the back of my hand.
Finally, I could see Drayce, Bramick, Sevrin, Elene, and Kellan plus three of his soldiers approaching below from deeper within the woods, the rest of the aerial unit back on the ship, presumably. This was it—the infiltration and rescue team.
“Wait… Where’s Kaelor?” I asked Noxie.
“He’s fine, but he spent too much raw magic, so he stayed on the ship with the crew.”
Notably, Brennor was also missing. I couldn’t say that I cared much.
Once Aerie brought me to the ground in her avian claws, she took off once more, Noxie just behind her, to keep an eye out from above.
The rest of the group silently huddled around a makeshift base of two side-by-side trees.
Drayce settled next to me, the warmth coming off him relaxing me enough to close my eyes and drift off into a light sleep.
It seemed only minutes later that he was shaking me awake.
“We move now, before it’s too light and we risk exposure. Did Noxie tell you the plan?” he whispered.
I nodded, feeling immediately alert and awake. This was it, go-time.
One of Kellan’s soldiers would stay here at the rendezvous point and protect any mortals we were fortunate enough to direct out of the castle.
His other two would be stationed spaced out in the servants’ corridor to serve as guides and point them this way.
Toward their exit, their freedom. I prayed Halden would be among them.
The rest of our team packed up and headed toward the edge of the woods, the sky above just a shade lighter than the darkness of night. It would soon lighten quickly.
“We move as a group. Stay behind me,” Drayce whispered before darting out into the open, followed by the rest of us.
From next to him, I pointed to where the waterway was, confirming that I could still see no ward over it.