Chapter Five
THE SPY
The shadowed spires of the Keep loomed in the distance when the rising sun halted, as if the night sought to pull it back under.
I paused mid-stride, my thoughts about the trade halting.
The thickening veil of darkness signaled the rebels were at work.
My magic coursed through me at the sight, ready to obliterate any hint of rebel activity.
I quickened my pace toward the castle when the stench of smoke and burning wood assaulted me.
I froze for a second, my hand wavering at Kaida’s side.
I would know that smell anywhere. Without thinking, I sprinted away from the direction of the Keep and toward the source of the fire.
Smoke billowed like a flag in the dark-plum sky, directing me to the inferno.
Screams sailed on the breeze as I dodged early morning sellers heading to the markets, unperturbed, or perhaps numb, to the chaos around them.
I raced through the cobbled streets, around small fountains and hobbling wagons.
Kaida followed at a distance; she would only scare the citizens with her presence.
Horror seized me as I rounded the next corner, my hand flying to my mouth.
The orphanage I had briefly lived in, before a scout from the Keep found me, was engulfed in flames.
Again. Women and children fanned out, fleeing.
Some screamed, some cried, some struggled silently in shock as they were dragged away from danger.
I hoped this wasn’t a repeat of the fires that targeted orphanages shortly after I had joined the king’s military.
The Night of Ash, where every orphanage in Maripol had been targeted in one evening, and every girl living in them had been killed or gone missing.
My instincts flared and I catalogued every man, woman, and child in the vicinity.
Even more disturbing, though, were the three wolvin prowling in front of the door, refusing entry or allowing exit. Wolvin were wild animals that avoided the city and its people, preferring the Rivellan Wood. Attacks only came when provoked. This was something different, calculated.
My magic hummed as I pulled out the longsword from the sheath on my back. Ice crusted down the blade, elongating and sharpening it. My eyes darted skyward to movement in an upper-story window. A child screamed behind the glass, beating against it with small, frantic fists.
My instant fear for the boy had ice freezing the ground beneath me. The moisture in the air wouldn’t be enough to draw from to douse the fire. I decided to conserve my affinity for the battle with the group of wolvin.
They sneered at me, exposing numerous gleaming teeth. A rabid energy pulsed around them as they twitched and pawed at the ground. Tiny hairs on the back of my neck prickled. My mother’s words echoed in my mind: “Do not be shaken.”
I circled them, not positive I could take on three at once.
The wolvin stepped forward, a low growl following.
Blood coated their muzzles and chests. Their claws scraped along the stone.
And their eyes… I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it firsthand.
They had the eyes of the dreki. If the Good King was turning animals into dreki, there had to be a reason.
These were not protecting Maripolian citizens, though.
King Nolan would forgive me for putting them down.
I searched for Kaida. I needed her help.
She sidled up to me, heeding my call. The crowd scattered further at our approach.
The wolvin stood several heads taller than me, their saliva dripping in large globs.
One of them shuddered, and I watched in dread as scales clicked into place along its shoulders and across its chest. I swallowed hard, focusing my attention on their bodies.
There weren’t many exposed openings for me to exploit. My aim had to be perfection.
I didn’t wait for the remaining wolvin to become fully armored.
My magic lit up as I pulled water from a nearby fountain, forming bladed stars of ice.
I cast them toward the eyes and bare throats of the beasts.
One accomplished its goal of slicing a neck.
A sharp bark severed the quiet air. Blood spilled as it collapsed in a heap on the packed dirt.
The armored wolvin prowled toward me. “Take the left one,” I directed Kaida. She growled under her breath as she approached the deranged animal, her hackles rising.
The dreki-wolvin charged at me. I held my position, not daring to blink, until it was almost upon me.
I crouched, thrusting my sword upward as it sought to leap onto me.
I had observed the armor clicking into place on Wes and Belham so many times and heard their muttered complaints about places the armor didn’t reach.
I had to believe the same weak spot existed on these wolvin.
I gritted my teeth and shoved with all the force I could muster.
The blade embedded in its chest, at a small gap of exposed flesh, and threw off its momentum.
I rolled out of the way, but not before its claws grazed my arm.
Blood coursed down my bicep and between my fingers, dampening the dirt.
The beast recovered quickly, popping back onto its feet and stalking toward me.
The fire raged on behind it and my skin tingled with the urge to bust through the front door and save the child in the window.
But this damned wolvin blocked my entry.
The hilt of my longsword protruded from the beast’s chest, glittering in the growing light of day as the animal heaved in ragged breaths.
It lunged toward me. I withdrew two daggers with blood-slicked fingers before throwing them in rapid succession toward its massive face.
One bounced off of it, but the other implanted in its cheek.
Its reptilian eyes narrowed with boiling rage. Blood leaked out of its wounds, but whatever power it had acquired sustained its strength. It shuddered and shifted on its large paws, standing taller.
Kaida wrestled with the other wolvin to my left. I quickly withdrew another dagger, glazing it in unforgiving ice, and threw it directly into its throat. The wolvin roared as Kaida finished the job.
I zigzagged around the dreki-wolvin. Its steps staggered, less precise.
I summoned what water was left from the small fountain nearby.
It was one of the few Berine-infused fountains littered around the city that Nolan had erected to help with the decline of magic.
Gods, I was thankful for his generosity in this moment.
My magic drew the liquid toward me—there might be enough water to divert the wolvin. I thrust the water at the beast’s face. A curtain of pain covered the wolvin in the form of a thousand icy needles. It shrieked at the barrage of tiny stab wounds.
In its distraction, I ran toward it and yanked my sword from its chest. A squelching noise rent the air as blood poured out in a macabre waterfall.
I wasted no time swinging for its exposed flesh.
My sword reverberated with every tear of thick skin and corded muscle.
Dreki scales scattered like lethal leaves around us.
I swung my blade once more. The animal’s head landed with a thump on the ground, spattering blood across my boots. I moved before its body followed.
The front door hung limply as I raced into the burning orphanage.
I yelled for the child while smoke filled my lungs.
If I used much more magic without replenishing, I would be worthless.
I crawled along the floor, blindly searching for the stairs, and what little oxygen, was left.
The child stood shaking crouched at the landing and I heaved a sigh of relief.
I grabbed him and bolted back toward the front door, doing my best to shield his small body.
I crossed the threshold just as beams collapsed in a spray of sparks and ash. Stone bit my knees as we fell to the ground outside. All I knew was burning lungs and watering eyes. Someone grabbed the little boy and carried him to safety.
Blinded by a crowd of auras, I searched for Kaida until a black figure caught my attention.
I squinted to make out its form. It appeared humanoid but with limbs longer than they should be.
Dread dripped down my spine, paralyzing me.
Its gaze locked with mine as it cocked its head.
Inky pools of black studied me. Slowly, it retreated into an alley as I rasped a breath.
Kaida sat at my side, nudging me with her nose.
I wrapped my arm around her and she helped me to my feet.
My mind raced. Terror and confusion fought for dominance within me. What was that creature in the crowd? Why had wolvin been transformed into dreki? Blood dripped down my arm as the questions lingered, unanswered.