Chapter 39
Phoenix
I was exhausted. Healing Slade - even partway - had drained nearly everything I had left, and now my arms ached from holding the book aloft like a shield. The weight of it burned through my muscles—but I couldn’t let it fall. Not yet.
The creatures had stopped converging, instead they just sat and …stared. As if transfixed by something only they could see. And then, just like that, they turned and melted into the forest.
We moved.
None of us said anything.
Even Slade, still pale from the wounds I’d sealed, pushed forward without complaint. My magic had cost him too, though he’d never admit it. His steps were heavy. Uneven.
Only Caelen seemed untouched. He moved through the underbrush with a kind of maddening calm, scanning ahead like this was just another patrol. Like the world wasn’t falling apart around us.
We were making our way toward Velmere through thick scrub and tangled forest. The path—if you could call it that—was nothing but roots and brambles, each step jarring against tired bones.
If Maddie were here, she’d probably find a way to smooth it out. Or light it. Or charm it into something bearable.
But she wasn’t. And part of me was glad.
I hoped she and Leo were safe.
I could still feel the thrum of his energy at the mark on my wrist—steady, pulsing. Alive.
It gave me just enough strength to keep going.
I wished I could reach out. Just for a second. Just to hear his voice.
“So, big guy,” Caelen said, casually sidestepping a low-hanging branch, “how exactly did you survive falling a hundred metres off a cliff?”
Slade shot him a glare. Then glanced at me, as if silently asking if he really had to answer that.
I shrugged. Honestly, I was curious too.
But I wasn’t about to be the asshole who asked.
That was Caelen’s job.
He rolled his eyes and reached into his belt, pulling out a long, familiar dagger.
I stopped in my tracks.
“That’s Elle’s,” I said quietly.
Slade’s expression tightened. For just a second, something pained flickered behind his eyes.
“I know,” he murmured. “She threw it to me… just after Thorne compelled me to jump.”
He turned the blade slowly in his hand, and a small, crooked smile ghosted across his face.
“She saved my life,” he said. “I used the steel to make a grappling hook. Shimmied the rest of the way down.”
“Thorne made you jump?” Caelen asked, his voice suddenly cold.
“That’s not Thorne,” I said quickly. “That’s someone else wearing his skin. There’s no way—”
“It was Thorne,” Slade cut in.
His voice was steady. Simple. But his eyes—gods, his eyes—were pleading with me to understand.
“He’s been twisted,” he said. “Broken. Warped into something else. But it was still him.”
“Slade – “
“He hurt Elira, Phoenix. In front of me. After compelling me.” He said, wearily.
I stared at Slade, my face paling. Because if that was true –
“How badly?”
“I didn’t get to see the end. I only heard her screaming after.”
“After you fell.” I said, my voice final.
“They wouldn’t kill her. Surely. From what I know about him—Vael wants her alive,” Caelen said.
I turned on him. “What do you know about Vael?”
Caelen hesitated, the usual smugness drained from his face. “Only what I saw… when my parents brought me to summits at Shadowmere.”
That took me off guard.
“Elira was there?” Slade asked.
Caelen nodded. “She and I would sneak off while the adults talked politics. We were just kids. Five, maybe six. We played games. Told stories.”
He paused, jaw tightening.
“Sometimes we’d sneak back in. Just to listen. We thought it was funny. But… sometimes he would find us.”
“Vael,” I said flatly.
“Yeah. He’d come out with sweets. Little trinkets. Always for her. Always with this... smile that made my stomach twist, even then.”
Caelen looked away, jaw clenched. “I didn’t understand it at the time. I just knew I didn’t like him. Now—knowing what we know—it’s monstrous.”
He looked up again, voice low. “The way he looked at her... like she was already his. Like he was waiting for her to grow into whatever fantasy he’d built in that twisted head of his.”
My whole body tensed.
“So no,” Caelen said, voice clipped. “He won’t kill her. He’ll try to keep her. Break her. Bind her, even. But not kill.”
Silence settled between us—thick, suffocating.
“And that,” I said, “is exactly why we have to move faster.”
We crossed through a thinning area of forest and could see a wharf and docks in the distance.
Frostwatch was teeming with red and blue shirts currently, although it looked like the red were beginning to overwhelm the rest. From our view point we saw a boat was docked.
Inside I could see a suspicious amount of silver grey tunics.
“Shit. That’s a Shade vessel.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Sonofa – “ Slade growled.
We ducked back into the foliage.
“We need to stay downwind in case they have shifters. As soon as they smell us we are dead.”
“Where do you suggest we go, genius?” Caelen snapped.
“Deeper in the woods. Find a river and follow it maybe?”
“How far until Velmere?” Slade asked.
“Maybe a day or so ride, but walking – who knows.” Caelen said.
“We need transport.” I said. “We need to get the hell out of here fast.”
“No disrespect, but I’m not the slow one here,” Caelen said, nodding at Slade—and, let’s be honest, probably me too.
“You’re right,” I sighed. “Run ahead. Find us some horses or something—make yourself useful.”
“I might be able to sneak a few from Frostwatch’s stables, but you two are gonna have to move a hell of a lot faster before I get caught.”
“We’ll make it,” Slade growled. “Go.”
Caelen ducked his head, catching my eye. He hesitated. Just for a second. Like he wanted to say something.
“Phoenix—”
“Go,” I cut in. “Don’t get soft on me, Your Grace. We’ll figure this out when you get back.”
He rolled his eyes. “Just don’t fucking die, alright?”
“Right back at you,” I said.
As soon as he disappeared into the brush, Slade gave me a look.
“Since when did you two become buddies?”
“Buddies? You’re insane. The guy’s a pretentious asshole.”
Slade chuckled. “Right.”
We pushed on, weaving through the underbrush as fast as Slade’s injury would allow. But I kept an eye on him—discreetly. Every step made him wince, just slightly. Just enough.
“How’s the shoulder?”
He didn’t answer right away. Just gritted his teeth and kept moving.
“I’m fine,” he muttered eventually. “Don’t waste your magic.”
I didn’t believe him. But I let it slide. For now.
There wasn’t enough left in me to patch every broken thing.
**
Caelen
The stables were tucked behind the barracks, low and wide and badly guarded—probably because most of the horses had been seized or ridden out hours ago.
I crouched behind a cart stacked with barrels, watching two soldiers argue near the stable doors. One was a sentinel dressed in blood red. The other in blue – Shattered Crown, I knew.
Typical.
I slid along the shadows, keeping low. My heart pounded like a war drum, but my steps were light. Silent. I’d been trained for this.
But it wasn’t the training that kept me moving. It was Ellie.
And maybe Slade and Phoenix.
I didn’t have to like them to respect the hell out of their loyalty. I only wished I had that from my own subjects.
I got as close as I could, sensing at least two horses in the stables.
A guard stepped out just as I crouched behind a low wall of stacked crates. His armour scraped the frame, and he muttered something about supplies before wandering off. I waited—counted to ten. Then moved.
The door creaked louder than I wanted. The horses stirred, ears twitching. One of them let out a low, uneasy snort.
“Easy,” I whispered, easing the door closed behind me.
The stables were dim, shafts of afternoon light bleeding through the high slats. Dust drifted like smoke in the air. One grey mare pawed at the straw, already saddled. Another—a bay—stood further back, nostrils flaring at my scent.
I crossed quickly, staying between the beams where my shadow wouldn’t give me away.
I reached for the reins—then froze.
A voice behind me. Quiet. Feminine. Uncertain.
“You’re not one of them.”
I turned, slow and smooth.
The girl couldn’t have been older than sixteen. Pale braid. Too-large tunic. Holding a pitchfork with trembling hands.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said.
“You won’t,” she replied, braver than she looked. “Because I’ll scream.”
I sighed. “And get both of us killed? Crown and sentinel soldiers are crawling all over your camp. If they find you helping me, you’ll hang too.”
She faltered. Just slightly. Eyes flicking toward the grey mare.
“I just need the horses,” I said. “You didn’t see me. You were on break. You were never here.”
She swallowed hard. Her eyes flicked to the grey mare.
“That one bites,” she said.
I blinked.
“And the gate on the left is warped. Use the one by the well.”
I gave her a nod, already moving.
And just like that, I had our way out.
The girl didn’t follow me. Smart. The moment I slipped through the gate, I was already swinging into the saddle.
The grey mare tossed her head but didn’t fight me—bless her. The bay surged forward, reins trailing behind.
We were almost clear.
Then I heard it.
“Oi! Stop—!”
I didn’t. I dug my heels in, urging both horses into a gallop. Behind me, the stable door burst open. Boots pounded. Shouts rang out, steel scraped from sheaths.
Godsdamn it.
The wind hit my face like a slap. I didn’t look back. Just pushed harder. The forest fringe wasn’t far. I just had to get there before they caught up.
**
Phoenix
I heard him before I saw him. Hoofbeats—fast and hard. Coming straight for us.
Then Caelen tore through the trees like a hellfire storm, reins clenched, one arm raised.
“Mount up!” he shouted. “We’ve got company!”
The second horse veered toward us, barely reined in. I grabbed the bridle then turned to Slade.