43
Kora
Everyone gathered around the familiar opal table within the deserted ballroom. The same abandoned cots still lined the far wall, whilst Aerion fluttered over the papers on this side. An array of them stuck to the towering walls that blended in with the greyed sunset through the ironed windows.
A patch covered Hector’s right eye as he sat back in a low, dark purple chair, glowering at Kora.
Leto lingered behind him, his arms folded whilst Mara fidgeted on his shoulder.
John and Circe had been granted rooms in the west wing—which apparently was where everyone stayed.
The Windwards stood opposite the pirates, leaving Kora side by side with Aryn in between them.
“Will your father be gracing us tonight?” Kora asked Raiden quietly. His diamond eyes hardened.
“He’s been called away to the west side of the island, past the Horrow Mountains. He left this morning.” His reply gave nothing away, and she found herself testing the bond, reaching out, seeing if she could connect to understand more.
“Tell us everything you saw,” Aerion commanded as he inspected various parchments of maps.
Endless scribbles lined the edges, along with pins marking key areas of interest. The Citadel had a giant cross upon it, so did the west of Talmon, for Barron’s mysterious new camp, followed by Stormkeep Fortress. Kora’s gut twisted.
“We were leavin’ the Dead Islands, Leto’s magic kept us hidden,” Hector’s voice croaked, the roughness intensified like he’d been screaming. He signed as he spoke. “But the lad can only keep it up for so long.”
Leto made a strangled sound, the vibrancy of his eyes muted. His hair was lank and his skin ashen, resembling a true Lord of Ghosts. “Sleepy,” Mara parroted.
“Understandable,” Aerion replied. “Our gifts can only take us so far.”
“Then I saw it!” Hector waved his weathered hands to the sky with dramatic flair. “A hawk. Black as the night. It screeched and suddenly the ships appeared, firing cannons from all sides. We lost one Galenite ship, but Fallen Angel and Bone Rattler saw us through.”
Raiden’s head bowed, and Aryn bristled beside Kora. Hundreds of lives had been lost.
“A black hawk,” Skylar frowned. “How could a hawk locate you through magic?”
Hector shrugged. “It was unnatural. Shadows leaked from its wings, its eyes glowed purple. I think they’re up to something on Talmon.”
Kora shivered, recalling the sickening guards Barron possessed. The way his magic leaked like tar, threatening to drag victims down and drown them. But also, she’d been attacked by a shadow with purple eyes and claws in Mistros City . . . it wasn’t a dream like she thought.
Stupid human. A cold voice snaked around Kora and she rubbed her temple with a hiss. Aryn gently touched her wrist, concerned as Hector continued ranting about this hawk; the way it could see them through Leto’s magic.
Kora was no stranger to hearing voices, but hers was dark. It reeked of something acrid, burning the inside of her throat, her veins turning to ice as it grew louder with each passing day.
“It’s clear the hunter is the rat,” Hector finished, swivelling his bruised hand at Kora. She blinked in response, her mind catching up with the present.
“Bullshit,” she spat. “I was attacked by a monster of smoke and claws, with purple eyes my first week here. Clearly, someone has infiltrated this land and possesses dark magic.”
“Aye, it’s ye! Ye are corrupted. Ye are tainted. Ye are the darkness that plagues Galen!” Hector’s spittle flew across the grand table. The chandeliers clinked, a familiar wind pulsating from Raiden’s tense form.
“Hector, explain your thinking instead of hurling insults,” Raiden ordered, his tone harsh.
“She’s the only newcomer. Ye may see a face of the past, but I see the face of a killer. She could’ve sent a hawk after our departure. She’s Barron’s spy.”
“I had no idea where you were going,” Kora rolled her eyes. “Stop being so blind.”
“Once a killer, always a killer.” Hector’s lips curled with disgust.
“Tell that to your crew,” Kora bit back. “Finlay, and countless of my crew members are dead because of them.”
“Cannon’s men would never!” Hector argued.
“What about James?” Cassidy appeared through the doorway, a vision in yellow. Her ringlets bounced as she rushed to Hector’s side, checking him over. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you returned!”
“Stop, lassie,” Hector waved a hand. “I don’t need coddlin’. She’s accusing Cannon’s crew of murder.”
Cassidy’s blue eyes flashed. “James was the nicest of us all. Be careful with your next words.”
“Cannon never tried to harm me,” Kora recalled with realisation. “In fact, he was trying to . . . I think he tried to save me. Two of his crew—Jack and Silas Flint—were the murderers on my ship.”
Cassidy nodded once as she remained crouched by Hector’s side. “I don’t recall a Silas, but Jack was a long-standing crew member.” Kora’s gut hollowed. More lies she’d believed, of Jack’s tale that they’d been recent recruits. “Jack mentioned he had a twin, he must’ve enlisted him.”
“Silas was a savage.” Kora rubbed her thumb between her fingers to distract her hands whilst her inner beast roared. “I took revenge for Finlay. Jack’s now imprisoned at Deadwater Prison.”
The pirate lords grimaced collectively, and after a beat, Cassidy spoke, her stare vacant. “He doesn’t belong there.”
“They stole from us and killed people,” Kora replied, her body numb as dark, foggy memories washed over her.
“Something must’ve been wrong. That’s not like Jack. I don’t believe it.” Cassidy shut her eyes for a moment, placing a hand on Hector’s arm. The lords paused in that moment, gracing each other gently.
“Someday, we’ll get him back,” Hector croaked. “For James.”
Kora bowed her head, shame battering her insides. It wasn’t just Jack Flint, but probably hundreds of souls chained in the boughs of Deadwater Prison that didn’t belong there. That she’d been manipulated and tricked into believing were the enemy.
“James was the most determined of us all to find you. Whilst we set our goals on survival outside of the Mist, he was convinced you were the key to our future. He organised every raid, found the empire’s weakest points to steal ships and weapons.” Cassidy pushed the subject along.
“I noticed the ships,” Kora replied, somewhat impressed by the actions of a singular pirate.
“We drifted the seas for nearly a decade, separated from our haven in Galen. Peril Cove is a cursed land, and we couldn’t return there either.
Not until Leto sensed a break in the Mist. His power had nearly vanished from shielding us so much for so long.
We attempted to sail in, and survived.” Cassidy weakly smiled.
“Our first time on land . . . proper land, our home, in so long . . .” Cassidy drifted off, her lip trembling before she ran a hand over her face.
“We just wanted to survive. We had hope. The moment we returned, we knew we had to continue James’ work.
We thought you were dead. Your father perished. But, alas.”
The pieces fell into place. Because the pirates had ventured back out of the Mist with a Galenite warship in tow.
“You were trying to find me.” Kora glanced to Skylar. Her jaw worked before responding.
“Yes. Raiden would’ve known if you were dead. He could still reach you through the Mist.”
“But . . . how? Barron told me he’s been trying to break through the Mist for years. He’s been using mages to attack it, but they failed.”
“I’m the strongest of us,” Raiden replied, his tone cool, but his body vibrated with tensity.
“He’s also the most tied to the Mist, he could barely venture further than the edges of Mistros City,” Skylar added.
“Skylar!” Raiden moaned.
“What? She needs to know. The Mist suppressed us all differently. I could venture freely around the island, along with most of our residents—albeit we were all blind as fucking bats doing it. Aerion could get a few miles past Mistros City, but Raiden was stuck here. Some otherworldly force kept him back.”
“So, the stronger your gift, the more the Mist affected you?”
Skylar nodded. “How Raiden managed to contact you is a mystery to all of us. We tried to use what he saw to our advantage.”
Kora bristled, remembering how the pirates surprised them, how Raiden had led her to the edge of the Mist. How Galen had miraculously attacked when they were transporting Theron to Talmon.
None of it had been a coincidence. It’d all been planned.
“My life has been orchestrated from the beginning,” Kora muttered, uncertain on whether anyone heard her. “What about your father? He was at Skybell Castle when I arrived. His power is stronger than all of yours.”
“He was unaffected,” Raiden answered stonily.
Kora frowned. How was that possible?
“Ye are in no place to question the king,” Hector grumbled. “We must keep our wits about us. Someone’s controllin’ that hawk I saw.”
“Danger, danger!” Mara squawked, fluttering her feathers.
Leto shifted, his stare complacent. His skin bordered translucent, and he leaned back into the chair beside Hector’s, his long legs disappearing under the table.
Reaching into his longcoat pocket, Leto produced a black pipe, striking a match on the chair casually as he inhaled a deep puff.
“When did you start smoking?” Raiden spoke out loud as he signed.
Leto shrugged, motioning quickly with one hand. Every puff he took, the colour returned to his lean face, his eyes shuttering with delight.
“Leto Morgan, keeping dirty secrets from us.” Skylar waved a hand in the air against the smoke. “Someone open a window.”
The smoke was peculiar, a shimmer weaving throughout it. Aerion sighed, pushing open the nearest window, allowing Leto’s habit to waft out and join the Mist. Against the grey aura of the blanket of power, Leto’s pipe smoke appeared almost lavender in colour.
“The Mist is fading as well,” Aerion added, pointing to his map of Galen.
Chalk had been used to outline the Mist’s reach, nearing Peril Cove.
“Meaning our enemy will be able to invade soon. Barron could easily reach our shores once again. Keep a look out for hawks with . . . purple eyes. Only communicate through private channels—wind, magic, missives with your personal hawks only.”
If Barron was heading toward Galen, Kora might have her chance of defeating him sooner than she first thought. The benefits outweighed the cons. Not having to sail into the heart of the enemy, not having to trek across Talmon to his new outpost.
But it also came at a cost. Samuel, Theron, and Ivar would be lost. Left in the arms of the cold and wicked. But if she killed Barron, would that set them free?
“We need another scout mission,” Kora announced. “I—we—need to know if he’s coming here already.”
“Ye don’t tell us what to do,” Hector snapped.
“She’s right,” Aerion added. “Hector, you’re too wounded to sail. Cassidy can go in your place. Set up another perimeter scout of the island. Leto, as soon as you feel weak, return here immediately. We can’t risk you being seen.”
“Can you change your sails?” Kora pondered, and multiple sets of eyes blinked at her. “You sail empire ships, so brand yourselves as the empire. If Leto’s magic fails, you can blend in until you return. Don’t take any Galenite ships, they’ll give you away.”
“Clever girl!” Mara filled the silence.
“We might have something,” Cassidy’s lips pursed. “We’ll set sail the day after tomorrow. Leto needs to regain his strength.”
Talks continued back-and-forth about war strategies, the concern over the protection of the Mist, and Cassidy’s proposed scouting route.
Resolve and pride flitted through Kora, knowing she’d contributed, that she’d been heard.
All the way through it, Raiden’s gaze lingered on Kora’s face, and her skin instantly heated, unable to meet his stare.
Would he stop staring?
Raiden promptly grinned and Kora froze, wondering whether she’d finally mastered this mind magic.
“I hear you, Huntress.”