40. Euclase
War is fast… until it isn’t fast enough.
I sit atop drathorinna, this time with a proper saddle and full golden armor, protecting my body from the few rays of sunlight passing through the grey clouds and the icy chill. Teo is seated behind me, both of us tied to the crystal handles on her scales. Below us, troops march and ride every manner of creature. Enduar and elf alike race forward, armor glinting, beasts bounding.
Last night, after traveling for three days, we were camped out near the Giant capital when we received a plethora of information through the speaking stones—maps, warnings, and words. The first part played through my mind:
Rholker is leaving Zlosa as we speak. Deep in the forest, near to where the swamp ogres live, there is a mine. He has gone to secure his throne against a bid by Lord Fektir. He travels with one remaining Bruja, and we expect they will arrive within the week. We tried to slow his departure, but the information we were given was about the three Warriors sent to chase him. Beware of them.
I was furious upon hearing the message.
We were so close.
This morning, we took our provisions and left for the Giant City with bear, wolf, glacialmara, and in my case, crystal dragon. We travel at a swift momentum, and it isn’t fast enough. It will take us four more days at least to reach the location.
Battle drums play below us, dictating the rhythm and step of two thousand and two hundred soldiers. It pounds through the air. The road is tiresome, but our army is strong.
Given what I saw in the giant court, Fektir”s plotting wasn”t surprising. He is the kind of man who can smell weakness and exploit it. Rholker is a scheming creature, a powerful one at that, but it seems that his brashness is finally paying off.
Both of them are ends of the same venomous snake.
I feel the eyes of those below watch us as we fly ahead. My goal is to be the first to make it to our campsite so that the elves and I can cover drathorinna’s shine. Then Ulla and I can help those sick or mildly injured from long travel. This trip has also already forced me to heal animals, which is surprisingly enjoyable.
When we settle down for the night, everyone does their best to be light of spirit and vibrance. Elves talk animatedly around the fire while the Enduares sing songs of each other’s people and show off their different brands of magic.
Stone shards fly through the air, birds flap in formation, and Thorne makes himself disappear and reappear. Apparently, the assassin is also quite the singer. He joins Ulla more than once in a tune intricate enough to bind even the most monstrous beast.
A hundred of the ocean-dwelling Enduares came along with a hundred of the Enduvida dwellers. Ka’Prinn and Ner’Feon were happy to retrieve them under the condition that they swear a blood oath to Teo and me. Their fealty is not something they take lightly, even if I feel uneasy about them occupying space next to the others. Sometimes they spend hours blowing hot breath over campfires with harrowing tales of the creatures that live in dark water.
Tonight, everyone finds ways to entertain themselves, but for me, the act of setting up camp again is… somber. I feel slow, knowing that every second spent resting is a second Rholker gets further ahead.
Long after the dancing and the songs end, my anxieties still mount. Teo holds me close in our tent and speaks peace to my mind, but I can feel the same nerves fluttering under his skin. We curse ourselves by sharing emotions too heavy to speak aloud.
When we areone day away from the mine’s location, the joviality is reduced to quiet focus. It is as if we are a group of skeletons.
As planned, we break into four groups, one for each side of the mine.
I worry over Dahlia. Her magic is powerful, as are the cold ones her sisters controlled in Enduvida. When we left home, I had wondered if they would attack us along the way or spy as her eyes, but there have been no attacks.
In fact, it might be the longest we’ve gone without seeing one while traveling.
In the center of the main camp, we have set up an elaborate battle map in my and Teo’s tent. We lay on cushions perched on top of rock beds, surrounded by stone silk and pillows.
After the elves and I cover drathorinna in trees and supplies to hide her glow, I return to Teo’s side and sit on seats pulled up from the ground by my husband. Vann sits next to us, as does Mrath, Thorne, Ayla, Liana, and Ner’Feon. There are a handful of other leaders in the elvish armies, and they all listen with their sharp ears and glinting eyes.
Mrath watches Teo intently. “I still believe that attacking at nightfall is the opportune choice.”
Teo frowns. “I still feel that daybreak would be wiser. They will still be fresh and unassuming. Though, I know how you enjoy killing under the cloak of night.”
Mrath grins, but it is Ayla who says, “Darkness is an assassin’s greatest friend.”
I swallow and look down to the mapping of the giants’ mine. It shows two towers connecting to a wall that holds a large area of slave pens. There is one structure inside the compound, presumably where Rholker is, and then there is the entrance to the mine.
The wooden manor built for higher officials’ visits is not so big that it would take more than an hour to explore all of it, but Rholker is a scheming creature. The witches he harbors even more so. There are many ways that this could end poorly.
Since I already know the plan like the back of my hand, my thoughts race as the others go through the strategy once more, moving pieces across the hastily drawn battle map.
Vann has an excellent strategic mind, and it’s his hand that dances across the table.
“So, the first leg includes our stone benders. We’ll tear down the towers, and then throw everything to the elves and remaining Enduares to ambush the sides of the mine. Once the towers come down, the wooden walls will fall, too.” He knocks over the pillars made from crudely carved stone. “Then, we’ll lure as many of the giant warriors out as possible.”
The figures for giants look more like rounded blobs than towering warriors, and my heart sputters at the thought of seeing them in battle.
“We have to slaughter them all,” I say, reaching out on impulse and knocking over the figures.
Mrath stands, leaning over the figures. “Agreed. There should be no survivors. I want my involvement in this to be kept quiet, at least for now.”
“Someone always escapes,” Ner’Feon says, with his gruff voice.
Mrath grins at him. “Not with my sisters.”
Vann clears his throat, “With the giants occupied on the ground, the remaining assassins will be settled on top of the mountain.”
I watch his hands point to the entrance to the mine, and wonder just how long this mine has been functioning. The giants know to be that close to stone is a mistake with the threat of the Enduares.
Mrath says, “Give me the bender who can animate stone armies.”
Ner’Feon frowns. “Si’Kirin should be one of the benders helping with the towers.”
“Yes,” Teo says. “He is too valuable not to have against all that brutish force.”
Mrath sighs, “Very well, but you will send at least one of the stone benders with us. Having someone create a smoother passage would be invaluable.”
Vann, who has been watching quietly, nods. “I will speak with the men.”
Ka’Prinn glares at him, but doesn’t press further.
I splay my hands across the cool stone beneath me, growing anxious with the endless planning.
“To continue, along with the stone bender, the rest of your assassins will then attack from the top of the mine. This will leave the entrance unguarded,” Vann says.
Everyone nods, and I realize we’ve reached my part.
“Two hundred elven soldiers will approach the entrance, with my flying above on drathorinna’s back with Teo. The giants have catapults, which could be problematic, but they should be too distracted to launch any.”
The image of massive boulders being hurled at me while soaring through the air makes my stomach twist.
Teo watches me as I think through the plan, then he shares.
“There are two options with Rholker: either he rides into the battle like his father did, or he is holed up in the house with his witches protecting him. They command the vaimpírs, so we must be prepared for anything. If he is indeed inside the manor, we will fly straight there and land. Most of the compound should be cleared from humans and giants by this point.”
“If we see Rholker on the battlefield, should we kill him?” Ka’Prinn asks, eyes glittering in the low lights.
“Yes,” Teo says without hesitation.
I bristle.
A part of me understands the bloodthirst in my mate’s eyes, and yet I don’t want anyone else to lay a finger on Rholker. It should be me to kill the man who made my life a living hell.
Endu’s words ring in my ears:
Fell the giant king. Free your people in the name of your goddess—Ashra.
With him gone, the giant government will collapse. My people will be free.
“The question remains: daybreak or midnight? King Teo, you can’t honestly expect us to leave this evening,” Ner’Feon says.
“I have already said I prefer the moment the sun cracks over the horizon,” Teo reiterates, clearly frustrated. Mrath is an efficient woman. She’s been reasonable, professional, and wise. But… she brought the majority of the troops. She gets final say.
Her response is interrupted by a commotion outside the tent. I stand up just as a few hunters pull back the flaps and in walks three great ogres. Their heads tilt to the side, and they crouch to avoid ruining the fabric roof. Though they aren’t as large as giants, they clearly are much taller than the elves.
Sounds of shock manifest behind me as the elves and Enduares congregate in front of the map, blocking the strategy from view.
Chirping crickets, gurgling water, and the smell of humid bog take over the tent, and I stare at the armor of moss and branches that cover their lumpy skin.
I recognize the man in the middle almost instantly.
“Shaman Ogre King Braareg,” I say breathlessly, giving him a slight bow.
His green eyes snap onto mine, and he frowns. He looks less out of place than he did in Rholker’s library, with the spell lights casting sharp shadows over the planes of his face.
“It is you again,” he says gently. Though his expression was soft as it landed on me, he casts a glare at the elves.
“Trolls, elves, you have come to our lands without permission,” he says.
Maldita sea.?1 The border between their land was unclear when we scoped out a place to rest. The tension in the meeting reaches a new high. Teo steps forward, about to speak, when Braareg holds up his hands.
“Save your words, king. I am the shaman of my people, and as such, my connection to the astral plane is greater even than your human light weaver. Yde has whispered your intentions in the wind. You have come to kill Rholker.”
Mrath looks at the ogres with visible disgust.
“You are correct.” Her voice is deep, and her words come out slowly.
Braareg doesn’t move. “There is a darkness in the mines. Show me your plans.”
Mrath laughs. “You can’t be serious. Didn’t your backwater magic already show them to you or are you baiting us?”
“Mrath,” Teo says in warning. Then he takes a deep breath, studying the Ogre King. It’s a thing to watch as the Enduares and elves, save Mrath, lean in, waiting on his next words. They are drawn to his magnetic ability to lead. His quiet confidence strikes me as it has a million times, and his self-assurance brings peace in a way that nothing other than a capable leader can provide.
“Shaman or not, you are blood kin to the giants,” he says at last. “Surely you must understand why we would be cautious about your coming into our meeting and demanding our strategy.”
The Ogre King stares at Teo for a long moment. “We do share blood with the giants, but we no longer consider them our kin.”
Mrath laughs. “No? Really? I suppose now would be the time to announce that I have also stepped down as leader of the sisterhood.” Her chortle cuts off as she thrusts a finger into the air. “Come now, you sound like petulant children. You live because the giants decided to let you live over the last millenia. You wouldn’t turn your back on them.”
Braareg glares at her. “Do children not break free from their parents? Or is parricide only acceptable for the elves?”
“That’s quite a large word?—”
“If I still held the status of bloodkin as legitimate, I would’ve alerted Rholker of your arrival half a day ago, and you would already be waging war,” Braareg says with finality, cutting off Mrath’s insult.
I consider this, thinking once again about how the giants disrespected him.
The giants believe in themselves and their future, and they think that the rest of the world is conditioned to believe they are beneath them because they say so. It isn’t far-fetched to me to believe that the ogres have had enough. Humans have had enough. As have the Enduares.
After casting my thoughts to my husband, Teo nods slowly. “Why are you here then?”
Braareg straightens his great green shoulders. “To see if you would speak to me face-to-face, as king of my own right.”
I take a deep breath, showing Teo all the times I’d seen the ogres just behind corners, in dark hallways, and shadowy rooms. It takes courage to step forward and draw the gaze of their glowing eyes. My shoulders straighten, just like Liana showed me.
“Rholker did not respect your rule. I saw evidence enough of that during my time there,” I say firmly.
Braareg looks at me and says, “I keep wondering where your collar is.”
I glare up at him, letting the anger seep out of my pores.
“I broke it and cast it into some heap of rubbish.” Then I nod. “As a Fuegorra reader of my own people, I believe I understand what you do quite well. I recognize you as both shaman and king.”
Braareg’s eyes gleam. The wind blows around our tent, causing the fabric to billow and flap. The hunters who had led them inside rush to hold down all parts of fabric. He turns to Teo.
“Do you share your queen’s sentiment?”
Teo nods. “Yes.”
Braareg’s eyes are cast to Mrath, then land on Ayla. The curves of his lips turn down.
She killed the old Ogre King, no?I ask through the bond.
Yes, but she also inadvertently made Braareg king. Ogres don’t use a familial royal system, so his power would’ve awoken at the death of the old shaman. I think he would’ve attacked her if he wasn’t begrudgingly indebted to her actions, he says back.
“What a thing it is to be ignored and humiliated by those who share your distant blood, no?” Mrath says, pushing past the battle map. “I will accept to share our plan if you swear your blade to our battle. Will you join us in our fight?”
The ogre looks down at her, and the wind dies down. “We will not join a fight we were not originally invited to.”
“I would invite you now,” Teo says firmly.
Braareg considers this, and the men he brought appear intrigued. One of them stands dangerously close to Thorne, who has stealthily left Mrath’s side and appeared at the outskirts of the tent.
Teo tries again. “One king to another, I ask you to join our fight. Rholker’s family has poisoned the giants for long enough—let us usher in a new era together.”
My mate holds out his hand as if he were to shake Braareg’s.
“Neither of you have involved yourselves in swamp business before. In fact, you have purposefully left us out of the council of three. Trolls, Elves, and Giants have had enough power for too long,” the king says at last.
“I am not of the elvish kingdom,” Mrath says decidedly.
Braareg pauses to think again, as if still considering each word deeply. “If you have come to kill Rholker, then finish your business. It will be the first kindness between our peoples. And the next time you have an inter-kingdom summit, I expect an invite.”
“So that’s it? You come to tell us we are on your land, that you have some spiritual sight from your goddess, demand to know our plans, and then leave?” Teo asks. Through our bond, I feel the tension knotting through him. His frustration is hidden under reason, but he grows impatient.
Finally, the Ogre King opens his mouth.
“I came to see if you would share with someone your people once considered lesser—to see if Yde’s blessing would follow you in your battle plans. You sought to make a deal, as your people always have. It is not the time for us to join the fight. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but a friend is not an ally. Not yet.”
Teo looks at him for a long, hard minute, and I can’t help but feel like we lost something.
It sets every nerve on fire. We could’ve used the extra help.
But then, Teo surprises me by asking, What does your Fuegorra tell you?
When I catch Liana’s eye, I find her watching me. She presses her lips together, and my mind wanders back to the scrying grotto.
I suck in a deep breath and close my eyes, trying to ignore the pressing silence. I press my hand to my belly as I look inward, prodding at both forms of magic in my chest, both bestowed by goddesses. An answer comes quietly.
Let it be. It is not time for the ogres, but they will be of use in the future.
My eyes snap open, and I let the answer flow to my mate. Then he says, “Very well. We appreciate that you are hosting us.”
Braareg looks pleased at the compliment, and then, with all his swampy glory, he turns and leaves out of the tent.
Mrath huffs out an incredulous breath. “That’s it? You’re just going to let him go?”
Teo turns back to her. “He’s right. I have never heard of an allyship between the trolls and ogres. In fact, we have indeed left them out of most of the major events in the last recorded millennia. Diplomacy is long. Surely you know that, Mrath.”
He’s careful not to mention my vision, for some reason.
Mrath glowers but doesn’t say anything more.
I am mostly glad that we didn’t have to deal with a premature fight. The ogres seem formidable.
“You seem very confident of that answer,” she seethes.
Then Teo says bluntly, “You should be, too, as someone who hopes to enlist as much help as possible in marching upon your brother.”
Mrath rolls her eyes. “I grow tired of this conversation and the endless debate. I have decided we will march at midnight.”
Ka’Prinn and Ner’Feon open their mouths in tandem, but Liana shakes her head as Thorne reaches for his blade in threat.
“Very well. We will march at night. It is not so late yet. Sleep for an hour or two, and we will ready ourselves,” Teo says. The two water dwellers scowl, but say nothing else.
With an agreement finally in place, the meeting finishes, the others leave, and then it is just us and the silence. My mind races with the meeting—the ogres, the elves, the inevitable blood that will be spilled soon. A part of me fights against the encroaching moment with denial.
Teo breaks me out of my thoughts by stroking my cheek. “Are you well?”
I nod, slowly. “My nerves threaten to eat me alive. There was a moment when Braareg walked in that I was truly frightened.”
He nods. “I trust what you saw. His arrival was a front. You should feel peace. I think seeing him was the beginning sign of healing our land through united peoples. Now, we should try to rest before…”
The midnight battle.
I take a deep breath and let him lead me over to our makeshift bed. My heart continues to race, and my stomach churns, but I let him remove my armor. He rubs my muscles and kisses me sweetly.
“Tell me another story,” he says gently. “That usually seems to settle your stormy thoughts.”
I look up at the leather tent above us, seeing the image of Mikal nearly dying, before diving deeper into the memory. Why he was in the fields in the first place.
“When Mikal was ten years old, I was meant to go to the breeding pens. He didn’t want me to leave. It was a natural thing for a young boy to do; he felt so protective of me.” I blink away the burning sensation in my eyes. “He saw how Rholker treated me, though I tried to protect him from the worst parts of the prince’s attentions. I think he felt it was his job as a boy who would one day be a man.”
Teo tucks one of the hairs behind my head. “As was right. He was very brave.”
I look at my husband. “No, I was older. I was protecting him. Going to the breeding pens could’ve given me the chance to have a child and bring one of the human men into our hut. He would’ve had someone else watching him, instead of a seventeen-year-old mess.”
Speaking of such things feels fundamentally wrong while laying in bed with my mate, but Teo doesn’t look upset. He places his spectacles on his nose, which kindles a warm attraction.
I take his hand as he continues to listen. “Anyway, he thought that if he got hurt I would have to stay and heal him. He knew that the giant king didn’t want him dead, and while he was mostly left alone during work hours, there were certain… measures taken to ensure he was well. I think Erdaraj mostly liked seeing the ghost of our mother’s face peeking back at him.”
Teo’s face clouds.
“That’s awful. Gods,” he drags his hand over his face, “what did he do to himself?”
A part of me knows how deeply Teo has felt the loyalty to his family. That was why he obeyed his father when he sent him to Lijasa. The injustice of it all makes my blood burn.
“His first day in the lumber field, he was careless, and he destroyed one of the lumber carts. They put him on a whipping rack and tore his back apart.”
The words are blunt, but the memories slice right through me.
Teo stills at the pain radiating off of me and the glow of my skin pulsating across my arms and hands.
“Then what?”
“Rholker wouldn’t let me go to the breeding pens anyway. So, Mikal did it in vain. As a present, I rescued an old fox for him. He loved it for as long as the creature lived, and I think about how sweet he was with that small animal.”
Teo smiles.
“We don’t have many pets under the mountain. He’s sixteen, so I don’t know if he would still enjoy such child-like things. If he does, I will happily take him hunting through the tunnels myself. I know some of the elves have a kindness between their domesticated wolves.” He offers and then draws away from me to begin to rub my tight leg muscles, after a long day of riding.
Then it’s my turn to smile. In many ways, he is a better parent than me with his nurturing spirit. I subconsciously lay my hand over my stomach.
“You will be a good father.” I freeze when I realize the words actually slipped past my lips.
His hand stills on my calf muscle as he looks at me with those large silver blue eyes.
“Estela,” he murmurs. It is a plea, a prayer. It is fear itself. Not for the idea of being a father, but for the fact we are discussing this a handful of hours before we charge into battle.
Looking at him, I realize that I haven’t bled in a long while. When I first returned home, I had assumed it was because of my malnutrition.
My thoughts race, and my grip on the windows in my mind loosens. I had considered getting or making contraceptive potions, but every time I broached the subject… I realized I didn’t want to. Some part of me craved such a connection with my mate. It wasn’t carelessness, it was a damned glimmer of idyllic thoughts.
My heart rate picks up. “I—I don’t know why I said that. I don’t know?—“
In a blink, he moves from his position, and then he is kneeling on the bed next to me. I wish I didn’t think it was so pleasing to see him lean down and place his ear to my belly.
“Teo, I don’t think that’s how that works. You can’t just hear a small babe?—”
“I would hear my child,” he says firmly.
“No—”
“Yes. I would. I would know our creation,” he says again, so sure.
I think of the dream, and I adjust my position on the bed to accommodate his enormous head and the corner of his spectacles pressing into my skin.
After a minute, when he is still silent, I ask, “Well?”
My insides feel like a cacophony of fluttering butterflies.
He slowly removes his head and looks at me.
It’s as if a cloud has crossed in front of the sun. His face is so shadowy. My stomach drops, not anticipating this reaction.
“You aren’t going tomorrow. We must change our plans.”
I suck in a breath.
That’s it.
My eyes burn, and surprise, joy and worry run rounds on my heart. “I’m still coming with you.”
He shakes his head. “No, it is too dangerous.”
I bolt upright, locking my gaze onto him. “Am I carrying our child?” A fierce urgency claws at me, desperate for confirmation. The weight of his words hangs in the air. He had confessed his deepest longing for this moment, believing he would only be unworthy. Every fiber of my being craves to absorb his every reaction, to reach out and trace the contours of his face, to seal this revelation with a kiss. The silence between us crackles with anticipation as his eyes meet mine, revealing a tumultuous mix of dread and fragile optimism.
Cradling his face in my hands, I beg. “Say it.”
His lips quiver before parting slowly, tears welling up in his eyes.
“You are carrying our child,” he whispers.
All of my love and terror balance precariously within my heart. When I think of how I was treated as a child, whipped and mocked and leered at, a fierce, raging sense of protectiveness flairs to life in my gut. Endu has told us to kill the king to free all humans—that now includes our babe.
If I am to have a child, it can’t be in a world where Rholker still breathes.
“Then I must go with you.” I declare.
As he begins to shake his head in protest, I tighten my grip on his chin. “Teo, consider my feelings. If your father was still alive, would you want him anywhere near our child?”
Teo”s jaw tightens as he processes my words, a storm brewing behind his eyes.
I continue. “I will not be denied my revenge. Bring me to fight alongside you. Stand at my side as we slice the head from his shoulders. Present it to me, as you promised on the night of our wedding.”
“Estela, I…”
In an instant, Teo opens the floodgates of his mind, unleashing a torrent of harrowing visions. Death dances before my eyes, screams echo in the darkness, and horrors beyond comprehension unfold before me like a grotesque tapestry. Amidst the chaos, I see his mother”s tragic fate on the battlefield—wolves tearing at her flesh as she hangs lifeless.
His paralyzing fear reverberates through me like an earthquake as I bear witness to his anguish and resolve to share in his burden.
I lean back.
With every inch of power nestled in my body, I hold my head high. I think of the first vision the Fuegorra gave me, the one in which, surprisingly, I felt his power rumble in my veins somewhere in the future.
I will not die here.
While I do feel confident about that statement, some dark part of my head remembers the image of the crystal card of death. It looms over me, and I choose to ignore it.
“We both know that visions are imperfect. And things can change, but I choose to believe that we will live on past this night. You will let me ride with you. Today, we will kill the king. Tomorrow, we will find and save my brother. In half a year, when the child in my belly is born, it will be the strongest, bravest half-Enduar creature the world has ever known,” I say firmly. Even though, as I speak the words, the images of the cards dance behind my eyelids.
Teo strokes my hand. “I can’t lose you, too.”
My chest cracks open. “Then keep me at your side.”
Tears build in his eyes.
“Very well, mi amor.”
I kiss him. It contains every wild emotion. It isn’t until our lips part that I realize just how fearful I am, too.
Luckily, just as the words are heavy on my tongue, someone comes to the tent, and Teo pries himself away from my side.
I exhale, grateful for the sensation to fade.
Murmured voices flit through the tent, and I close my eyes tight.
Moments later, Teo returns. He holds me close.
“They confirmed that Rholker is there.” The silence is short, but it stretches across time and space. “And so is Mikal.”
I suck in a breath, and the world around me slants on its side. I wasn’t expecting that.
“The scouts saw him?”
Teo nods. “As have the two slaves the assassins snatched.”
Mrath works quickly.
Teo pulls me close but I feel like I’m going to burst out of my skin. “I can’t sleep. We should leave now,” I say, trying to move. He holds me down.
“No. Sleep, my star. I can’t keep you from the battlefield, but I see how tired you are. Rest while you can.”
As we lay there, with our mission just on the horizon, Teo’s hand wrapped around my midsection, I think of what Endu told me about gods and goddesses.
Ashra. Spare me and my family this day.
I repeat the words begging her, and then begging Grutabela, and Endu. It isn’t until I sit on the brink of sleep that a strange, disembodied presence sinks next to me.
One that brings much-needed peace.