Chapter 1
CHAPTER
Their voices were ticking me off.
Yet another day of squabbling and idiotic reasoning. I felt as though this was my life now: to listen to people accusing each other. No one wanted to volunteer, neither Aetherions nor Ashen Corps were willing to collaborate.
My hand rested above my eyes, fingers rubbing against my temples.
“I know trust isn’t built in a day,” I muttered, irritation filling my voice. “But how come the only solution for peace and quiet is a room filled with food?”
“Are you like actually asking or trying to pick another fight?” a voice snickered to my side.
Ashley was my best friend, and probably the most chaotic person I’d ever met, enemies included.
Her icy blue eyes studied me for a moment, before a grin appeared on her face. I sighed.
“It’s the only time that Izera and Amestele aren’t at each other’s throats, letting their soldiers relax for a moment…”
“Well, there’s that, or it could be Nate’s awful jokes killing the mood,” Ashley said, throwing her blonde hair to the side, eyes darting to our squad mate who had placed himself between a few of the mages and ungifted, trying to ease the tension.
He had let his dark brown beard grow along with his hair, which was now long enough for him to gather it into a lazy half up do every day.
As Nathaniel smiled, Ashley snorted, turning her gaze away.
“You should talk to him,” I pointed out, giving her a knowing look.
“What for?” she scoffed, as she tapped the armrest impatiently. “He lost his sister, he’s mourning in his own way.”
“By avoiding you.”
Her hand stilled, as she let out a heavy sigh. It was clear that I was pushing all the wrong buttons, but with her, someone had to, or she’d carry it herself in silence.
“Look—” someone broke through the sea of voices.
My eyes darted up as I saw Lionel push to his feet, his auburn hair even more vivid than in my memories. “We can argue all we want, but we need to make a decision. The demons are advancing on us. If we waste time here bickering, we’ll lose before the fighting has even begun.”
The large room finally turned silent. We were all gathered around a long table. We had tried to mix the Aetherions and Ashen Corps, forcing them to share the space and get comfortable with it.
Izera who had been in Blackreach with us, was now the leader of the Ashen Corps since Jarkas, the previous general had been killed.
Her dark bob was as sharp as her jawline, and she looked intimidating with her almost black eyes. In stark contrast, the Aetherion leader Amestele wore a fine silk dress in a forest green color, her eyes bright yellow, with wavy, golden hair, resembling sunshine, cascading down her back.
I hadn’t heard much about her, except that she was the one Michlael had trusted to look after the Runora village, the mage camp we had infiltrated weeks ago.
Amestele wasn’t much of a talker, but her eyes were sharp, observing and taking in everything that happened, her gaze often lingering on me as if I was an interesting puzzle.
“So what do you suggest?” Izera grunted, clenching her teeth, trying to cooperate.
Lionel’s gaze wandered to me, his eyes conflicted yet soft. “Ethalyn?”
I stiffened as all heads turned towards me.
Shit.
How had I ended up here? I wasn’t a talker, or strategist, or a person comfortable being in command at all really.
“Based on our last report, a larger group of demons have been spotted close to Darkshire, the abandoned village just past the southern border. Either they’re preparing an attack, or they’re increasing their border patrols.”
“And what do you want of us?” Amestele asked, her voice careful, almost sweet, but as I watched her I knew she was one of the most dangerous people in the room.
“We need to keep them off our lands, while we rebuild our forces,” I began with a deep breath. “The Ashen Corps are filled with people with potential, however they lack strength after years of famine.”
Izera clicked her tongue annoyed, as if I had spilled top secret information.
“Having said that, the lands controlled by the Ashen Corps are rich in quartz, which we’ll need in our fight against the demons.”
“Food in exchange for quartz,” Amestele tasted the words, looking over at Izera who glared back. “It seems like a fair deal for both sides, don’t you think?”
“So we’d lose our only advantage?” Izera muttered. “What have you lost during these years of war? A few dozen people? We have starved and lost hundreds to fend off the fiends you brought here.”
“But your people would live, perhaps even thrive from now on,” Amestele cut back. “Isn’t that of importance? Or do you intend to follow in Jarkas’ footsteps and play dumb by killing half of mankind only to realise that the demons remain?”
“That depends,” Izera bit out. “Are you going to enforce something to stop mages from creating more demons? Or perhaps you’re already corrupt and want to join hands with the enemy?”
“I’d rather die than be leashed,” Amestele said calmly. “But the demons are our priority, they must be stopped. After we deal with them, we’ll have the luxury of planning how to stop them from returning for good.”
Izera froze in her chair, then eventually she nodded slightly. Those were the words no one dared to utter. In the Ashen Corps survival was priority, but under such strained conditions, they could not afford to think of every human, only those with strength enough to give something back.
“This report… is trustworthy?” Izera glanced at me, and she didn’t have to add anything to relay the message she wanted:
who had given me this information?
“I was the one who received the report,” Lionel interrupted, trying to ease the tension again. It wasn’t the whole truth, but he had technically been the one to receive the letter, I guess.
But Izera’s eyes never left mine, it wasn’t the answer she was looking for.
“Yes,” I said through my teeth. “It is.”
Silence settled over the room, neither she nor I willing to back down, as we glared at each other.
“Right,” Ashley coughed. “Perhaps we should take another look, to give everyone some peace of mind.”
I gave her a glance, I knew she meant well… I just wished she would vouch for him with me. But knowing Ashley, it wasn’t personal; she was just bored of the politics.
“How about our squad head out first, and the remaining soldiers can meet us at the border with one day delay?” I suggested, shifting in my chair.
“And if it’s an ambush, a trick to gather us all and end us?” Izera cocked her brow at me.
I slammed my fist into the table as I rose to my feet. “Then I guess you all will have to start getting along, because I will not be here to hold you back from each other’s throats anymore.”
A faint smile appeared on Amestele’s lips, as if enjoying my brutal honesty at the very least.
“You’re the only Aetherion in your squad though?” Amestele asked, glancing over at me, and the insinuation felt like a blade.
It was the truth, but what they weren’t aware of, was our recent loss… Nathaniel’s sister Mey. She had been a water mage, without knowing it until shortly before her death, when she bravely shielded her brother with her own body.
I glanced over at Nate, he had placed both his hands at the table’s edge, fingers digging into the wood as if it was the only thing keeping him upright.
No matter how much time passed, it was still a fresh wound, for all of us, but especially him.
“Sort of,” I said, my voice quieter.
“Well then, might I suggest that I send one of mine with you, just to even the odds?” Amestele continued, leaning back in the chair, calm, composed.
“We should take two, we only need one sniper,” Ashley murmured beside me.
“I heard that,” Eve snapped from the other side of the table. “I’m coming with, whether you like it or not.”
Ashley snorted, not giving Eve the satisfaction of a reply.
We were still divided, since the accident, Eve’s rifle being the very thing that caused Mey’s death.
It hadn’t been intentional, she was fighting with a mage, but the results were the same, and none of us knew how to move forward from that point.
“Then it’s settled,” Amestele nodded. “Izera and I will share food and quartz between our people, and we’ll appoint someone to recruit more soldiers while we gather the existing ones for travel towards Darkshire. Did I forget anything?”
“To raise your hand before speaking?” Ashley murmured quietly, and I hoped that no one else but me caught it. Discretely, I tried shoving my elbow into her side, and she straightened herself as she defiantly crossed her arms.
“That is all,” I blurted out quickly, closing the conversation to avoid any questions. “Who will you send with us, then?”
“I’ll have him meet up with you outside,” she smiled, as she leaned to the side and whispered to a mage next to her who disappeared quickly afterwards.
“Fishy.” Ashley leaned closer to me. “I bet she’s sending a spy with us, trying to get an advantage.”
“Well,” I sighed quietly. “We’re all about being open and honest now, aren’t we?” I gave her a knowing look again, and she waved her hand at me as if trying to wave off a fly.
“Let’s get to it, then,” Izera said shoving off her chair and walking out without waiting for a reply.
The rest of the Ashen Corps slowly followed, more uncertain, a clear image of how broken and shattered they had become without solid leadership. Remove their hatred of mages, and suddenly they’re all just lost and confused.
“Until next time,” Amestele chuckled lightly, rising along with her comrades to leave.
She, on the other hand, was too confident with no visible hesitation, which led me to believe she might be after something else, exactly as Ashley indicated.
“Phew… you could string up that tension and make a violin with it,” Nate sighed loudly.
“Fitting, since you’ve been out of tune this whole time,” Ashley snickered, before she could stop herself.
Their eyes collided and silence stretched, before Nate rose and began walking away.
“Wait, Nate,” Ashley sighed, stubbing her foot against one of the chairs. “Damn it!”
“You’re so smooth, one might think you get paid for salting our wounds,” Eve said sharply, glaring at her.
“Oh, you mean the wounds you inflicted?” Ashley bit out, like an attack dog. Before Eve was able to react, Ashley’s head dipped and I hooked my arm with hers, pulling her along with me to catch up with Nate.
We left the room, the only finished building in the camp, and entered the sea of surrounding tents.
We had practically built a camp in the field where everything had gone down a couple of weeks earlier. It was located right at the border between Aetherion and Ashen Corps lands, a place now called the Rimefield.
It was here that we had managed to broker a fragile ceasefire after decades of blood spilt… To think, the place where both sides had lost high ranking leaders in a nightmarish display had now become a site of unity for us all.