Chapter 13 The Battle of Erétria #2
Orion growled and gave a louder cry that apparently directed the company of griffins that had come with us to land and engage with the Fuath by hand.
We flew above, ensuring they had extinguished the threat before banking back toward the main battlefield.
I couldn’t help staring down at the carnage in the city below, wishing I could be down there to help the civilians.
But I knew I was more effective on the front lines until Riordan arrived.
Everything alright? Riordan inquired down our bond, as if my thinking of him had summoned him.
Fine. But I think—
We were flying over the army again where the Fuath scrambled to get out of our path. It happened so suddenly I almost missed it when they revealed a man. There was a fucking humanoid man hiding among the monsters!
Before I could even begin to understand what I was looking at, he unleashed a bolt from the immense harpoon gun hoisted over his shoulder.
I screamed, and Orion barely twisted in time to avoid being hit. His movement nearly threw me off his back.
“What the fuck was that?” I shouted once we levelled out again, but obviously he was not able to respond.
What is happening? Riordan demanded, but I ignored him as Orion began to take us higher and away from the unexpected threat.
“Oh, hell no, I need to kill him before he hits one of our warriors!” I shouted to Orion.
Orion deliberated a moment before he grumbled his agreement and adjusted course just in time to see another griffin skewered and fall from the sky.
“Shit!” I hissed. Riordan! There are some other kinds of people working with the Fuath! I warned my mate.
I could sense his hesitation and confusion as I tried to send him my vague impression of the man. His fury was instant when he saw our comrade shot out of the sky.
That harpoon gun…
His thoughts trailed off into a collage of his memories from our frantic flight when both of his wings had been pierced by magic-blocking bolts.
It was much bigger. And there is no way that vampires could have gotten into the Vale, so it’s likely a fey. Right?
He did not reply, but I could feel the turmoil of his thoughts as he tried to work out what this meant.
We are ten minutes out, he assured me.
Good. That meant I had time to kill that motherfucker with the gun before he could threaten my mate.
I held on more tightly as we flew over the army again and was prepared when Orion had to twist to avoid the bolt that came out of the thick of the Fuath.
He banked hard again to give me the angle I needed, and I quickly unleashed a blaze of magic.
The section where the man with the gun had hidden was consumed, and I whooped in self-congratulation for my aim.
I glanced over my shoulder in anticipation of seeing his charred remains among those of the Fuath, but I was instead confronted with his smug face. He was unharmed amidst the carnage around him with that unnatural sheen of green all around him. A shield…
“Fucker!” I snarled at the grinning asshole even as an immense relief consumed me that he was not a vampire. Only fey and witches could erect shields so effortlessly around themselves. And a witch could hardly cast a spell on someone else without being close to them.
This is not Jade, I was happy to be able to reassure Riordan through our bond. He is definitely fey.
Then it is likely the Wild Hunt, Riordan replied with equal parts relief and frustration.
There was no way for me to know what season the fey belonged to but another fey could confirm that. It would be best if we could take him captive, but I would not risk the lives of our warriors to do it.
My contemplations were abruptly doused in horror as the bastard turned that harpoon gun on the griffin flying behind us and shot at Ares. I jerked around as the griffin gave an anguished cry and then watched in horror as my friend plummeted toward the ground.
“No!” I shouted and yanked on Orion to go after him, but it was unnecessary since he had already swerved in that direction.
The wind ripped at the braid Sofia had secured my hair in and made my eyes water as his wings beat hard to propel us to Ares before he hit the ground.
All four of Orion’s taloned paws seized Ares to slow his rapid descent, and I was relieved to see the bolt had struck his wing and was nonlethal.
But Orion could not carry the other griffin, all he could do was slow him down.
Fuath immediately tried to swarm, but the second my feet hit the ground, I emitted a shock wave of heat that seared their flesh and lungs. It made the rest of them think twice before they tried to approach again.
I turned to Orion who had shifted into his two-legged form already.
He had a foot braced on Ares’s wing with both hands around the bolt as he pulled it from his friend.
I winced in sympathy for Ares who let out a catlike yowl of pain but held steady until Orion had thrown the bloody missile aside in disgust. Then my guardian shifted and reclined on his back and elbows with his injured wing extended across the trampled ground.
“What the fuck was that?” he snarled furiously.
“A fey,” I answered, my eyes on the Fuath that circled us as they tried to decide whether they wanted to try and attack again. “Riordan thinks it is the Wild Hunt.”
“Speaking of our king,” murmured Orion, drawing my eyes to the sky as another host of griffins arrived. I could hear the thunderous cries of hatred from the Fuath around us as they heckled the new arrivals.
What are you doing on the ground? Riordan raged in my mind, and I saw a company split apart from the main army to fly quickly in our direction.
Ares was hit with a bolt. He is safe now, I explained. We will cover your landing.
I sent out another wave of heat and fire that made the Fuath back up enough for the griffins to land around us. The Imítheos warriors shifted right away and formed a defensive wall, using their magic to steal the breath from any Fuath who came too close.
Riordan came straight over to me and Orion. He put a hand on both of us as if he needed to be sure we were safe before he knelt next to Ares to heal him.
“I am alright, my King. Thanks to them,” the warrior swore with a thankful nod first to me and then Orion.
Riordan nodded, but his fists were clenched as he rose with deadly intent I easily recognized. I rose to follow as he strode through the ranks of Imítheos warriors to face the Fuath. They jeered at him but were smart enough to stay back out of the range of his air-stealing magic.
Riordan stood before them, and I could feel his power trembling through the earth and in the ground, but it had no effect on the beasts.
They still have you blocked somehow.
His response was a wordless and furious confirmation through our bond. But I was clearly still able to use my magic on them so I stepped forward to take his hand.
Let me help you, I urged him when he looked down at me in confusion.
Riordan seemed intrigued with this possibility, and he lowered the last of the shields between us in the way that he usually only did during intimacy.
It was like our hearts and breaths were one as we became fully immersed in one another.
I could feel his magic, not just in him but around us in the Vale, and through my bond with him.
I reached for it the way I reached for my own power, and then I could suddenly feel the resistance all around us that he was talking about.
It was like a shield had been erected just for him to specifically target his power and prevent it from being used against the Fuath.
And it was tailored so specifically for him that trying to disable it felt like trying to climb a sheer wall.
But maybe my magic could burn through the spell?
Riordan saw the wisdom of this thought, and in the same way I used his power, he was able to use mine too. He fused our magics so they formed something new that was completely impervious to this strange shield.
And in the blink of an eye, the entire field fell eerily still and silent.
I stared in a mixture of horror and awe at the evidence of our combined strength as the Fuath began to sway.
Black blood streamed from their nostrils, and the sound of their weapons dropping from listless fingers was all that could be heard for a moment before they suddenly collapsed to the earth altogether.
A cheer rose from the warriors around us, but Riordan was looking only at me with pure admiration in his eyes.
My mind was reeling too much to celebrate.
This did not feel like something the Wild Hunt would have orchestrated.
Perhaps my instinct was totally wrong, it was not like I knew the man personally, but this just did not align with what little I knew of the Autumn Prince.
Rian had come to the Vale himself to bring Spring Court fey to safety during their world’s collapse.
Using the sort of secretive and underhanded tactics at play here just did not seem to fit that style.
He had not struck me as a man who would waste time or resources playing games when he could just take what he wanted.
And then there was the fact that Castor’s warning had saved my life.
It may have saved the whole city from utter destruction if my suspicions about the green vats were proven correct.
So unless he was playing one hell of a mind game to try and win me over without any care for the stakes, then I doubted he was responsible either.
But if it was not Castor or Rian plotting against my mate, then who the fuck was it?