What had happened?
The answer came when two more figures barged in behind Bastan. She recognized the black robe and crimson sash of the alchymist from Kepenhill. He came with another: a slender young man with a dark complexion and gray eyes who wore a green hunter’s cloak clasped with a tiny silver arrow. He also carried a bow and quiver over his shoulders. Nyx recognized him from the procession up the school’s steps. He had been marching behind the wagon pulled by Gramblebuck.
“Bastan is right,” Frell gasped out. “It won’t be long before we’re overrun by knights and Vyrllian Guards.”
And that’s not all, Nyx thought. There’s far worse coming.
She could already hear the cries of the thousand bats sweeping toward the town. The edges of her vision had begun to frizz with their sharp whining. Still, from the lack of any reaction, the others appeared deaf to the rising chorus.
“Where’s the rest of the bullock herd?” Bastan asked her dah, breathing hard. “Saw the paddock was empty on my way here.”
“Aye, Ablen moved ’em to the back yoke for the eve.”
Bastan winced. “Then it’ll have to be Gramblebuck,” he said. “I’ll get the brute around to the marsh dock and switched over to a sledge. We must get deep into the swamps.”
With that, her brother dashed out the door and crossed to Gramblebuck’s side. He used a knife to slash the traces and free the old bullock from the wreckage of the wagon.
As he led Gramblebuck away, Nyx’s dah stepped forward and addressed the other two men. “What’s this all about?” Confusion and dread sharpened his voice. “Why be knights coming here? Are they meaning to take Nyxie?”
“Possibly,” Frell admitted. “But right now, the highmayor will demand satisfaction for the death of his sacrifice.” The alchymist glanced to the hunter with a forlorn look. “I understand why you dropped the beast with your arrow, Kanthe, but there will be blood to settle before it’s all over.”
Nyx stiffened. She remembered the searing pain in her left eye. Fury burned through her fears as she realized the source of that attack. She swung to the hunter. “You … it was you who killed the bat?”
The hunter stood his ground against the heat of her anger. His face hardened with a stony disdain, as if he had weathered far worse than her tirade.
Frell came to his defense. “Trust me, lass, it was not a cruel killing. Prince Kanthe acted out of mercy, to keep the beast from the agony of the flames.”
Nyx struggled to put this explanation in perspective, to quash the fire inside her. But shock made it difficult. She stared harder at the hunter.
He’s a prince?
Her dah gasped, looking near to dropping to a knee. “Prince Kanthe ry Massif, the king’s second son.”
As confusion and astonishment snuffed out the last of her anger, Nyx again heard the approaching cries of the winged horde. She squinted against the fiery buzzing in her head. It grew with every breath. Her sight narrowed toward a pained pinpoint. She pressed her palms against her ears, both to try to muffle the shrillness and to hold her skull together.
Frell frowned at her. His voice sounded far away. “What’s wrong?”
She gasped her answer. “They … They’re almost upon us.”
As if summoned by her words, a small shape dove low over the abandoned wagon and through the door. It swept the room, driving everyone down, except for Nyx. Then with a snap of its wings, it flipped through the air and vanished into the shadow of the rafters.
To her side, the prince had dropped to a knee. He had his bow out, with an arrow already nocked. Its steel point aimed at the thatched roof.
“Don’t!” Nyx warned.
Jace reached and pulled the prince’s bow down. “Listen to her.”
“He means us no harm,” she said, staring up. “It’s my lost brother.”
Prince Kanthe scowled. He relaxed his bow but kept the arrow tight to the string. He mumbled under his breath, “How many blasted brothers does she have?”
Nyx had no time to contemplate his odd words. Her skull still vibrated with a thousand cries of fury, but a sharper note cut through it all and arrowed deep inside her, taking the world with it. Two watery images, one lapping over the other, filled her vision.
First:
A dark body burns in flames. Wings smoke and curl. Flesh chars and splits, exposing bones. Through the black pall over the pyres, red eyes glow—at first several, then hundreds, then more. A moment later, the two pyres shatter under a blast of furious wings. Burning wood and embers cascade high, falling like fiery rain over the school, followed in turn by dark bodies diving everywhere.
Second:
A winged shape lies broken across the steps to the ninth tier, slowly being dragged by hooks and nets. Then it is freed, abandoned on the steps, the thorny nets yanked away. In the sky above, a pair of monstrous bodies circle once, then claws descend and gently dig into dead flesh. With a rush of air, the body is carried off the steps and lofted high. It wafts through the smoke of the pyres and is drawn even higher. It now sails through the clouds, on one last flight, toward the distant shadow of a mountain misted in steam, where it will find its final rest. Behind it, the dark storm follows in its wake, leaving the school unmolested.
Nyx dropped back into her body with a gasp, back into the warmth of her home. The aroma of bubbling stew replaced the terror of burnt flesh and the sulfurous steam of a distant mountain.
Jace caught her before she fell. “Nyx…”
She gulped a breath, then turned to the others. The bones of her skull still trembled with the energies buzzing inside. She squinted against it to speak.
“There is hope. Buried in a warning.” She searched the rafters for red eyes, but her winged brother remained hidden. She glanced over to the prince, who looked upon her with a measure of horror. “Maybe they sensed your merciful heart and now offer some mercy of their own. Yet, their forbearance only extends so far. If their brethren’s body is burned, they will still exact their vengeance upon us all. But if we let them recover its remains without interference, they will depart and leave us be.”
Frell gaped at her as much as the prince, but his gaze shone with fascination and wonder. Still, he understood. “Then we must stop the others from casting the bat’s corpse into the flames.”
“Is there enough time?” Jace asked.
“We must try.” The alchymist grabbed the prince’s shoulder. “Maybe you can convince them that the death of the bat is enough.”
Kanthe stared toward the open door and blew out a pained breath. “In other words, you want us to run all the way back up there? After coming all the way down?”
Jace reached to his tunic pocket and fumbled out a key. “Maybe this will help. It’s for the alchymists’ stair.” He offered it to the pair. “You’ll find swifter passage that way with fewer folks to block you.”
Frell took it. “Thank you. I know that path well from my time here at the school.” He faced Nyx and the others. “Whether we succeed or fail, you should all seek refuge in the deep swamp. Bats are not the only danger to Nyx or anyone else who aids her.”
“It will be done,” her dah said. “We can go to the winter barn on the shores of Fellfire Scour.”