He had wind power!
I remained calm, pulling on the wolven king’s power that Axil had shared with me and imagining the man freezing to the spot, his knees going stiff. Then I threw the power over him. Suddenly he tripped over his feet and then lay on the ground, stiff as a fallen log.
Good enough.
I pressed on, trying to remain out of sight, darting through the trees in the direction Kailani gently coaxed me in. As I was barreling through the woods, freezing one or two warriors in our way, we suddenly came upon a cluster of necromerians. They were standing around a map talking battle strategy as I burst from a thicket and right into their midst.
There were over a dozen of them and they leapt backwards, startled, a few of them hissing. I skidded to a stop before them and Kailani let a curse word fly. I felt that king’s power course through my veins but before I could even concentrate to use it, the necros pounced.
They were so fast. I blinked and then they were on us.
My first fear was Kailani. I had no idea of her abilities and so I darted to the side to avoid two of the bloodsuckers but took a third head-on. It leapt onto my back, right where Kailani was riding and I steeled myself. A fourth came for me and I tore into her leg with my jaws. A body flew from my back, landing before me, and I was relieved to see it wasn’t the elvin queen. A dagger lay embedded in the chest of the necro.
Freeze, I thought and pushed it out like a net. The necros slowed but didn’t stop.
I remembered Axil’s advice. It was less about the word and more about the vision of it. Which was impossible to do when panicking! I imagined all of the necros suddenly grasping their heads in horrific pain, and one by one they dropped to their knees screaming.
I gasped, feeling like I’d done some dark thing, but again Kailani clicked her heels.
“Go!” she urged.
I ran, but the sick feeling that I was no better than Ansel stuck with me. Why did I feel bad for causing pain to someone who was trying to kill me? It was the dominant in me. It just felt wrong to control someone else like that, though it was needed in this moment. Axil was right, it was more of a burden than a blessing.
I went slower this time, creeping through the woods and watching for clusters of Nightfall warriors. I could see the castle looming on the horizon and with renewed strength, I ran harder.
“Near the west wall there is a storm drain, we will cross into the city that way if we can,” Kailani told me.
It was early morning. I feared we would be seen and killed by an arrow but kept that to myself. Best to assess the situation when we got there. I slowly made my way in that direction, only stopping when I heard a twig snap behind me.
‘It’s me.’ Axil’s voice came into my mind before I saw him. He ran up alongside me with Raife still firmly on his back. Both were covered in dirt and blood and wore signs of battle but otherwise seemed okay.
‘The Royal Guard?’ I asked him, relieved he wasn’t hurt.
‘They are helping on the front lines. I’m going to get Raife inside and hopefully he can assassinate her and be done with this before too many more people have to die.’
Raife looked at his wife. “Storm drain?”
“If we can,” she responded.
With that we moved our way through the woods, keeping watch for more warriors making their way to the front lines. The entire war seemed to be amassing along the border of Thorngate and Archmere.
There were a few sparse necros or Nightfall soldiers here and there but nothing we couldn’t handle. When we finally made it to the west side of the wall that surrounded Nightfall City, my heart sank into my stomach.
There were over fifty men pacing along the top, bows in hand as they readied themselves to defend their home. There was no way we could get past all of them. Could Axil force his will upon that many? Probably … but for how long? And if even one person raised the alarm, there were more inside, surely? We hid behind a cluster of bushes, all silent and lost in our own thoughts.
Kailani stepped off me and started to unhook my saddle.
I looked at her, perplexed, but she turned to address her husband. “We need a distraction. Draw the men to the north side of the wall so that Zara and I can slip inside.”
Okay, that was smart. Her ideas were good.
‘I can do that. Take Raife in case you see the queen. Just end this,’ Axil said for my ears only, but I felt anxious at the idea of him taking this risk for me, for Oslo. What if they killed him?
“I need you human to fit in the storm drain.” Kailani looked down at me and placed the stack of clothes at my front paws.
‘Axil, what if you get hurt?’ I peered at him, trying not to let the fear leak across our bond.
He looked over at me with blazing blue eyes. ‘What if they are hurting Oslo right now?’
That statement caused a whimper to form in my throat.
‘I can’t live with that, Zara,’ Axil said. ‘He is of you, and therefore he is of me. Go get him and I will take care of things out here.’
I padded forward, out of the heavy saddle and nuzzled his neck with my snout. ‘I love you,’ I whimpered. ‘Now. Forever. Always.’
We stayed like that for a moment, Raife and Kailani giving us our time to say goodbye. The importance of what he had said pressed upon me then; Oslo could be getting hurt right this moment. When I felt I had said a proper farewell, I started my shift. After changing quickly, I crouched in my human form and kissed the top of Axil’s wolf head.
Then I stood, careful to remain behind the bushes and walked up to Raife. He held my gaze, having no idea what Axil and I had said to each other.
“Axil will cause the distraction alone. You come with us and if we find the queen, we finish her. End this war.”
Raife grinned in approval but then the smile slipped from his face as he glanced at his old friend. One man taking on fifty warriors was not a fair fight.
The sound of crunching leaves pulled my attention to the right and I reached for my knife but stopped when I saw the shock of red hair.
Madelynn jumped into our little hidden bush alcove and gave Axil a lopsided grin. “Need some help? I’ve always wanted to ride on a wolf.”
Relief rushed through me and I pulled her into a hug, crushing her tightly in my arms.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I barely knew this woman but she was a very powerful fae, and alongside Axil, she might just be the only person able to help him fight that many men and keep him alive.
She squeezed me back and nodded.
Without further fanfare she leapt onto the saddle atop Axil’s back and then looked over at Kailani, Raife and me. “I heard it was going to be windy today.” She winked and then Axil took off, darting out into the open as a giant wind tunnel appeared in the field above the northern end of the gate.
“I love her,” Kailani said.
“Me too,” I added.
Raife went very still then, taking in a deep breath and pulling an arrow from his quiver. He nocked it and then looked at us. “The Nightfall queen is inside these walls. I can sense it. And I will not leave without the tip of this arrow embedded in her heart.”
It was time to seek revenge. When Zaphira took my little brother, she had no idea who she was dealing with.
EIGHTEEN
The commotion that Madelynn and Axil made at the north end of the wall allowed us to slip into the storm drain and pop out inside the city undetected. I had no pointed ears to hide, neither did Kailani, so it was just Raife who had to keep his long white hair and sharp tipped ears disguised under a hat while we were inside the human city.