CHAPTER 19

When I was a child, my father brought a conch shell back from a visit to the eastern trading port of Ralarn. Alongside the shell, he'd unpacked stories of the crescent-shaped harbours filled with ships, large and small. I'd held the salt-dried, curved body of the shell as though it was my most prized possession. It'd became a habit to run my little fingers over the divots and ridges, imagining the vast waters of the seas of Stafster and the world far beyond them. Father whispered tales that the shells of Stafster held on to secrets of the unknown, only to be heard if held up to one's ear.

So I did just that. Young and naive, prepared to listen to wonders the shell would unveil, but all I heard was a static roaring.

When I grew older, I realised that even a shell from the depths of the Stafster had nothing of importance to reveal, that it was all a lie. It wasn't secrets the shell whispered to me, but the roaring of my own blood echoing back at me.

That was what I heard now as Althea had repeated her aunt's name, a thundering roar of my own blood.

Orion was laughing, nervous eyes unblinking as he waited for the punchline of the joke. "Our aunt is as frail as a feather and as self-absorbed as the peacock the feather comes from. She could hardly organise herself, let alone a ploy of this kind."

"I am not suggesting she planned this, but it was her hand that gave me the note." Althea's stare was lost to a place on the ground before her.

"And what is there to gain from organising this?" Orion's laughter faltered back into his stern snarl. I could see from the shifting of his gaze that he, too, was beginning to realise that this was not a joke.

"It was too easy," Althea muttered, echoing my inner thought. I knew little of court politics, but it seemed pointless arranging this meeting through means of secrecy. "There will be an explanation for it, one I will question when we return to Aurelia. Tie the Hunter up and prepare yourselves. We have got all we require–"

A scream broke the night around us. The noise sliced claws down the spine of my subconscious, turning my body to ice where I stood. We all tensed, Erix loosing a raspy swear as he surveyed the dark surrounding us.

"What's that?" the Hunter spluttered, trying to stand but getting nowhere beneath Gyah's effortless hold.

I knew the answer as clear as I knew that we were in trouble. Desperate trouble.

"Gryvern," I answered, chest aching as my heart's patter turned into a thundering canter. Flashes of the monsters filled my mind, making my chest ache from the frantic canter of my heart.

One scream became two. Two became more, until it was impossible to know the number of gryvern or the location they flew from.

They were all around us, that much was clear, but in the dark, I couldn't see a single one of the winged demons. The air pulsed with wretched winds, the dark alight with the song of death.

Suddenly, the flames of the campfire exploded to great heights, the fire fuelled by Orion's power. The orange halo of light burst across the camp, casting heat over my cheeks as it unveiled the mutilated bodies of the Hunters around us. The flames grew so high that even The Sleeping Depths could be seen.

I craned my neck, unable to catch a breath as I surveyed the horror that flocked above. In the dark skies, cast deep navy above the firelight, there where countless shapes of the gryvern as they soared towards us.

The Hunter's scream was a chorus of horror and terror. Erix was shouting, putting his strong body before mine, as if that would do much to stop the gryvern as they dived upon us. Althea and Orion screamed commands, each gripping their weapons as they looked up at the scene above them.

" This was her plan…" Althea's panicked voice made it through the chaos. "The gryvern knew we would be here!"

"Bitch!" I didn't care to know who shouted it.

"I don't believe it," I said.

Lady Kelsey, the person who had housed me, gave me insight into my power and was nothing more than a kind, caring woman. She couldn't have been behind the attacks.

"Don't want to, or can't?' Althea questioned, axes drawn and ready.

Unlike when I was younger, I no longer saw the world through the rosy haze of naivety. Lady Kelsey was tied up in this attack – it was the only answer. And the gryvern wanted blood, as they had with my mother and the Icethorn Court.

And they wanted me , no matter who commanded them. I was their end goal. And I wasn't going to let them have me willingly.

Fury unspooled in me, filling every vein with a maelstrom of power.

I reached for the dagger, hand steady as I gripped it. My body swelled with the cold power that also filled the winter air around us.

The gryvern flew with perfect synchronicity, a vortex of shadows. I watched and waited for them to break formation.

"I will not let them harm you," Erix snarled through a tense jaw. My eyes darted, for a moment, from the gryvern to my guard, only to witness the granite shadows that darkened his stare. "But, for that, I am going to need you to fight. Fight hard, little bird."

Fight hard, little bird.

I swallowed a lump in my throat, wanting to show him that I was brave and ready. I only hoped he didn't see the tremble in my knees, or the shake as I gripped the dagger. Both minor details giving my fear away. "I will try."

"That's all I could ask for." Erix spared me a glance, his lips refusing to close as though he had something else to say.

The tense silence between us stretched like a taut string, waiting to give way on either side. Instead, he arced the large sword in both hands and held it before him. Before us .

We waited for what felt like an eternity.

"How do we kill them?" I asked, eyes flickering between each grey body, unable to keep track.

"Sever a limb," Erix explained, words poised and oddly calm. "A blade through the head or heart will also do."

"Or, Robin, you burn them." Orion attacked.

Althea swore at her brother, unable to stop him as he pulled back an arrow in his grand bow until his fingers shook with tension. Through one squinted eye, he angled the arrow towards the night sky, muscles screaming in his arms as he readied himself. Then a spark of light sang to life across the metal tip of the arrow. I had but a moment to notice it before the thwack of the bow signalled the release of the arrow. In to the sky it cut, flying sure and fast, towards the huddle of gryvern.

Like a golden star, it filled the night with fire. No wind or bout of snow was able to snuff out the flame.

It found its mark.

Even from a distance, I could see as the flaming arrow buried itself into a leather wing. The thin membrane exploded in fire, a vicious tongue of heat devouring the limb of the gryvern. Its scream scratched at the night, making the very stars hide behind thickening snow clouds.

Then the gryvern fell, one wing flapping frantically to keep itself airborne, but there was no use. A comet of flesh and fire, it careened towards the camp. The ground shook with the collision, the body exploding beneath the impact.

I felt the biting of sickness at the base of my throat but had no time to dwell on it, not as the army of monsters released a war cry and dived us as one.

We exploded into action.

Erix swung the sword, splitting flesh with ease, cleaving bodies in half. One after the other, each slice of his sword found a target. He hacked a path through the falling claws, wings and teeth, shielding me from danger.

Erix did well to keep them from me, but the nick of claws grew closer and closer, no matter how close I tried to put myself to his back.

I jabbed out with the dagger blindly. It was as though I punched a wall, each thud of the knife embedding itself into sicky flesh to the hilt. Warm, thick blood burst across my hand, wetting my hold on the weapon. It was near impossible to know if the creature at the end of the dagger was dead or not. Stabbing over and over. Some attacks hitting and others missing.

My forearm burned with fire, but I fought through it. Slashing and cutting. I was aware of the dark, warm blood that spread across the hilt and onto my fist. But I didn't care, didn't falter, as I kept thrusting the dagger forward into the swarm of gryvern. Not that it would do any good unless they got close, and that was certainly not what I wanted.

Erix did his best to fend them away from me. Bursts of fire and the slicing of steel could be seen through the storm of bodies. Althea and her brother fought with backs pressed together, Orion focusing more on his power, whereas Althea relied on the axes she swung in a cloud of limbs and sharp edges.

Gyah had disappeared the moment they swarmed, but in the dark, a slithering beast snapped jaws around the gryvern; she was in her Eldrae form.

No matter how many Erix killed, more seemed to join the attack. The wave of unstoppable beasts squawked and screamed in ways that shouldn't be possible. Yet on he battled, not faltering for a moment.

If there was time to gawk at his brute strength and skill, it would have been now, but there was hardly time to think besides keeping the angry rhythm of the thrusting blade in my hand.

My body grew tired quickly. My mind slowed. I longed to fall to the ground and cower beneath my arms as the claws and teeth shredded at my skin. Even Erix's shouting had silenced, conserving his energy into the constant swings of his sword.

Do something. The command came from within me and around me. Release me.

Exhaustion. It was exhaustion that conjured the voice.

Let go.

My magic begged for release. But with one look around me, to my friends and allies, I worried what would become of them if I released the uncontrollable power. Which danger was greater? The storm in my blood, or the threat of winged monsters who showed no signs of relenting.

My arm slowed, fingers slipping on the hilt. Something wet and heavy slammed into my forearm, knocking the dagger into the throng of limbs. Erix called my name. But so did the voice.

Robin . Release me. Let me go. Do something.

"Erix…" I called, voice weak and breathless as I dropped out the way of clawed feet. Erix arced his blade, metal glowing like molten stars as it cut right through the beast above me. I closed my eyes against the showering of warm, vile blood that splattered upon me. "My dagger… I've dropped my dagger."

I was blinded from exhaustion and the gryverns' gore.

Gyah released a roar above us. Clearing the blood from my vision, I gazed upon the horror of four beasts upon her, clawed, mangled hands tugging at her wings and body. They had her trapped, teeth deathly close to sinking into her skin. Fingers of red flame lifted from the campfire, reaching for Gyah and the gryvern around her.

Althea and Orion worked together, each now without weapons as they were likely scattered across the grounds. They raised hands, arms moving like the waves of water as they controlled the fire to do their bidding.

I could see – and feel – that they were both drained, reaching the limits of their powers. Althea's face was sheet white, covered in grime and soot. Orion's eyes could hardly stay open as he forced more strength and will into the fire, teeth bared in an eternal snarl. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't help Gyah. They were barely keeping the gryvern back from themselves, as they used the ruby tongues as a barrier of safety.

"We are losing," Erix huffed, his blade no longer silver but black with blood. "We have no chance of seeing this through."

Let me go, Robin.

Time slowed. Erix risked a glance, his eyes a storm of worry and apology. He was giving up. His lips moved, mouthing two words that never made it over the roaring of chaos. But I could read them, taking the words from his dirt-covered lips and piecing them together.

Little bird.

It was a plea. A request for help.

Seeing him – gaze locked on me, hope sparking in the silver of his eyes – my hesitation shattered like glass over stone.

I reached for the box within my chest. This time I didn't invite it to open as I had in my short lesson with Lady Kelsey. Instead, I ripped the lid completely from the hinges and let the cold, frozen power fill my soul.

In a moment, I was aware of every flake of snow that fell around us, joined with the nightly breeze of the Icethorn Court as it stretched across the vast and unexplored land of my heritage.

The power filled me until I was it, and it was me.

Instinct took over. I raised my hands wide with fingers splayed, offering the power a gateway to leave its vessel. Every single flake of snow and ice ceased itself midfall, held in the sky, unmoving and patient as it waited for my command.

I felt the sharp edges of the flakes. I saw the beautiful, intricate designs in my mind's eye, and so I shaped them into arrows of ice, points turning in the direction of the gryvern.

I'm free.

My hands clenched shut, and the countless, never-ending, unfathomable number of snowflakes pelted towards the monsters. They sliced through flesh and ripped wings until they were nothing but useless, loose rags around bone frames. A hiss of mist spread from my skin, curling around me and Erix where we stood.

Then the gryvern fell as one, as they'd done when they first attacked. Except, this time, they didn't get up again. Dead. Lifeless. Puppets cut from the strings of their master. Their heavy, ruined bodies slammed into the ground, echoing the pounding in my chest. I almost felt the ground beneath my feet tremble, but that was soon forgotten as I lost myself to the magic.

Winds tore at the camp, snuffing the fire as though it was no more than a candle. Swirls of fresh snow met with old that was ripped from the ground, spinning in vortexes of white around us. The movements of power followed my gaze as it trailed over the darkness before me, or perhaps my focus was its control, the power waiting for my eyes to shift onto something new before following like the proud but loyal dog it was.

I smiled among the throng of the terrifying winds and its brisk, cold bite. I could no longer feel the tip of my nose, or the sodden dampness of my blood-soaked gloves. Teeth bared to the night, I invited the power. Not only had it waited within me, but it seemed to have followed me in the very air and ground the moment I'd stepped foot onto Icethorn Court soil.

This was different to when I'd used the power before. It was endless and without impossibility.

The gryvern were no more. Only the shallow cuts of their desperate touch left across my arms and shoulders remained, a crisscross of stinging marks hidden beneath my ripped jacket and shirt. I glanced down upon my arms as the wind's kiss cooled the discomfort. Torn material flapped violently, and my skin beneath, briefly exposed, was as pale as the moon that no doubt hung beyond the layer of dark storm clouds.

I focused my attention, drunk and slow on power, to see larger hands filling mine. Great, scarred knuckles flexed as fingers wrapped around my own, holding me. An anchor of skin. Warmth among the chill that seeped from my skin. My eyes took a moment, flirting up the arms of muscle beneath torn material, all the way to squared shoulders.

Erix. His jaw tensed, hard-set eyes focused on me.

Ice clung to his skin like a dusting of jewels, snow slapping into the side of his face as my power lashed over him. But steadfast he stood. He gripped onto me with urgency, as though the power would lift me from the ground and take me off into the night.

But I could see in his silver stare, glowing within like a star, that he wouldn't let that happen.

Not now, not ever.

"You are undeniable," Erix mouthed, voice straining over the screaming winter. Tears streamed from his eyes, turning to diamonds before the torrents of air ripped them greedily from his cheeks. "You've saved us."

I couldn't respond, not even if I wanted to. The pressure of this power was turning quickly from thrilling to frantic, as though the leash I held was slipping from my weakening grasp.

"But, little bird. You need to stop this."

I shook my head, wishing for him to see the panic in my eyes.

Where were Althea, Orion, and Gyah? I couldn't see them through the dark, thick storm. Only Erix.

In a world of cold darkness, there was only Erix.

I tried everything I could to push the power back into the box in my chest, but as I reached inside for it, I found myself hollow. Empty. Void. Fear gripped at my soul with sharp, poisonous talons; it spread through my body like a terrible sickness.

What was different this time? What made the magic so unruly – as if it recognised me, but still didn't respect me.

Perhaps it was because I didn't respect it. No, I feared it.

"I…" My voice came out like a child, small and meek. "I can't do it."

Erix pulled me into him, holding my head to his chest. "You destroyed a host of gryvern with a single action. If you can do that, you can do anything ."

I closed my eyes, inhaling his welcoming scent as his gentle, circling touch stroked the back of my head. His fingers tangled with my dark hair, tugging the knots ever so slightly, and that feeling felt familiar, like a key unlocking a memory once lost.

Robin… A voice of silk filled my head and echoed across the magic of ice and storm around me, my name carried by each flake of snow, each twisting of brisk wind. Robin. Then she filled the darkness of my mind, flowing black hair and humming a tune that I had replayed in my dreams for years.

My mother.

I let go of the tugging cords of power. It was a risk, but I did it anyway, as though the humming tune had ordered me to do so. Instinct, in the familiar form of Mother. It was her voice that echoed across the magic around me, calling to me, welcoming me home.

The power ripped away from me. On all sides, the winds recoiled as a flame would to the fall of water. Back into the dark, vast expanse of the Icethorn Court it ran away, no longer required for this place – for me.

"Little bird." Erix's voice vibrated through his hard chest. "It is done."

I pried my eyes open just in time for a flare of fire to return to the campfire. On the other side, the two silhouettes of Althea and Orion waited, hunched and torn, from my power and the gryverns who now lay covered in bouts of snow around them.

The world settled, the breath returning to my lungs, still cold but not destructive.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked, voice husk as though I'd screamed for an eternity. I'd the overwhelming urge to lie down, tiredness weighing heavy on my body and mind.

"Frostbitten and bloody, but alive," Erix responded. Then it hit me that I was still holding onto him, his grip as strong and welcoming as my own. "Although it would have been worse if you didn't intervene. We were losing, until you."

Pride glittered within Althea's pinched eyes, her red-curls gathered in clumps of iced moisture. "Well done, Robin Icethorn."

I dropped my arms from around Erix's waist, stepping back even though it was far from what I wanted to do. "I felt it. The power was too much."

"That is because it has been left untamed and unclaimed for years," Erix explained. "No one is expecting you to command it with ease during your first encounter."

"First encounter?" I stared up at him, noticing the thin slice of a cut that separated his thick eyebrow.

"What you've just encountered is pure power, your family's magic left to run wild and uncontrolled. That is a hint of what will destroy the barrier between the realms, and devour Durmain if you do not make your decision."

I blinked and saw it – a world of ice. Grove ruined by the power, trampled beneath its uncaring chill long before the army of fey followed it.

"I do not know whether to slap you on the back in pride or scold you for your decisions, Robin." Althea was before me, hair tangled and gaze still as stern as it was before. Then it melted as she threw her arms around me, whispering something into my ear. "But, for now, I'll thank you."

I didn't know whether to return her hug. Before I could think too hard on it, she pulled away.

"Could have done it sooner," Orion said, looking at his nails. In the glow of his fire, I could see that he too was covered in cuts, some deeper and angrier than the rest. "But thanks, I guess."

There was a shuffling of snow, and we all jumped at a mound that vibrated. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach, expecting a gryvern to spring out of the ground, but it was Gyah, no longer in her Eldrae form.

She pushed herself up, shaking the relentless snow from her shoulders. Her golden glower boiled like coals over a fire. "Treasonous as it may be, I will tear your aunt's head off for this."

"Not if I beat you to it," Althea replied, voice steady and void of much emotion. "We need to return to Aurelia and present what has happened. I've got the antidote for Briar, and we have the proof of Kelsey's involvement."

"Oh, how I look forward to seeing the look of utter surprise when we return. Scathed, but alive," Orion added, sharing a half-smile with his sister. At least they finally agreed on something besides the outcome of me and what I meant to them both.

"Surprise that will soon become disappointment, no doubt." Erix scanned the darkness, concern etched across his brow. "However, it would seem we are one traveller down. Seems the Hunter either got away or is buried alongside the gryvern."

The Hunter had slipped my mind completely.

"Fucking slippery bastard!" Althea kicked at the hard body of a gryvern. "He best be dead, or if I find him, I will make sure he is. Gyah, do you have it in you to return?"

"Give me a moment to rest," Gyah pleaded, hunched over to catch her breath. "My body feels like it's been dragged through a field of thorns."

We were a band of tired, bloodied and torn travellers. Gyah kicked her way out of the mound of snow before quickly dropping to sit on the exposed corpse of a gryvern. Althea dug her axe into the ground and leaned on it, the other lost in the battle as my dagger had been.

"I think we have all earned a short rest," Orion said, stifling a yawn which caused the flames to flicker in response. "Emphasis on short. I am not one for sleeping among the dead–"

Orion never got to finish his sentence. Not as a blade sliced cleanly across his throat in an arc that split skin, causing dark blood to spill and splutter down his chest. The snow at his feet turned pink and scarlet, all before he could finish his final word, the last word he would ever say.

Orion was dead before his body crumpled in on itself and fell to the ground.

Behind him, blade in hand, stood the missing Hunter, chest heaving and eyes glowing with pride. Spit lined his thin lips, tongue panting, hand shaking and stained red.

"I killed a Cedarfall fey," he sang above Althea's haunting cry. "I killed a prince."