Chapter 23

Stryker

I t was my hearing that returned first. Screams of agony and battle cries broke through the fog that held me captive. I still wasn’t fully aware of my body, so when the first piercing noises broke through the haze, I thought I was dreaming.

But it wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare.

I tried to come back into myself, to force the arms and legs that I couldn’t feel to move, but my body wasn’t my own.

Bits and pieces of some faraway slaughter filtered through to me in audible chunks that would tear apart my ear drums one second, and then go silent the next.

Inch by inch, I dragged myself back into consciousness. Driven by the desperate instinct that I was needed, that I was about to lose something precious, I clawed against the dark abyss that threatened to pull me back under.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally forced my eyes open. My limbs were heavy as lead and my mouth was as dry as the Southern deserts.

Through blurred vision and the low light of a dying day, I made out that I was in my chamber, back in my castle in Easteria.

How did I get here? What’s happening?

Just as I formulated the questions, an explosion ripped through the outer wall of my room, punching a hole and causing rocks and mortar to rain down on me.

Forcing my body to move, I rolled out of bed just before part of the ceiling caved in and the bed collapsed.

If I had still been lying there, I would have been crushed.

I shoved to my feet and quickly stumbled to the door. When I looked through the giant new hole in the room, I gasped.

From my vantage point high in the castle I could see the chaos on top of and beyond the city walls. Throngs of rebel forces pressed in on all sides.

We were under attack. And from the looks of it, losing.

Fear grabbed my heart and squeezed, stealing my breath.

Aribella!

Where was she? Was she safe?

It was all coming back to me. Going to the island with Aribella to look for the Shadow Heart and finding the shadow dragon instead. Using my magic to force her on to our boat and away from danger.

The last thing I remembered was seeing Aribella’s sweet face across the burning clearing before getting swatted by the dragon’s spiked tail.

I didn’t remember the impact, but when I looked down at my chest and abdomen I could see the freshly healed scars.

But what had happened between then and now?

I was here and alive, which meant Aribella must have battled the dragon and won.

My brave girl.

She must have also figured out a way to get me back to my castle, which couldn’t have been an easy feat with me unconscious and gravely injured.

Pride rose up in my chest for my little truth witch. She was as strong in spirit as she was beautiful.

But the warm feeling chilled as I glanced back through the hole in my wall at the devastation that was being wrought on my beloved capital city.

There were multiple fires speckled throughout the districts. Pillars of smoke rose up from other areas. And the sounds of anguish and agony as well as weapons clashing filled the air.

I prayed Aribella was far from Easteria. That she’d left me here and traveled safely back to Dawn and my brother.

The thought of being separated from her tore me in two, but I’d rather see her safely away from me than caught up in this mess. I may not understand why my kingdom was under attack, but I saw enough to comprehend one thing: today was most likely my last.

Springing into motion I had enough sense to grab a sword and pull on some boots before leaving my half-destroyed chamber. The hallways were completely empty as I ran down them toward the front entrance.

When I finally stumbled out of the castle, I was dropped into chaos.

My people ran this way and that, trying to put out fires and triage the wounded. I grabbed the arm of a dark-skinned fae as he rushed by me, halting him.

“My lord?” he said, his eyes wide as saucers.

“What’s happened here?” I asked, having to yell to be heard over the ruckus around us.

“A rebel army of Midlanders attacked the city at dawn. They say it’s close to ten thousand strong.”

Ten thousand rebels!

I did some quick calculations in my head. Not all my troops were in Easteria at the moment, but even if they were, that still wouldn’t be enough to face an army that large.

“Why did they attack?” I asked.

The man cast a look over his shoulder, anxiety rolling off him in waves. He obviously needed to be somewhere, but I couldn’t let him leave before he answered me.

“Because, my lord, they heard you were ill. Near death. They knew we were vulnerable without you. They saw an opportunity to take your kingdom and riches, and took it.”

Of course. It was a lesson I’d already learned and the reason I worked so hard to keep up a fierce reputation. The moment your enemy smelled weakness they would be on you, ready to shove a blade in your back and take what was yours.

“Aeon!” someone yelled, and the man in front of me went tense. A woman ran toward us, her eyes wide with fear.

“That’s my wife, my lord,” the man said and held up some bandages. “My daughter was injured and I was getting—”

“Go,” I said, dismissing him.

He turned and ran to the woman, and together they disappeared down a side street.

Anger stoked in my gut and I reached for my magic.

I may not have the men to match this rebel army, but I was a force to be reckoned with. I would crush the insurgents with my darkness. They wouldn’t be able to see who they were fighting, giving my troops the opportunity to pick them off, one at a time.

But as I tried to gather my magic, I found the well dry. I couldn’t do more than create a few small puffs of darkness.

The blood chilled in my veins.

The shadow dragon.

I’d been stabbed with the tail spikes. No wonder it had taken me so long to regain consciousness. I must have lost a ton of blood, for the magic that regenerated and healed me was carried in my blood. For all intents and purposes, I’d been as weak as a magicless fae, and forced to recover as slowly as one. Even now, my muscles felt feebler than they should and waves of dizziness hit me, telling me I wasn’t fully recovered.

I didn’t fear that I’d lost my magic. I knew it would return along with my strength, but it would take time.

Time that I didn’t have right now.

I looked up at the city wall nearest me. It hadn’t been breached yet, so the bulk of my army was still up on the ramparts, keeping the rebels from overrunning the city.

Since the castle staff were all missing, I needed to find one of my captains. Immediately. My top priority should have been protecting Easteria, but the truth was I needed to know that Aribella was safe. One of my captains would surely be able to tell me where she was. I hoped they’d sent her away to the safety of Noreum before this attack.

After I’d come back to Easteria and realized the mistake I’d made by leaving her, I’d given my captains strict instructions that if she were ever to return to the castle, she was to be afforded every privilege as the lady of the house. It was clear they hadn’t understood my reasoning at the time, but I trusted that they’d followed my orders. Once I knew she was safe I could focus on saving my kingdom.

Taking off for the closest city wall, I spotted one of my captains shouting orders at the base of the west wall.

Shock showed on his face when I reached him, but it quickly morphed to relief. “My lord, you’re well again! We’re saved!”

Not quite .

“Aribella, where is she?” I asked, hoping against every hope that he said somewhere far from here. But to my dismay he lifted a hand and pointed in the direction of the north wall.

“Last I saw of her she was up on the wall, fighting beside the rest of the army.”

No!

Dread tore through me, and without another word I raced to the north wall. Every step I took felt like I was running underwater. I couldn’t get there fast enough.

The wall and my soldiers upon it finally came into view. I started to frantically search for Aribella, when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a splash of red hair. Turning my head, my heart skipped a beat.

There she was.

I couldn’t see her face because she was looking out over the battle beyond the walls, but I’d know her anywhere. Her deep red hair hung in tussled waves down to the middle of her back. Mismatched armor hugged her petite frame as she shouted commands to my men that they rushed to obey.

She was magnificent.

I started for the nearest stairs, my gaze fixed on her, when a rebel crawled over the wall in front of her.

Terror like I’d never experienced before slammed into me like a raging bull.

“Aribella!” I shouted, my hand outstretched to send a wave of shadows to take down her attacker before he could strike, but nothing happened.

As he lifted the blade in his hand and angled it at her, I was powerless to do anything but watch.