Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
T he shadow of Ironwraith withdrew overhead as I remained locked in combat in the depths of the no-man's land which divided the lands of Avanis and Cascada. I bared my teeth as I spun beneath the swiping metal claws of a beast which looked to have once been a bear, its bulk towering over me, its jaws parted in the maddened fury of the twisted creations that roamed the wilds.
Long ago in some madness or genius now forgotten to the dredges of the Endless War, Fae had taken wild beasts and experimented on them, melding their bodies with metallic contraptions imbued with magic. The idea had been to create more warriors to throw into the countless battles, but the reality had been these horrifying beasts which were impossible to control.
They were driven mad by the magic forced into their bodies, unable to die thanks to the potions and spells cast on them with dark magic and the twisted manipulations of Ether. There was no way of utilising them in the war without risking them being unleashed on the armies who deployed them, but somewhere along the line, someone had come up with the idea of placing them in this desolate slice of hell.
They were left to roam this broken wilderness between the lands, a law unto themselves, starving and feral with an insatiable hunger. The Boundaries which marked the edges of the nations they bordered stopped them from crossing thanks to their magic, but in this place, they acted as a further line of defence against any Fae foolish enough to try and attack directly across the borders.
The air kingdom of Stormfell wasn't free of their burden; our lands in the distant north shared a border with the fire-ruled land of Pyros, the chasm parting our nations holding its own share of monstrous creations. I had seen them before, but until now I'd never been forced to face one head on.
All around me Fae were launching into the sky, their air magic hurling them away from the battle with the beasts as they heeded the call for retreat, the bells of Ironwraith ringing to signal us home. But without my windrider, I had no hope for retreat and I had seen no sign of Prince Dragor since he'd dropped me into this mayhem.
I spun out, my sword clanging futilely against the metallic armour which coated the beast's belly and a curse spilling between my teeth.
I was forced to dive beneath it as it lunged for me, rolling across the barren land, the bones of small creatures crunching beneath me where they littered the crusty soil.
I threw myself to my feet then danced away as the bear hunted for me on its far side, having lost sight of me for a moment.
My gut dropped as I looked for the remainder of our troops and found only three warriors still standing in the field with me.
My eyes met those of the closest soldier as he kicked a beast which appeared something like a tiger in the side and knocked it away from him. His gaze hardened as he looked at me, no remorse showing at all as he launched himself into the air and shot away, abandoning me to my fate.
I committed his pasty face and the whisps of white beard to memory, marking him for later and trying not to flinch as the two remaining warriors abandoned me too.
Sinfair. Crossborn.
The words haunted me like the curse they were.
The bear rounded on me and I ran to meet it, bellowing a roar in reply to the one it offered me. I'd been fighting it for long enough to have picked up on its style and as it swiped at me with those lethal claws, I jumped. My boot landed on its forearm, giving me the leverage I needed to propel myself even higher and I fisted my hand in the fur behind its ear as I launched myself onto its back.
A cry escaped me as I swung my sword in a double handed strike, throwing all of my considerable strength into the strike and decapitating the beast with a blow that made my arms echo with the force of it as it toppled to the ground.
I leapt away from it as the other beasts all whipped around, the too thick, too dark blood which pulsed from the bear's severed neck drawing them all to it like the rabid creatures they were, and they forgot me as they fell into a frenzy of feeding.
I set my gaze on the retreating form of Ironwraith and broke into a run, my feet pounding across the uneven ground, arms pumping, breaths heaving. I wouldn't be left behind. My reputation wasn't unfounded.
A single cable still hung from the island, the only harpoon to have snapped in its crash to the ground and I fixed my eyes on it as I ran. Faster and faster, my muscles screaming in protest, my lungs burning, eyes watering from the sting of the dank air. I sheathed my sword, managing not to impale myself through some small miracle and leaving my hands free as I ran faster still.
The island was rising, Ironwraith heading for the clouds, turning away from Avanis in case more harpoons lay in wait. The cable no longer dragged across the ground but now swung a foot above it. Two feet. Three.
My blood isn't who I am. My weakness doesn't define me. I carved my place in their kingdom. I made them notice me. I earned my own name among them. I am just as they all whisper; black-hearted, ruthless, unstoppable, and above all else, un-fucking-killable.
The cable whipped upward, six feet off the ground and climbing rapidly, already above my head, but I was jumping, my hands grasping and then the cold metal was biting into my fingers and I found a purchase on it.
I smiled grimly as the beasts howled and feasted below, digging my fingers into the woven metal cable which was a thick as the trunk of a hundred-year-old tree. My boots scrambled against it, but I gritted my teeth and kept climbing.
Up and up. The wind was biting, chapping the skin from my cheeks, blasting my hair all around me as the island retreated into the clouds.
I couldn't see a thing as the frigid fog engulfed me, my handholds growing slick as I continued to climb. My arms trembled with the effort it took, my boots slipping out more than once, threatening to pitch me right off of the cable and hurl me into the unknown below.
It didn't matter. Nothing mattered beyond the next hand hold, next heave of my arms, the brutal clench of my thighs. Until finally, my fingers met with rock and dirt, the familiar stone and sand of Ironwraith welcoming me home.
I released a ragged laugh, using the prongs at the top of the harpoon to pull myself from the cable and then I was clambering over the stony cliff face on the rear side of the island.
Scaling the cliff seemed easy in comparison to that whip of metal, and before long, my arm was hooking over the top edge, my right leg following.
I dragged myself to my feet on the six inches of space before the giant air shield which had been erected to surround the moving island, protecting us all from attack and the elements.
I took a dagger from my belt and drove it into the air shield with a savage strike, causing a spiderweb of cracks to form all over its surface.
Fae on the other side whirled to face me, drawing weapons and crying out in alarm. Pure fear lit the faces of many, including the asshole who had left me to die down in that slice of hell.
But my focus, every single piece of it, was captured by Prince Dragor who had fallen utterly still before the gates of Echo Fort, his light eyes widening just a touch as I gave him my most wicked smile.
And as he smiled darkly in return, I knew that my reign as the Sky Witch wasn't anywhere near over.
It had only just begun.