Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

H arlon's scent of lime and sea air was all I focused on as the clash of battle rang out around us. He held me a little tighter to his chest as he threw a kick at the door of an Astrologist's store, the lock shattering under the impact before he carried me inside.

My thoughts were in a haze of grief as he sat me on a table, knocking aside a display of tarot cards and crystals as he did so. He took hold of my injured hand, gently turning it over to inspect it while I laid down the blade that I'd taken from The Forge, my breaths coming in slow, uneven exhales. She was lost…gone.

"Fuck, Ever," Harlon exhaled, and my eyes tracked over his distressed expression, my tongue empty of words as he hurried off into a back room.

Bloody screams and the chaos of war clashed like a faraway din in my ears, even though the battle was so close it could have spilled in here at any second. I tried to get a grip on my mind, the roiling grief that was cleaving my chest apart and the numbness that had my body in a firm hold. If a fight followed us here, I couldn't be found like this. I had to make a stand for Cascada.

"You're in shock," Harlon said as he returned with a bottle of aura cleanse which was pretty much all water, but it had a gleaming amethyst crystal at the bottom of it. He held a cloth too and he took my hand again, taking in the blazing red burn across it.

"This will hurt," he warned, then he tipped up the aura cleanse and it splashed against my wounds, jolting me violently out of the numbness and into purest pain.

I threw my good hand to my mouth to stifle my scream, biting into the back of it as he washed the last of the venom from my skin then dried it with the cloth.

I lowered my hand from my mouth, my eyes watery from the agony, and Harlon gripped my chin to make me look at him.

"This doesn't break you, Ever, do you understand me?" he said firmly. "You have a soul crafted by the hand of the ocean herself. You hold the strength of the tide in your blood, so you will not fade, you will fight ."

I found something to hold onto in his words, the strength of them washing through me and wrapping my heart in steel.

"Domerna sil oceania," he growled, his copper eyes flaring with all the injustice of what had happened to me. Tame the ocean. Those words were spoken in our native tongue, the one we were encouraged not to speak in favour of speaking the Universal Language. Words we had called to each other time and again while out in the surf, riding the waves upon our tiderunners. But they meant so much more than that now.

"Domerna sil oceania," I whispered.

"Louder," he commanded.

"Domerna sil oceania," I said fiercely, and he stepped back, letting me drop to my feet.

I snatched the blade and, as if guided by the hand of Pisces herself, my head turned. I found my gaze falling upon two men racing along the cobbled street beyond the building, avoiding the clash of war between water and air. The Flamebringers. The men who had caused my mother's death.

My gaze fixed on the one without a mask, the back of his head to me as they took a right down a back alley. I ran, no other thought present in my mind but vengeance as I sprinted through the door to take chase. I was light-footed, fast, and I knew I could catch that monstrously beautiful killer if only I didn't lose sight of the next path he took.

"Everest!" Harlon barked, taking chase at my back, but I spared him no attention, my teeth gritting as I sprinted on, turning down the alley my enemies had taken.

There, at the end of the darkened passage, I saw them turning once again, left this time, disappearing into the shadow of the night. But I was only moving faster, tearing after them with a fury that lined my limbs and had me moving with all the power of Cetus in my muscles.

I made to lunge out of the alley, to catch the man who had taken my beloved Mama from me, but a hand banded around my wrist and yanked me back. Harlon flattened me to the wall, his hand clapping over my mouth, stifling the words of rage that poured from me.

"Not like this," he hissed as I struggled furiously against his hold. But he was bigger than me by far, his bulk immobilising my limbs. "You are not nearly trained enough to take on a Flamebringer. Those men have likely been killing since they could hold a blade. Do you know how they raise their warriors in that place?"

I did know. The rumours were rife. Children were wielded as weapons and nothing more, honed and crafted just as the metal at The Forge. Only their nobles were regarded as true Fae, and it made me hate the Flamebringers all the more. But if my mother's killer was nothing but a machine created for slaughter, then all the more reason to make sure he was destroyed.

Harlon lowered his hand from my mouth as I spat a curse at him. "You dare take this decision from me?"

"Never," he said, a dark kind of fury in his eyes that spoke of how much he despised those Flamebringers too. "But you're not prepared to take them on."

I glanced out of the alley in desperation, my eyes just picking out the two men as they raced for the woodland that climbed the northern hill. They were making for The Boundary, and a sudden realisation hit me.

"They're un-Awakened – they don't have their fire magic yet," I gasped. "That's how they got through The Boundary. Ransom pushed me through it tonight and I was unmarked by its power."

Shock marred Harlon's face, but he didn't waste time questioning me on that. "Then they are only as strong as the weapons they carry," he said, a gleam of malice in his gaze.

I glanced at the simple blade in my hand, accepting it wouldn't be enough. "Step back and follow my commands."

Harlon's eyebrows arched, then he conceded, surprising me as he retreated to let me go. "I know you need this," he said in a gruff voice. "So command me at your will. I'll have their heads tonight if it's what you ask of me, Ever."

"You can have one of them, but the maskless Flamebringer is mine ," I growled, taking off out of the alley but veering to the left back towards the roar of battle in the heart of the town.

My bare feet hit the warm stone street and I lifted my blade in preparation of what we were about to face as we rounded into the town square.

Skyforgers were being ripped from the sky by ice and water magic as they raced for the hulking mass of Ironwraith. It was now retreating from battle, the giant island already halfway out over The Crux as its warriors made a passage through the air toward it. I didn't know whether we had forced them to turn tail or if some other tactic was in play on their part, and I didn't have time to figure it out as a giant Caucasian Eagle tore from the sky, its talons reaching for my head and a musical cry breaking from its razor-sharp beak.

I raised my blade with a yell, swiping at the beast and cutting its foot clean off, making the shifted Fae shriek in pain and fly for the heavens. But as my eyes narrowed and my upper lip peeled back with hatred for the Skyforgers' hand in my mother's death this night, I knew I couldn't let it escape.

I threw the blade with all the strength I possessed, the dagger wheeling end over end before finding a home in the Eagle's chest. It shrieked as it died, slamming down to the street before us in a heap of twisted brown feathers. I snatched the blade from its chest as I leapt over its corpse, running faster while Harlon followed in my wake.

We made it to the town square where the battle was still raging, and my gaze fell on Commander Rake, my father taking up centre position among a group of soldiers wearing the dark blue armour of Cascada. His Merrow Order was out in full force, his thick, muscular arms covered in sharp navy scales that protruded from his skin like razorblades. They crawled up his neck, over his chest and legs, the spines on his back curved and lethal if anyone was driven into them. His brown hair was a tangle of curls that fell to the nape of his neck, brushing against the thick beard that coated his chin.

His hands were raised, water spewing from them in great whips that caught Skyforgers by the ankles and tore them from the air, throwing them to the cobbles with sickening cracks. His soldiers ran forward to finish any the commander brought down, and blood washed across this beautiful place. Even the central fountain was running red as several bodies lay face down in the water, their wounds spilling blood into the once sparkling blue. The sapphire eyes of the twisted sea serpent that spiralled up at its heart reflected the flash of magic in the air, as if it was truly laying witness to the massacre and my pulse thumped a rampant tune of death inside my skull.

Townsfolk had taken up arms and were battling around the square with the Skyforgers, trying to kill as many as they could while more of the air wielders retreated to the sky.

"Go that way," I ordered Harlon, pointing him down the narrow street to our left. Steep steps dropped away towards the glinting moonlit ocean in the distance, and along that path lay my home. "Fetch my mother's ice sword and meet me on the corner of Galatea Street."

A flash of hesitation filled Harlon's eyes, but he nodded, placing his faith in my reckless plan.

With him on a safer path, I took a direct line across the square, knowing I was risking my neck, but I couldn't waste any time. The Flamebringers would be closing in on The Boundary, and there was only one way we could catch them now.

Strong hands gripped my hair from above and a cry of alarm left me as I was yanked into the air by a Harpy with brown wings. I brought my blade up as my scalp screamed with pain, swinging it at his leg, but it only swiped across the metallic armour that coated his body with a screech of metal.

He carried me higher and the square dropped away below me, my heart thrashing at the sight as he flew over the tiled rooftops. I reached up again, latching my hand around his waist and getting just enough purchase to look up and hurl my blade at his face. He cursed, his head whipping sideways to avoid it and he released me, a scream tearing from my lungs as I went tumbling out of the sky.

I hit a red tiled roof, slamming into it and rolling in a blur of motion, bruises blossoming across my skin and my knee splitting open again. As I went flying over the edge of the roof, I threw my arms out, somehow catching the gutter by nothing but a sheer miracle, and a breath of thanks passed my lips for the luck of Delphinus gracing me.

I glanced below me as I hung onto the tiles, spotting a balcony just to my right. With a swing of my legs, I managed to launch myself that way, landing lightly in a crouch with the nimbleness that my mama had often praised me for.

At the thought of her, my heart wrenched painfully and the shock of the Harpy's attack fell away in favour of my keener focus. Vengeance. It called to me with all the wrath of the stars and I would answer its call this very night.

I lowered myself over the balcony's edge, letting go and dropping to the street, hitting the ground running. The flight with the Harpy had brought me closer to my destination, and as I wheeled around another corner, I found the cavalry stables waiting for me.

The gates were bolted, but it didn't take me long to find a place where I could climb the brick wall, heaving myself up and over it then dropping onto the other side.

The horses were stamping and whinnying nervously in their stables, scenting smoke in the air. But the one horse that seemed unaffected was the one I had come for. Karkinos. My father's war horse. He was a white stallion with a black braided tail and mane, his size imposing. His bridle hung waiting by the door and I grabbed it, unlocking the bolt that kept him contained, and he snorted at me, eyeing me with suspicion. Only my father was meant to ride him. If he knew what I planned, I would have been on the heated end of his ire, and that was a place no Fae ever wished to be.

"Easy boy," I said, offering the bit to his mouth and he reluctantly accepted it.

I patted his soft nose as I fitted the bridle in place then guided him from his stall. He trotted after me as I took off at a run for the gate, yanking open bolts and levers before shoving it wide. I led Karkinos to a low wall across the street, stepping up on it then leaping onto his back. I cursed as the reins grazed against my injured hand, and I released them, holding on with only my right. Without a saddle, he was a little harder to ride, and I was more used to the narrow waist of my mama's work pony. I kicked his sides to get him going and I got him quickly into a gallop, gathering the reins in my right hand and racing up the hill in the direction I'd told Harlon to meet me.

Karkinos was faster than any horse I'd ridden, the warm wind sweeping over me and making my long hair fly out behind me. I guided him through the winding cobbled streets then pulled to a halt at the corner of Galatea Street, where the trees dotted the hill ahead of me.

Harlon was there with my mother's gleaming sword strapped to his hip, and his eyes widened at the sight of my father's war horse.

"Ever," he gasped. "This is suicide."

"You don't have to come," I said, not wanting to drag him down this path I was on, but my grief was cutting too deep for me to see anything beyond what I had to do. If I paused for even a second, I'd crash and burn in the agony of my loss.

"As if I'd let you go alone." Harlon leapt up, heaving himself up behind me, and I kicked Karkinos to get him moving again as his arms closed around my waist.

His hooves thundered across the street, then up the dirt path into the trees, tearing through the brush as I spurred him into a gallop. Harlon's arms tightened around me and I clenched my teeth as I urged the horse to go even faster, fearing the Flamebringers might have made it into the wilds by now. But at that possibility, I didn't balk. I knew I'd follow my mother's killer there. So long as I had a path to him, I'd be following it.

We scaled the hill, meeting with the thick snow that caked the edge of Cascada, and as The Boundary came into sight, I guided Karkinos to the right, following the line of it and hunting for the men who couldn't be much further ahead.

My gaze was drawn to the huge land mass in the sky where it floated above The Crux. It was so large, its shadow straddled the two-mile-wide gap that parted us from the earth-ruled land of Avanis, and as we broke out of the trees, I realised the Stonebreakers were springing an attack of their own. Huge harpoons were wedged into the far side of Ironwraith and the floating island was tilting as the Stonebreakers fought to drag it from the sky.

"Ever – watch out!" Harlon barked and Karkinos reared up as fire suddenly bloomed along our path.

We were thrown from his back, my fall cushioned as I fell against Harlon, and he wheezed a breath from the impact.

Karkinos turned and bolted into the trees and the two of us scrambled upright, finding the Flamebringers standing beyond the fire with their flaming swords the clear source of that fire.

The one without the mask was standing beyond The Boundary, looking to his friend who was dangling upside down from a tree, toying with his sword. He swung from the branch, flipping over and landing lightly on his feet, cocking his head to the side, his eyes brightest green behind his mask and his messy dark brown hair hanging wayward around it.

"Come on, North," the maskless one spoke, and I drew my mother's sword from the sheath strapped to Harlon's hip, stalking straight for him despite the flames that were licking their way between us and them.

Harlon drew his own sword from the sheath across his back, the metal glinting as it reflected the flames.

"I'll take the tree climber," he muttered. "Claim your vengeance."

"I have two fresh kills to make first," the one called North said, his voice a taunting drawl that echoed from behind his mask.

I raced forward, slamming my mother's sword into the earth and ice shot away from it, freezing a path right through the heart of the flames. I sprinted through the gap and Harlon followed, tearing past me to clash with North, their swords clanging as they collided.

I raced towards The Boundary, my gaze fixed on the brutish man standing just beyond it, watching me with a cool indifference. As if I was nothing but a butterfly hovering in the wind.

The power of The Boundary crackled over my skin as I charged through it, raising my sword and swinging it with a cry of hatred spilling from my lips.

The Flamebringer casually lifted his own sword, parrying my blow with such strength that I went stumbling back a step.

His eyes were as black as death, so empty it was as if he held no soul at all. His brows were drawn low, shading those sinful eyes, and his lips were tilted in a downward turn, no part of his features engaged with shock, intrigue, anger.

I swung at him again, the power of ice scoring out from the sword in a blast of shards, the magical power imbued in the blade. He twisted his sword so fast, a swirl of flames was all I could see along its edge as it melted all of those shards before they even got close.

I ducked low, slashing the edge of the sword at his legs, but his own blade was already there, blocking the blow and sending me stumbling back again from the power he used. Though he barely seemed to move, as if he was hardly using the strength he clearly possessed. He was big, taller than Harlon, and every part of him was built like a unit made for battle.

"North, let's go," he commanded, barely raising his voice, no real urgency there, like he wasn't capable of feeling even that.

I swung at him again, rage tearing through me at how little he acknowledged me while I threw everything I had at him. I went for his head this time, swinging the sword high, but his own came up to stop it.

I drove my heels into the ground, trying to force my way past his sword, but I only sent mine scraping down the length of his. My left hand screamed as I clung to the hilt, the wound from the venom bleeding against the metal and a stream of curses spilled from my lips.

"North," my opponent called again, shoving his weight into his sword and sending me flying backwards so fast I almost lost my footing.

"Just as soon as I've killed this giant sea urchin," North panted, clearly more stretched by Harlon's fight than my opponent was by mine.

My assailant glanced towards Ironwraith as it tilted more violently towards Stonebreaker territory across the wilds, absorbing the sight as if he was taking stock of it more than being affected by the view. I pressed the advantage of his distraction, swinging the sword with all the strength I could muster, striking straight for his heart with my mother's face burning through my mind. What he had done was too terrible to truly register, my thoughts still jarring with the reality of what this man had taken from me. My heart was a ragged, bloody thing in the wake of his attack and I despised him viscerally, to the core of me and beyond. This hate was pain, it was poison and it could easily destroy me, but not before it destroyed him .

His sword was there without him even looking my way and his foot came out, wrapping around mine and sending me tumbling to the ground.

I hit the snow with a growl, my breaths coming heavier as I shoved to my feet once more, determined to make him pay.

"You could have let them live," I spat. "You could have let us walk out of there before you set that fire."

The Flamebringer looked to me, recognition crossing his features at last. I didn't give him a chance to speak, if he was even going to bother saying a word. I swung for his neck and he sidestepped, throwing a foot out to send me crashing to the snow again. I tried to get upright, but his boot slammed down on my chest, his eyes flashing red with some dark, roiling power that had my breath catching in my lungs.

"Your desperate need for vengeance makes you predictable," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "Your death is inevitable, Raincarver."