Chapter 95

"We have to go," I breathed, my gaze raking over the destruction of our army, the terrifying truth of our demise rushing closer with every passing moment. My grip tightened on the hilt of my sword which I'd managed to find while hunting the bodies of the fallen for any survivors.

"Go where?" Seth demanded.

He had remained in Fae form, stealing a set of clothes and armour from one of the dead so he could fight at my side. But there was no one left here for us to engage. His body was exhausted from fighting as a Wolf for so long, but his magic was still full to the brim and I could tell he was burning to unleash it on our enemies.

I'd found several of our soldiers clinging to life and had healed them enough to survive the journey back to our healers' tents, launching them that way with air magic, but none remained of Seth's pack or Milton's herd.

Seth's grief was a palpable thing, the fact that he remained on his feet little more than a miracle. He clung to his sword with something I recognised well though. The desire for revenge was what kept him upright, the need for payment to take the place of his pain driving him on.

"There's still hope," I said, though it was growing ever harder to convince myself of that. "I have one last, insane scrap of it left."

I held out my hand and Seth took it.

"I need to meet Gabriel. Are you coming with me, or do you want to return to the fight?" I asked.

Seth tightened his hold on my hand, and I forced myself to stifle my tears at the pain I found simmering in his earthy brown eyes.

"I'll fight," he said roughly, and I nodded before launching us into the sky.

I hurled us across the battlefield so fast that it was impossible for any of the flying Orders to turn their attention to us, or for those fighting on the ground to aim at us. The battle raged on, none of Lionel's war machines remaining to fire upon our people but three of his vicious monsters still tore into our ranks. In the distance, Lavinia was killing masses of our forces with her shadows, and those shifters carrying weapons upon their backs were causing devastation too.

"Aim me at that one," Seth barked, pointing to the monster with eight legs which had disappeared while I'd been fighting for my life on the battlefield. I didn't have to ask why, understanding that Seth needed to do this, to destroy those monsters for what they'd cost him and see their blood stain the dirt at his feet.

"Fight hard, and if it comes to it, die well," I told him as I wrapped him in my magic and prepared to launch him away from me.

"Same to you, my Queen," he growled and then he was gone, hurled across the battlefield with the full strength of my air magic, his sword raised high above his head as he descended on the foul beast from above.

I didn't have time to see him collide with it or watch his war on that monster play out. I could only hope to all the heavens that I would see his face again on this side of The Veil.

My moment of hesitation in the sky cost me and a ball of fire came spiralling my way. I wasn't afraid of the flames, but I couldn't linger any longer. I kept to my Fae form, not needing wings to shoot across the sky and instead curling myself into a ball so I could race to my destination even faster.

The jagged mountain rose up before me and I threw concealment spells around me to make sure no one saw where I was headed before letting myself fall from the sky to land atop its rocky peak.

The wind whipped around me, tearing tendrils of my dark hair loose and tossing them across my face as I looked out over the carnage taking place on the battlefield far below. My heart ached as I stared at the destruction of our forces, the entire right flank ripped apart and those remaining monsters still carving deeper into our lines.

Lionel's forces were rallying, the ranks of soldiers to the rear of his army now moving into formation and heading to the east, hurrying to take advantage of the massacre caused by those fucking beasts. They would fill the space where our army had stood and come at us from the side as well as the front, making us fight on both fronts and effectively cornering our forces. It would be a bloodbath.

My gaze hunted the masses, taking in the destroyed war machines Lionel had used to bombard our people so devastatingly. Someone from our side of this fight had made it to them, destroying them all and clawing back some luck for us. But it wouldn't be enough.

A vicious fight was still going on in the clouds where I could see my sister grappling to take down Lionel's Bonded Dragons, unable to turn her attention anywhere else.

Our forces were waning by the minute.

The Jade Castle still crouched in the distance like a squat toad clinging to a rock, no sign that Darius had made it to his target. I swallowed against the lump in my throat as concern for him spiked, but the solid pounding in my own chest was enough to reassure me that he fought on.

I could just pick out the Starfall Legion with their recognisable helms fighting in the heart of the battle, but their numbers had dwindled, and I couldn't even be sure Geraldine was still alive among them.

Just this small glance at the battle was enough to tell me which way the fight was going to end. Lionel still had almost twice the numbers we did and with his army moving to attack us from the side as well, our time was growing thin.

But only if the odds remained as they were.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I flinched, whirling around with a dagger of ice forming in my fist. But I let it melt away as I found myself face to face with my brother.

"This has been fucking torture," he growled, and I threw myself into his arms, letting myself be a little sister for a moment, letting myself feel the pain and grief of war before forcing it to solidify into that dark and brutal determination once more.

"How many?" I demanded, pushing out of his arms and stepping back.

It was strange to see him standing there so clean and untouched by battle. It had been hours since I'd looked at anyone who wasn't coated in a layer of grime and blood.

"Five thousand," he replied. "You took longer than you promised."

My heart lifted at his words. I'd been hoping for half that amount and wondering desperately whether it would be enough. But this? This might really make a difference.

"You brilliant, beautiful, over achiever," I praised, moving past him and turning my back on the battlefield. I crested the peak of the mountain, shivering at the frigid wind which gusted around us, biting at any exposed skin it could find.

As the rocks beneath my feet began to pitch downwards again, I gasped. Before me stood rank upon rank of clay soldiers, each as tall as any Fae, their blank faces turned my way where they lined the mountain as if awaiting orders.

"I can't see how this will go," Gabriel warned, and I knew that he wasn't at all happy about that.

"Where would the fun be if you always knew everything?" I teased, though my light tone didn't fully hide the quaver to my voice. Because this was it. Beyond this fool's hope, I was pretty sure we didn't stand a chance. The future of our kingdom, the lives of those I loved, all of it rested on the chance that a creature who hated me with a deep and unwavering ferocity might just agree to the bargain I'd requested, despite it defying everything he stood for.

"Is it time?" Leon popped out from behind one of the clay statues and I flinched in surprise.

"I take it you're responsible for the genitals?" I asked, pointing at one of the statues which had no pants carved onto its frame and instead had its very anatomically correct dick on show.

"Well, I was until Gabe got all cranky about it and said they need to wear pants. So there's only like fifty with their cocksickles and tatas on show."

Gabriel huffed irritably behind me, and I snorted a laugh despite the dire situation.

"I feel like I should have seen this coming when I asked for him to be the one to help me," Gabriel muttered.

"Yeah, you really should have," I agreed, moving past Leon to stand before the closest statue.

I placed my hand on the cold, clay chest, inhaling slowly as I tried to quiet my thoughts and focus on what I needed to do.

"So…is this the mumbo jumbo bit?" Leon whispered right beside my ear, and I flinched again.

"Can you back up a bit?" I hissed, shoving him away but he just dug his heels in and didn't move an inch.

"Are you going to open the box first?" he asked, pointing to the ornately decorated crate which sat to the side of the carved statues.

"Any chance you figured out what will happen if I do?" I asked my brother, moving over to the crate and crouching down before it.

Gabriel frowned as he and Leon stepped up behind me, wrapping me in their shadows.

"Chaos," he said after a few moments of giving himself to The Sight. "The kind that might just help us."

"I'll take it," I decided, reaching out to open the lid of the crate.

The four little sayer Dragons peered up at me, peeping in excitement as they found me gazing in at them in their warm bed of straw, and I gave them a grim smile.

"I heard that you guys are pretty formidable," I said, wondering if I'd gone insane.

We were in the middle of losing a war, the Fae who had followed us into battle being slaughtered one by one in the basin between the mountains below, and here I was, talking to a foursome of little lizards as if they might actually be able to help us.

"Darcy is out there." I pointed towards the battlefield and the sayer Dragons all clambered up the side of the crate, hopping onto me.

I stood as they made their way to my shoulders, the little coral coloured one resting on my forearm as I lifted it high and turned towards the battlefield, walking back up to the peak of the mountain so they could see it too.

I swallowed thickly. Lionel's forces were almost at the eastern flank of our army and if my half-baked, unlikely plans didn't come together right about now then I could see our end written in the stars without any need of The Sight.

"There's still hope," Gabriel said, taking my hand as he looked over the expanse of carnage too. "Though it is only the faintest spark now."

"So let's feed that flame," I replied resolutely. "Go."

The sayer Dragons seemed to know that I was talking to them, four tiny creatures hurling themselves from my body and opening their little wings as they soared towards the battlefield, no bigger than baby bunnies. Their small bodies were soon impossible to pick out above the warring Fae and I had no time to waste standing there, waiting to see what might happen next.

I released my hold on Gabriel and hurried back to the stone army on the far side of the mountain.

"Don't fail me now," I muttered to no one in particular, because the only person I had to call on now was myself.

Sacrifice. Well, I'd done a whole lot of sacrificing already today.

I reached for the statue who stood at the front of the ranks, his imposing body of clay towering over me, his faceless head angled towards the battle beyond my back as though he were simply waiting for my command. But clay warriors could not fight an army. Even if an earth wielder wanted to command them, they could never take control of so many at once. No, what these statues needed were souls.

I drew my filthy sword and ran my fingers down its length, coating it in the blood of the enemies I'd ripped from the world this day. My hand shook as I reached for the statue, my breath escaping me in a cloud of vapour as I gave myself to the heady power of ether and spoke the name of the rune I painted onto its chest.

"Laguz for energy, to make your water run as blood."

Power ripped from me as the words fell roughly from my lips, the ground beneath my boots trembling as I rooted myself upon it and forced the wind to carry my command to the ears of the one I'd bargained with.

"Uruz for the strength to wield your blade," I hissed, my fingers shaking as the violent energy of the world lashed at me, the blood I painted onto the statue hissing and spitting as it boiled against the clay.

I sagged forward, my head spinning as the magic I was casting ripped at my own energy, using my power to fulfil the spell, pulling it from me and passing it out among the statues who stretched away across the slope below us.

"Tory," Gabriel murmured, reaching out to grasp my shoulder. "I saw your death. This magic is going to demand too much of you. You need to stop."

"I need fire," I ground out, ignoring him, my mind focused on the people I loved who were fighting down in that basin. The Fae who had followed us into battle for the promise of a better life. The oaths I had sworn and the truth that I was willing to give everything for, if that was what it took to deliver on those promises.

Gabriel withdrew with a curse and Leon set a fire roaring behind me, the warmth of it restoring my magic and making my Phoenix raise its head within me.

The blood of those I'd killed in battle had been consumed by the painting of Uruz and my hand shook more violently as I accepted what that meant. That sacrifice wasn't enough to paint the final rune. And the last was the most powerful of all.

I reached for the sprig of thyme which Gabriel had placed into the clay statue, fear coiling around my heart as I let a single tear roll down my cheek.

If the price of this was what I feared, then it wouldn't just claim me. Darius would be torn from this place alongside me, torn away from all I had promised him when I'd stolen him back from the clutches of death. Even so, I knew that he would be telling me to do this if he was standing here beside me. I knew that if it came to it, he would give everything to save this kingdom from the tyranny of his father too.

I gripped my sword in my fist and squeezed until it sliced my flesh open, the hot rush of my blood rolling down the pristine metal and dripping onto the dirt beneath me.

I drew on every scrap of power I owned and dove into the deepest recesses of ether that I could gather as I pressed my bloodied hand over the thyme and set it blazing.

The thyme placed upon every statue on the mountainside ignited along with it, flames of red and blue blazing to life as the Phoenix fire caught and burned, opening up the pathway to communicate with the dead.

"We are dying," I said, my voice a strangled rasp which I only hoped had found its way beyond The Veil. I thought of my mother and father, knowing they would be drawn closer to me in my grief. I prayed to them and poured my power into the cold clay before me. "We need you now more than ever before."

The ether seemed to be rising out of the stone beneath me, sinking into my flesh and setting a cold flood through my veins which was so intense that it burned. It was seeking out my fire, seeking out my soul but still I kept my hand pressed to the statue before me and continued with my plea.

Gabriel and Leon opened another chest, this one filled with scraps of parchment, each bearing the names of those who had been loved by someone who fought in our army and had been killed by the tyrant we fought. There were blank pieces of parchment too plus a pot of ink which any soul who might be drawn close and eager to join this fight could use to add their name to the roster. I only hoped that they would do so.

I managed to nod at my brother, and they began feeding those names to the fire at my back.

"All of you were wronged in life by the False King Lionel Acrux. All of you suffered and died at his hand or the hands of his followers. And he will not stop unless we find the strength to end him. Unless you find the strength to end him with us."

The ashes from the parchment rose into the air as they burned, whirling in a shower of blazing sparks, twisting up around me as an unearthly breeze tugged at my hair and the ether dug ever deeper into me.

"I beg you to return to us for this fight. To stand with those who loved and lost you, to right the wrongs against you."

The blazing scraps of parchment flew higher above us, circling overhead in a maelstrom felt nowhere but upon this mountainside on the edge of a war. But that was all they did, just circled above us, The Veil flickering wildly but not parting despite my pleas.

A sob broke from my lips as the truth of that failure sank into me, the impossibility of this plan falling like the ashes of those pieces of parchment around me and the screams from the battlefield seeming to rise up louder than ever before as fate closed around us like a snare.

Defeat pulled at me, that coldness sinking deeper, choking me, yanking at my soul with hands of bone and rotten flesh as it tried to drag me down in payment for this power.

I sagged, seeing it so clearly now, knowing it was over, that all sparks of hope were lost.

As I closed my eyes, the flickering of the flames still showed through my eyelids, the power of my Phoenix seeming to burn brighter as I gave in to the weight of this impossible magic.

I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes open once again, staring up at the empty face of the statue above me and digging my fingernails into the stone.

"I don't beg you," I hissed, my bloodied fingers painting a final rune onto the clay despite the way my hand shook, and the ether ripped pieces of me away chunk by chunk. "I am Tory Vega, daughter of the Savage King, sister of Darcy Vega and rightful queen of this fucking land. I. do. Not. Beg."

The jagged lines of Sowulo blazed upon the clay statue, painted in the blood of the royal line and I stared at it as I refused to let death or any other force on this world defy me in the protection of my kingdom.

"I command you to come to me," I hissed. "Return to fight with us and pick up your swords. Your kingdom needs you and your queens have commanded you, so answer my fucking call!"

A roar ripped through me as ether exploded from my hand, tearing its way out of me and burning its way into the statue before me, then the one beside that and the next, and the next and the next.

I refused to fall back until each one of them had tasted that power and my body could no longer resist the agony of holding on.

I crashed to my knees, panting heavily through the darkness that pushed in on my vision. Distantly, I was aware of Gabriel calling my name, of Leon cursing and of the statues all just standing there, doing nothing at all.

It hadn't worked. I had given everything and still, it hadn't worked.

The beats of my heart came slower and slower, the price demanded by the ether stealing the life from my body over seconds or minutes or hours…I didn't even know. All I knew for certain was that I was fading. And it hadn't worked.

Gabriel was yelling for me to hold on, but I couldn't feel his hand in mine or even the bite of the wind anymore. The darkness had come to claim me at last and the pain I felt at that failure burned through me as I thought of the people I loved most in this world and a single word spilled from my lips.

"Sorry."