Page 78 of A Whisper in the Walls

With all her mental strength, Ren pulled. She could feel Theo pushing on the other end of their bond. Vega fluttered through the air, landing on her shoulder, and Ren’s vision of the surrounding forest was snatched away. The world vanished. She vaulted between here and there, and the magic set her back down in Landwin Brood’s office. Something was wrong, though. Ren felt like she was still falling. Almost like she’d overshot the landing somehow. She could feel the magic burning and she was briefly afraid she’d end up like Clyde, seared from the inside out.

Instead, Theo stumbled into the room with her. He fell straight into Ren. The two of them collapsed together. His weight was too much for her. Theo let out a guttural cry of pain.

“No, no, no… I pulled you too hard. Theo, you can’t…”

He wasn’t supposed to be here. Ren had wanted him to be in the mountains—somewhere safe while they finished burning everything down. They were meant to come back together and sift through the ashes. But now he was here.

Ren reached for their bond, hoping she could push him back across, but it felt like setting her hands inside an inferno. She pulled back, hissing with pain. Their connection was on fire. All scorched earth. Not dead, she knew, but certainly unusable for now. They’d pushed the magic too far already. Ren helped Theo stumble over to the chair she’d been sitting in. Outside, there were skirmishes happening everywhere. Individual fights. Smaller units working together. Ren could barely tell who was who.

“Your father… he was just…”

Footsteps echoed down the hall. The shadows stretched and flickered. Landwin Brood appeared. He took three strides into the room before realizing there was a new guest. He held a polished dragon’s tooth in his right hand—a unique choice of vessel. Ren had only seen him use his signet rings for spells.

“Theo? What are you…”

Ren saw no benefit to talking him through the sequence of events. Far better if they used the element of surprise. She’d waited long enough for this. She raised her horseshoe wand and cast a thundering projectile. As expected, the counterspells built into Landwin’s clothing activated. They devoured most of the impact, so that the only effect was a slight sideways stumble. He steadied himself on a nearby bookcase while Ren let loose another spell, and another, and another. She was going through her list with calculated efficiency. Physical magic, fire, acidic. Anything she could do to eat away at the edges of his shields.

She was about to call for Theo to help her when a concussive blast rushed past her from the left. Her bond-mate stood there in proper battle stance, even though he was clearly hurt. They locked eyes for a second and then began to move forward. Spell after spell struck home, pinning Landwin Brood in on both sides. This was one of Able Ockley’s favorite tactics. A barrage of successful strikes would activate defensive magic. And if defensive magic was active, offensive spells were nearly impossible to cast.

Ren circled to the right and timed a barrier spell with one of Theo’s offensive castings. It webbed the entryway with invisible magic. Landwin could still run, but passing through that barrier would cost him now. She swung her wand back, mentally preparing her next casting, when Landwin Brood spoke again. His voice echoed strangely. As if he were elsewhere, and his voice could not fully carry the distance between worlds.

“My son,” he said. “You have made a grave error.”

He raised the vessel in his off-hand and snapped his fingers.

Ren cast a shield spell at the very last moment but realized she wasn’t the target of Landwin’s wrath. Vega shot instinctively across the room to Theo. The bird dragged Ren’s summoned shield across that distance in her claws. Theo’s eyes went wide as his father unleashed a spell that shook the entire castle. Darkness pulsed out from him.

All the light in the room—all the light outside, too—briefly blotted. Ren’s shield made it to Theo just in time. It caught the direct blast before splintering inward. She could only watch as Landwin’s spell unmade the world around them. The back wall exploded outward. All the windows vaporized instantly. The tables and the chairs, reduced to nothing. Theo was writhing on the ground. Ren knew if he’d taken the full spell, there’d be nothing left of him but ash and bone. There was no time to rush to his side. Landwin Brood was turning. In her direction.

His wand tip ignited as he cast a second spell.

40 DAHVID TIN’VORI

The fighting was everywhere.

He saw soldiers dueling up and down rows of unpicked strawberries. Others were rolling in the dust of the central crossroads, kicking and biting and wrestling away weapons. Great bolts of magic kept hissing overhead, stray shots from the more long-distance dueling.

His army’s initial rush through the northern gate had been a tidal surge. Five hundred strong met by just a dozen guards. Most of those guards had looked to Tessa Brood—who was not Tessa Brood—for their orders. His sister had called for them to surrender. It was strange to see Nevelyn’s expressions written on another face. She’d shot him a meaningful look before sprinting toward the distant castles. As long as she was in control of Tessa Brood’s body, the plan was for her to do as much damage as possible.

The insurgents spread across the estate like wildfire. Until they hit the central crossroads. The very heart of the Broods’ property. An organized counterattack met them there. That was the group they were still fighting now. Some fifty of House Brood’s soldiers and spellcasters. Dahvid could tell they’d taken more damage than the enemy. There were nearly twice as many of his hired swords on the ground. But in the end, their numbers were overwhelming the other side.

Dahvid joined a duel with one of his generals. The two of them made quick work of it before turning to face another soldier. Block, stab, cross-strike, dead. He’d intentionally forged a path through the lines and was making his way over to the tree Theo had described to him. The one with the red-tipped leaves. The trunk that was as dark as night. He felt certain this was where his brother had been killed. Where he was buried.

“Incoming!”

A blast of fire nearly scorched them all. It burned a path through their ranks, soldiers dodging aside at the last possible moment. Dahvid pointed to the ramparts where the spell had come from. “Get someone up there now!”

“Incoming on foot! Turn! Turn!”

Dahvid still had some two hundred men left, though they looked tired from the first melee. Now a second unit was coming up the hill—at least one hundred strong. Dahvid suspected Thugar Brood would be amongst them. He settled into his stance. This is what he’d been waiting for.

“To me! Everyone to me!”

His mercenaries weren’t new to battle. They joined ranks, raised shields, and waited for the inevitable crash. They had the higher ground. At the very last moment, he shouted to his men.

“Counter now!”

They’d feigned a defensive position. Bracing for impact. Now they drove forward. It was just enough to catch their enemy by surprise. Dust spun into the air, brief and blinding, and then both armies were in the thick of each other. Dahvid’s command won them the initial push, but once they were through the front lines, everything fell to chaos. In that great press of bodies, he searched for Thugar Brood. He cut down two men, then nearly had his head taken off by a hacking swing from a third. The soldier was bull-rushed from the side before he could even answer.

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