Page 105 of Calling of the Crown

I listened and dug for that connection, that bond, we’d managed to form. It was always there inside me, and the water that did surround me—in the air, in the blades of grass, in the soil—began to hum. I felt the pulse of its answer to my desperate plea, and as I walked further out into the field, the air shifted to my left. Drops of water spun in the air and rose up from the ground, twirling in the space beside me.

Feeling a rush of encouragement, I whispered, “Help me, water. Help me reach further than I ever have. Help me channel the powerful Fae who came before me.”

Taunts and jokes fired my way from the distant gold-and-green army as I slowly closed the distance between us.

“Coming to surrender, weakling?” a bear of a man laughed, spittle flying out of his toothy grin.

“Fucking pitiful!” a woman with scales for skin hissed. “Weak! Just die!”

A large woman raised her clawed fist in the air to shake her sword. “Rot like your people!”

The tether connecting me to the water seemed to tighten and pulse inside me like a shockwave bursting free in my chest. It nearly drowned out the insults being hurled my way.

Only, as I drew to the halfway point, the sudden feeling of a presence hit me. I looked to my left where the drops of water twirled in the air, and more water seemed to join the beads. They stitched together and grew solid and larger. A pale arm started to form, the skirt of a silver dress, long blue hair, and finally, the water finished bubbling together around a face until she walked beside me—not as water, but as real flesh and bone!

Her determined gaze was locked on the distant army, but when she was fully formed, she looked my way and gave me a smile. “Need some help, daughter?”

Giving a breathless laugh, I said, “I need to get the water from the Morardian Sea to the lake bed. It’s fifteen miles from here.”

Mom nodded and turned back to the opposing Fae. “We can do it.”

When I’d called upon the water for strength, for my mom, I wasn’t expecting her to actually appear. I’d just wanted its aid in being strong enough to bring the water back to the lake, but this … this was so much more than that ask.

A thousand questions and words wanted to leave my lips—how was she here; holy shit, she was here; did this mean she was back forever—but I couldn’t voice them right now. We had a task to do and a Kingdom to save.

The majority of Elias’s forces continued to taunt and shout curses, not understanding the power now standing before them. But my old citizens did. Their eyes widened, faces drained of color, and mouths fell open. They knew who now walked beside me in the flesh. They knew the power my side had just gained.

She and I took deep breaths, and as we drew about twenty yards from the edge of the lakeside closest to us, I felt the tingling of my magic intensify in my gut. It stretched, and as it did, my palms grew hot and heavy like they were suddenly weighted down with a force unlike any I’d ever felt. I knew it was my hold on the sea.

“I’m ready,” I gasped under my breath, the sheer power already firing up my limbs making it harder to breathe.

“As am I,” Alesta answered, her voice only slightly strained.

Moving in sync, we raised our arms toward the right—the direction where the sea was closest—and I raised my arms higher into the air like I was guiding the distant sea up and out of the ocean. My hands prickled with the same sensation I got when my limbs fell asleep. The buzzing moved up my arms the higher I went, and suddenly, I could smell the ocean.

The sound of rushing water sounded overhead, and all the smug faces of the army across the crater changed as they looked to their left. Jaws dropped as the ocean towered into the sky, higher than the trees, casting the field in shadow. Pride, relief, and awe swelled inside my chest at the sight of the glittering sea filling the sky. Hope wasn’t lost. We’d done the impossible.

My mother and I arched our arms over our head, and the monstrous wave reared over the treetops and crashed into the lake bed with a force that shook the earth. The water sloshed around in a turbulent dance as the lake filled again, and Elias’s army stepped back from the watery storm until finally, enough water took up residence in the lake again.

My heart pounded, and my fingers shook from the amount of effort that took. Still, I kept my face even and devoid of the exhaustion to stare right at Elias across the body of water. His green eyes bored into mine, and his features settled into a deep scowl.

Nice try. You won’t defeat us that easily.

The splashing of the settling water acted as the blare of a horn signaling battle. Fae rushed over the hill behind me, and Fae from across the lake made a rush to run around the lake’s edge to try to meet them on this side. My mother joined the rush—skirts and all.

Rune, Dallas, Jesiah, and Rance were quick to reach my side, and our team raced to meet the first group of Fae targeting us, which were the Fae able to cross the lake the quickest—Fae with air power. They swooped low and landed in front of us.

A girl swung her taloned fingers at me in an effort to shred my face, but I easily smacked her arm away with one hand while the other pulled a ball of water from near me. I sent it barreling into her, and she tumbled backward, dirt and grass flying up as she rolled across the ground.

It was my first real victory, but there was no time to celebrate. Screams and howls erupted in the field as Fae engaged in harsh combat. Elements of every kind fired off around us as they met foes, and the clang of swords or whizzing of arrows sounded. Already, Fae on both sides were falling, never to rise again, and I forced myself not to look at them. Not yet. If I saw their faces, I’d lose my focus and determination.

I tried to scan the sea of Fae for Elias’s face—I wanted to find him as soon as possible to end this madness—but I kept getting stopped by Fae looking to take me down. Dallas, Rance, Rune, Jesiah, and my mom all moved forward with me as a unit, each of us getting engaged in quarrels. Despite all my training and preparation, I tried to avoid as many confrontations as possible. I knew I’d have to defend myself, but if I could avoid permanently hurting anyone, I’d do that at all costs.

Only when I found Elias would I … I’d kill …

My throat squeezed with trepidation. Even after everything, I couldn’t stomach the idea of going through with it. There wasn’t another option, though.

Right?

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