Page 42 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

I ground my teeth. “What we need to do is kill Fayzien.”

“Direct engagement is out of the question. He has nearly a thousand Fae warriors with him. And he’ll let every last one of them die before we can get to him,” Jana said.

“You all swore to me that if we were to meet Fayzien again, you would do whatever it takes to help me kill him. You cannot deny me now.” My voice was foreign—cold. I could barely hear it over the sound of my own blood pumping, ringing through my ears.

Ezren turned to face me. “I know you don’t feel a strong connection to the Fae, but they are your father’s kind, your kind. There may be cousins you have never known in that valley, family you should one day like to meet. I have relations I have not seen for a century, friends I have fought alongside in battle, that could lie in wait down there. I don’t doubt you could raise the Earth and end them all, burying them in your rage and vengeance. But trust me when I tell you, it won’t bring your family back. Only a heavier burden to carry the rest of your life.”

I looked down at my hands, examining the point at which the flow of my power sprouted. My throat tightened. “I can’t leave him alive,” I whispered.

“I know,” Ezren said to me.

“We need to lure him away from the group,” he continued, addressing the others. “If we can separate him from his warriors, Terra and I can handle him. The rest of you will have to useyour Witch magic to hold the company, to prevent them from swarming the mountainside.”

“And how do you suppose we do that? What makes you think Fayzien will leave his warriors?” Dane asked.

“Me.” A plan formed in my mind. “He won’t waste a moment if he thinks I’m alone and unguarded. He’ll come running.”

Before Ezren could negate the idea of using me as bait, a loud cracking ripped through the early morning air, and we all nearly jumped from behind our brush covering. Fayzien’s voice cascaded over the valley. “Hello, Terra and rabid band of rebels. It is lovely to see you all again.”

My mouth flew open at the impossible amplification. The others looked weary but unsurprised.

“What a clever trick that was. I’m sure Janathia’s dirty idea, to send a decoy. But don’t you worry, I took care of the Casmerre easily enough,” Fayzien’s chilling voice boomed around us.

“Why is he talking about Casmerre?” Ezren directed his cool words at Jana.

“No,” I breathed, fear twisting in my gut for Leiya, Leuffen, Sanah, and the others. “Casmerre is what I named the ship.”

Dane swore, the words a cry of pain that stuck in his throat. The rest of them looked at me the way the twins had when I said that name. Ezren appeared as if I struck him. “What?” I demanded.

No one said a word. “When I told the twins what I’d named the ship, they acted like I’d designated it the devil’s spawn. They said it was the name of a dog that had killed their parrot. Cansomeonetell me why my dog’s name is so offensive?”

Jana relaxed just a fraction, still on edge, but not Ezren, whose skin neared the color of his eyes. I narrowed my gaze at him, but then Fayzien’s voice rang once more.

“Terra, my dear, I have something of yours. Sweet, sweet Giannina was so distraught after your disappearance fromArgention. What a minx you are to have left her and her handsome brother worrying after you! What a worrier, that one. Quite taken with you, I believe. What eyes he had! Clear as crystal. Just like Gia’s. I had to leave him there, though—he was a nasty complication. But the lovely Giannina, well, she came oh so willingly after I told her I knew where you were…”

I stopped hearing him; my pulse drummed and my head swarmed with rage. Without thinking, my power flowed out of me like lightning from clouds. It rumbled down the mountainside, towards the valley, giving me a strange response from that place. It shook the peaks but left the grass-covered plain of the valley untouched. I felt only a vacuum of nothingness, dark and devoid of life—so unlike the pure existence of the surrounding rocky peaks. It made no sense. I should have heard the call of the Earth, answering to my magic.

Fayzien’s voice cackled in response to my outburst, reverberating against the sharp mountains at our backs.

“Something is wrong.” I shook my head. “There is no life in that valley; I could sense nothing.”

Jana ran a hand through her silver hair. “Maybe it’s of the dead after all,” she murmured.

Before I could ask what that meant, she continued. “Terra, we go with your plan. Get as close to the plain as you can without actually touching it—there should be some Earth at the base of the mountain slope you can use to your advantage. Ezren, do not leave her side. Parson, see if you can get a better look in your shift to make sure he doesn’t have the human with him. If he doesn’t, give us a sign to show our position—a swan dive in your raven form. Once Fayzien sees us without Terra, it’s up to her to get Fayzien to pursue. Parson can help unless the company is overrunning the rest of us. We’ll try to hold them on the lower hillside for as long as possible to minimize casualties. They willundoubtedly begin surging towards us. Everyone must go on foot; mounts will be too slow on the cliffs. Understood?”

We all nodded, Dane struggling to keep the tears from his eyes. I swallowed my own fears, pushing back thoughts of Sanah drowning in the sea amongst our other friends. A moment later, Ezren and I took off in one direction, with Parson flying above us, while the rest of the group headed into the unknown.

I ran fasterthan before in my new body, but I still willed the Earth to help us both. Within minutes, Ezren and I ran about a mile. We panted when we stopped, attempting to slow our breath and train our eyes and ears.

And there it was, a swooping dive from a black raven, rising up and facing the mountain. Parson. Good. That meant Fayzien didn’t have Gia with him.He must have been bluffing.The thought bloomed weak relief, knowing in my gut that it was unlikely. He knew the ship’s name, and Gia’s name, somehow.

Parson flew to the other group, signaling help needed on their front.We need to make this fast.

We pressed our backs together as if we were about to perform a dance we’d rehearsed a thousand times. I raised my palms and chose four trees around us, sycamores that peaked above the rest. I thrust my power into them, sending their tops higher. I asked their sparse leaves to rustle in an unnatural, eye-catching way.

Here,they whispered over the valley, carrying my message to Fayzien.Here, she waits for you.

We held our breath, every minute that passed thick with anticipation. I wished I could see the rest of the group, to know how they fared.

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