Page 192 of Ash and Feather

Mairu landed beside me once more, still guiding her targets with subtle movements of her hands.

Valas was perched on the opposite cliff, now, scanning the edge of the forest, plotting his next move. He waited until we signaled, then he leapt, taking on a form that was little more than a cold swirl of pale energy—one that blended almost seamlessly with the cliff face. As he shot away from that cliff, twisting and turning along the edge of the forest, a thick layer of ice overtook the ground he passed over.

I kept my human-like form for the moment, dropping with the brief aid of wings and landing close to the pinch-point between the two cliffs.

I pushed an invisible, searing wind toward the human’s encampment, driving the last of the lingering soldiers more quickly toward it.

Once the area was clear, I sent ropes of flame out in a line across the narrowest part of the path. Then I built upon that line, creating a wall that neither elf nor human would be able to pass.

As the barrier began properly roaring with power and heat, I flew back to our higher vantage point, settling down on the very edge of the cliff to survey our work.

Ice covered the ground all along the Hollows’ edge, which would make it nearly impossible for the elves to charge out with any sort of speed or control.

At that narrow point Mairu and I had agreed upon, my wall of fire continued to burn higher. I finished the job from where Inow stood, filling in the weaker spots that this view allowed me to see.

But before the wall closed off completely, I caught sight of a small company of humans on the wrong side of my wall—the one group who had somehow escaped Mairu’s hold.

My brother was leading them.

I leapt from the clifftop, wings flaring out behind me, curses flying from my mouth.

The ground shook as I landed before him, spooking his horse. He cut the reins sharply, preventing it from bolting, then jumped from the saddle to finish calming the beast.

He turned his glare on me once the horse was still. “Dravyn? What is the meaning of—”

“Fall back,” I growled at him, “get behind the wall I’ve built for you before you get yourself and everyone else in your company killed.” As I spoke, I lifted a hand toward that wall of fire, parting a small section of it to allow him and the other remaining riders to pass through.

The shift in power and light made his horse skittish again. Fallon stumbled a few steps before managing a more commanding hold on it.

“I’m not retreating,” he snapped.

“You won’t win this battle. There are more enemies than you realize within those trees.”

His expression—cold and angry, hard as steel—didn’t change.

“I warned you of their numbers before. Why didn’t youlisten?”

“It was this, or allow them to keep driving deeper and deeper into my kingdom, into my cities—”

“They don’t want to lay siege to your cities. They were trying to lure you toward their own territory so they could draw youin and devour you here, where they’re at their strongest—and you’ve fallen for it.”

He blinked. Shifted his gaze to the ice-edged forest then back to me. Appraising. Considering my words, maybe.

But he said nothing.

I knew my brother well enough, even after all the things that had come between us. Knew he would never admit that he’d gotten this wrong.

How could he, when he had thousands of soldiers looking to him for leadership?

The wall of fire grew as my concern grew, the flames tumbling more violently, reflecting my increasingly fast heartbeats.

Fallon jerked his gaze toward the brightening, burgeoning wall. It stayed there for a long moment.

And as my brother stared at those flames almost longingly—as though he was thinking of sacrificing himself to their growing heat—I thought I finally understood something after all these years: The weight he carried as a king.

A king whose rule was, according to many, the only thing standing between the human territories and the rise of these elves who were building the foundations of a rebellious empire so close to his kingdom’s border.

“Tell your soldiers the gods have chosen your side because you made the decision to bravely march forward and confront your enemies,” I said, quieter. “That should help you save face.”

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