Page 195 of Ash and Feather

I veered sharply in mid-air, turning in the direction I’d last seen Valas, searching for the reason behind Mairu’s scream—

There.

He was on the ground, barely visible behind a group of converging elven soldiers.

I raced toward him.

Mairu reached him first, touching down on the ground directly beside him and lifting her feral, furious gaze to the circling soldiers.

She struck out a hand. Her fingers bent at odd angles, curving like the talons of her dragon form, and then she closed them into a fist.

Even from where I stood, I could feel the rippling expanse of her power. Could hear the gasps of the soldiers as their handsflew to their throats, and the sound of their heartbeats stuttering to a stop.

They dropped as if their legs had been cut out from under them.

I landed seconds later, fire preceding my approach, encircling the three of us in a protective ring.

Valas did not move, even as the ring burned hotter. His chest had been slashed open, and what bits of skin I could see were already taking on a look similar to the wounds I’d sustained in Mindoth—except his looked much darker. Deeper.

I carefully started to gather him in my arms, preparing to carry him somewhere safer, somewhere less crowded.

“Leave me be,” he moaned, struggling against my hold. “I’m fine.”

“Be quiet,” I snapped.

He actually listened.

Which was how I knew he was severely injured.

As I finally settled his disoriented self against me, he opened his eyes. They were disturbingly blank for a moment before they caught on something behind me and immediately widened in horror.

I couldn’t help following his gaze.

The trees at my back were rustling again, shaking and swaying as if in the throes of a building earthquake.

The largest wave of elven warriors yet exploded from those trees seconds later, heading directly toward us.

Chapter 44

Karys

After several tense minutes,I managed to slip away from Andrel by claiming I needed to go to my private quarters, to retrieve my weapons and armor before I could join him on his march through the Hollowlands.

It was a believable lie—my sister’s sword,Godcleaver, had once belonged to our father, and she rarely went into any important battle without it.

Of course, I had no idea where her quarters even were.

Nor did I have any intention of actually retrieving her sword.

The only weapon I needed was the dagger at my back.

At first, I’d worried Andrel wouldn’t go without me. But soon enough, he got caught up in the swelling, rebellious energy all around us, swept away by the countless others heading off to join the battle at the edge of the elven territory.

The city was emptying of most of its soldiers, as we’d planned—the ones secretly most loyal to my sister leading the charge as we’d been quietly instructing them to do.

They would move quickly, catching up to the forces already mobilized. Then, when the moment was right, they would turn on them. Disarm them. Throw Andrel’s strategies askew and help the gods stall the battle long enough to allow me to do what I needed to do.

Mairu’s magic was beginning to fade. I was becoming myself once more, and my sister would take over as the sole version of her, joining the army marching outward. Triumphantly leading it after surviving the attack against her in Altis…

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