Page 96 of Ash and Feather

Because she was surrounded. Backed into a corner, soldiers converging toward her, swords in hand.

I have to get to her.

I thought of nothing else. Power surged in my veins, a magic waking inside of me that was unlike anything I’d felt since my ascension. Like all of my potential had suddenly unleashed atonce, fueled by the sight of her. By five years ofneedingto see her.

I had yet to manage actual flight, but suddenly I was willing to try again. I was willing to try anythingif it meant finally closing the space between my sister and me.

Just give me the strength I need to reach her.

I leapt from the wall. I wasn’t thinking of falling. I refused to believe I couldn’t reach her now that she was so close. I saw only her. Ithoughtof only her—and maybe that was why my wings worked better than they ever had before.

I soared the span of several buildings and landed directly in front of my sister, my momentum sending me tripping forward into her chest.

She caught me, hands bracing against my arms. Helping me find my footing, just as she’d done over and over again when we were younger.

For a long moment, she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the fading glow of my wings and the bits of fire rippling around me. Then, slowly, she turned her face to mine. Her fingers lifted as she did, tentatively tracing my scarred face. And my sister…

My sisterwas looking directly into my eyes.

“You’re here.” Her voice was hushed, like she was afraid of scaring me away. “You’re actually here.”

I started to reply, but I was distracted by the bodies drawing closer to us. I reached for the short blade at my hip. Fire wrapped around my hand as I took hold of the grip. I was prepared to defend my sister against this entire kingdom and all its armies if need be—

But she put a hand on my arm once more, holding it in a tight grasp, preventing me from even drawing my sword.

An instant later, I realized why: The ones drawing closer weren’t the human soldiers I was expecting.

They were elves.

“Don’t worry about them,” my sister said. “They’re here to help.”

“...Help?”

No, that didn’t make any sense.

Iwas here to help—I was here to save her.

“Don’t worry,” she repeated, her grip tightening even further. “You’re safe, now, okay?”

The world reeled. I couldn’t breathe. A thousand questions swirled in my mind. Savna’s hand moved from my arm, digging something from the leather bag at her hip before shooting toward my neck. It happened so quickly I didn’t have a chance to ask even the simplest of my questions—

Why?

Something sharp punctured my skin. A burning sensation followed seconds later—not the comforting smolder of my divine fire, but something terribly acidic that tingled its way through my veins, eating away at my insides.

Poison.

My sister poisoned me.

The knowledge plunged through me, sharp and aching, like a dagger through my chest. My legs buckled with the impact, and I collapsed into my sister’s waiting arms.

Chapter 24

Dravyn

It waslike a candle being snuffed out by a sudden gust of wind—one moment I felt Karys’s magic burning more fiercely than it had all evening; the next, it was gone.

Distracted by the sudden shift, I pitched to a stop mid-swing. The elven soldier I’d been fighting took advantage of my distraction, nearly impaling me in the chest before I twisted away at the last possible second.

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