Page 42 of A Deception of Courts

“What is that?” Kayne grumbled, hand raised to his brow. “Has another key been…”

“No,” I said, sure of myself. “This is different to before–”

A sky-splitting roar bellowed over us.

My next words shouted over the roar. “Get Duncan.”

“It looks like it has…”

“GET DUNCAN NOW!”

A deafening snarl drowned out my shout as the shadow closed over our fleet of ships. Between the weaker wisps of cloud, obsidian scales flashed. Great wings cast darkness over the boat, blocking out the sun completely as it moved overhead. My eyes took in leathery wings double the size of the sails that flapped behind me. A tail as thick as the trunk of the oldest of trees.

My mind drifted to Gyah, pulling forward an image of her in her Eldrae form. But this was not an Eldrae. Fearsome and deadly, its presence weighed down on the world. It let out another sound, grumbling from the pits of its hulking body.

The Nephilim readied themselves for an attack.

Kayne hadn’t moved. Lucari was silent as death on his shoulder.

I gripped the edge of the railing, ice crackling across the wood. Not once did I take my eyes off the creature as it flew overhead. It was a risk to even exhale for fear of drawing attention to myself.

As suddenly as the monster’s presence became known, it passed. Flying out of sight toward the faint outline of land in the distance.

I was left gripping onto the splintering railing, with the inability to move. Part of me waited for the monster to turn back around, realising what it had just passed over. Surely it would come back to devour us. But I got the sense it didn’t attack because it didn’t bother itself with us. Not because it wasn’t our enemy, but because we were not a threat in its eyes.

I don’t know what truth made me feel better.

“Do not worry, the Draeic will not return,” Rafaela confirmed, knuckles pale beneath her tension as she leaned against her hammer.

I turned to look up at her, blinking away the shadow the beast had imprinted into my consciousness. “Draeic, yet another name for creatures we’ve never known existed before.”

“It is a demon, Robin.” For the first time, I saw fear in the Nephilim’s eyes. “I had hoped such nightmares would be kept at bay, but the Defiler is making the most of the weakness Aldrick has gifted to the gate. I imagine more will come if they haven’t already.”

I didn’t recall stories of demons such as the one that had just passed when Duwar had been mentioned. From my knowledge, although limited, I understood Duwar was banished to another realm. But the echo of the beast that still rang in my head had proven otherwise.

“What was it exactly?” Kayne asked, voice on edge with a subtle tremor. His skin had turned ice-white with fear. “And why is it all the way out here? I thought the gate was in Irobel?”

“There is much we don’t know about the Defiler. There’s no saying what the demon god has accomplished during their banishment. But the Draeic are like hounds. Pets, if you will. They go to where they are called.”

“To Aldrick,” I muttered, aware that my breath fogged beyond my lips as my power coiled out of my control.

It took a moment for my mind to catch up. I still reeled from what I had witnessed. Commotion spread across the ship as the fey tumbled out to find out what had happened. Across the sea, I saw the smudge of figures leaning over the railings in search of the thing that had woken them.

“It’s going to him, isn’t it?” I said, cautious. I didn’t want to spark fear among the crowd. “He is behind this. The keys, the gate. This is just another string he can add to his bow. Soon enough, the bastard will have enough to balance the arrow that destroys us.”

“It would be the most plausible of answers,” Rafaela replied. Lines had etched themselves across her forehead. Deep-set and aggressive, so much that they looked like physical scars of her concern.

I knew that feeling well enough to recognise it.

“Are you all right?” I asked as Rafaela dropped her wide eyes to the ground.

“If… if that monster made it this far from the gate, it means it got past the Nephilim stationed there.”

The sudden understanding of her visible distress became clear to me. She was concerned for those she’d left behind. “I am sure they are–”

But before I could finish consoling Rafaela, her wings burst outward. It took only two powerful flaps with undeniable force and she was skyward, shouting down one last command. There was not an ounce of sadness or concern left in her eyes. “We must reach Wychwood. It’s no longer safe. Robin, urge your ships forward, use your power to buffer the sails with the winter winds coursing through you. We mustnotallow for any further delays.”

CHAPTER 13

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