Page 123 of Ecliptic

Nepta’s sharp stare nearly sliced me in two. “With no army? No protection? And without your soul flame? We know Erovoscan travel through dark tunnels. What if he is already there, waiting for you? What is to keep him from killing you the moment you arrive? Without an army to shield you, you will be vulnerable. We cannot be careless with you.”

Her words rang true, and I nodded. It was hard to stay still when my body begged to jump into action. “Why can’t you portal in the army? Why make them march?”

Nepta’s half-moon staff rested in her hand, and her fingers tightened around the tool that helped her navigate the world. “My portals are not nearly big enough to transport an entire army. It would expend too much energy and take days. Not even Erovos is portaling in his army. He must be saving his strength for battle.”

“Both armies will approach the Lirien Valley from the south, though they are ahead of us,” the war captain said. His face was taut, accentuating the white scar on his chin. “By the time our forces arrive, the Voro-Kai will stand between us and Indrasyl. We will have to make a path to the tree. If you project there, you will have no protection. We must keep you surrounded at all times.”

“Nepta relayed that you spoke with the Sylvan Mother Tree,” Driskell said, his eyes gleaming with interest. “How very fascinating. What exactly did she say?”

All heads whipped to me, and my tongue turned bone-dry in my mouth.

“You know the prophecy better than anyone,” I replied, meeting his stare head-on. “Through blood and bone.Seems pretty specific to me. I need to be there. You wanted to figure out how to use me as a weapon, well, that’s how it’s done.”

“We need you on the front lines,” the Reader of the Stars argued. “Are we meant to die while you speak to a tree?”

Alvar raised a silencing hand. “I am the war strategist,Driskell. I do not counsel you on how to read the stars. Leave the battle planning to me.”

Driskell huffed and folded his arms within his robes.

“Yes, it’s important to destroy Erovos’ army,” I added, “but it is equally important to repair the damage he’s caused to the earth. The Wyn village might be healing, but the rest of the world is suffering. Indrasyl’s roots extend to everything. With her reach and my Light, we can try to heal Luneth.”

I left out the part where I would become one with the tree. They didn’t need to know that. I would wait until the last possible second, hoping beyond hope that Rowen found his army.

“What’s to say you will be successful?” Driskell asked, his blunt statement taking me by surprise. “You see why I have pause. You failed to acquire the Hara’dune elves.”

The failure hung from my neck like an albatross.

“That wasn’t her fault,” Dyani interjected, wearing her usual fighting leathers and henna-red jerkin. “The king was never going to help us.”

“We must make do with the army we have,” Nepta said, her voice steady despite the discouraging numbers.

“Rowen is searching for more soldiers,” Takoda pointed out, offering a sliver of optimism. “Let us not forget that.”

“Even if Rowen found every soldier from Viltarran, it would never make up the difference,” Driskell said, his head, and the crystals hanging from his hair, dipped low.

The shift around the Vale was palpable.

My fingers flexed, reaching for the calloused hand that always found mine, but Rowen’s reassuring touch was nowhere to be found. I balled my fists and took a deep breath, searching my own inner well for strength. My soul flame offered me a grounding presence, but it was always to support and uplift the strength he knew I had.

I wouldn’t let Driskell have the final word.

I lifted my chin and met the eyes of everyone at the table. “Rowen, the lord of Viltarran, will bring help.” The members of the Summit exchanged glances, letting my words sink in. “And you have me. I won’t let us fail.” Maddock shot me a sharp, questioning look, but I continued. “Erovos wants to bleed this world dry and move on to the next. He means to leave a trail of floating husks in space, but as long as we fight, there is still a chance we can defeat him.”

“Here, here,” Alvar said, flashing me a proud smile. “At dawn, Nepta will portal us to the edge of the Lirien Valley.”

“And then what?” Dyani asked, placing her palm on the table.

“We march to the tree, and under no circumstances are we to engage first,” he replied, leaning forward in his chair. “We need to draw the army away from the tree. This will allow a smaller team to slip around undetected, getting Keira to Indrasyl safely.”

“Those demons foam at the mouth when they see her,” Maddock said, shifting on his feet as all eyes turned to him. “If we want to lure them away, they will have to see her first.”

“As bait?” Dyani asked incredulously. “You know Rowen would never go for that.”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” Alvar said with a frown. “We will keep her hidden, and when the time is right, we will reveal her presence. The goal is to tempt the demons to charge recklessly towards us. Hopefully, this will serve as a distraction.”

My hopes had been dashed more than I could count. But one last time, I prayed the spirits heard me. “Let’s hope Rowen arrives with the help we need.”

Not just to bolster our forces but so that I could seehim one last time.

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