Page 151 of Fate and Flame
“Have you slept at all?” Nadra asked me later as I strapped my sword to my back, just in case.
“Not a wink. I don’t think I could if I wanted to.”
“This will work, Temir. It’s a solid plan and the only one we’ve got.”
I hugged her for several minutes within the confines of our tent. She understood more than anyone my reservations, but still, we had no choice. Not really. Burying my hands into her wild, curly hair, I tilted her head back and kissed her until we both needed a breath.
* * *
“You’re sure you don’t want to take a guard?” Fen asked.
I shook my head. “Gaea can travel with all of us because of Nadra’s magic, but even that has its limits, I’m sure. The same goes for Wren. If this goes to plan, we won’t need anyone else.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Greeve’s wind magic matched his tone beating on the side of our war tent so erratically, Gaea had to step closer just to keep the sand below the layers of rugs from flying through the tense room.
I didn’t answer. I didn’t have the one he wanted anyway. I wouldn’t change my mind and I couldn’t make promises.
Ara flipped a dagger in her hand and pressed it into Wren’s palm.
“Your bow won’t do you a lot of good in close quarters. Keep this in your hand. Be careful.” She turned to Gaea. “You’d better fucking come back.”
“Aw. I’ll miss you too,” Gaea said.
She moved to stand before my mate. Nadra pulled away from my hands and wrapped her arms around Ara. Ara whispered something into her ear, and Nadra laughed and shook her head. She held out a knife for her, but Nadra refused to take it.
“We will be fine. I’d just stab myself with that thing. I’ve got the sword I’ve been practicing with. That’s enough.”
“It’s never enough.” Ara stepped away.
“Let’s get this thing over with.” Gaea held her hand out. Nadra took it first, and Gaea’s eyes doubled at the onslaught of magic. “Holy shit. That’s intense.”
I was next and then Wren. In that moment, we all vanished, though we were still standing there.
“Did they leave?” I heard Kai ask as Gaea whisked us away.
In an instant, we stood in the Marsh Court. There was nothing but land all around us. Wren pulled her hand back and everyone reappeared.
“We’re going to have to do a little bit of hopping around until we find them,” Gaea said. “There’s no way to know for sure where they are from the ground. Everyone keep your eyes open.”
“Here.” Wren pulled a rope from the bag she had on her back. “If we all hold onto this, I can keep us hidden without having to hold hands.”
“You’ll still have to be touching me to spirit though. My magic doesn’t transfer through objects. But just in case we land right in the middle of the camp, better hold onto both of us. No one lets go.”
It took us over an hour, but we finally found the massive army. They hadn’t gotten as far as we thought they had, but the sheer size of them was nothing less than terrifying. Seventy thousand was just a number until you were standing there looking at them. From a distance, we could see all the giants, the beasts that moved with Autus, the humans, the high fae, the winged creatures that flew above. All of them. An ocean of enemies preparing for war.
Gaea held us in that place for several moments so we could watch as they assembled tents. Fires began to spark within the crowd as they settled in for the night.“Anyone who wants to back out, now’s the time to say it.” She looked over each of us carefully.
“Now, we definitely can’t,” Wren whispered. “Look at all of them.”
“Let’s go,” Nadra said. “The sooner we start, the greater number we can save.”
“On both sides.” I added. “It looks like the humans are clustered together on the west.” I pointed, though they couldn’t see me. “They’re smaller than the others.”
“I see them,” Gaea said.
I dropped the rope. “Hang on. Let’s get ourselves situated. I’m going to need a free hand to use my magic, and Nadra’s going to have to be able to refill Wren and I as needed. We only have so many hands.”
“Right, so how do we do this?” Gaea asked.
