“I can’t undo what’s been done,” Knorbis said, his gaze haunted. “There will be no forgiving my actions. But I’ve reconnected with Malukali. Quincy has the map to the library and is conveying it to both of us. I will get you there.” He reached into his pocket and produced a handful of vials. “And I can get us there quickly.”
Zachariah rose. Tiege saw him put something in his pocket that looked suspiciously like one of Tate’s curls. Then the Mercesti walked over to the elder and took the vials from him.
“Archigos Uriel can convey the map to commander Harold,” Zachariah said without inflection. “You can assuage your guilt some other way. You will never again go anywhere near Tate. Ever.”
Knorbis couldn’t meet Zachariah’s gaze as he nodded. They left the elder standing in the clearing with a few Waresti for protection, figuring he could fly to Malukali. Thanks to the potions, they made excellent time getting to the library’s location.
They also learned of Sophia’s survival and her Mercesti escort. Tiege was inordinately relieved by the news, even if the fact that she had been rescued by Mercesti came as a surprise.
Now, they stood near the edge of the forest and watched as the last of Eirik’s crew landed. Tiege saw Ariana’s lavender wings, but she was soon surrounded. He also briefly glimpsed Tate. Her hair covered much of her face because her head hung limply. But the marks and blood he saw all over her body made him want to fly back to the clearing and give Knorbis a few punches of his own.
He exchanged a look with Zachariah. He nodded once to convey understanding. Zachariah briefly returned the nod before once again focusing on Tate.
Harold’s eyes flashed. Looking around, he said in a low voice, “Alexius’ advanced scouts spotted activity just south of us. He believes it is Sophia and her escort. If we meet up with them and wait for Alexius to arrive with his team—”
“I am not bloody waiting,” Zachariah interrupted.
“You must,” Harold said firmly. “Just a few more minutes so that we can reinforce our numbers.
“If you don’t, Tate and Ariana will surely die.”
Chapter 39
Eirik didn’t bother to wipe the spittle from his face before he drew his krises. He had been convinced by Metis to leave the Wymzesti elder alive in case he was needed to activate the Elder Scroll. But there was nothing preventing him from dragging this insolent female’s nearly-dead form across this godforsaken stretch of land until she came into contact with the illusion surrounding the library and dissolved it.
She didn’t even flinch as he raised his weapons to strike her down.
“No!”
The cry came from the Lekwuesti female. She moved so that she stood more in front of the weakened Kynzesti than beside her.
That was fine. She was no longer needed, either.
“There’s a third piece to the scroll,” she blurted.
Nothing else would have so effectively halted his attack.
“What?”
She paled at his tone, but didn’t look away when she repeated, “There’s a third piece. I lied to you before.”
Eirik looked to Bain, his soldier with mental abilities. Although his dampening power was much stronger than his thought perception, he nodded to let Eirik know the female spoke the truth.
Bain would definitely pay for not catching the earlier lie. Eirik squeezed the grips of his krises so hard the handles creaked in protest.
“Metis,” he ground out.
She moved forward. “Yes?”
“If you kill the Kynzesti, can you assume her second power to see through illusions?”
Metis gave the two other females a thoughtful study. “There is no way to know. I do not always assume the full abilities of those whose forms I take. I understand that Kanika had the ability to bring forth miscellaneous items with just her thoughts, for example, but I cannot.”
His nostrils flaring, Eirik sheathed his krises. Turning to the Mercesti around him, he snapped his fingers. “Take the Kynzesti. Drag her along the ground until she finds the damn library.”
Surprisingly, the female didn’t resist as she was grabbed by multiple males and pulled, her boots kicking up dust as they moved along the ground. He supposed the fight had been beaten out of her after all. That didn’t brighten his mood in the least.
But there was a way to make himself feel better, he realized.
“So, little liar,” he said, stepping closer to the Lekwuesti. He enjoyed watching her eyes widen. “Let’s discuss your punishment, shall we?”
By the time Quincy, Clara Kate, Ini-herit, Alexius and their group reached the forest beside the library, they were beyond weary. Although Hoygul had provided them with a helpful shortcut out of the jungle, they still had to fly as fast as possible without stopping for a few hours to cut the distance between them and the others.
Despite that, Quincy’s adrenaline kicked into high gear as the forest entered his sight. He saw the streams of Mercesti milling around the barren section of earth housing the library. They landed out of the enemy’s range of visibility and headed straight for the trees.
Quincy trusted that Alexius was conveying their arrival to Harold, who had met up with Sophia’s group a few minutes ago. He hurried into the forest with the others right behind him.
He found himself facing a sea of beings. Some faces were familiar—the Waresti led by Harold who had traveled with Tiege, Zachariah and archigos Sebastian. Many were not. Ignoring the fact that there were a large number of strange, tattooed Mercesti staring at him, he hurried forward, searching for Sophia.
Then he spotted her. She stood beside Tiege, looking up at him and listening to something he said. She wore leather armor over her gown, something he had never seen on her before. Her beautiful hair had been pinned up in anticipation of the fight to come.
She looked like a Fae warrior standing among the sun-dappled trees.
Her gaze suddenly shifted to him. Everything inside him settled into place. He started toward her. She met him halfway at a run, throwing herself into his arms.
“I’m so sorry, Quincy,” she whispered against his chest. “I was so stupid.”
After breathing in her scent and squeezing her for an extra-long moment, he tipped her head up. “I’m sorry, too, Sophia. There are many things I should have done differently. But we’ll get to all that. Right now, let’s go and rescue Tate and Ariana.” He gave her a small smile. “Then you can spend as much time as you want telling me how much you love me.”
She pulled him down for a quick kiss. “Deal.”
Ariana couldn’t stop herself from backing away as Eirik drew nearer. She quickly bumped up against a group of Mercesti who weren’t about to let her get away. Although he had asked her what she believed her punishment should be, she knew he didn’t really expect a response.
“Be sure to keep her alive,” Metis said, her red eyes conveying no emotion as she focused on Ariana. “Deimos will be most unhappy if you take away his prize.”
In response, the evil creature began emitting his awful shrieks in a bid for release. This was just what it had been like the last time, Ariana realized, her gaze wheeling in panic and fear. She was surrounded by Mercesti trying to get to the item she wasn’t supposed to have led them to, listening to the wild cries of a beastly monster that wanted to kill her.
But when Eirik’s fist came at Ariana’s head, she ducked.
Some things had changed, after all.
The male behind Ariana who took the punch crumpled to the ground. She used the confusion to open up her senses, seeking an escape. The instant a lavender path appeared in her sight, she took off running.
Evading the hands that reached for her, Ariana thought she just might make it. Then brilliant light blazed across the crowd. Deimos screamed in pain.
Ariana knew Tate had found the library.
And she knew she had to go back.
“Quincy, give me your short sword,” Clara Kate said, drawing Sophia’s attention.
> Beside her, Quincy pulled his sword from its sheath and held it out to her cousin. Clara Kate touched the hilt, her deep blue-green eyes glowing as her second power surged. When she removed her hand, the weapon shimmered.
“There,” she said. “All blessed. Should last for an hour or so.”
“Thanks, C.K.”
Sophia watched her turn to the closest Waresti so she could bless his weapon, as well. She was trying to get to as many as she could before they charged out and challenged the Mercesti. The only reason they were still sitting there was because Harold, Alexius, Zachariah, Tiege and Derian were conducting a quick strategy session.
“So…Mercesti, huh?” Quincy asked.
Since he leaned down to whisper the question right in her ear, pleasant shivers ran down her spine. She managed a smile despite the circumstances. “Yes. Quite an interesting class, I’ve found.”
“What was Zachariah’s reaction when he met others like him?”
Her smile faded. Derian and his team had greeted Zachariah with something akin to awe. She knew from what Melanthe said that Derian greatly respected his former commander. But aside from a cursory greeting, Zachariah hadn’t turned his attention from the group out in the empty field. Sophia noticed something markedly different about his demeanor, but when she asked Tiege about it, he told her to let it drop.
“He didn’t say much,” she said at last. “He’s focused on rescuing Tate.”
A flash of light put both of them on alert. The time for conversation was over.
Ariana allowed herself to be hauled by a couple of Mercesti over to where Eirik and Metis now stood. They looked intently at the ground. She followed their gazes.
The entrance to the library was little more than a mound of dirt with a round wooden door covering it. It looked barely large enough for a being to enter, never mind house the entire ancient library. Even if it hadn’t been enchanted, Ariana would have been hard-pressed to believe that anyone would willingly enter it. In fact, there was something distinctly repelling about it.
Eirik didn’t seem to care. He reached down and lifted the door by its handle, wrenching it open with one hard tug.
“Let’s go,” he said, turning to the males holding Tate.
She was still being held by the Mercesti who had dragged her in order to find the library. Her head bobbed as she fought to remain conscious. Fresh blood glistened on her lips. If possible, her complexion looked even worse than it had before. Dark bruising had spread along her torso, Ariana realized, spotting a section of skin revealed by Tate’s torn tank top. Although she was no expert, Ariana felt certain that Tate had endured internal injuries that would prove fatal if not treated soon.
She felt Eirik’s gaze on her and lifted her eyes to meet his. “You’ll never have the scroll if she dies,” she said.
“Then I shall keep her alive…barely.”
A surge of activity drew their attention to the forested side of the field. Ariana gaped as the sky filled with beings. Even from her distance, she saw orange, silver, deep blue-green and lavender wings among the red of the Mercesti.
“Tiege!” she cried.
Then she was yanked by the hair. Disoriented, she found herself flung toward the hole in the ground. She couldn’t stop her forward momentum and fell headfirst into the library. Her breath left her lungs as she struck the hard floor.
When she heard them tossing Tate down after her, Ariana twisted and did her best to catch the other female. They ended up in a heap. Ignoring the pain resulting from the collision, Ariana struggled to her feet, reaching under Tate’s armpits and pulling with all of her strength. She managed to get them both out of the way before Eirik and Metis entered the library. Deimos came down next, causing Ariana to stiffen.
Where were his handlers?
“Remember to behave yourself, my dear Deimos,” Metis crooned, reaching out and stroking the creature’s dark, filthy hair. “These are not your prizes…yet.”
Eirik reached up and pulled the library door closed, sealing them in utter darkness without anyone else joining them. Ariana realized that there would now be no one restraining Deimos. She and Tate were trapped with the most vicious creature on the Estilorian plane.
And he wanted their blood.
Chapter 40
When Harold gave the signal to attack, Tiege unsheathed his blessed kamas and prepared to run from the forest to engage his first combatant. A strong hand grabbed his arm, holding him back.
He glanced over at Zachariah as everyone surged past them. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Let’s—”
“Can you cast the illusion of invisibility?”
Blinking, Tiege responded, “Harold said their dampeners will clamp down on our second powers the moment we make ourselves known.”
“Your sister refuses to listen to any rules or directions and you do nothing but abide by them. How is that possible?”
Feeling a flush building in his neck, Tiege frowned. His parents had always jokingly called him and Tate their “yin” and “yang” children. They tended to balance each other. But perhaps it was time to tilt things off their axis.
“I’ve never tried,” he admitted.
“Was it against the rules?” Zachariah asked dryly.
“Shut up,” Tiege muttered.
He glanced at the battle occurring just feet away. Flares of light flooded the field as blessed weapons met cursed ones. His cousins were out there risking their lives. But his abilities could allow him and Zachariah to get to Tate and Ariana more quickly than battling their way there.
“Keep them from killing me while I try,” he said.
As Zachariah moved into position to defend him, Tiege put his kamas away. This illusion wasn’t going to be the same as making someone believe they were seeing something that wasn’t really there. This was making them not see something that was.
Closing his eyes, he tried to open up his second power. There was a definite damper in effect. He considered what to do. Tate and Zachariah had defied all kinds of logic in the course of their relationship, first through their mental connection to each other and then through their dream avowing. Whatever part of his sister had permitted that to happen also had to be a part of him.
He just had to believe that he could do it.
Conjuring Tate’s image in his mind, he drew on his grandfather’s Corgloresti ability of faith. He felt the dampening ease as his concentration and belief grew. He focused on making himself the illusion. What others saw would be the environment that surrounded him.
He opened his eyes. Zachariah was removing his tomahawk from the chest of a dead Mercesti, wiping it on the other male’s clothes.
“Okay,” Tiege said, feeling his power remain steady. When Zachariah looked up and glanced around as if searching for him, Tiege knew it was working.
“Good.” Zachariah looked down toward Tiege’s boot prints, then moved closer. “Can you extend it to me?”
Although he tried, Tiege couldn’t get it to work. “I think I might have to touch you,” he said.
“Fine.”
He reached out and grasped Zachariah’s upper arm. He sensed immediately that the illusion extended to both of them even though he could still see Zachariah.
“Okay, we’re good to go,” he said. “We should probably fly. Running through this field of bodies will be impossible. If anyone touches either of us, the illusion will dissolve.”
“How the hell are we going to fly while you’re touching me?”
Tiege considered that. “I don’t have a flight harness and I doubt I’m strong enough to carry you. We’ll have to hold hands.”
The look Zachariah gave him clearly questioned his sanity.
“Do you see another choice? We’re wasting time here.”
Sighing, Zachariah harnessed his weapon and extended his wings. When Tiege also extended his wings and reached for Zachariah’s hand, the Mercesti hesitated.
His gaze narrowing, he said, “You will speak of this to no o
ne.”
“I make no promises.”
“Sure. Now you sound like your sister.”
Sophia and Clara Kate, the youngest beings in the group and the ones with the least battle experience, were among the last to leave the cover of the trees. Tiege was supposed to be with them, but the moment Sophia had a chance to look for her cousin, she realized he was nowhere to be found.
There wasn’t time to worry about it. They may have been the last out of the forest, but there were plenty of Mercesti to go around. Considering they were outnumbered two to one despite their combined forces, it seemed they were on an impossible mission.
They instinctively started battling in the air to meet the hundreds of Mercesti who took flight once they spotted the newcomers. But they soon realized the Kynzesti weren’t properly trained for it. Wings couldn’t be extended in the area of protection surrounding their homes, so they had only been trained on the ground.
Once they returned to the ground, Clara Kate’s blessed butterfly swords whirled as she met opponent after opponent in their effort to reach the library. Ini-herit wielded a sword of his own, protecting her back. Quincy did the same for Sophia with his short sword and a shield he borrowed from Derian’s crew.
Sophia also carried a shield, but her weapon wasn’t made of steel or wood.
Because her ability to shift was a part of her genetic code, no dampener on the plane could prevent her from doing it. As a result, now curling from underneath the hem of her gown was her homage to Nyx: a kragen’s tail with a paralyzing barb on the tip. She used it to strike the enemy anywhere they had exposed flesh, sending them straight to the ground.
Up ahead of them, Derian and Melanthe led their team in the primary ground assault as Harold and Alexius led the attack by air. Derian’s lochaber axe left a wake of carnage that Sophia was sure would haunt her nightmares. Melanthe stunned Sophia with her ability to wield a bo. It was clear that she had received exceptional training. She and Derian worked so seamlessly that they had obviously practiced scenarios like this many times.