Alliance (28 page)

When Glaevahl appeared to have nothing further to add, Nykin realized with a jolt that this was it. Everything that had happened over the last few days had obviously been leading up to this point, but it hadn’t quite felt real until now. Dread settled like a stone in his belly as he looked around the room and came to the awful conclusion that some of the people in it would probably die. No side ever got through a war without casualties, and Nykin felt sick at the thought.

Ryneq clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention once more, and Nykin swallowed thickly as their eyes met for the briefest of moments. “Seran is gravely mistaken if he thinks we will roll over and open the gates for him and his witch.”

Nykin felt Selene’s hand slide into his and squeeze gently.

“Torsere will fight to protect its people. Just like we have done against every other attack before this.” A loud roar met Ryneq’s words, and boots stamped on the wooden floor. “Good luck to you all, and may the Gods protect us.”

Nykin joined in with the answering cry of “Gods protect us!” while holding Selene’s hand tightly, and then everyone began talking at once as the room started to empty and they all left for their respective posts.

“I’ll meet you at the Eyrie, Nykin.”

Nykin followed Selene’s gaze to where Lerran was obviously waiting for her. “Yeah, all right.” He pulled her into his side for a hug before watching her hurry over to the elves. Nykin needed to say a good-bye of his own, one he wished he’d said last night when they’d been alone. He searched for Ryneq and didn’t have to look too far, because Ryneq was already on his way over.

Most of the riders were starting to file out of the room. High alert meant they would stay in the Eyrie now, no going back to their homes. The changing rooms had now been fitted with makeshift beds, where they would take turns to try to get some rest. Nykin would be expected to remain there too, so this was his last chance to speak with Ryneq.

Possibly for good
, his brain helpfully supplied, and Nykin tried not to think about that.

“Nykin.” Ryneq slipped his hand around Nykin’s waist and drew him close. “I know you need to go up to the Eyrie, but I need to see you alone first.”

Nykin closed his eyes for a moment, letting Ryneq take his weight as he leaned into him. “I have time.”

Ryneq pulled back, letting his hand slide down to grab Nykin’s. “Follow me.” He tugged on Nykin’s fingers and led them out of the room and along the passageway toward the war room. The guards outside saluted as Ryneq approached and then opened the double doors to let them inside.

As soon as they shut behind them, Ryneq had him pushed up against the wall. “I meant to say all this last night.” He buried his face in Nykin’s neck, and Nykin shuddered with each puff of warm breath. “I had it all planned out, but then there you were in the bath, and…
Gods
, Nykin, there’s not enough time.”

“I know.” There would never be enough time to say good-bye. Nykin held Ryneq tight against him, gripping the leather of his jacket on the small of Ryneq’s back. It hadn’t escaped Nykin’s attention that Ryneq wore the uniform of his guard. He meant to join his men and lead the fight.

Nykin had wanted to talk to Ryneq before he left for the Eyrie, but now that they were alone, the words wouldn’t come. He felt so much, his body thrumming with a mixture of nervous excitement, fear, and dread. But Nykin didn’t want to share any of that with Ryneq. He didn’t want Ryneq to know how the thought of facing the witch again made his hands tremble with fear. So he kept those thoughts to himself and just held Ryneq close, breathing him in and trying to burn the scent into his memory. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Ryneq’s voice sounded rough and broken as he whispered the words and clutched Nykin’s shoulders.

Nykin’s breath caught. He’d never heard Ryneq sound so desperate and vulnerable, and for a moment Nykin had the urge to tell him to shove his orders, because there was absolutely no way he could leave him behind if it came to it. But then he felt Ryneq take a deep breath, and the grip on Nykin’s shoulders lessened.

Ryneq withdrew from their embrace as he spoke. Nykin refused to say good-bye, and he knew Ryneq felt the same. Those four words were enough.

Nykin swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to smile. He gestured to the armor laid over the table. “Do you want a hand with that?”

Ryneq thankfully went with the abrupt change of subject and smiled back, even if it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I don’t think Eldin would be impressed if I held his second-in-command back to help me with my armor, do you?”

Nykin’s smile came easier this time as he pictured Eldin’s face. “No, probably not.” He sighed, knowing that he needed to go but trying to drag it out as long as possible. “I should go.”

“Yes, you should.” Ryneq had his hands on Nykin’s jaw before he finished speaking, tilting his head as Nykin’s arms wrapped around Ryneq’s waist.

They kissed as though it was their last. Not hard and desperate as Nykin had imagined when he’d thought about it before. But so much better. If this was to be their last, then it was exactly how Nykin would want to remember them.

Ryneq slowly fitted their mouths together, taking time they didn’t have to bite softly at Nykin’s bottom lip and soothe it with his tongue. He stroked Nykin’s cheek with his thumb, and Nykin moaned, sliding his hands under Ryneq’s jacket, searching for skin.

Nykin forgot about everything except the slide of Ryneq’s mouth against his. For one glorious moment, only the two of them existed, and he clung to it for as long as time allowed.

When Ryneq pulled away this time, he stepped back a couple of paces and opened the door. They were out of time.

“Stay safe.” Nykin walked through the door and didn’t look back.

T
HE
ATTACK
began far sooner than any of them had expected.

Nykin ran up the Eyrie steps, taking them two at a time. The rest of the riders were all gathered in the entryway, wearing their weapons, as Nykin did. It didn’t look as though they were waiting for Nykin to arrive, but as soon as Eldin spotted him, he clapped his hands to call them all to order. Eldin detailed their plan of attack, same teams as before, and Nykin listened intently as Eldin gave them their orders.

“Remember, stay in formation as long as possible, it’s easier for your dragons to keep the shield that way. As soon as you start to attack, the shield will fail. Let your dragons lead, they will know how to dodge her magic bett—”

Eldin tensed, and Nykin felt everyone around him do the same. They all knew what that meant.

“It’s started.” He looked at each of them in turn, and Nykin felt the air crackle with the heady mixture of fear and excitement. “Get to your dragons, and may the Gods keep us safe.”

Nykin frantically searched for Selene and Jaken. He hadn’t seen Jaken in the meeting earlier, and he couldn’t go into battle without doing what they always did. Superstitious or not, Nykin needed to do it. “Selene!” He shouted over to her as riders hurried past him headed for the tunnels. “Where’s Jaken?”

“Here.” Jaken appeared at his side just as Selene rushed over. Nykin didn’t bother asking where he’d been. He grabbed both of them in a hug and bent their heads together. “Stay safe.” They all said it at the same time, hands gripping each other tight before breaking away and taking to the tunnels.

“Fimor?”
Nykin ran straight for the cave he’d left his harness in before.

“I’m just landing. Hurry.”

Nykin skidded around the last corner, almost bumping into one of the others coming the other way. He ran into the cave, went straight over to the wall where the harness lay, and scooped it up, then slung it high on his shoulder. Fimor settled low to the ground just inside the cave mouth, and Nykin put the harness on his back with practiced ease.

He used Fimor’s extended wing to help haul himself up and onto his back and buckled the thigh straps in place as soon as he sat in the saddle.
“Go.”

Fimor turned and launched himself and Nykin out into the early-morning air. The sun had barely risen, but the sky above them had already turned a beautiful shade of blue. On any other morning, Nykin would take the time to appreciate the sight, but today it felt wrong. How could everything appear so calm and tranquil up here when below them it was chaos and death?

“What’s happening? Can you tell?”
Nykin clung to Fimor’s back as he circled in front of the landing caves, waiting for all of Nykin’s team to emerge.

“The witch’s power is considerable. It feels like more than she has used before. The barrier will not hold for long. We need to get down there.”

Nykin counted the riders flying around him. From the looks of it, Eldin had already led his team into the action, and Nykin was anxious to join them. A dragon with dark gray scales leapt out from one of the caves below, and Fimor immediately straightened his path.

“That’s all of us, Nykin. Are you ready?”

No, he didn’t feel ready at all, but he gripped the harness tight and leaned forward over Fimor’s back.
“Yes. Lead them in formation, Fimor. This part is all yours.”
Nykin looked back over his shoulder, the sight of nine dragons falling into place behind him causing a shiver to run down his spine. Nykin knew the exact moment the shield went up. His mark flared, and Fimor’s magic thrummed under his skin. He felt it pulse through him, his connection to Fimor the strongest it had ever been.

The air in front of them shimmered. It happened ever so quickly, and Nykin would have thought he’d imagined it if he couldn’t feel it too.

“Hold on, Nykin.”

Nykin didn’t think he could hold on any tighter if he tried, but he gripped Fimor’s back with his thighs, squeezing them that little bit more as Fimor dived down and around the base of the mountain. The others followed close behind, spreading out into the shape of an arrowhead with Fimor at the tip.

Nykin gasped as the camp came into view. He saw movement everywhere, the ground thick with soldiers as they readied ladders along the length of the wall for when the barrier came down. They had shields raised above their heads as the Torserian archers launched a barrage of arrows at them from the wall. Nykin couldn’t see the witch, but the air in front of the north wall was alight with a rainbow of colors, constantly changing as the witch no doubt tried to get through.

He felt it deep inside, the lingering effects of Faelon’s magic stirring in his bones, and Nykin knew that he was down there on the other side of the wall. No doubt working with the other elves to keep the barrier stable for as long as possible. Nykin prayed they could hold it long enough to tire the witch and use up her magical energy.

“Nykin, what are your orders?”
Fimor sounded calm in his head, and Nykin clung to it as his nerves threatened to take over.

He scanned the air for Eldin, and spotted him and his team curling round in a large arc as they flew straight for the north wall. Nykin wanted to watch the attack unfold, but he had his own team to lead.

“Fly along the eastern wall and burn as many of those ladders as we can.”
There were too many lying on the ground, ready to carry the lowland soldiers onto the wall as soon as the witch broke through. The Torserian Guard would be overwhelmed.
“The riders are yours to lead now. Order the others to attack when you’re in position.”

Nykin could do little more than hang on tight as Fimor brought the dragons in low and lined them up for their run alongside the eastern wall. The soldiers below yelled out orders, pointing up at the dragons and unleashing a flurry of arrows. They hit the shield and fell harmlessly back to the ground, but that would all change as soon as the attack began.

Fimor let out a huge roar. It echoed in the air around them, and Nykin felt the magic withdraw as the dragons dropped their shield. Fimor angled his wings, dropping them lower to the ground and unleashing a jet of orange flame on the soldiers below. Nykin glanced behind him as Fimor raced along, lighting anything in his path. They left a sea of flames in their wake. The panicked yells and screams of agony could be heard over the dragons’ roars, but Seran had brought this on himself.

“Take us back up, out of range of the arrows.”

Fimor immediately took them into a steep climb that had Nykin leaning forward to compensate. It gave him the opportunity to check Fimor over for any injuries, and he sucked in a breath when he saw the four shafts sticking out of one of his back legs.
“You’re hurt.”

“The wounds are shallow. They are of no immediate concern.”

Nykin didn’t press the issue. He trusted Fimor to tell him the truth.
“What about the others?”
Fimor leveled out now that they were high enough to avoid the lowland archers, and the other dragons lined up in formation behind him again. None of them appeared to be injured, but he needed to know for sure.

“Most have been hit by arrows, but at present the wounds are superficial. We are good for another pass. Eldin’s team is much the same.”

Nykin eyed the camp below. Fire raged along the ground in front of the east wall. Even from this high up, Nykin could make out the soldiers as they struggled to douse the flames. Eldin had done the same along the north wall, but the barrier still shimmered in the morning light as the witch kept bombarding it with her magic. At least it held for now.
“Can you sense the barrier?”

“Yes, and it is weakening. We don’t have long before it fails.”

They needed to find the witch, but she’d managed to protect herself well before, and Nykin didn’t think now would be any different, but he asked anyway. “Can you see the witch?”

“No,”
Fimor hissed.
“Her magic seems as though it comes from the ground itself, Nykin. I can’t determine where she is, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”
Nykin hurried to reassure him.
“Can you raise your shields again?”