AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rekja lifted his hand. Eryndan’s senses must have screamed at him, because he whirled, but it was too late.
Rekja speared him with his power and blew his father apart.
* * *
Eryndan’s ship exploded. Even from this far away, the heat bathed me, and I felt Galon reinforce his wards as the others continued to fight.
I’d expected Rekja to turn on Eryndan. To demand the crown. To perhaps kill him at a later date.
I hadn’t dared to hope for this.
Rekja’s ship was now turning northwest, back toward the Gromalian capital. The Gromalian fleet was in tatters—their captains clearly confused. Several other ships followed Rekja’s, while others seemed to be waiting for further orders.
I turned to Regner’s ship. He stood at the helm, hands on his hips as he barked orders of his own. The invisible chain around my lungs began to unravel. Perhaps this battle was turning in our favor. Perhaps—
I caught movement next to Regner. My heart seized.
My cousin stood next to the Eprothan king, his gaze on our ships.
Zathrian and Regner were working together.
And next to my cousin…
Eadric.
Fury burned through my body, incinerating every thought other than “kill.” If we could just get close enough, we could kill them. But along with Regner’s own wards, he’d surrounded his ship with what were likely the best human warders in his kingdom, his ship floating among so many others, I kept losing sight of him.
Just footspans away, Lorian was fighting, teeth bared, his lightning cracking again and again.He’d told me to wait until the next opportunity to use my power. The next time I could do the most damage.
Daharak’s soldiers were highly trained. As were Conreth’s. But Regner’s and Eryndan’s outnumbered us five-to-one. And with so much of our power being directed at the barrier instead of right here against our enemies…
We were on the defensive.
Conreth’s power tunneled through our enemies’ wards like an icy spear. He was aiming for what he’d called high-value targets—Regner’s generals, advisers, and anyone else who seemed critical to the human king’s army.
As I watched, Conreth’s power slammed into a ship on Regner’s front lines. Six men stood on the deck. Their ward shimmered, and Conreth’s ice arrowed through it, driving into all six men. Ice swept up their bodies, along their legs, their torsos, until their faces were frozen. And then they shattered. Nausea swept through me. Nausea and reluctant admiration. But…had the ward surrounding their ship faltered moments before Conreth struck?
My instincts screamed at me.
I was missing something.
“Prisca.” A voice came from the trowth stone.
I picked it up. “What is it?”
Daharak’s voice was a rough growl. “Tell me you know the people in that piss-poor excuse for a ship before one of my captains blows it out of the water.”
What was she…
I whirled. Daharak was right. The ship that approached from the east could hardly be called seaworthy. Patched sails billowed with holes, the mast leaned slightly askew, and the rigging was as tangled as uncombed hair.
It was an old merchant ship, likely procured illegally. And its passengers…
My lungs turned to stone and then expanded, my heart soaring.
“What is it?” Lorian asked.
“It’s…” My throat was too tight to speak.
