Every fiber of my being protested her being here. Every piece of me wanted to lock her here in the Academy, safe from harm and out of the way of whatever was waiting for us outside, but I knew deep in my soul that we—I—would need her on that battlefield before it was all over.
“I have confirmation of our enemies,” Lex proclaimed loudly, and I gestured for him to continue speaking. While I would usually screen information first, there was simply not thetime for normal protocol. “There are two distinct groups”—Lex turned to address the rest of the room—“the rebellion hiding in Lishahl is here. As are the gods from the south.”
My whole body froze.
A war from both sides.
“The booms you hear”—the Academy rattled as if to punctuate his words—“are from the rebellion inside the city, inside our wards. The others attack from the outside. It will not be long until the barriers fall.”
Conversation buzzed in the hall at his declaration, and I nodded my thanks before gesturing for him to join his task force. It was not lost on me the hole that Sasori left in their group. If Lex burned through his crystals too quickly tonight, we were well and truly fucked. Aside from me—and I supposed Ellowyn and Torin—Lex was our strongest Mage and leader. A kink in any of them could spell disaster.
WhereareEllowyn and Torin?
“I will lead a specific force against the gods.” Ellowyn stepped out from between a large Earth Mage and an unAwakened cadet. The cadet looked a bit green in the face and even more shell-shocked once he realized who was speaking.
“The Queen.”
“Your Majesty.”
Voices mixed together as she emerged. Her face was cast from stone, her grey eyes lit with a vengeful fire. Ellowyn looked like the warrior queens of old—hair braided away from her face and into an intricate plait that stopped in the middle of her back. Her Mage blacks were tight, and sparks of her powers already flowed along her arms.
“Ellowyn, take three others of your choosing—not my point leads—and do what you must. Report back when you can about their movements.” She nodded once before pointing at Leal, Tine, and Talamh. I wasn’t shocked those were herchoices—after all, they were who she trained with while at the Academy. Other newly-Awakened cadets filled their empty spaces seamlessly, and pride washed over me.
“Oh, and Torin—that lying bastard—is mine,” Ellowyn spat venomously as her Destruction Magic coiled up her arm and licked at her face. She nodded once before gesturing to her small task force and striding from the room.
Torin is gone? No wonder she is so incensed.
“Keep your head, Ellowyn. Protection first, revenge second,” I called. She acknowledged my statement with a small wave of her hand before she disappeared through the door.
She was a force to be reckoned with, and I was chagrined to think that I ever doubted her abilities.
“The rest of you,” I called out, instantly drawing their attention even as another blast hit the Academy walls. “Armory first, then I want to scour each level of the Academy before taking the fight outside. Points report back through the Communication Orbs. Once your level of the Academy is clear, wait for my instructions. I’ll assess the threat outside and direct each of your groups to a specific location. Once you are outside these walls, if you do not recognize a group, you engage immediately. These people came here to kill you—to kill your wives, husbands, children. They do not care for our livelihoods, and we should take offense to that. We are not aiming to take prisoners. Am I understood?” I called, and a resounding “Yes, General!” followed.
“Good. UnAwakened cadets, I want four of you per task force. Stay close to your Mages, and for gods’ sake, listen to whatever your point tells you.” The cadets scurried to join groups, most of them blending seamlessly into the task force they trained with.
“Honor in death,” I rumbled, committing each of the faces in front of me to memory. Not all of them would live—of the nearlyfive hundred here, I would be surprised if half survived. “And may Fate watch over us all.”
Chapter 86
Ellowyn
My strides were aggressive, my long legs eating the distance between the mess hall and the armory. The three Mages I’d chosen to fight alongside me hovered just behind, flanking both my sides and covering my rear. We moved silently, the rattling of the Academy’s walls as it desperately tried to withstand the magical attacks from Torin’s rebels the only sound.
I picked Leal, Tine, and Talamh not just for their cunning and shown prowess in their respective magics, but also because they were unBonded. I’d seen firsthand what happened to a Bonded Mage when they lost their Vessel and vice versa, and I didn’t want to risk that happening to anyone I knew.
This was war, and I knew the likelihood that all Bonded pairs surviving together was very slim, if possible at all.
But I’d be damned if their forcible separation happened under my watch.
Where I was leading my team was undoubtedly dangerous, with the most potential for injury and death, but I was incensed. My body practically vibrated with unconstrained rage, both ofmy magics twining around the bracers I’d strapped to my arms before leaving my room.
I cracked my neck to each side, the braids I’d woven into my hair brushing along my back with the movement as we neared the armory door. It was already open, weapons of all kinds hanging on the walls and strewn about on top of wooden tables. There was little order to the chaos, aside from a loose grouping of weapon type, and I was grateful my task force had beaten the majority of the army here. There were a few other groups carefully but quickly selecting weapons before moving on with nods of acknowledgment to my small group.
I wasn’t a warrior.
Far from it, in fact. I’d only just gotten control over my magics and had no business wielding a weapon of any kind, especially since I had a seemingly never-ending well of magic that I could tap into at any point. The Mages accompanying me, though, did not have that luxury. At most, they each carried four crystals; far less than what we would need before the Battle for Vespera was over.
Wordlessly, the three Mages moved like wraiths in the night as they quickly selected a handful of weapons each. Leal positioned three throwing knives in her boots before grabbing a dagger with a blade as long as my forearm. The twins seemed to have the same mindset, each of them selecting a small axe, meant for both throwing and close-quarter fights, before clipping them to their belts. I raised my eyebrows at their lack of weaponry.
