The earth doesn’t want this battle to happen and it grieves already.
When my eyes open, I whisper to the tree, “Tell me what I’m supposed to do to stop this and I’ll do it.”
It doesn’t answer me, and my stomach churns with uncertainty.
I press on deeper into the shadows of the forestuntil I reach the edge facing the fortress. I crouch low between a twisted root system and a cluster of shrubs that offer some concealment. I’m still close enough to see the top edge of the structure’s wall through the tangle of branches. Close enough to hear the guards pacing along the parapets, their boots scraping against stone.
Above me, leaves rustle in the breeze just before the first howl cuts through the air.
My chest constricts as it rises long and sharp from the east–Torryn’s side of the attack. The answering chorus follows seconds later, haunting and making my skin pebble.
It’s beginning.
Another beat passes and then the sky lights with magic I know is from the fae.
I flinch as violet light arcs over the treetops, pulsing from the south where the vampires advance with them. Screams rise almost immediately, shrill with terror.
I watch the two guards on the wall shout at each other, their voices overlapping as panic spreads like fire.
“We’re under attack!”
“East wall and south–shit! They’re flanking us!”
“Get on the comms and call for backup, now!”
My pulse quickens, the breath catching sharply inmy lungs as I lean forward instinctively, needing to see if they’re successful, but then he appears.
Azyric’s form materializes atop the wall like he was summoned by the rising pitch of panic, shadows knitting into flesh. He glides toward the nearest guard before they even see him.
I don’t breathe as the first neck snaps with a clean, sickening crack–bone giving way under the strength of a single hand and shadows. The second soldier turns just in time to register him, mouth parting in warning, but it’s already too late. Azyric’s arm snakes out, shadows trailing from his hands and rushing up the man’s body to smother his sounds. As the shadows dissipate, the body crumples, lifeless.
Silence reclaims the wall.
His head lifts slowly, silver eyes scanning the treetops and then, almost impossibly, they find me. It’s just a moment, but it stirs the dread in my chest, wild and painful as the earth and I bear witness to his slaughter.
He disappears in a flicker of shadow and suddenly I can’t breathe. My hands lift to my chest as grief squeezes my heart in its grasp. The earth’s trembling force beneath my feet turns aching with sorrow.
A pulse erupts beneath me and I press a hand to it, feeling the force of it like something buried is trying to claw its way out. My boots tremble against the forest floor as hairline fractures race outwardfrom my hand. I visualize the cracks before they appear, like I’ve conjured the exact spots without trying.
I stumble back from the fracture steadily splitting the ground as it reaches the stone fortress. My eyes are wide as pain suddenly tears through the soles of my feet and up my spine. I bite down on my lip hard as my head falls back, a scream building in my throat that I can’t release. The trees above seem to sway without wind, their branches groaning like they’re bearing witness.
Silent tears fall from the corners of my eyes and into my hairline. As the vibrations from the ground race through me, I know it’s not just from me, but also the earth that is weeping.
I feel it in the marrow of my bones. In the sharp, sick twist of my gut and the way the air seems to thicken with every heartbeat.
No more, it seems to say.No more, no more, no more.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to give it.
I drop to my knees, fingers digging into the dirt like I can anchor myself, like if I just hold on tightly enough, I’ll understand.
“Please,” I beg softly.
But all I feel is sorrow reflecting back.
The earth doesn't stop trembling.
It’s no longer the subtle pulsing grief beneath my hands, but something wilder as panic surges throughme. The roots around me twitch in place, soil pushing against my fingers like the land itself is trying to shove me backward.
