It doesn’t hum this time–itscreams.
A deep, aching pulse throbs in my chest, and my hands curl into fists at my sides. The pain of the land coils through me and tears spring into my eyes.
I watch the rise and fall of Sylvin’s chest as he takes rapid, short breaths, glancing between me and the direction the attack occurred.
The wind sharpens without warning, rushingdown from the cliffs like it’s answering a silent summons. The trees bend beneath it, groaning softly as snow flurries lift in a sudden spiral around us, swirling up into the night.
I feel his power pulsing in slow, dangerous waves. It’s heavy and invisible, but thick enough to steal the breath from your lungs.
Frost blooms outward from beneath his boots in icy vines, racing across the stone path in jagged branches. Each crack hisses softly as it spreads, a sound like water freezing in mid-air. The temperature plummets and I instinctively wrap my arms tighter around my chest, but the chill already sinks beneath my clothes and settles in my bones.
The tears falling down my cheeks suddenly halt their descent but I don’t need to reach up to confirm that they’ve frozen.
“My king?” the general asks hesitantly. “What are your orders?”
Sylvin’s hands curl slowly into fists, and ice creeps over his knuckles in glistening sheets. It spreads like armor, encasing his fingers until they gleam under the moonlight like sculpted glass.
His bright blue eyes glow now, threaded with veins of silver that seem to pulse with each heartbeat. Every trace of warmth is gone from his face.
“How,” he says, voice dangerously soft when everything else is sharp and jagged, “did this happen?”
The general’s mouth opens once, closes, then opens again as his shoulders tense.
“I rotated the guard too early,” he says quickly, voice cracking as his head hangs. “There was no one on the northwestern post tonight. I made an error when writing out the schedule for the guards. It’s my fault we didn’t see them coming, leaving us without warning.”
Another gust of wind tears through the clearing, lifting the snow in violent spirals. I can’t tell if it’s from the mountains or from Sylvin himself.
My breath catches as a familiar sight takes shape.
Two glowing strands of gold once again reaching out to me through the air itself and thrumming. They shimmer into view in front of the general’s chest, calling to me.
The world around me stills.
Sylvin. The general. The wind. The castle. All of it fades to silence as the first thread opens like a door in the air, and I step through consciously without moving at all.
The scene plays out before me.
It begins with a single decision.
The general, in his office two nights ago with his head bowed over the duty ledger, a cup of tea steaming. He rubs at his temple, sighs, and makes a note to rotate the guards early in two days time in preparation for the upcoming full moon. A simple adjustment thatonly needs an extra guard to make up for the new time slot.
But he doesn’t fill it.
The northwestern tower sits dark and silent beneath the stars.
The scene surges forward, sweeping me into it like the river’s current.
Dark waves pound against the snow-blanketed shore as human naval vessels slice through the water. Low, flat silhouettes–five, maybe six–approach, heavy with soldiers and gear.
By the time the first boots hit the frozen beach, it’s already too late.
I watch as a young fae warrior charges toward the shoreline, only to be struck down mid-spell by a bullet to the chest. A burst of ice arcs upward before shattering in the air like brittle glass as he falls to his knees. Another soldier screams, too slow to summon a shield. His body hits the snow hard and doesn’t move again.
The humans don’t hesitate. Fire canisters are lobbed into the treeline and the forest erupts in sheets of flame that melt through the underbrush and blacken the bark in seconds. Snow turns to steam. Branches crack and fall.
Deeper in the valley, near the cliffs, I see the lights in cottages begin to ignite with terrified life. Families waking too late.
The fire will tear through the forest and reach them all.
