I spun around, my teeth clenching as I observed the bright green splash of blood on her shoulder. I quickly healed her, and then I made the decision to transfer my armour to her. I did not question the logistics, I simply allowed the armour to do most of the work as it evolved to fit her wolven form.
“Easy,” I murmured to her as she growled and tensed in uncertainty. She clearly trusted me because she relaxed right away and allowed the suit to finish adjusting to her. She looked so fearsome when it was done, especially with a wolf skull helmet with its empty eye sockets and teeth.
What are you doing?Sage demanded worriedly.
I can make armour for myself. She cannot,I reasoned with him as I began manifesting the interlocking plates of ironclad beetle armour. The black-and-green exoskeleton ripped through my clothes with jagged ridges and spikes just like last time. Except instead of a beetle head helm, my helmet was similar to the skull helms of the riders.
I vaguely heard the shocked cries of the other warriors around me, but I was too excited to acknowledge them. When I’d used this magic in Autumn before, I had been freezing cold, and it hadn’t been long before it became too brittle. But Feura was much warmer than it was in the Raveina Mountains, and I now had Sage’s fire and Rian’s well of magic at my disposal as well.
The armour felt indestructible this time.
Summer—Sage tried to protest, but I gave him the equivalent of a mental snub as dragonfly wings fluttered free from my back. They felt strong, and I knew that they were not going to become stiff after an hour of use.
Pyrope was also quick to get used to my armour and even utilized the serrated ridges along her shoulders and forelegs to devastating effect. Pretty soon, we were at the front of the fray again, the soldiers following our lead.
The battle had been raging for hours when I heard an odd sound above the clash of the battle.
I stepped back, allowing the other soldiers to close in while my eyes turned skyward. But I didn’t see anything aside from Ciaran overhead as he checked on us.
And yet something troubled me. My instincts were buzzing as I stared across the bloody battlefield toward the eastern forest. I watched, unable to breathe as I tried to figure out why the hairs on the back of my neck were starting to stand up.
Do you guys feel that—I began to ask the others.
But a fucking ball of fire had seemingly appeared out of thin air. A fireball that was flying straight at Ciaran and Aingeal who had turned to head west. I knew their shield would deflect arrows and spears, but not this!
“Ciaran!” I screamed at him aloud and in my mind.
He saw the threat in my mind, and Aingeal tipped his wings up just in time to twist them out of the way and avoid a full-on collision. But unlike the aes sídhe riders, the vargr were not completely immune to fire. I knew right away from Ciaran’s internal cursing that Aingeal’s feathers were singed. And feathers were not like flesh. They were like hair, which Ciaran could not heal.
I heard the fireball hit somewhere behind me and felt the ground shake as fey screamed, but I was too focused on Ciaran and Aingeal to think about the army.
“Fuck!” I hissed as I watched the vargr and rider start to plummet from the night sky. I was about to jump onto Pyropeand do whatever we could to catch them.
I have them,Sage assured me, and I turned to see my mate streaking overhead impossibly fast. Luckily, he had already dropped his mother off with the other aes sídhe, and Ciaran was able to leap off his vargr and onto Serafin behind Sage. I couldn’t breathe as Serafin grabbed hold of Aingeal by the scruff of his neck and beat his wings as hard as he could. They were still going down, but it was a much slower and more controlled descent.
Are you alright?I asked the males once they dropped to the ground and out of my sight.
Fine. Fighting. On ground,Ciaran answered stuntedly. It looked like they had landed deep within the ranks of the Fuath army, so I had no doubt they were surrounded.
Don’t you dare die or I’ll kill you!I threatened both of them as Pyrope and I began to fight our way to them.
Love you too… little doe,Ciaran laughed.
Where did the… fireball… come from?Sage asked, clearly distracted as he fought.
That was a good fucking question I thought as I turned eastward to examine the dark meadows. Dawn was still hours away, but unless there was an army hiding out there in complete darkness, there was no sign of anyone.
Unless…
They have used illusion wards before,I recalled.
Scouts were… all over those forests. Found no army,Ciaran reminded me.
And yet I felt that tingle again that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. My instincts were screaming there was more to those eastern fields than met the eye.
But before I could articulate that, another ball of flame appeared right over where I was standing.
Sage’s panic for me, for his family and for his people, blared down the bond as I gritted my teeth and raised a shield with every ounce of my determination. I braced for impact as the fireball hit, and for several fleeting seconds, it seemed like mysheer force of will would be enough to protect everyone around me.
