Kaelor strikes as I duck. His sword cuts into the wood, the strike powered by the Hellion hard enough that it sinks deep and sticks. The spear begins to burn as I shove as much fire as I can intoit. Kaelor tugs once, then lets go of the weapon and lunges at me. I shoot fire from my hand as I stumble back, but I miss the opening in his helmet.
Kaelor tackles me and I slam down into the wood. His body is heavy, and plated with metal, giving me no areas to jam my knees. I’m trapped beneath him.
He pulls back an arm and punches me in the face. I feel my nose break, cartilage cracking as blood pours out. I reach towards Kaelor’s chest and force a bolt of fire straight through him, drawing on Hafgúa’s immense power to make the blow brutal and fast and unstoppable. He collapses on top of me as it bores a hole through his chest. I kick him off, wriggling free from his weight, and stagger upright.
Blood streams from my nose and my waist bleeds heavily from his earlier sword cut, but I can’t bandage myself one-handed. And Roiven’s fight is only down to one knight. He’s killed the others.
Roiven twists and lunges, his eyes locked on Harfor. She’s back in the fight. My old friend stumbles back, her eyes going wide as the spear I attacked is consumed by flames. She must have keyed to that one after Roiven’s lightning knocked her first spear out. I can’t remember ever seeing that frightened look on Harfor’s face. But whether or not the damaged spears are usable there’s one spear fully intact, and Harfor is already connected to the ship. She won’t be down long.
I should help Roiven. But I don’t know if I can stomach facing Harfor. I stumble back towards them, grabbing my sword where I dropped it, the wind getting more intense with every step I take. The green dragon dives in close, then banks away from us, ready to strike if it needs to. Another crack of lighting comes down, but it misses the ship and hits the water.
With another yell, Roiven hacks sideways at Harfor. The knight skips back again, letting the wind push her instead of fighting against it.
Harfor bursts into light, glowing so blue it hurts to look at her.She’s switched spears, and she’s pulling so much power from it the Enchanted must be dying by the dozen. I know in my gut she’s about to do something terrible. It’s more power than anyone can hold onto. My teeth rattle in my gums as the acidic death magic roils over the ship’s deck, dark smoke smudging the sky around us.
A burst of power leaves Rancor’s cannon and shoots up toward the green. His wings beat as he narrowly dodges it, then rises further away. He won’t have an easy time interfering, when Rancor is old and wise enough to keep an eye on him herself, without needing to split Harfor’s attention.
Harfor lunges forward, almost too fast for the eye to track. Roiven skillfully blocks the knight’s first strike, but Harfor’s burning-blue sword doesn’t slow for a moment, sliding off Roiven’s blade and twisting to come in from the other side. Roiven ducks. Harfor’s blade draws back, the blade so bright it leaves a trail in my vision. I’ve spent so many hours training with Harfor, a whole lifetime, that I can practically see her moves before she makes them. I scream a warning too late. Harfor punches forward.
The sword rams through Roiven’s stomach and comes out the other side, and for a moment time seems to pause. I stare in shock as Harfor places a boot on Roiven’s chest and kicks the witch back. Roiven turns to look at me as he collapses to his knees, and then onto the ground. The storm dies abruptly, the howling force vanishing to the ocean’s normal sea winds. The rain thins away.
The overwhelming pain vanishes abruptly as Roiven shuts our bond, refusing to let me carry it with him.
Survive, beautiful,a voice says in my head.
It isn’t the kraken speaking. It’s Roiven, the words laced with pain and sweetness.
I thought he wasn’t supposed to be able to do that.
I can’t answer.No, no, no, is the only thing running through my head.
And Harfor turns away from Roiven to face me, bloody sworddangling in her hand. For a moment she stares at my face as I stare back in horror. Harfor’s lips twist into a grimace visible through the narrow opening of his helmet.
“Won’t you die already,” she rasps. “Filth.”
“No,” I whisper. My left hand fumbles at the sword hilt. “The witches aren’t evil. We were lied to—”
Harfor shouts and runs at me, blade humming blue again. With a curse I dance back and raise my sword. Harfor’s got two years of steady training on me now, a full suit of armor, her dominant hand.
But I don’t have a choice. Because Roiven is bleeding out on the deck of the ship. I have to get him to Aria, if Aria is even still alive somewhere. And that means getting through Harfor and getting us off this ship. Hafgúa is still dragging Sava away through the water; they haven’t reached the nearest shore yet. She’s heavy, even for an ancient as big as he is.
I can’t count on rescue coming anytime in the next few minutes.
Her blade slashes down and I barely block it. The blow reverberates through my whole body. My legs tremble.
“The War-Father lied,” I say. “They aren’t the reasons these lands are dead. Please, just listen—”
She comes in again. Years of practice has me reaching for magic. And instead of the Hellion, this time I find my kraken. Fire blisters down my sword’s blade and roars toward Harfor. She retreats quickly as blue light forms a shield around her.
“How did I not see it?” she rasps. The look in her eyes is pure hatred. “Your lies, your unnatural powers…”
“Witches aren’t evil. The Empire is.”
“You disgust me,” she says. The moment my fire falters, her shield vanishes.
I know how she feels. I was that way too. And I hate her for the way Roiven is lying unmoving on the deck of the ship, but Harfor was by my side for my whole life. Even if she tried to kill me, I don’twant her dead. I want her to realize, like I did, that the Empire is wrong. Because if I woke up from it, surely she can too. I know she isn’t a bad person.
Harfor charges. I get up my blade just in time to block but she’s too fast, striking again. I stumble back and fall, tripping over my own feet. As she closes in I throw a wall of fire at her, the only thing I can do to defend myself.
