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As we entered the portal, two things became apparent. Some of the Shadow Hunters were waiting for us. And they were in a frenzy. The light-rage held them in thrall, so they were in terrible pain, which made them only that much more angry. They fell on the guards with horrific screams, but the warriors were ready and the fray was on. While the Fae guard took care of them, the rest of us slid out from behind and moved over to the barrow.
Grieve motioned for us to follow him, and so Kaylin, Peyton, Rhia, Chatter, Wrath, Lainule, and I plunged into the barrow. I motioned to Ysandra to bring several of her witches and she nodded, trailing behind us, along with a handful of the Fae warriors.
The barrow was familiar—we’d rescued Peyton from here not that long ago—but it was a confusing labyrinth of tunnels, and there was no way I could remember where we’d been. Grieve, however, seemed to know directly where we were going. And so did Lainule and Wrath. As we passed chambers, several of the guards split off and we heard muffled screams as they slit the throats of the sleeping Shadow Hunters.
And then we were in front of a large chamber door, and Lainule let out a low laugh. “The halls of my barrow ran red, and so shall they again this day.” She slammed open the door.
There, a hive of Shadow Hunters awaited, and I could see on the other side of them, Myst, a pained look on her face as she barked out orders. I could not hear what she said, though. The slipstream was running wild here, and the screams of pain from the light-rage were ricocheting like bullets through the room.
The room became a blur of blades and blood. I found myself facing one of the Vampiric Fae and had no more than dodged one blow when one of the guards shoved me out of the way and took my place. As I stumbled back, I caught a glimpse across the room of Myst. She was heading toward a door behind her. I dodged through the battle, through the clashing blades and gnashing of teeth and spraying blood, managing to skirt the room until I came to the door.
As I peered down the hall, I could see her at a distance, with two of her guards. And then Grieve and Kaylin were with me, and we were racing after her. I couldn’t let her get away—couldn’t let Lainule down.
At the sound of footsteps on our heels, I glanced over my shoulder. Luna, Rhia, and Chatter had noticed where we were headed and they were behind us. We raced through the passage, the glowing tiles shimmering as we passed, for what seemed like hours. As we began to make headway on Myst and her Shadow Hunters, she broke through another door and we could see the glimmer of the outdoors shining in.
We slammed through the door after her and spread out, trying to circle her. The Shadow Hunters began to transform and I did the only thing I could think of doing—I summoned the wind.
Ulean was with me. Call the hurricane…it will knock them off their feet.
And so I raised my hands to the sky and summoned the winds to sweep through me. As the raging gusts began to swirl around me, I dropped my head back, laughing.
“Do not run. You will not survive my storm.” I turned toward Myst. “Surrender now, and we will make it easy on you.”
She cocked her head, her face a mask of pain as the light hit her eyes. “Do you really think I’d surrender to you? I have no intention of letting you capture and kill me.” And as she spoke, she began to grow, stretching up and over the woods, shimmering in a cerulean shadow.
I cast out, grabbing hold of the winds and sending them swirling out in front of me as I began to move forward. Trees began to shiver and, in a fury, I uprooted a small one and sent it hurtling toward one of the Shadow Hunters, hitting him square on with it. His partner began to howl and moved back, eyeing me cautiously.
Myst hissed, reaching out with one long, thin arm. “I am the Queen of Winter, not you, my girl. You will not usurp me, long-lost daughter of mine. We are not done yet.” The snow began to pour so thick and fast we could barely see. The flakes caught in the vortex of wind I was spinning, blinding the world, clouding it with a fury of white.
Cicely, let go of the storm. Myst can traverse a blizzard and while you will soon become the Queen of Winter, right now she has the power to command the weather in a way that you don’t.
I didn’t want to listen to Ulean, but I knew I had to. I pushed one final gust toward the last place Myst had been standing and then released the winds. As they died down, I glanced around anxiously. The blizzard was raging now and it was impossible to see beyond my outstretched hand.
Is she here? Where is she?
She is gone. Ulean let out a long sigh. She has vanished for now. The other Shadow Hunter went with her.
The snow began to die down, and we were standing there alone but for one crushed Shadow Hunter. And Myst was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 21
“We lost her.” I stared at the woods. “She’s gone.”
“There’s nothing we could have done. But we can help back in the barrow.” Kaylin shook his head. “We will find her again. Or…she will find us.”
“He’s right.” Grieve put his arm around my waist and turned me toward the barrow. “Myst will not forget that she has you to thank for this. And she will wish to return the favor. We are in far more danger now than before. But come, let us return to the others and see if they need our help.”
As we reentered the passage, I tried to put the sting of defeat out of my mind and hoped that the others had had better luck than we had. We hurried back to the main chamber, shutting the door to the outside behind us and locking it. Myst might’ve been able to break through, but Luna sang a charm to trigger an alarm should the door be opened from the outside. It was the best we could do until someone with stronger powers could get to it.
When we reached the main chamber again, I feared what I would see but took the lead anyway and marched into the room. There was plenty of carnage, but it looked like our warriors were on the winning side this time. The room was slick with blood and dead Shadow Hunters. And a handful of our own, as well.
Lainule and Wrath looked up from where they knelt over one of the warriors. He was dying, and as Lainule murmured something in his ear he closed his eyes and let go.
We stood, waiting. A group of guardsmen came in from the passage leading into the main chamber. They were covered with blood—and some were hurt—but they knelt before Lainule.
“Your Majesty, we have routed the enemy. The barrow is clear. There are still more outside, but we’ve sent word to the realm of Summer for more volunteers to come scour the woodland and find the rest. We killed over three hundred Shadow Hunters this day, and more.”
Lainule smiled softly. “You have done well. Have my guard comb the forests. Be cautious, Myst is still on the run.” She looked over at me.
