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I glanced around. We were winning. Bodies and blood littered the stands. The line of Resistance fighters were only a few rows up from the sands, and our fighters were leaping up the walls to meet the mages who were still standing head-on. Cedric was perched on Seph’s back, spear and shield at the ready. Nica was on his way back to us. Braz had his back to me, stance ready to take on whatever came our way. Florin looked at me, one delicate eyebrow raised. I sighed.
“Alright. Let’s go.” I wrapped my arms around Theon, pulling his back to my chest. “Braz?”
“We’ll follow you.”
Nica reached us, and looked us over, then squatted down in front of Florin.
The fae only looked shocked for half a second before he grabbed a handful of Nica’s scruff and hauled himself to sit astride my tiger. Braz laid a hand on Nica’s shoulder. I gave them a nod and shot into the sky, Theon held tightly in my arms.
28
Theon
My heart pounded in my chest as we raced through the sky. The king and his griffin ride were far in front of us, but Wey was a fast flier, so I knew we wouldn’t lose them. A minute into our flight, I knew exactly where they were going—the Tisak palace.
It wasn’t surprising. The king probably had a lot of security measures in place there. We needed to get to him before he could hunker down inside.
Between two of the palace towers lay a flat piece of land, a courtyard, that would be the perfect landing spot for large, winged creatures—including an angry gargoyle. It was surrounded by stone walls and wouldn’t be easily infiltrated by foot soldiers, but Wey and I weren’t foot soldiers. It made sense that they had a griffin on call for the purpose of extracting the king and getting him to the palace safely. But they hadn’t been planning on someone following the king through the air.
We were gaining on them when the griffin touched down on the landing pad, and the king started running for the door, yelling out instructions to the castle guards. Ten, twenty, then thirty guards filed into the courtyard and onto the stone walls, many with arrows pointed in our direction.
I pulled on that fiery center where my magic lived, finding it with an ease I couldn’t have imagined eight months ago, and erected a transparent blue shield around the two of us. The guards could fire all the arrows they wanted. None would get through.
As arrows rained down on us, Wey put on an extra burst of speed, his chest heaving with exertion, his breath heavy in my ear. His strong wings flew us right over the top of the king’s head, and we landed between him and the door, blocking him from his escape.
More guards poured out of the surrounding buildings with weapons drawn, so I pushed more magic into my shield, strengthening it. I wouldn’t let these guards through. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt my gargoyle.
The king drew his sword from its sheath on his hip and said, “Get out of my wayrightnow, and I’ll make your deaths quick.” His mage power lit up the sword, red like so much blood he’d spilled over the years, making it spark as if it was filled with ruby lightning. He wouldn’t even have to stab us with the sword in order to injure us, simply sending a lightning bolt our way. But he didn’t know Wey was wearing an amulet that would protect him from his magic.
The griffin let out a bloodthirsty, roaring squawk, its lion’s paws stomping on the dirt, grass flying from its claws digging in. The beast stood and moved in front of the king, taking on a protective stance.
Wey drew two swords from their sheaths on his hips, spun them in his hands, sneering at the king before he turned his attention to the griffin.
“Let me through your shield, Theon,” Wey said under his breath. “We need to take out the griffin.”
“There’s too many guards,” I hissed.
There was no way in hell I was dropping my shield from my gargoyle. Not when there were so many enemies surrounding us, enemies with ranged weapons already aimed our way.
Wey shook his head. “I have armor of my own.” His plates darkened, hardened as strong as steel, maybe stronger. I blinked at him, my mouth agape, and he smirked. “I’ve been practicing. Drop the shield, precious. Let us end this.”
He was right. We needed to end this. The griffin was trained to protect the king, to give its life for his. If we wanted to take out King Teodric, we’d have to go through the griffin—and probably many guards—first.
So I did what he asked, trusting my gargoyle fully, and dropped the shield. Wey smirked before lunging at the beast. He knew what he was doing, knew how to play the monster, and in only a few seconds, he’d managed to move the griffin off to the side, giving me a clear view of our true enemy.
Even though worry for my lover sat heavy in my heart, I concentrated on the king himself. Wey would… he’d be okay. He would.
King Teodric was the most powerful mage in all of Tisak, and Tisak was the biggest, the strongest, kingdom in all of Pelas. With my magic, I’d have a better chance of beating him than anyone else would, but he’d been practicing magic his entire life. I was practically still a child in magical terms.
Nerves tried to find their way into my chest, but I pushed them down.
I could do this. Ihadto do this. I had to prove to the Resistance—and to myself—that I was an asset to their cause.
I surprised myself by speaking. “Step down now, Teodric. If you give up your place as king, you might get out of this with your life.”
Instead of responding with words, the king lifted his sword and aimed it straight for me, sending a lightning bolt to my chest. I pulled up a small shield in front of my body to catch it, but the force of it pushed me backwards. My feet skidded along the dirt, but I didn’t let the magic pierce my shield. I wrapped my shield around my body, conscious of the fact that there were many people in the courtyard with many different weapons.
While I was distracted, Wey ran at the griffin again, although there was a pile of unconscious or dead guards behind him.
