He dodged her attack, but didn’t take notice of the snakes of water that shot out from behind her. He flew across the room and landed against the wall of windows, trapped in the hold of the woman’s water. Cracks spread across the panes of glass beneath him. They were going to break. The woman didn’t stop. King Dalior struggled to break free from the waters grasp. He howled and thrashed, only urging the glass under him to break.
I tuned back to the woman who walked, hands raised, towards him. With every step she took, the water beneath her boots joined the hanging wave behind her. More tendrils of water reached for King Dalior and held him pinned to the glass.
I couldn’t speak.
The room darkened. King Dalior’s laugh was loud, clear as a bell over the rushing water. The hairs on my arms stood on end and I turned back towards him in horror.
His eyes faded black and his skin began to melt, dripping from his face like molten liquid. Like a snake shedding its skin, he no longer looked like the King. Shadows spilled from his body and wrapped around the woman’s water, merging with it.
Dark runes covered his skin beneath his black eyes. His hair fell from his head, disintegrating in the air around him. A deep, earthy laugh fell from his stained black mouth and he raised a hand, pointing at her. “You.”
It was the only thing he could say. The woman jumped on the desk without effort and the hood on her head tumbled off.
“Fuck you, druid!” she screamed. Her water exploded towards him.
It happened so fast. The glass of the windows smashed and the water dragged Dalior beyond into the sea.
She turned to me and shouted above the ruckus, “Stand back!”
She raised her palms and sliced them at the cage, water flowed and smashed into the bars. It took four attempts for the water to cut right through, and the bars to fall to the floor.
Hadrian groaned when the water lifted him from the base of the cage, cradling him and pulling him from the gap she had made. He rolled over in it until the water placed him on the floor before pulling back to the woman.
I threw myself beside him. “Hadrian, wake up!” I brushed my hand against his face, but he didn’t open his eyes.
The woman reached down and grabbed my arm. “We need to go. The druid is not dead and this ship is minutes away from being under the water. Help me.”
She scooped Hadrian’s body into her arms and ran for what was left of the door. She was so tall she had to duck beneath it when she ran through.
I stumbled after, struggling to find energy.
Smoke filled the corridor beyond the room. The smell of burning wood made me cough and struggle to catch my breath.
I followed her up the steps until we reached the deck of the ship. It was an all-out war, purple and silver clashed together in battle. I watched the taller beings overpower the guards who tried to fight back, smashing them to the bloodied ground of the deck and moving onto the next. The woman moved through the crowd, signalling a group of her elves to surround us. Within the circle of Alorian soldiers I noticed animals all around the deck. Birds flew around the ship, trying to circle and break the soldiers. I looked around for them but there was no sign of the shadowed beasts.
I tripped over a fallen sword and of the Alorian soldiers grasped a hold of me. I looked up to thank whoever it was, but caught a blur of red hair ahead.
Nyah.
She moved through the Niraen guards, slicing at them. She was a beast, an animal. She wailed as she battled through oncoming attacks, overpowering each one. She was unstoppable.
“Zac!” Her scream lit up the sky when she caught my stare. Her attacks and movement sped up, and she made a path for the protected circle around me. We’d reached the edge of the ship and the woman passed Hadrian to a waiting Alorian solider.
I watched in awe as wings of white ivory grew from shadows that spilled from the woman. The wings were covered in thick feather. Dragori.
“Emaline!” the guard holding Hadrian shouted and she turned to face him. “Take him with you!”
She plucked Hadrian back into her grasp, flew across the side and disappeared.
There was a thud and I was dropped on the deck. I turned back to see a spear piercing through the head of the Alorian solider that had held me. Blood gurgled from his mouth and his eyes rolled back as he fell forward.
I looked in the direction the spear had come from to see Petrer, his arm still raised in a throwing position. He was looking at me, pulling a short dagger from his belt and holding it ready. A shrill cry distracted him. It was Browlin. She was covered in blood, her white dress flowing around her. Opal Light swirled around her as she materialized between two dead Niraen guards, and she ran for Petrer. She moved like a ghost. A burst of light shot for Petrer’s hand sending the dagger skirting across the floor away from him.
I wanted to scream for her not to kill him. She reached her hands for his face, but he ducked and weaved under her open arms. In seconds he was behind her, his hands gripped around her neck.
Her face was turning blue. They both faced me, Browlin trapped in his hold. Their expressions were different. I was certain I saw her smile at me. Petrer turned his body sharp and the sound of her neck snapping stood out above every noise on the ship.
I ran for him. I hated him.
Browlin was thrown carelessly to the ground and Petrer smiled. Before I reached him, I was off the deck of the ship and in the sky.
“It’s done,” the Dragori woman, Emaline, growled in my ear. Her arms held my own and we flew up into the sky. I didn’t take my eyes of Petrer who watched me from below.
Emaline changed direction and flew away from the battle. I noticed a small vessel in the sea below and she aimed for it.
I saw Gallion first, waving for us. Beneath him, Hadrian was splayed out on the floor.
“Get to our boat!” Emeline hovered above us, pointing at the grand Alorian ship that hung in the distance.
“I will give word to the rest on the ship to retreat. Then I will finish this,” she said, dropping me beside Gallion. I turned to thank her but she pushed her hands out controlling the water beneath our boat to move us forward. The boat flew across the water and Emaline flew back to the battle.
“You’re fine, boy, you’re fine!” Gallion hushed in my ear.
I looked into his eyes, my own a blur with tears. I had to tell him.
“I know, Zacriah. I felt her go…” He touched his chest above his heart and nodded, “She will be with the Goddess now.”
His words broke me.
IT’D BEEN TWO long weeks since we first arrived in the city outside of the capital of Lilioira and I still got lost. Unlike the small cluster of buildings on the island we’d stayed at, Kandilin was large and levelled, confusing to follow. I’d dismissed the guide that was given to me days ago, a mistake I regretted whilst I walked past houses.
Every Alorian, solider, or civilian I passed bowed their head and murmured beneath their breath. I was not used to so much attention. I always felt eyes on me, never once having a moment to myself. So, I focused on my scarred hand and clicked my fingers when I passed their stares and moved into the belly of the treetop city.