“Same as in Kion. There are seeking stones here.” I wove Strangle this time, still keeping my eyes on the azi and savul, who continued to watch each other. I’ve never seen daeva fight each other before, and I didn’t know what to expect.
The runes took hold, and I found a glow inside one of the soldiers approaching Inessa and Fox. With all the strength I could summon, I poured everything I had into shattering that light. It broke, dissipating from view, but the soldier gasped. He stumbled forward, blood pouring out of his mouth, and collapsed.
I watched him fall, stunned, and tried to move forward. Kalen pulled me back. “Focus on your pet, Tea!”
“But…”
The azi hissed. Its three heads threaded through the air and its wings extended, drawing to its full height and span. Not to be outdone, the savul squatted and let out a hoarse croaking sound, blowing up its body like a bullfrog’s. Its outline shimmered in the air, green scales becoming more and more translucent until, before our eyes, it faded from view.
“Camouflage!” I saw nothing, but the grass bent, web-shaped footprints stamping onto the ground, toward the azi. And then they stopped.
“It’s jumping!” I barreled into the azi’s mind. We swiveled to face the savul just as it reappeared, its scaly body slamming into us. I felt its talons rake into our body, and we cried out, both in pain and with rage.
We opened all three of our mouths and breathed firestorm onto the savul. It shrieked, the heat from the flames intense enough to burn its limbs and a goodly portion of its body. Runes didn’t work, I realized, but daeva could kill its own.
The air reeked of charred flesh and smoke, the stench burning our eyes. Our chest hurt, the wounds from where the savul had raked its talons pulsating with every heartbeat. I could still feel Fox’s pain as he struggled to defend himself and Inessa from the soldiers going after them. Inessa had yanked out a sword from one of the fallen and was training it on the approaching mob, trembling. “Get out of here!” Fox rasped.
“I’m not leaving you!”
Zoya successfully kept most of the Daanorians at bay, but I knew she was tiring quickly. Of the elemental runes, Wind required the most strength, and she’d been slamming dozens of soldiers into the ground with it.
I was conscious enough of my own body to know that Kalen still held on to my limp form. I could feel the power of the runes he was hammering in the air, following Zoya’s lead and pushing the soldiers away with more Wind. But he was tiring too.
“Tea, leave one of the stones untouched if you can! I’ve got an idea!” Zoya clapped her hands above her head, and a sinkhole opened underneath most of the men, sending them tumbling down.
“Copycat,” Fox murmured.
“I’m saving your ass, you ass!” Zoya had been around Polaire more often than she should have.
Kill, I told the azi, not wanting to prolong the fight and Fox’s pain, and we unleashed more torrents of fire in the savul’s direction. It avoided the onslaught, leaping high into the air again.
Its attack patterns told me the savul preferred close fighting, relying on its camouflage to get away unscathed. I kept ourselves still, one of our heads remaining immobile and presenting itself as an obvious target as the nearly invisible daeva descended toward us, its talons primed to strike. I shoved away my disgust and poured myself into the azi’s mind, anticipating the blow.
It never reached us. From behind the savul, both our other heads lashed out, jaws snapping at either side of the savul’s neck. A fountain of blood spurted into the sky.
The frog-like daeva squalled. It thrashed its nearly decapitated head frantically from side to side, but that did nothing to stop the torrent of russet-colored blood from flowing to the ground, staining and rotting everything it touched. The Daanorian soldiers stumbled back, clutching at their heads. The Compulsion surrounding them lifted briefly, and I could finally see the source: two of the men carried glowing orbs hidden within their clothes, and I wasted no time reaching for one with my mind and destroying it quickly.
“Over there!” I yelled at Zoya, pointing at the second man, and the asha moved with great speed. A small hurricane all but slammed the man to the ground, knocking him out.
I tried again. My Compulsion bored straight into the savul’s mind without any other interference. I could feel a part of it struggling still, furious that someone else had been given access to its brain.
And then, just as suddenly, I found myself punted out of its thoughts as the other presence occupying its head took back control.
Howling, the savul dissolved from view. I could hear it leaping, this time away from us, and just as quickly, its presence was gone.
The pain in my head diminished. Fox staggered to his feet, breathing easier, and dropped his sword as Princess Inessa hurled herself into his arms, heedless of his bloody state, and buried her face against his chest. Slowly, his arms closed around her waist.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Zoya rise from beside a fallen soldier. She caught my eye, smiled grimly, and carefully pocketed the seeking stone she had extracted from him.
Thank you. I was never sure to what extent the azi understood me, but it was enough. I stepped away from Kalen and allowed the azi to caress my face, nuzzling at my neck and shoulders as if searching for injuries. Finding none, all three heads cooed.
Master.
I watched the azi rise, tired but triumphant, to resume its exploration of the skies as it had been before we had interrupted its peace.
I turned to find Kalen looking back at me. He smiled, and I found myself smiling back, a warm glow settling over me. “We didn’t kill it,” I said, feeling foolish for stating the obvious.
“But you hurt the daeva badly. For now, that’s good enough.”
One of the men rose behind him. The Daanorian already had a knife drawn, too close for Kalen to turn in time, much less respond. One look at his mind told me this Daanorian was not being compelled, that he acted of his own volition.
I reacted on instinct. The Compulsion rune still hummed in the air, but the man was already swinging his dagger—
Die!
—and missed Kalen completely, the blade ramming into his own stomach.
Blood bubbled up from the soldier’s mouth; wordlessly, he fell. Shocked, Kalen turned to see the Daanorian collapse on the ground, dead. But the man’s eyes stared blankly back at me, wide open and accusatory.
The man had arrived in the early morning, and like the princess, no one barred his entry at the gates. He showed no fear before the daeva that guarded the doors. His sword was useless in the face of the horrors, but he held it as if that made no difference. His clothes told me he was a military official of some importance. He was tall and broad shouldered, and his long hair was tied back from his face. But he had the Dark asha’s eyes and coloring and the same stubborn set to his mouth as hers did. He had visible cuts around his face and arms, old wounds that showed no signs of healing.
The monsters attempted intimidation; the nanghait drew its two faces close to the man’s and hissed out its venom. A snarl rose from the soldier’s throat, and the beast flinched. The savul took a small hop forward, but the man moved swiftly, flinging out his arm so the blade he carried was a hair’s breadth from its flattened snout.
“Try me,” he seethed, though the savul did not. “You are lucky, you blasted toad, that I no longer feel pain from your nearness, but I will slice off your legs if you so much as blink those hideous eyes. Where is Inessa? I swear by every god I know, Tea, if you have gone so far as to harm her…!” He swung his sword in an arc to include both the taurvi and zarich in his threats, both of whom were endeavoring to sneak up behind him. “And leash your beasts!”
Lord Kalen stepped through the doors of the palace, Princess Inessa behind him. The man’s gaze slid to her face. Reassured by what he saw there, he turned to the Deathseeker. “They said you were dead.”
“What difference does that make? You are still against us.”
“I have never been against Tea.”