The bulk of Irina’s weaponry and supplies were housed in the bunker the stretched from the outpost into the center of the mountain. The bulk of her northern army was stationed here as well—partially because Duchess Waldina owned the land and was loyal, and partially because this was close enough to the Morcant border to act as a deterrent in case King Milek decided to challenge his niece for the throne.
Destroying the outpost and the bunker would leave the northern army without the resources to fight Irina’s battles from afar. Destroying the bridge that connected the Falkrain Mountains to the rest of Ravenspire would make it impossible for Irina to recall her soldiers to the capital for help once Lorelai arrived.
It made strategic sense.
It was also the biggest spell Lorelai had ever attempted, and she figured she had one chance to get it right before the threads of Irina’s magic that ran through the ground reported her actions to the queen and provoked Irina to do a spell that would save the outpost.
“Ready?” Gabril asked, the tension in his shoulders belying the composure in his voice.
“Ready.”
She knelt in the dirt and thought of the woman who’d killed her children to spare them a slow, terrible death. The villagers who’d mobbed the Eldrians because they were desperate to avoid a choice like hers.
She thought of Leo, telling her to run while Irina’s spell turned his veins black and stopped his heart.
Power flooded her body, streaking through her blood to fill her palms with the sting of magic. She raised her hands, wreathed in white light, and looked at the group of buildings jutting out from the middle of the mountain.
“Nakh`rashk.” She slammed her palms against the dirt and sent her power deep underground. The heart of the mountain felt stubborn, slow, and unyielding, its power steadily syphoned off by Irina’s magic. The second Lorelai encountered resistance, she stopped pushing and whispered, “I ask for the use of your heart, not for my own gain but to stop the one who is causing our land to die.”
She let her magic rest within the land and willed her kingdom to respond to her. To help her. To see that she meant to heal Ravenspire instead of ruin it.
Nothing happened. The mountain refused to yield. Lorelai closed her eyes and whispered a plea. If she had to force the mountain’s heart to obey hers, she’d be weak and exhausted for days, just as she was after healing Gabril. She didn’t have time for weakness. Destroying the outpost was the first move in a carefully planned attack, and every piece of Lorelai’s battle plan needed to happen quickly. She had to keep the queen on the defensive—scrambling to keep up by sending out spells of her own that would weaken her heart—and she had to strip all Irina’s extra defenses away, or she risked engaging in a battle she might not be able to win.
“Please. Help me,” she whispered. Her magic tingled and sparked, and then slowly, slowly the heart of the mountain moved toward the tendrils of her power that lay beneath its skin.
“Thank you,” she breathed as the vast, stubborn strength of the mountain merged with her magic and became a tool she could shape to her will. “Nakh`rashk. Find the foundation of the army’s outpost and shake it until every creature with a heartbeat has left its walls.”
The mountain groaned and shuddered. Trees snapped in half and tumbled down. Puffs of dust rose from the outpost’s compound, and then another shudder gripped the mountain and the outer wall of the compound cracked in half.
Soldiers came pouring out of the compound’s gate as the mountain trembled and shook. Lorelai kept her hands pressed hard against the ground as her heart thundered in her ears.
She’d known she was capable of great magic, but until this very moment, she hadn’t truly believed she had the power to bring a mountain to its knees. The sight filled her with awe, but a streak of fear ran beneath it.
Irina was also capable of bringing a mountain to its knees and look what the queen had done with the vast strength of her magic.
Tell me when all the people are out of the courtyard. She sent an image of a deserted compound to Sasha.
Running. Sasha’s thoughts were full of soldiers stumbling out of the outpost as a spiderweb of cracks spread across the stone floor and raced up the walls.
Somewhere in the background of Lorelai’s thoughts, Kol sent bits of words and fragmented images. Lorelai ignored him as she fought an inner war to quiet the fear that the magic she wielded would turn her into the enemy was she determined to destroy. She focused on the images in Sasha’s mind of the soldiers scrambling for safety, and grabbed on to it like a lifeline.
Her power and Irina’s power were alike, but that didn’t mean their hearts were the same. If Irina had wanted this mountain destroyed, she’d have leveled it without once worrying about the human cost.
Clear. Sasha sent a picture of the last wide-eyed soldiers fleeing the outpost.
Lorelai stopped contemplating the nature of her power and drew in a deep breath as magic burned through her veins. Time for Irina to begin reaping what she’d sown.