The Bellatis waited until Galeran’s arrival. Then they would fly through that gate if all went according to plan.
You gotta keep an eye out for Sebastian, mate.
I gritted my teeth. The Aussie had been yammering at me since sunset. I’d done my best to ignore him, but my own gut twisted every time he mentioned the Bellati.You have a high regard for my abilities, if you think I can pick one out from the others in the midst of a battle.
Yeah, well, someone’s got to be looking out for our bloke. Everyone else is focused on Galeran.
He had a point. Again. But I meant what I’d said—finding Sebastian in the middle of a battle would not be easy.
And rescuing him would be even harder.
44
Sebastian
Finn cracked me with the icefire whip, just because he could.
I cranked my head sideways, and he yanked hard on the reins, the crystals in the headstall lighting with red fire as he sent power coursing through me. I shuddered with it and bared my teeth.
Isobel rode her Bellati closer to us and smirked at me. “Ready for another round, Sebastian? So wonderful that you are here for this. Although you won’t be for much longer.”
She be right. Anna’s boost of energy had long since gone, and my resistance to Finn be mere stubbornness now—I no longer had the energy to truly fight him.
I be dying.
But I hadn’t yet achieved my mission. Maybe, the gods be willing, I would be given the chance today.
We moved through the town. The residents hovered in the windows and doorways, watching us with fear and hatred in their eyes. They possessed information that I be desperate to know—what realm, and what town, we resided within. But I be never close enough to any of them to ask, or glean, any of it.
Dust rose around us as we passed through the town gates and cantered down the road. This time, we pulled up after an easy hour. Isobel be building her gate much closer than usual. The army assembled before a natural archway of bent trunks in the forest.
He’d brought more with us this time. Larger towns as targets? My stomach clenched at what awaited us. Isobel rode to the forefront and spread her glowing hands. Red fire—a sure sign that she plundered more than just the life essences for this gate.
She, too, had become a monster.
The portal lit as red as her hands, and Galeran took us through.
We moved to one side to let the bulk of the army pass. The Dires be already shifted, and their jaws hung open showing razor-sharp teeth as they panted their eagerness. They moved off to the sides, the Bellatis following them in an endless stream of tossing manes and glowing horns. The mercenaries’ Trantils be accustomed to the Dires, but it still be good practice to provide a buffer between them. So they came through last, their ragtag appearance in stark contrast to my brethren.
My nostrils flared, drinking in the scents of this place. To my surprise, they be familiar. We be back in the realm of the previous town attack. It startled me. It be risky, coming back here. And now, I wondered about Anna’s repeated attempts to contact me. I’d rebuffed them, every time. Too many of those surrounding me be sensitive to life energies. I couldn’t risk giving the game away.
But with the very air stinking of corruption and adrenaline, I took the risk. Opened my mind...
In an instant, with a rush of relief, she be there.Sebastian—they are waiting for you. Keep yourself safe—
I ceased to breathe. As Finn lashed me into position at the head of one of the three armies, the gate behind us flashed withbluefire. And the Watchers came through. Followed by more Bellatis, whose eyes gleamed silver instead of crimson.
It be almost comical, seeing the shock on Isobel’s face. But before I could relish it, Finn cranked me around.
And from the forest around us, came the Sabres.
They smashed into the Dires on each side like juggernauts, slicing through the much smaller beasts with ease. Galeran shouted and drew his spiral sword as he spun his Trantil stallion back toward the gate.
But the Watchers and their Bellatis had cut them off from it. As the two groups of Bellatis squared off, Isobel’s mount moved closer to those of the coven. They prepared to do battle with the Watchers standing between them and the gate.
Battle? BetweenWatchers?
As my brain struggled with the concept, Dragons whistled by overhead with a whoosh of wind on wing. Flame licked at the scrubby treetops.
