Page 101 of Echoes of War

I released her, ordering the doors shut before she had time to process what I said. The last thing I saw was her cold glare as my words hit home. Her mouth parted to respond only to be cut off by the sealing of the doors.

That was weeks ago, and it was time to make good on my promise.

Amaia’s tactics had kept us safe. Divide and conquer and all that. We had our best elemental wielders dealing with the humanpieces of shit intent on destroying us all. With power sharing and their individual gifts, we were giving Covert a run for their money.

Most of our troops were stationed in alignment with each entrance to our city. There were only two left operable, the others had been sealed and fortified. Controlled entry points only. She’d been explicitly clear about the fact that if our walls fell, it was game over.

The fewUmbra Mortissoldiers we had were instructed to take our cavalry and other weapon experts to fend off any Pansies. They’d had little problems with taking down what we were used to. The ones my uncle had created, however, were fast as fuck, making them ten times harder to pin down. Still, we prevailed more times than not. Our casualties had been few and far between.

The downfall of ourUmbrasbeing out on mission meant our watch towers were now poised with inexperienced snipers, which were … less than effective. They were getting better by the day. Issue was, there weren’t many days that we really had left.

Somehow, someway, Amaia had managed to get Wisconsin to pick our side and join the cause. Finley’sgiftshad shown up here right after she left too. I wasn’t sure how she’d managed that, but I’d take it. It made our job easier. We had a singular mission from our pivotal point on the map—push Covert Province back into their territory, keep them scrambling to give the others time to prepare.

The rest would fall into place from there.

Elliot’s hand clasped on my arm, bringing me back to the present. “It’s time,” he said.

I gave him a tense nod, letting him know I’d heard him and would follow him in a minute. Taking one last look at Duluth on the horizon, I turned my back to my city, trekking down the hilltop and onto the battlefield that awaited.

Covert Province had regrouped, pushing their way to a snowy clearing, killing every last soldier of mine in the area. They werebarbaric. The things they’d done to my people … sick didn’t cover the torture they’d put them through.

Our scouts had found several of them pinned to trees with missing limbs, only to find burning out campfires mere feet away. Remnants of humerus and femur bones were pitted over them, flesh removed. The thought of that made me nauseous. There was no need to eat people; while there wasn’t exactly an abundance of game in the area, there was enough should their armies had run out of supply. I knew that wasn’t the case either. They’d left trail mix and other food in their wake as evidence.

I strode up next to Elliot, scanning over my friend. He was Morgan’s age …wasMorgan’s age when he’d died. They’d been best friends. Elliot had sworn his allegiance to me once he’d found Morgan’s will. He’d aged in the last two months by a few years, the gray that had peppered his dark features not completely encasing them. The lines on his face wore his skin down, purple circles from lack of sleep under his hazel eyes.

“You’ve been good to me, Elliot, even when I didn’t deserve it.”

Our troops moved around us, getting into position, the air tense with what they knew awaited them in the imminent future. Elliot turned to me but said nothing, only a smirk on his thin lips letting me know he for sure thought there were times that I didn’t deserve it. I’d been a brat at times, impulsive at others, but I’d learned from both him and Amaia. I’d become what Morgan had seen me capable of being in such a short time.

A decent amount of time had been wasted since Morgan died. I wasn’t quite sure survivor’s guilt was the word to cover what I went through. All I knew was that the weight of staying alive while the man I loved rotted in the ground felt crushing. It crumbled in on me when I had to condemn others to the same fate in the process of trying to balance it all. So I turned it off. Love was a weakness. I could care, but I would not love. Then Amaia had come. Without knowing it, she had shown me a new way of life.

“You know what to do. Follow Amaia’s lead, send troops where she needs them. Thiswillend in our favor. You just need to wait it out, give it a chance,” I said, watching the people I’d grown to care for around me walk into certain death. “One day, my best friend will unite this country again. Patience will be key. Patience and time.”

“For someone who has full faith that I know what to do, you sure took your time listing it out,” his gravelly voice struck the brisk air. He put a cigarette to his lips, offering me one as he lit it with the tip of his finger. “You also didn’t need to tell me about it. Everything you think is waiting for me up here.” He ruffled my hair, walking off in the other direction.

I heard his footsteps pause behind me, and I swiveled, trying to see what gave him pause.

Elliot kept his back to me and I could tell by the rigidness of his posture he was fighting back tears. “You always deserved my help, Sloan. I just wish I could have done a better job.” His words reverberated within my mind.

A painful lump formed in my throat as I watched him descend back to our city. Abel had come to me the moment he saw this all play out. As much as I’d wanted to wring his throat for spying on us for years, I knew it was because he had Duluth’s best interest. He may have been spying for Monterey, but he’d grown to love the people of our city as his own.

This was how things needed to go if we wanted Duluth to still stand in the end. Our city would be devastated, but not beyond repair. Not if I did things exactly the way he instructed. He’d been clear that the future could always change, but he’d asked Tomoe to guide him through channeling his Seer abilities. Abel had grown stronger in his blessings under her mentorship, with the sole desire of keeping this place safe.

My only request to him was that he not tell Amaia. It had pained him to hold back. I knew he’d believe it to be a betrayaland I was inclined to feel that way too. But if my friend had known what I would have to do to make sure she got the outcome she was destined to have, she would have never left.

Duluth would rebuild, the entire country would heal. It would take time, years down the line and death. Many deaths of people that I’d loved over the years, but it was possible that if we kept going on the track we were gliding down, that there would be a better tomorrow.

I only hated that I would never see it for myself.

As sad as it made me, I’d been one of the lucky souls to exist on this plane. I had the pleasure of knowing love, something many people had never felt and would not have the chance to. Morgan had been my great love, something that would extend beyond this lifetime. Amaia had been my soul, a friend who saw promise in me no matter what. I’d been able to bring light into this world. Violet would survive; she would not remember her mother’s love, but she would have the chance to find love of her own. She would grow up within the greatness of Monterey and live a normal life, the life I could not offer her here.

Amaia would give that to her, which made it all worth it.

I raised my hand, signaling my soldiers to be at the ready. Soldiers raised their palms filled with magic for a battle they knew they would not survive. When Covert’s army came into full view, my arm swung down, and magic surged around me.

Most of my soldiers were dead around me. Our shields had finally fallen, and magic had run its course. Where magic failed, our weapons did not, but that simple fact didn’t change that we were vastly outnumbered.

It had been intentional. The brute of our forces was far off. They would take Covert on from the rear when their defenses were down. We were merely a distraction.

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