Page 10 of Between Fear and Favor

An archer stood behind the conduit, slowly scanning his surroundings for a threat. They were close enough I could make out their general build, but I couldn’t see detailed features. I hoped to keep it that way.

“No more speaking from this moment on,” I murmured, pitching my voice low.

Pointing to Lasu and Aurelia, I gestured for them to move closer. Gently, I called upon my divinity to open a rift, hoping to quieten the sound. I realized I’d made the rift just a hair below where it needed to be, creating a stream of sorts, and it gently tugged my body toward it. Lasu and Aurelia glided through, and the current took them directly to the first pillar. Each point of attack was far enough away from the other that swimming—especially while keeping the orbs dry—would have been inconvenient as hell. Even though it pulled from my divinity, it made more sense to do it this way.

I couldn’t hold all the rifts open at once, so I allowed that one to close before repeating the action for Gawain and his partner, Robin. Then again, with Thyra’s friend Edwina and her partner Anton. Finally, it was Shade and Maurice’s turn. Anxiety churned in my stomach, and it made me turn toward the teenager treading water beside me.

“Tell me the plan,” I ordered.

“Shade will climb up and put the orb in its place. I will be there to help her. She isn’t supposed to strike the match until you open a rift beside us.”

“And once I’m there?”

“Swim like hell.”

I nodded. The plan was risky. It required me to be meticulous in my rifting and timing. Because if I hesitated, ifanyof my soldiers hesitated, we could be caught. Or worse, the bridge could collapse on top of us.

But we were past the point of worrying about risk. Living within Astana’s walls and fighting to defend them each day was dangerous enough. We needed an upper hand in some way. If we cut off their supplies, many of the Supreme and Nereza’s forces would flee, making it possible to break through their divine blockade. They wouldn’t be able to maintain their border.

I needed this one thing to go right.

“All right. Good luck,” I said, before opening the final rift. They both slipped through with the current.

I allowed myself a moment to mentally tally each task I needed to perform. I barely had a moment to breathe when the twang of a bow releasing sounded to my left.

“Shit!”

If it weren’t for the lack of pain, I’d have thought the arrow skimmed the back of my head. Looking wildly to my left, I realized I’d floated closer to shore, out from behind the protective cover of the pillars beside me. Refusing to hesitate any longer, I opened a rift to Lasu. Now that I’d been seen, any chance we had of success dwindled by the minute.

“Get ready!” I shouted, as I opened another rift to our shoreside retreat. As the water flowed through it, pulling Aurelia onto the beach, she watched her husband over her shoulder. Lasu clung to the stone as he waited for my order.

Though I hadn’t tested the orbs myself, Dewalt had said there was a short moment in which we’d have a chance to flee. He’d wanted to take on this venture himself, since he had been the one who ordered the creation of this weapon, but I needed him running things while I was gone. I wouldn’t entrust this task to anyone but me.

Spinning in the water, I made sure to keep an eye on the boat which had spotted me. Thankfully, they seemed to be exploring the place I’d just left, not realizing I’d rifted farther away from shore.

“All right, Lasu. The moment you strike the match?—”

“I know,” he grunted. “Now?”

“Now,” I agreed.

My soldier did as we’d discussed, before pushing off the pillar and swimming toward me as fast as he could. He was through the rift a moment later, and I let it shut behind him.

Either we had made our obsidian bombs incorrectly, or Dewalt had exaggerated. The force hit me before any sound, and as I opened the rift toward Gawain, I was propelled through by the blast.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed as pain shot through my back. The warmth of blood trickled down my neck, and I knew I’d been hit. But was it stone or the divinity-limiting obsidian that had struck me? As I opened the rift to the shore once more, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t seem any more exhausted than I had a moment before. I’d been using my divinity and swimming long enough that I was tired.

Robin swam toward the rift I created, falling into a wet heap on the ground beside Lasu and Aurelia.

“Go!” I yelled, as dust fell from above. We weren’t far enough away from the previous explosion, and I worried the bridge wasn’t as sturdy as I thought. If it collapsed on top of us, Em would still have a fighting chance in this war without me. But I didn’t want to die.

Not yet, anyway.

Gawain had climbed up the pillar, knuckles white from his grip on the stones. As he turned over his shoulder to look at me, I could barely see past the black curls hanging down into his face, but as his eyes met mine, he moved. Striking the explosive and diving into the water in one swift movement, he was quick. He swam beneath the water, easily getting pulled into the current from the rift I had to fight against.

This time, I was fast enough. I wasn’t sure I had a chance to exhale between closing one rift and opening another.

I hadn’t expected chaos when I arrived.

---