Page 94 of A Kiss of Hammer and Flame

Outside, they mounted their horses and galloped for the gate.

Raiden was beside her now, Sylvie on Cahra’s other side. Their stony gazes forward, guards flanked her path to Thierre’s exchange. The Seers followed, Thelaema and Wyldaern shielded by a ring of Luminaux’s Royal Guards in the darkness.

Good.One less thing to worry about, she thought. There was more than enough between Thierre and everything else that could go wrong as it was.

Raiden’s eyes lingered on Cahra, his own worry carving lines into the Captain’s face. He’d asked if she was all right as they ran for the horses, but ‘all right’ felt too distant an idea, swallowed as she was by the dread consuming her.

All right? I’m honestly not sure it matters any more.

She’d made her choice in not seeking Hael. Now she had to live with it.

If, by the end of this, she was alive at all.

They’d ridden through the forest bordering Luminaux’s kingdom during the night, Cahra’s only comfort the sky alight with icy stars. In Kolyath, a night sky without cloud cover was so rare it was considered auspicious. But Cahra was sick of providential omens by now, spending the time staring at those stars and watching their magnification, and Hael’s magicks, dwindle into nothingness, the stars dulling to tiny white dots.

When they did, there was a part of her that cursed her human eyes.

But the quick forward march of Luminaux’s Royal Army dispelled her errant thoughts, the rhythmic crunch of endless boots on rocks and leaves keeping her grounded. At one point, she turned, peering behind her at their infantry and support units like Queran’s fellow archers, followed by the rear guard that defended them from ambush. The army’s unit columns filed all the way back to the last village and beyond, a broad formation of thousands spilling down the black-bricked road to Hael’stromia, Luminaux’s vanguard leading them onward.

After the forest came the grasslands, and beyond them, the sparse flats leading to the capital’s black sands, where Kolyath and Ozumbre awaited. And Thierre.

By Sylvie’s calculations, they would reach their destination soon.

Cahra gripped the horn of her saddle, taking a deep breath as tendrils of apprehension slowly uncoiled, slithering through her veins. The overwhelming urge to whip the reins and bolt from impending danger was almost unbearable, but Cahra refused to run. She’d made a promise to Thierre’s parents. She would see it through.

Dawn was close to breaking. Luminaux’s mightiest legion marched behind their General, set to converge with the others as the majority of the kingdom’s forces swarmed on Hael’stromia. All that was left was to continue on their route to the capital’s north-east gate, one of three access points to Hael’stromia, a gate facing the road to each sister tri-kingdom. It had been a stipulation from the rulers of Kolyath and Ozumbre that the trade must take place outside Luminaux’s capital gate, likely to humble King Royce. Outnumbered, he would be forced to witness his failure to win the war for the weapon.

But Cahra didn’t care for men’s bruised egos. Her concern was Thierre.

She heard the trot of hooves and tossed a glance over her shoulder to see Thelaema. Beyond the Oracle, royal blue and gold flags and tabards stretched as far as the eye could see, with seemingly infinite armed soldiers, all marching for their Prince. Cahra lowered her eyes, the Wilds darker and dustier with each hoofbeat. The air still held a chill, but not like before. She watched the specks of sand eddying with the rising breeze.

Cahra gazed out at the changing landscape. She’d never seen so much open space – Kolyath’s slums and Traders’ Quadrant were so small and cramped in contrast. But out here, the realm seemed to stretch on forever, and with it, the most bittersweet feeling of freedom swelled alongside a sharp pang in her chest.

‘It is not too late to call off this histrionic decision,’ Thelaema said.

Cahra didn’t look at her. ‘I thought you said decisions don’t care for my emotions, only results?’ This one would save Thierre. She exhaled, trying not to let the woman’s earlier words get the best of her fraying nerves.

When are you planning to stop running from your responsibilities?

She waited for Thelaema to launch into yet another tirade. But instead the Oracle said, ‘The cost is too high if the result is you dead on Hael’stromia’s sands.’

‘At least if I’m dead, they won’t get Hael. “When the mark walks the path to enter the Nether in life”? The “in life” kind of gave it away.’

‘Not so foolish, after all, then,’ Thelaema said, voice softening.

Cahra shrugged. ‘Maybe.’

Or maybe not, she thought, remembering the other thing Thelaema had said to her.

What you are doing is incredibly stupid.

Maybe the Oracle was right. That thought, like the gasp that stole from Cahra’s lips, snared her as Hael’stromia’s jet-black pyramid rose into view, beneath a handful of clouds; like they were carved from heavenly marble, ready to plummet and crush everyone there.

And before the pyramid, an army, their numbers seemingly impossible, dwarfing any force Cahra had dreamt existed in the world.

CHAPTER 37

Cahra stared at the foreboding black gate and shattered walls of the capital of Hael’stromia, grains of sand whipping her face as a sharp gust of wind swept across the arid plain. Despite the open air, it felt thick, stale – heavy. When she swallowed, her throat dry with desert dust, she immediately choked. The air tasted of dead things.

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