Page 28 of Oath of War
‘Annika!’ Orm groaned, his hand pressed to his chest. I heard the pain-ravaged roar of a dragon, then an echoing crash which focused my mind through the torment.
‘Vahin!’ I screamed in my mind, only calming slightly when reassuring thoughts—albeit tinged with Vahin’s own struggles with the torrent of power—flowed through our bond.
My Anchors couldn’t withstand the aether filling my body, and I didn’t know how to stop it.
‘What’s going on?! Someone call the royal mage!’ Reynard barked to the guards, trying to make himself heard over the sudden tolling of every bell in the capital.
‘No one touches her!’ Alaric commanded, dropping to my side. ‘Annika, look at me.’
‘Don’t,’ I choked out, my body spasming. ‘Don’t touch me.’
‘Trust me, Domina,’ he urged. ‘Let the aether flow.’
‘It’ll kill you,’ I stammered, tears streaking my face. ‘You’re not my Anchor.’
The tidal wave of power that had started this was gone yet my body still blazed with the energy left behind. I didn’t know why.But I was a conduit, not made to contain the aether, and my attempts to dissipate the magic were killing my Anchors.
‘Domina, I’m used to pain, and I can burn off this power using a spell I would normally reserve for the battlefield. Please, Ani, let me help,’ he begged, gently stroking my sweat-streaked cheek.
I nodded, biting my lip as Alaric opened his vein, using a quill from Reynard’s desk to draw a complex sigil on the floor. ‘Now, give me your hand,’ he instructed.
I grimaced, reaching out to him without hesitation. We both winced as lightning jumped between us when our hands touched, yet I refused to let go, trusting Alaric with all our lives.
As soon as he placed his free hand in the centre of the sigil, the aether roared through me, the vortex of power pouring into Alaric. He muttered an incantation, and green light erupted, bathing the room and beyond. As the magic subsided, I collapsed against him, trembling but alive.
Reynard stumbled backwards, at the same time seeming to grow taller and stronger, until he looked at my fae with a giddy smile and asked, ‘Gods, what was that?’
Voices in the corridor grew louder, followed by laughter and joyful shouts as the spell spread outwards.
‘The Last Breath,’ Alaric said, his tone weary but relieved. ‘During battle or as a last resort, a fae healer can sacrifice their life force to create a curative spell that spreads out like a wave, healing those around them. The more powerful the healer, the further it reaches before it burns through the life of the fae. I simply used Annika’s excess power to fuel it. Judging by its effects, everyone in the palace—and probably a few streets beyond—just had their ailments healed.’
Ormond came to sit beside me, and I took advantage of his closeness to lean on him, painfully aware that although I had twoAnchors, neither was a mage who could help in moments like this.
‘What just happened, love? Why are the bells tolling?’ Orm asked, brushing strands of hair from my forehead.
Since taking from the keystone to collapse the mountain so long ago, my magic was attuned to it. In the last burst of power, I felt a pulse—a shattering wave I knew could only mean one thing. ‘The Barrier has fallen,’ I replied, my voice heavy with grim certainty.
The silence that followed was suffocating, almost tangible. All three men stared at me, their expressions a mix of disbelief and desperation, as if silently hoping I’d tell them it was some cruel joke. But I couldn’t.
‘Are you certain?’ Reynard finally asked.
He looked defeated. We had run out of time, and the man now bore the unbearable weight of leading us into the Second Necromancer’s War against the Lich King. I could see in his eyes how much he hated it.
‘Ormond, you and Vahin will fly to the border to confirm this,’ Reynard ordered.
Orm’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing. ‘Annika’s trial is tomorrow. I can’t—’
‘Orm, I’m not asking. If you go now, you can be back before the trial. All I need is confirmation of the Barrier’s status,’ Reynard asserted before turning to me. ‘Ani, tell me what else you know. Anything you can remember, anything you overheard while captive, may be of value.’
I licked my dry lips, and Reynard passed me a pitcher of water. After taking a sip, I answered, ‘Not much. I know there are some human and Moroi settlements in the Barren Lands beyond the reach of the dragons. That’s where both the chancellor’s family and Ihrain are from, though I don’t know exactly where. The Barren Lands aren’t as barren as we thought, and the monsterswe’ve encountered are meant to prevent riders from venturing too far.’
Orm frowned. ‘How far away are these settlements?’
‘I don’t know.’ I shrugged. ‘But they’re likely too distant for a dragon to reach without a conduit mage.’
Reynard tapped his finger against the table, deep in thought. ‘Anything else?’ he prompted, pacing the room.
‘The portal ...’ The three of them looked at me expectantly, and I sighed. ‘Ihrain—or another of Cahyon’s servants—discovered how to create a portal to the Barren Lands. The bastard nearly dragged me through one.’
