Page 133 of Oathborn
So the Queen had never meant to send Zari to retrieve the sword. It didn’t matter. Not now. The Crescent Blade had been claimed. Every fae would know that, given this display of magic.
What none of them would know, and what even Tivre had no way of learning, was if the blade had claimed her life in one heartbeat, killing her, or if she’d been able to strike a deal with it, and remain alive for now.
Tivre’s jaw clenched as a sudden, terrible realization sank in.
He’d gambled, as he so often had before.
This time, he’d been outplayed.
It had been a trap, and he’d let Zari stumble into it.
Chapter fifty-two
Tobias
The moon was high overhead by the time Tobias reached the cliffs. After the stranger had sprinted off, Tobias, too, had left the woods, in search of Javen. Unlike his language studies, land navigation hadn’t been one of his strongest subjects. Rubbish at reading a compass, he often got lost. However, his best subject, apart from languages, had been in the very new field of cognitive combat science, which stressed the importance of truly understanding one’s opponent, or in this case, comrade.
So, Tobias had pulled out the map of the area beyond Kirkton and looked toward the cliffs. They were poorly documented, as they were on all maps, but at least the Crimsons had some notes, offering assumed heights of the various cliff faces. Tobias picked the lowest of those because he’d bet every coin in his pocket that Javen had gone to the isles.
For what purpose? That, Tobias wasn’t sure.
Enough moonlight filtered through the sparse clouds above to illuminate his way, though his heart thudded at every cracking branch. He’d never seen combat before this mission north. His hand hovered on his pistol, but he didn’t risk carrying it in his hand, when there were so many branches to climb over.
Finally, Tobias pushed through the last of the heavy pine boughs and stepped out onto the rocky cliff side. The wind howled around him. No one was there. He’d guessed wrong. Even if this had seemed the easiest cliff toclimb, there were countless other places Javen might have been. He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes, and leaned against a tree, trying to think of another place to look.
Gleaming eyes at the edge of the cliff made him gasp. A shadowy figure—no—fae, complete with glowing eyes, appeared in the smoky mist. Cloaked in shadow, it was impossible to see any more of the figure except those bright eyes, until he pulled himself up, stood, and lit a cigarette.
Not a fae, no. Even if Javen’s eyes glowed, he was still human. At least, mostly. He lacked the pointed ears, the other features of the fae.
He also looked like he’d been through a war.
“Captain!” Tobias’s fear was replaced by pride that he’d guessed right. “I’m here to help you.”
“Don’t be an idiot.” A raw neck wound dripped blood onto his shirt collar, and his shredded left sleeve was only held by the strap carrying a bejeweled dagger. Even his hair was unruly, with dark strands hanging down over his eyes.
“What happened?” Tobias asked.
Nearly at the tree line, Javen spun and, in one seamless motion, drew his sword. Already on the offensive, before Tobias even spotted the threat: three figures, all with glowing eyes. Tall and long-haired with strange clothing and gleaming swords.
Fae.
The same as the ones before? Tobias couldn’t tell, not in the darkness around him, not with fear coursing through him, blinding his vision. For this time, he had no chance of protection, nor of a conversation to defend himself.
Javen’s blade met the first one, slicing into their shoulder with a sickening squelch. The fae barely registered the hit as they swung their own blade back at him. In mid-motion, Javen switched his sword from his right to his left, allowing him to make a direct, deadly impact with the fae’s chest.
“Run,” Javen told Tobias. “They shouldn’t—”
But they could see him. Because he didn’t have the braceletanymore.
Tobias drew his pistol, but he was unable to track the movement of the enemy. Aiming proved impossible. He’d seen Javen’s speed before and had been impressed. Now, he was dumbstruck. Javen moved so swiftly the air seemed to blur, so powerfully that a cut through with the blade severed a fae arm.
Weighing his options, Tobias watched as the second fae fell to a devastating backhanded cut by Javen. The captain kicked away the dead body before flicking the blood off the blade.
The last fae charged toward Tobias. One step, another, and the fae was—
Blood gurgled from their mouth as they fell to the ground. Javen stood behind them. Wounds on his neck and arms still bled from hits that must have landed too fast for Tobias to track. Wordlessly, he pulled the dagger he’d plunged into the fae’s neck away.
He wiped the dagger on his trousers. Javen’s motions, compared to his earlier speed, seemed leaden.
