Page 116 of The War of Wings
The sun had begun to set as I made my way back inside the city walls, and the meeting hall hummed with nervous energy as rows of seats were filled. By now, news had traveled of Malosym’s capture and subsequent escape. There was no boisterous laughter. Only forlorn faces and hopeless stares.
My eyes were locked on the door, waiting for a tall, broad king with gemstone eyes to prowl through. I’d lost my temper and screamed at him. I shouldn’t have done it, but I hadn’t expected Cal to skip out on today’s meeting. Anxiety kept me from taking my seat, so I stood on the dais before a crowded hall of leaders, wringing my hands as I watched the door.
Uncomfortable energy pulsed from Nell where she sat to my left. Living through the attack on Taitha had changed something in her, of that I was sure. I kept waiting for a wisecrack, for a jab or a lighthearted dig. She had nothing to say beyond single-word answers, and nothing to offer beyond hollow eyes and slow, tired movements.
Tyrak was at my right, his face stoic as ever as he looked out over the faces of the crowd. But he was tense. He had been ever since I told him Malosym had escaped.
When I’d given them both the news of Miles, choking on tears of my own, Tyrak had reared back. His eyes had gone wide, his head shaking, a string of questions leaving his mouth. When? Where? How? My answers were as vague as I could make them, and thankfully, that seemed enough for Tyrak. Nell, onthe other hand, appeared numb. She didn’t ask a single question. She simply nodded once and that was that.
I stared one final second at the open doorway before I nodded to the guards. The sound of the clanging doors echoed through the hall as they swung shut, quieting the soft buzz of nervous conversation.
“Thank you for joining me again today,” I started. With a deep breath, I pushed on. “I’m just going to come out and say it. I’d like to lure Malosym here. Utilize the strength of Araqina’s walls.” It was the only plan I had, and it was a bad one. That didn’t go unnoticed.
“But the Occulti made it through the walls when they attacked a few days ago!” someone yelled. Shouts of agreement sounded throughout the hall.
And they were right. The walls meant nothing when the Occulti seemed to appear out of nowhere. But I didn’t know what else to do, what else to say. I needed Cal here. I was stupid for kicking him out, for making him grieve the loss of his brother on his own. I was fuming at him, but I needed him. He needed me, too, and I hadn’t been there.
The room was filled with quiet murmurs. No explosive arguments, no men puffing their chests trying to prove they were the most powerful. There was nothing but worry.
I stared down at Tyrak, finding his dark eyes waiting for me. “Please, tell me what to do here,” I begged.
“I can’t tell you what to do, because I don’t know what to do,” he murmured. “But there is a certain strength in admitting you are out of your depth.”
Iwasout of my depth. I was flailing in the water. Sharks were circling. Waves were pummelling me and the current was relentless.
“If I could have your attention,” I called out, and the murmuring quickly faded. I took a deep breath, steeling my spine beneath the weight of a hundred expectant gazes. “I can’t pretend I know what to do here. Malosym had been captured,and I thought I could put an end to him. Then he managed to escape. We have the largest army this realm has ever seen, but we face an impossible enemy, one who does not bow to the laws of kingdoms nor obey the barriers between realms. I don’t want to say it’s hopeless, because I don’t believe it to be so. But…” I swallowed hard, trying to keep my face from showing the fear that had an unbreakable hold on me. “I simply do not know what to do. And much of my strength, as I’ve learned, does not come from the power of my blood, but from trusting the people around me. So, that being said, does anyone here have any ideas?”
Silence fell, growing more uncomfortable with each passing moment. A few faces turned to the one beside them. A few pairs of shoulders shrugged or fell.
Until finally a hand raised from the crowd, about three quarters of the way back. I couldn’t make out many of his features from here, but no one could miss that perfectly coiffed, silvery-blond hair. “If I may, your Majesty?”
“Please do, King…”
“King Bastian of the Surging Isles.”
My eyes widened at the realization that this was Cielle’s father, and I very ungracefully choked on my own saliva, descending into a coughing fit right there on the dais in front of everyone. “Apologies,” I croaked, a hand on my chest as I took a sip of water Tyrak held out to me. “Please proceed, King Bastian.”
“What if we could somehow lure Malosym to the middle of the sea? Between the kingdoms here, we have hundreds, maybe thousands of ships. Assuming the Occulti couldn’t do much harm whilst in the water, they’d need to be on ships as well, meaning easier targets for your drivas.”
A few murmurs of agreement sounded throughout the hall, and I mulled the idea over in my head, my lips pursing when I realized it wouldn’t work. “Thank you for the idea, King Bastian. You’re correct about the drivas. Ships full of Occulti would bemuch easier to take down than a mass of Occulti moving around on land. However, it would mean our soldiers were in ships, as well. Easy targets forhisdrivas.”
King Bastian nodded his understanding before lowering back into his seat, just as another man in the first few rows raised his hand. He was strikingly handsome. No Cal, that was for sure, but still very attractive, with a square jawline and a head of thick, chestnut hair. “Your Majesty,” he said as he lowered his head. “King Rayner of Zidderune.” My eyes widened again, but this time I managed to keep my saliva from embarrassing me. Larka would be losing her shit right now. “Could we ambush Malosym? Locate him and march our forces there?”
“Unfortunately, no. I have no idea where he is right now, but I believe he’s somewhere in the Darkness Beyond. Traveling there is impossible.”For humans.Well, humans, with the exception of Cal.
Where the fuckwashe?
“Thank you for your suggestion King Rayner,” I said graciously, my stomach sinking lower as another man stood up.
Ideas were thrown out, every one of them with at least one glaring hole. Hope would surge in the room, like a wave crashing onto the shore, only to be pulled back out to sea by the grim reality of Malosym’s strength.
Before long, there were no more hands in the air. No more shouted suggestions. I laid my hands flat on the table. Hope hadn’t just receded, it had evaporated entirely. What was left in its wake was something far more chilling than hopelessness. My soul felt threadbare, like it wasn’t strong enough to support this role I’d found myself in and any moment it would tear in half and flutter to the ground.
“I need to get to Malosym,” I said finally, my words measured. “That’s what all this comes down to. I’m the one with the power to take his life.” Tyrak shifted beside me, his discomfort palpable. It was the truth, though. Although no oneelse knew the true meaning. “I think… I think luring him here to Araqina is our best bet. The military is here. Ships will be on standby. But the main objective will be to get me to Malosym.”
The feeling in the room suddenly changed. The air soured, turning from a buzzing, nervous energy to fear. Because suddenly, it felt a lot less like an idea, and a lot more like a plan. A lot less hypothetical and a lot more like a countdown. My eyes moved beside me to Tyrak again to see his chin dip in a shallow nod, a silent approval of the plan.
“Does anybody object?” I called out. Silence. “Okay. It’s settled. The rest of the forces should be arriving in the next few days. Then we’ll lure Malosym here to Araqina. Thank you for your time today. You are dismissed.”
