Page 104 of Silver & Smoke
But Kipp simply shrugged. ‘Torj and the others should have eyes on the capital by now. It’s time to give the signal.’
Wren nodded and closed her eyes.
Bear Slayer... I’m lighting up the darkness just for you,she whispered through their bond.
And then she reached for her magic.
The first stirring of power felt like a breath of winter air in her lungs – sharp, clean, energizing. Slowly, it intensified, both withinher and beyond, as though the sky itself were answering her call with something vast and ancient.
The hairs on her arms rose as the power built within her, a pressure forming behind her eyes. She felt a surreal weightlessness as the wind picked up around her, bringing with it the first whispers of what was to come.
Magical energy hummed through her bones and a deep resonance bloomed in her chest as the first clap of thunder sounded – the first strike of a war drum.
When Wren opened her eyes, the world had changed. Tendrils of dark cloud swept in, stark against the face of the moon beaming down upon them, the air heavy with the scent of imminent rain. She could feel Cal and Kipp watching her, but she focused on the silence around her, the way nature held its breath before the storm broke.
And break it did.
The first bolt came not from the clouds, but from her, as though her body were the channel between sky and earth. Violet-tinged lightning flashed across the dark expanse overhead in brilliant, jagged forks, and each lash sang in her blood.
The clouds opened up, and sheets of vicious rain pelted down, but Wren didn’t register the sting across her skin. Instead, she felt the lightning in her veins as she brought it down upon the earth, strike after strike. She turned the violent tempest into a beacon for the enemy, and a signal of hope for Torj and her friends.
Through the downpour, she could see the approaching force.
Let them come,she thought.Let them see whose kingdom they’re trying to take.
It was hard to hear the thunder of hooves over the thunder of her storm, but she felt the vibration of the approaching force beneath her boots.
‘Here we go...’ Kipp lowered his spyglass. ‘That’s nearly five hundred men.’
‘So not a third of his army as we’d hoped?’ Cal asked.
Storm magic was still pouring from Wren as she answered through gritted teeth, ‘Not quite, but it’s not insignificant, either. Silas took the bait. He’s risking his men to make a grab for my power.’
‘Speaking of which...’ Kipp’s shout cut through the torrent of rain. ‘Time to go!’
Wren snapped out of her magical trance and reached for the reins Cal was holding out for her. Swinging herself up into her saddle, she urged her mare onward after her two friends, Cal falling back as planned.
The earth turned to mud beneath their horses’ hooves as they galloped away from the site, from the enemy force that was fast approaching. Wren could barely see through the downpour.
There was a cry from just behind her—
Cal’s face was tight with pain as he reached for an arrow that had found his shoulder with nearly enough force to unseat him. Blood immediately began soaking through his tunic.
‘Cal!’ she shrieked.
No, no, no.
‘Keep riding!’ he told her through gritted teeth. ‘I’ll hold them off!’
In that moment, Wren saw everything with startling clarity. Cal was injured but could still ride. Kipp was their best strategist and needed to coordinate with Torj. And Wren – Wren was what Silas wanted most.
One of them needed to be captured to make the trap convincing, to give the enemy a false sense of victory. And the poison needed time to work. Most importantly, she could communicate with Torj through their bond, no matter where they took her.
Wren wouldn’t stand for it. She didn’t know why she had agreed to leave Cal behind in the first place, and now his blood was soaking the lands of her kingdom.
She yanked her horse around, placing herself between her friends and the approaching enemy.
‘Wren, no!’ Cal shouted.
