Page 103 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
“The Abyss is sealed.” Bristol raised her palms. “And no blisters.”
The sun was high. In minutes, the Stone of Destiny would be ready to break its hundred-year silence. Queens, kings, and their witnesses dotted the valley floor, and the steward of Elphame read from his scroll, hailing the rich history of the Stone and the cauldron. He stood on a distant knoll, far from the ring of warriors glaring at him. His voice wobbled. On either side of him were two powerful kings, and next to one of them was the Darkland monster.
Tyghan had watched Kormick enter the valley. Everyone had. When Kormick dismounted from his magnificent horse, there was a hush. His cream-colored cape shone in the sun, and his crown glowed against his golden locks like he was an anointed god. But when Maire shed her invisibility beside him, there was an oppressive silence. Mouths fell open. Few had ever seen the Darkland monster, and she was not what they expected. Maire was stunning. Her long copper hair gleamed like a fiery sunset, and the horns twisting around her head twinkled with a sparkling diamond crown. She was only visible for a few moments because the same guards who protected her at Queen’s Cliff provided a barrier between her and everyone else. But the spectacle Kormick wanted was achieved, and it would wipe the wordmonsterfrom their mouths and minds. She was a beautiful symbol of his power, and no one would forget it.
Tyghan wondered how Bristol was feeling, seeing her mother this way, a unified force with the enemy.I’ll be okay. I have no other choice. He wanted to give her other choices. She stood somewhere behind him, invisible, but prepared to act if her mother reopened the portal.
A timeless heartbeat thumped the ground beneath Bristol’s boots, a new century of rule poised to begin. Even though her cloak kept her invisible, the sun beat on her just the same. Sweat trickled down her back, and the fury simmering beneath her sternum felt like it was about to blaze through her shirt. Seeing her mother quietly standing beside Kormick almost shattered the restraint inside her. He hadn’t saved her mother out of charity, like he made her believe. He saved her because she was a prize. A possession to achieve his goals. He had been anticipating this moment for years. Bristol had her father’s tiny switchblade in her pocket. She hoped to gift it to Kormick. Right in his throat.
“His crown is a powerful ward. So is hers,” Madame Chastain whispered, as if she could read Bristol’s thoughts. “It would do you no good to attack him yet. Wait until the magic is spent by others.”
Bristol rubbed the cuff on her wrist, still full of protective magic. Unlike her, Kormick had great powers within him, even when the magic of his crown was spent. She remembered Melizan’s long-ago warning.He’s a demigod, same as Tyghan. You’d be a fool to underestimate him.
The parchment shook in the steward’s hand as he continued to read the proclamation. “Now is the time for any who believe they are worthy to come forward. Let yourselves be known. There is no magic within the inner circle of the Mother Ring, only the magic of the Stone of Destiny dwells there. It will judge those who step forward, and choose the new ruler of Elphame, and the custodian of the cauldron for the next one hundred years.”
The warriors surrounding the ring pounded their thick spears on the ground in unison. It rattled like a death cry across the valley.
No one moved.
Kormick smiled, soaking in all the eyes fixed on him, and took a step forward.
But then Tyghan stepped forward too.
Kormick’s glare was swift and sharp. “Are you begging me to destroy you, Trénallis?”
“No,” Tyghan answered. “I was just giving my troops the signal to destroy you.”
And then the sky opened up.
CHAPTER 79
Tyghan was already moving forward, while his officers behind him shouted orders to their squads. Kormick shoved Maire toward the protection of the Mother Ring, shouting, “Summon more! Summon them all!”
The ring swallowed her up, but three lines of warriors stormed forward, shields raised, as the sky above them filled with Danu troops on horses. Kormick drew his sword, and Tyghan charged him. Their blades rang out when he blocked Tyghan’s strike. “You’ve made a deadly mistake, Trénallis.”
Tyghan had anticipated this moment, but Kormick was three seconds behind him, his plan gone awry, and it showed in his eyes. He was using rage to push forward, not strategy.
The blows between the kings were fierce and fast, years of resentment boiling between them, Tyghan forcing Kormick backward, step by step. Five of his strikes hit home—Kormick’s chest, shoulder, and gut—only to bounce off, almost making Tyghan lose the grip on his own sword—but even a protective ward couldn’t withstand direct hits forever, and he saw the worry on Kormick’s face. Blood from a clash somewhere overhead spurted down on them, spraying Kormick’s pristine cape.
“What’s taking you so long?” Tyghan taunted. “Go ahead, destroy me, Kormick.” He swung hard, sending Kormick back several steps.
As Kormick stumbled, he fisted his free hand and threw a desperate, vicious punch into the air. A stinging burst of energy as sharp as knives knocked Tyghan backward, cutting into his neck and arms, and he rolled across the ground. He lost sight of Kormick as he disappeared behind warriors, and now six enormous brutes bore down on him.
Bristol could barely hear Cully shouting orders. An explosion of pandemonium made it hard to hear anyone. Everything moved fast. Kingdom witnesses were screaming and running back toward their camps. The first troops to come through the portal gathered them onto their horses two and three at a time to carry them to safety. Cully summoned the knights’ horses while Eris, Quin, and Melizan shouted more orders, until they were drawn into the battle too. Officers Perry and Jarvis took to the air, directing incoming regiments, and the other Noble Knights dispersed to direct ground troops. Bristol ran forward, hidden by her cloak, her squad surrounding her.
They circled wide around the warriors protecting the Mother Ring, searching for an opening for Bristol, and hid in the shadows of a stand of oaks. The warriors’ barrier had thinned as hundreds of them leapt forward to fight off the knights descending upon them, but there was still a tight line two warriors deep. Wizards between them worked to maintain a protective ward above the Stone of Destiny.
Her mother was somewhere past the warriors, and Bristol had heard Kormick’s last order to her,Summon them all!How long before she discovered she couldn’t summon them and opened a new portal? Bristol had to reach her—quickly. They searched for a gap, a way for Bristol to get past the warriors, but then a new threat bore down on them. The small cloud that had been so far in the distance was now overhead. The restless dead. The cloud didn’t look so small anymore. It cast an ominous fluttering shadow, and she heard the familiar screeches. This time, Tyghan couldn’t summon his dark web of lightning because Danu troops were still flying in through the portals.
Two hideous hyagen with thick leather wings and sharp claws swooped down between the trees, their jaws snapping as their riders prodded them lower and lower. They circled the squad like wolves, ready to devour them. Rose gasped, turning in all directions, the terror of the maze and the day they were stalked gripping her.Sweet fuck, Bristol thought.Not again. Not this time. Bristol pushed back her hood, shedding her invisibility, and drew her sword. Their squad stood back-to-back, slashing at the creatures as they darted down at them. Sashka leapt upward like a swift gazelle, nicking the underside of one, and it spiraled high into the air, screeching. The other swooped again, and Avery swung on its retreat, slashing off the end of one of its wings. It squealed and tumbled, falling to the ground, and Julia plunged her sword into its heart. When the other hyagen came back to investigate, Bristol had the perfect angle and sliced its head from its torso. A bloody last breath spewed from the stump of its neck, but there was only a split second of relief. The rider who had tumbled from it jumped to his feet and drew the sword on his back. His hair was brilliant red, like a blazing sunset, but with none of the wonder, and his skin still looked like it was turned inside out, thick veins crawling across it like worms.
“Do you know me?” he asked softly, in the same refined voice that didn’t match his monstrous exterior, a voice that sent chills down Bristol’s spine. He was still obsessed with being known. Being remembered. Even if it was for all the wrong reasons. She recalled his boastful banter with Tyghan as he held a sword to her throat, reliving his past glory.
“I could never forget you, Braegor.”
He smiled, his yellow eyes glowing, delighting in the recognition. “Bris-tull Keats and Rose. So nice to see you again—and this time you brought two friends.” He eyed Sashka and Avery. His sharp sword flashed in the shadowy light. “Ready to join our army? I promise we have a nice space for you.”
“Five friends,” Bristol corrected him. “You never learn, do you, Braegor?”
