was the tips of my horned crown, which stuck out an inch.
Stealth mode ended. All the cameras would see was a common Historian, not unlike the ones spinning in the ballroom directly over my head.
The remaining players would not see me coming.
This reveal would send chills up the audience’s neck.
Stealth on.
30
DAGNEY
A seagull squawked and the ocean rumbled as waves crashed against the shore.
I measured the distance to the castle and did a little estimating while my new armor chafed against the ocean-drenched clothes I wore underneath. My head ached with exhaustion and all I wanted to do was find a cozy bit of blankets, something yummy, and maybe a book, but I had a brother to save first.
20 percent, I estimated. I timed the step and we took off from the shore, zooming until we reached a large expanse of grounds right at the base of the Savak castle.
The castle looked like a knife, towers filed sharp, cutting the sky with flags.
All around us, from the ground and flying higher, a wall of Savak Wingships loomed like buzzing flies. Boxes of treasures hid on the ground, and I could count the levels we’d amp if we had time to just fight the Savak army that watched our approach.
A couple of soldiers brandished weapons and rushed us.
Ryo let go of my hand and drew his sword. Now would have been a good time to use that army Ryo had started to assemble but we’d had to leave behind. My fingers itched to grab my axes and crush a few NPCs. Let out this tension and pressure that had built between my shoulder blades.
But we were doing a speed run here. We needed to grab Grig, find any of the remaining armor, and get out of this creepy place.
The arrow pointing to Grigfen turned upward. Ryo’s sword crashed as he fought the Wingship.
I cleared my throat and did a little math. The castle was massive. Maybe 10 percent?
I lunged for Ryo’s arm and with one magic step we zoomed to the top balcony of the castle.
The platform at the top of the tallest tower looked more like a ballroom than a battlefield. Historians danced at the center, each spin mechanical and whirling. An orchestra of Whirligigs played in a dark and empty corner, gears shifting as bows ripped across strings and sticks attached to a slowly spinning wheel banged on drums. Loyalties and magic lit the sky, so much red fog; it felt like blood had filled my eyes. The shattered sky had swallowed the sunrise, and every minute more of the sky dissolved.
We were running out of time.
The arrow in my mind disappeared. Grig had to be up here somewhere.
Disengage boots.
I let go of Ryo and armed myself with a battle-axe in each hand. I hadn’t really had time to test out these axes, and there wasn’t time for a tutorial. I scanned the prisoners lining the edges.
Devani on one side. Devout on the other. Each chained and working, their magic or ghostlight seeping out of them, pulling into the center of the room where a sitting mechanical hummed. The queen of the Savak had turned these people into fuel.
And then made them stand pretty while she drained them.
A green player indicator hung above a winged man covered in paint.
Grig.
We rushed to his side. Grigfen’s skin glowed pale as a bone, his shaved head painted to look like a skull with pointed teeth, a black crack lining his forehead where the Crown of Visions perched crookedly. While I was worried about him, he’d earned another piece of the armor.
Badass.
He didn’t move or celebrate or even grin. He stayed on his knees. His loyalty only flickered from red to purple for a second before shifting back to red, even as Ryo knelt at his side.
“Hey, gang,” he whispered. “Can’t move. Sorry about that.”
Why wasn’t he moving? Ryo pulled a jar of hibisi tea.
Grig stared at the dance floor, his pale eyes devoid of hope. He nodded. “I’d love a nip, thank you.” He drank and his cheeks warmed with color as his stats improved.
“What happened?”
“So much. I’d love to tell you the long version, because it makes me look quite impressive, but the short version is I betrayed you all in order to keep breathing, but McKenna doesn’t trust me, so she’s strapped me with wing swords posted above my back and if I sneeze wrong she’ll push the button on her bracelet and I’ll die.”