Palace of Silver (The Nissera Chronicles #3) - Hannah West Page 0,138
a strategy for victory. None of us had a plan other than to try to mitigate the damage. This was a losing battle, and it would be over soon.
I hurried to join their ranks, coaxing the shield from my elicrin stone with a whisper. It expanded like a beautiful starflower in bloom and reached out to meld with Devorian’s.
His face looked worse than mine felt, but through his swollen, broken skin, I could read the meaningful look he turned my way: this was the end, and if we had to die, at least we would die fighting together.
I looked over my shoulder to see the ranks of reinforcements riding away. From behind the heaps of carnage on the road, Navara met my eyes before she guided her courser around, the last one to retreat.
Ambrosine glared, singling me out to face her wrath first. Mathis prowled at the other end of the chain, blood slinging from his sharp teeth as he crept on all fours toward Tilmorn, a predator ready to lunge at his prey. Kadri’s arrows studded his flesh, but they didn’t seem to be doing much to slow him down.
“Go get the girl like I told you!” Ambrosine shouted at him. Though she hadn’t recognized signs of our ambush, she saw this shield for what it was: a stalling tactic. Mathis growled at Tilmorn but tore off down the tree line to skirt around the shields, moving faster than a rabid wolf. Tilmorn and Mercer materialized away to give chase.
Not Navara. Not those innocent people.
It was I who was most responsible for offering Ambrosine lenience, for letting her wed a king instead of sending her to wallow in a prison cell.
Ambrosine charged at my shield. I separated mine from the others’ and made the cold wind howl until the rain began to freeze in sheets around Kadri and Devorian. The dense silver-blue ice rose up like a blockade, gleaming in the low light, shutting out the sound of their protests. I knew they didn’t want my protection, but they were going to get it.
Ambrosine’s armored fists collided with my shield. I reinforced the spell, calling every ounce of magic in my blood to the fore to resist. It held, bending only a little, but the sheer strength of Ambrosine’s newfound powers drove my heels through the snow like a plow until we had returned to the shadows of the winter forest.
Both of us cried out with the effort. I couldn’t hold her for long. When she reeled back a fist and slammed it into the shield, this time it broke through and rammed into my chest.
The blow struck me like a runaway carriage. I hit the trunk of a tree, collapsing onto the cold, soft ground.
A metal shield left by one of the enemy soldiers lay half buried in snow nearby. The steel reflected a warped, blurred view of my face, unrecognizable from abuse.
It also reflected movements behind me, and I heard the grunts of a struggle. I turned to find Commander Larsio attempting to help a gravely wounded mortal soldier retreat.
Above them, in the treetops, the creature Ambrosine had helped create prowled.
I shouted a warning from where I lay. The commander looked up and shielded his face as Mathis lunged. But Tilmorn intervened in a blur of strength and speed, catching the brunt of the attack while the commander and the wounded man escaped.
Mathis’s teeth went to work. Tilmorn tried to heal himself even as the flesh was ripped from his bones and limbs were torn asunder.
I screamed and turned my ravaged face away. After all we had survived, Ambrosine would bring our downfall.
A strange peace fell over me, as soft as falling snow but as warm as sunshine. It was time to say farewell to this world. It was time to die.
Two twinkling golden specks bloomed in my vision like newborn stars. One was bright as a lantern and nearly within reach on my left side, right where the enemy shield had been a moment ago. The other speck waited beyond the border of the forest, flickering like a distant candle flame. I watched them blink, wondering if they would lead me to the land of light if I followed them.
Ambrosine towered over me, blocking out the distant light. She spoke, but her voice sounded far away. The quiet was thick in my ears, the light of the nearest golden speck growing brighter.
Curious, I reached out a trembling hand to touch it.