Karmuth was there fighting for his life while I hid in the corner farthest from the window, my back to the bed and my knees pressed in close to my chest.
I couldn’t hide from the noise. I couldn’t hide from my own imagination as it took over, making up scenes to go along with the sounds. It was worse than being on the battlefield because Karmuth kept dying every other minute inside my head, the pain more agonising every time.
Staying alone in my open room was not a good idea, but Karmuth had told me to come here. He’d told me I’d be safe here.
I jumped at any loud sound, though. I’d never felt this vulnerable. In my nineteen years of existence, I’d never witnessed a raging battle, though they were sometimes talked about in Elverstone.
I now knew what a delther looked like, what kind of damage one of those beasts could do. It had taken immense power to take it down. Now there were more of those monsters and by the sounds of it, they were inside the reservation. Feeding on death fae! They were growing stronger while the court grew weaker.
I’d not held any allegiance to Vindica, but being the reason its warriors were fighting to the death outside my window turned my stomach. I couldn’t see it—I had to see what was happening. I had to know that Karmuth was all right. As if I’d make out his umber hair from this distance even if I managed to glimpse the battle from my balcony.
It didn’t matter, however, because the overwhelming fear that he needed help while I was trembling behind my bed—almost under it even—didn’t let up. I crawled over to the glass door, still shaking, and pulled it open. The screams only intensified as the wind carried them together with a stench of death that made me gag.
I pulled myself to my feet with the help of the railing and stuck my head over the edge to catch a glimpse of the battle, but all I could make out was a dark cloud of smoke that covered everything from the training field onward.
Piercing cries got lost in the wind, but one shout reached through the rest in clarity. “Fall back!” At this, my blood ran cold.
Immediately following the command, fae emerged from the fog, running toward the courtyard where my mother’s wedding had taken place, and later the execution.
I searched every one of them for the telltale brown hair but didn’t find him. Like Karmuth earlier, these death fae wore hundreds of pus-dripping cuts on different parts of their bodies. Several were so badly hurt they stumbled, fell, and didn’t have the strength to pull themselves back to their feet. The fog followed the runners, billowing in their wake, but it was less dense than in the thick of the battle by the gate.
Then I saw two delthers chasing the fae. One of them crushed a fallen warrior under its hooves as it pursued the rest.
I felt a tug of power in my chest as they crossed underneath my window and without thinking, I gave myself over to instinct. Latching onto the life force shining within the delthers, I pulled.
The ecos responded to my call with practised ease. I had no time to comprehend why it worked on an animal the size of a bison when all I was supposed to be able to connect to was plant life, rarely on a small herbivore, which was why I’d been scared for the rabbit back in the forest.
Delthers were neither small nor herbivores, but their life force streamed into me. It tasted gross, foul even, and my own ecos darkened as the new flow mixed with it.
I didn’t want it in me. I couldn’t stand the death that was clearly laced in it burning through me to my very core, but the two delthers from before were soon joined by five more, and their ecos connected to the stream I was already pulling into myself.
All of the animals halted at once, their heads jerking toward me. I was choking on their life force, but just like back in the forest, I couldn’t stop. As they forgot all about the fleeing fae and came galloping straight at me, I didn’t want to stop. They had to die before they reached me.
I was three stories up, but I wasn’t going to underestimate the jumping distance of a monster I’d only just met today. Their tentacles slithered out of their mouths farther than a normal tongue could. They might have been able to reach me regardless of the height.
Intimidated by the thought, I took a step away, pressing my back against the glass pane separating the balcony from my bedroom.
I couldn’t see the beasts stopping beneath the overhang, but I felt the life force flooding me from where they stood. I did see the retreating fae in the courtyard stop and gather in formation while the seven delthers remained distracted and grew weak.
If I thought I could suck up all of their disgusting ecos, I’d been wrong. It suffocated my own life force, staining my soul, my whole being. There was so much of it I filled to bursting, but still, I couldn’t stop. Choking, gasping, gagging I fell to my knees at the farthest corner of the balcony collecting from the beasts until I exploded.
Dark and golden streams alike rushed out of me in every direction. I felt them connecting to starved fae who thirstily drank it up, not bothered in the slightest by the toxic taste.
Just as I thought I’d be pulled empty, the fae below rushed to action and surrounded the delthers stomping and buckling under my balcony. The moment the delthers died, our connection severed, and I was left panting on my hands and knees.
“That’s the princess,” one of the fae called out to the other.
“There are more delthers heading this way,” another voice announced.
“I feel as if I could take on the whole pack,” a third laughed.
“Hold on, Princess, we’ll take care of the threat!” the first one called up to me.
I couldn’t find my voice to reply. My hands shook from the weight of my body, and I sank down, letting my cheek rest on the cold stone surface of the balcony. The sounds of battle continued for much longer as I drifted into delirious unconsciousness.
Chapter 15
KARMUTH
I WANTED TO FIND ISAY THE MOMENT THE SMOKE LIFTED AND WE counted forty-six dead delthers littering our premises. The delthers had crashed through our forces and invaded the closest houses, storming toward the palace.
I’d felt Queen Siya reinforcing the fae at the battlefield, but it hadn’t felt nearly as powerful as the explosion of ecos coming straight from the palace, and I knew it had to be something Isay had done. Already then I had felt the need to get back to her, but Hiko had been wounded, and we needed to pull him away from the fight.
However, after the explosion, even the fae crawling on the ground pulsing from delther venom rose to continue fighting. It was because of that burst that we were able to defeat the intruders.
Now, we needed to clear the grounds. The corpses had to be burned lest we wished to attract another gathering. While our heavily wounded were guided to the infirmary, the able-bodied warriors were expected to take care of the damage.
I’d obtained another sleeve of cuts around my midsection but was better off than some of the others and could not excuse myself. I’d also not make the mistake of leaving the bodies behind again.
“When was the last time you saw a delther pack?” Regar grunted under his breath crouching down to grab the front hooves of the beast in front of us while I was pulling the back.
“If you mean a full-on attack then I wasn’t born yet,” I huffed back. “I’ve seen a few smaller packs run through the meadows, but I stayed the fuck away, you know.”
“Yeah, the last attack occurred about fifty years ago, I think. In Felroth. Those suckers blamed us and ordered a council to form just to steal our feeding grounds for their own. You never knew the liberty to feed on a strong healthy prey, but then again, it affects you less than the rest of us. Lucky bastard that you are.”
The gnawing hunger in the pit of my stomach begged to differ, but I wasn’t going to point that out.
