High atop a cliff in the desolate, barren landscape of the Shadow Islands in northern Praxya, Alina, Queen of Vellitas, stood waiting and watching the army below her with her stomach in knots and her heart in her throat.
Thunder boomed across the misty land, while forks of lightning and cold raindrops struck the ground where the two armies would inevitably collide.
She studied the battle formation below, feeling thankful that, though she was powerful and had a vital part to play on this day, she wouldn’t be fighting in the fray. She was skilled with weaponry, as were all Fae, but today she needed nothing else besides her magick, her bow, and a quiver of magickally spelled arrows.
She wondered fleetingly if she should have donned her armor even being stationary on the cliffs, but cast the thought away almost immediately. Armor would only get in her way from doing what she really needed. As the third oldest being in Praxya, she had formidable power that would be better used long range.
Wait…now she was the second oldest being since Amara, one of the Makers, died at the beginning of The Others’ invasion.
The male who was like a brother to her and a fellow member of The Seven was looking worse for wear since his Maker had perished only days ago as he came to stand beside her. “Alina, all the archers are in place and we should have more than enough supply of spelled arrows. We don’t anticipate them staying within range long enough to run out of them anyway.”
“Good. Thank you. I have the shield of hard air in place around us. It is one way, as we discussed. The edge of the cliff is the shield line, so as long as no one falls, flies, or levitates off of it then we should be fine,” she advised, automatically checking to make sure there were no holes in her shield for the millionth time. “And our infantry below?”
His icy blue Fae eyes, able to see for miles, scanned the Praxyan army below, his mouth compressed into a thin line as he studied the lines of warriors with the tactician’s brain that made him Amara’s Visian Master of War.
“Ready,” Caelus answered shortly, shoving his white and black-streaked hair that was woven into a warrior’s braid behind him when it threatened to fall over his shoulder. “Cal knows to come through the portal with his array of beasts and faerie-folk when the battle is at a fever pitch. Caspian and his Myrmidon have their blockade in place so The Others cannot retreat. Ash is going to lead the charge. Lucian has been gathering his power. The Seven are ready, Alina. We are as prepared as we can be.”
She knew he was right. There was nothing else to be done. The end result of this day would be the annihilation of her world or the enemy. It was one world against another, one civilization against another. The Others against her own Vellitasian and Visian armies.
One might expect such devastation to take days, even weeks, but with such powerful magick and deadly skill on both sides, it likely would only take hours. By the time the last echo of war sounded, tens of thousands would be dead and two worlds would be irrevocably changed for an eternity.
She said none of this but something must have shown on her face because suddenly she felt Caelus down their private telepathic channel as he knocked on the doors of her mind.
Once she let him inside her mind, he murmured, “You cannot think like this. It is not a hopeless effort, despite what the Druadhan Seers believe. They just say that because their Sight is blocked by The Others somehow and they don’t know what to make of it. They have occupied the Shadow Islands but we were able to find and shield strong ground for our armies and our archers. We may be far outnumbered, but we have magick and they do not.”
She glanced at him, narrowing her heavily lashed eyes at him, and voiced what she had been arguing since the day they learned of The Others’ purported lack of magick. “Then how did they open the portal in the first place and how were they able to shield themselves against their Druadhan Seers?”
She knew he had no answer for her. None of them did.
“I just wish I could shield the entire army…”
“Alina, we went over this already. That is impossible to do and you know it,” Caelus answered aloud, forming an air shield with half a thought so the other archers would not hear their conversation. “If it was a matter regarding level of power, then Lucian would be able to do it but it simply cannot be done. There is too much movement. Too much close combat. You are doing enough by keeping the glamoured shield around the entire army until it is time to lift it. The Others have no idea we are here. They see barren and jagged peaks and cliffs instead of our entire army. That is more than plenty. Besides, your magick will be needed for the opening assault.”
Her shoulders drooped slightly as she thought of the incredible strain on her and her Maker, Lucian, to keep the glamour hidden over such a large number of beings. It was almost unbearable but she held firm knowing that this was only one of a few advantages that they would be given against The Others.
Straightening her back, nodding and lifting her chin, her full lips tilted into something resembling a reassuring smile. “You should go down to the valley and be with your brother. Ash probably could use you right now. He is good with politics, but you are better with the warriors.”
Despite the heavy atmosphere and their probable impending doom, Caelus’s eyes lit and he gave her a crooked smile back, teasing, “Don’t tell him that. He will–” but he was cut off by Lucian giving the signal in The Seven’s channel for everyone to report to their posts and be ready.
Immediately, her stomach clenched so hard with nerves that she almost vomited but she fisted her hands at her side as she turned to stare at the male she had known for over a thousand years. Tears wanted to well in her eyes but she ruthlessly pushed them down. She knew she was pale and her hands slightly trembling but she smiled at him and gave him a last hug, murmuring into his ear, “Be safe, brother. Please don’t do anything reckless.”
And that was what she was worried about…that he or his three brothers would do something reckless in their fury and need for vengeance.
She would never forget the silence down The Seven’s bond in the moment Amara gave her last bit of power to close the portal The Others were using to come into Praxya. Nor would she ever forget the screams of grief that echoed through the bond afterward. Lucian was grieving for his sister, but Amara’s Made were absolutely destroyed. She wondered if the four males would ever recover.
Caelus wrapped powerful arms around her, holding on a little longer than normal, replying in a strained voice, “I will do what I must. We all will.” Then, he stepped back, clearing his throat and avoiding her eyes before handing her his favored bow and quiver of arrows, saying shortly, “You know what to do.”
She took them from him and nodded, staring at the spot where he’d been long after he had Vanished, before turning to her archers and issuing orders for them to ready themselves. She knew without looking that Caelus would Appear down in the formation in the valley with his warriors, likely giving similar instructions to his commanders.
Her waist-length white hair was attempting to escape her braid as she moved into position, readying herself to drop the glamour on the troops soon. Eyes like a galaxy, full of pinks, purples, greens, blues that could shift to any color depending on her mood, scanned her army below to find her king one last time before the melee started.
Her Maker. Her lover. All one and the same.
She could barely stand to think about him being down there surrounded by enemies but she had no choice. They had no choice. She supposed that other kings might sit back and send their armies ahead of them to fight and die but Lucian wasn’t just a king. He was a Maker, a type of being with unparalleled power, and leaving others to defend his creation would never be an option for him even if she wished she could demand it of him.
She had to trust him. Trust all of them, really. They each had a job, everyone in the valley and on the cliffs, and the only way to victory was to do their job and not get distracted. Without victory, it was death. For them. And for the world they inhabited.
It was simple really. To defeat The Others and save their world, she and everyone else must battle until their very last breath. If she needed to burn through every last ember of her power to keep the innocents of this world safe, then she would gladly do it. Her only priority was to keep fighting and to sever the Maker-Made link to Lucian if she fell so that he wouldn’t die with her.
Finally, her eyes found him atop his warhorse and some of the tension in her body instantly eased.
He always took her breath away with his commanding presence but it was times like this when he was surrounded by Ash and all his commanders, still pausing to speak to the unranked enlisted in formation, that she felt her pride in him might swallow her whole.
Unable to help herself, she opened her shield just a touch and sent reassurance and pride down the bond. Even as he kept giving orders and showed no sign of being anything other than wholly focused on his troops and the task at hand, she felt his answering gratitude and love for her like a brush against her cheek.
Her gaze hovered on Ash, Amara’s lover and Second-in-Command of Vis, so similar to Lucian in appearance except with forest green eyes. No one would know he had just lost the single most important person to him in his entire existence.
It worried her. For them to survive, they all needed to be thinking clearly and she knew that not a single one of them, her included, was able to do that. Grief was a cloud that hovered around all of them.
Amara had been chaotic, restless, hard to please, loving conflict and her own company more than most anything else but she was still one of them. One of The Seven. She had existed since the Beginning and now she was no more.
Her heart pounded in her chest a moment before she felt the pull through the bond that tied them all together and allowed them to talk to one another. Usually shielded and quiet during battles, it was a very useful way to relay directives and keep everyone apprised of their situation.
She felt the pull again and heard Lucian’s voice in her head as he rallied them, “This is our only chance so make it count. Caelus, do not let your lines buckle. Cal, wait for the signal and then the portal we made for you will be activated. Caspian, only come off your ships if the need is dire. With any luck, the enemy will come within range of the ballistas. Once the waves of power have been dealt by Alina and myself, Ash will give the command to charge. Today we will triumph and tonight we will drink in celebration the likes of which this world has never seen.”
A cacophony of cheers erupted down the bond and then it went quiet as everyone shielded themselves so they wouldn’t distract others when the melee began.
A lover’s caress skittered along her mind that let her know Lucian was attempting to speak to her down their Maker-Made bond.
With her enhanced eyesight, she was able to see that his striking face was solemn as his cobalt eyes scoured the enemy’s lines looking for weaknesses. Outwardly, he appeared the picture of unruffled calm and confidence. But through her bond with him, the one that was as deeply ingrained in her as her own soul since the moment of her Making, she could feel otherwise. His worry, grief, and hopelessness threatened to consume him. Honestly, she had no idea how he could feel with such intensity and display none of it. It was a trick she’d never learned.
“No matter what, do not let them take you. They will not enslave you. I have read their thoughts and they know of your beauty and power and want to take you to their world to breed your magick into their bloodlines.”
Revulsion, deep and strong, settled into her gut at his words, followed by fury which caused power to flood into her veins like molten lava.
“They will never take me,” she snarled down the bond. “Do not worry for me, my love. I will see you afterward and we can see if we can breed an heir of our own.”
A soft laugh echoed in her mind and he tilted his face up to look at her as he responded, “I look forward to it. I love you. I have loved you since I Made you. I will love you until my last breath.”
As her eyes misted with unshed tears and her heart hammered in her chest with the urge to pull him to safety, he shut the barrier between them and strengthened his shields into a fortress. She snapped her mind’s shields up as well and fortified the one surrounding the cliff.
She saw Lucian face the oncoming army and pull his sword.
Immediately, she felt the pull in her mind that was the signal to let the army’s glamour fall.
This was it.
The Great War had begun.