Page 5 of Spring Guardians & Songbirds

I stood, invisible threads pulling with my steps and the army of dead tackled the living at my command. Viciously tearing through with no worry of death, crumpling and rising, crumpling and rising continuously after each attack—undead and unkillable.

Blistering shards of ice came toward me and before I could duck to evade contact, they crashed against a thin shield of air.

I held my breath and spun round, searching. I’d seen only one man do that before.

Cai stood a few feet behind me, his eyes narrowed, a cold expression marring his face and a strange grey leather armour donning his tall frame. A moment after, Nia poked out of the alaar by his side dressed the same as him, fray painted on her, too, as she swung her sword body after body and wielded ghastly shadows to leave a trail of dead Isjordians behind.

They’d lost their friend from the hands of my people. They’d lost their sister. Why were they here? Why were they fighting with us? Had they not found out yet?

“Cai—”

He took off his gloves, revealing what I had never seen before—a map of black tattoos draping all over his limbs. Runes travelled alongside the markings. Crafter magic. “All sorts of travel magic is forbidden within the mist, no?”

“What?”

His jaw tightened. “Answer me, Your Highness. Will the alaar allow me to open a portal here?”

“What portal, Cai, what are you talking about?”

He raised his hand to the sky and spoke in Calgnan, “Ghail.” Open.

One by one, dozens of red round portal runes showed overhead, above the alaar, before men and women poured out of them, dropping from miles above onto land. Gusts of wind boomed as they landed with a thud.

I struck still when winged humans began pouring out of the sky, white wings flashing bright despite the cast of night, all donned in the same attire as Nia’s and Cai’s, a white cloth bearing an eagle insignia draped from their shoulders. They dove into the crowd of Isjordians without hesitation, overwhelming them with magic we’d long thought it lost. Wind howled from all sides, ice splintering against their shields.

Zephyrs.

Winged Zephyrs.

I spun, noting the soldiers and the strays of wind magic pouring out of them. What in the hells?

The skies suddenly cracked. The night sky was packed with thunder that brightened our surroundings as if a second white sun hung over us.

“She is early,” Cai said to Nia, and then turned to the soldiers he’d called from the portals. “Taegha.” Shield, he shouted.

“What is happening?” one of my soldiers asked. Even the Isjordian soldiers seemed to have taken a halt and stood at attention, eyes toward the skies that flashed as if the doors to heavens were opening again.

A thin shield of air rose over our heads as gravel, weapons and bodies began lifting in the air packed with heavy current.

Lighting cracked above once and then right in front of us. Screams tore the screeching silence that the loud blinding bolt emitted as it landed too close to both Adriatian and Isjordian bodies. The sheer amount of magic filling the air was dizzying. All of my senses rose to alert.

My ears still rang from the sound and I blinked away the blurry vision the lightning had caused, focusing where it had struck.

The green floor had frosted over, a light pelt of snow forming for feet along the blast's radius. Air grew cold and our breaths misted white.

Something stood from between the grey smoke burning and charring the land.

No, not something.

Someone.

A gust of wind dispersed the mist and raven hair fluttered in sight, electricity skittering around her body. The air charged with heavy magic and then deafening thunder rained on land when she rose both palms to the sky. Dozens of lightning poured and struck ahead, over the Isjordian troops.

The ground shook. Smell of burnt flesh and agonising screams broke between the heavy whizz of electricity.

Just like it started, it stopped. As if…on command. It took a moment for the haze and smoke to rise from the charred flesh and soil, and when it did, all my senses were assaulted by what laid ahead.

Death. So much of it.