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Those who’d been fleeing were gone before she could get to them, already sprinting down the burning street. Hopefully they’d find a shelter or at the very least remain hidden until Móirín’s forces gathered to drive the invaders out. Arianna looked all around, struggling to figure out where Ellie could have gone. Where the shopping district even was anymore.
A line of warriors approached from her right, one prowling in their mountain lion form, but they weren’t wearing the blue and silver armor of Móirín. Nor were they wearing the tan and green of Brónach. These warriors were dressed in the red and black armor of Fiadh.
But they weren’t at war with Fiadh. Right? Talon hadn’t mentioned a conflict with another country. So why were they here?
Arianna kept quiet and took several steps back before breaking into a sprint. She moved fast, ducking and dodging around those who were already locked in combat, the sound of steel chasing after her. She had to find Ellie first. From the looks of things, Fiadh had come to kill and conquer. Possibly even enslave.
A memory of chains and whips rose to the surface of her mind, and Arianna growled. She’d never let that happen to Ellie.
Another unit of warriors appeared before her, and Arianna skidded to a halt, ducking into the nearest building to remain undetected. The building itself hadn’t caught fire yet, but its neighboring structures were blazing, and smoke was filling the space fast.
Clicking sounded on the tiled floors. Arianna’s skin crawled.Shit. They’d followed. She held her breath and scurried beneath a shelf, trying to remain quiet, but the scrape of claws drew closer. Then she heard the growl and Arianna bolted. She jumped over a table and through the nearest window, using her shoulder to break the glass. Arianna rolled to her feet. She felt blood trickle down her arm and a sharp sting in her bicep but she ignored the pain and kept running.
Ellie. What if they’d already found her and clasped her in shackles? How much had Talon taught her while Arianna was away? Ellie was strong, her sister had always excelled, but was she prepared for this level of chaos? Could she act in the face of adversity?
Arianna stopped running. She gulped down air and surveyed the scene. Screaming civilians ran in every direction, those with wings shifting to their animal forms to flee the scene. And everything burned, it didn’t matter how large or small. And the bodies. There were bodies in the streets. Bodies in Levea. Her home.
She suddenly understood why so many feared Rion. Because this is what he did. He conquered. He tore through village after village with his warriors and either killed its residents or turned them into slaves.
Arianna shook the thought away.
Maybe Ellie wasn’t even here. She knew to retreat toward the estate when the alarm sounded.Right?Arianna chewed her lip, her mind running faster and faster as she fought an internal war with herself. Keep looking or check the estate and pray she found her little sister safe and waiting.
Despite how much it hurt to turn her back on the innocents, Arianna pivoted on her heel and headed back in the direction from where she’d come.
A dozen warriors blocked her path.
She braced herself and turned in the opposite direction, ready to flee, but others waited, drawing their weapons. She looked to her left, then right. Surrounded. Black and red glinted in the morning sun, reflecting her frightened gaze.
After everything, was this how she died? In the middle of a burning Móirín with no allies?
Arianna planted her feet at the same moment their shadows erupted. She wrapped herself in a bubble of ice, thickening it as much as she could before those burning shadows slammed into her shield. She gritted her teeth, trying to hold her ground as they did it again and again and again.
Her magic melted faster than she could create it.Shit, shit, shit.Right before her eyes dozens of shadows weavers were breaking down her shield, determined to scorch her alive.
Her lips quivered. Rion. She’d wanted the chance to ask him herself. The chance to forgive him. Because no matter how much grief it caused her, she didn’t want to die without feeling his arms holding her close again.
Rion.
Water dripped at her feet and Arianna cringed as the first wave of heat penetrated her barrier. She gritted her teeth, ready to feel the searing pain sure to follow when an army of war cries echoed from behind.
Those who’d been attacking her shifted away and she strengthened her barricade. Blades clashed, the muffled echo of metal against metal a song to her ears. Then she smelled their magic and burst from her cocoon, sending spears of ice flying through the enemy to her front.
The piercing scream of an eagle sounded from behind and Arianna spun in time to see Talon shooting through the throng of warriors, his wings tucked tight. He shifted back to his Fae form midair and roared, sending a wave of water out to collide with their enemies.
Liquid danced around his body despite the heat, cracking against itself, freezing and unfreezing as it wound its way around his body. It burst from his limbs with every slash of his blade and retracted with the same ferocity.
Spears of ice flew from behind her, impaling warriors from Fiadh, pinning them against the burning structures. They howled in pain, writhing to break themselves free.
Once again, Talon had come for her, and when she saw Ellie in the center of their group, she’d never been more thankful. But thanks could come later, because more Fiadh warriors were pouring in, burning everything in their wake.
Talon threw her a blade and Arianna caught it, slicing through the nearest enemy without hesitation. She wouldn’t stop, not until every last one of them was either dead or fleeing.
Because this was her home.
And no one was taking it from her.
Chapter Forty-Three
