Men shouted out in Chantant, known to me regardless of sight. The Watch parted for us, already preparing to retreat, and we fell unto the unprepared camp of the crusaders like hungry wolves. I spurred on Zombie, and felt her devour the distance easily as I guided us by memories not my own. A fae with hair like spun gold touched the horn to her lips, and doom screamed across the night.
Let them hear us coming.”īanners were raised, not of silk or cloth but crow’s feathers and shadow. No pain, though, only terrifyingly clear understanding.Īll fifty of them turned to me as one with unnatural smoothness. My mind struggled with the discrepancies, until I let through another sliver of Winter and there was a sensation like a spike through my forehead. Masego and I had figured out a way around that through the Observatory with the card I’d been keeping up my – heavily armoured – sleeve, but I was without the benefit of Hierophant tonight. Reorienting myself was the hardest part of figuring it all out, since none of the unconscious markers the mage had used were markers I was familiar with. I took a moment to calm myself, then dug into the memories I’d glimpsed.
Zombie was chomping at the bit, which admittedly was better than chomping at grass I’d probably need to have a goblin dig out of her later. You have half an hour before the gate closes.” “And quick about it, I don’t have the time to hold your hand. “By the authority granted to me by Duchess Kegan Iarsmai, I order the Watch to immediately withdraw,” I called out. One of the newer Winter tricks in my arsenal. I tied off the threads, giving it a finite lifespan. Creation folded unto itself, the fairy gate opening thirty feet wide and just as tall. Unsheathing my sword, I flicked the blade behind me after gauging the surroundings. Murmuring in the mage tongue he traced the tall dead oak on the seal with his fingers, gasping when it glimmered green. The man shivered, though I was unsure why. I reached for my saddlebag, taking out the seal of House Iarsmai I’d asked Kegan to send me months ago. I bit my lip until it bled, the flare of pain helping me focus.
It was almost tempting to hollow out Kegan’s soul, tie puppet strings to the remnants and take them all for my own. Ah, the things I could do with an army’s worth of these. Midnight was no bar to my sight, and what I saw around us was the Watch responding to our sudden arrival with flawless professionalism. The fifty riders of the Hunt were too many for so small a tent, and one of the fae casually blew it away with a flick of the wrist before it could tangle the banners. “You were thorough,” I said, withdrawing my finger. I found what I needed anyway, the locations of the officer tent’s he’d found as he’d been told. He had, I thought, a well-organized mind. His soul wriggled under the tight grip of my will, as I rifled through vague memories. I breathed out mist and Winter crept through my veins. Unless he tried to fight me, but in this case the fear that trailed me as much as my cape saw to the matter. “It’ll be uncomfortable, but not painful.” I leaned down and gently touched his forehead with an armoured finger. “ Your Majesty?” the Deoraithe mage stuttered out. Dread Empress Malevolent II, announcing the raising of her invisible army “You might say that they’ll never see me coming.”
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