Page 27 of Journey to the Elderoak
As he released her, Casimir barged in and swiftly donned his own armor. After dressing, he marched over to her and grasped her face. His golden eyes were filled with worry and determination. “Please be careful.”
“You too.” Her throat was tight, her pulse racing.
He turned and left the room.
The deck was organized chaos. Orders were being given, soldiers and sailors splitting into teams. Raine led the way to the starboard side, the captain having turned the ship to allow more room for the archers.
There was no outrunning them; they had to stay and stand their ground.
“Stay next to me,” Raine said.
She took a shuddering breath, squinting through the dark and using the moonlight to aid her vision. The ships had drawn closer, and bile rose in her throat as she counted four.
“Raine,” she whispered. “How are we supposed to fight four ships?”
“With everything we’ve got,” he said with false confidence.
“Can’t you make giant vines and sink them?”
He looked down at her and grimaced. “Now probably isn’t the best time to tell you we can’t use our magic at sea.”
“What?”
“It’s earth magic, dainty human. We must be on land since we draw from the earth. It’s the same with Saxumdale.”
“So no one can use their magic?” she asked, panicking. Deidamia and Andras had magic. Did any of the daemon soldiers? She couldn’t remember. Either way, this would not be an evenly matched fight.
“We’ve got a few hybrids on board who can,” he said.
“Hybrids?”
“Has no one taught you this yet? Dammit.” He shook his head. “Hybrids are fae who have parents from more than one kingdom. They usually inherit both types of magic. Gisela’s one. Her mother was from the ice kingdom so she can wield ice on the ship.”
“Okay.” She turned back to the approaching enemies. “Okay. It’ll be fine.”
“It will,” he replied, though she knew he was as nervous as she was.
Rowboats were lowered into the ocean with a splash, each one filled with daemon soldiers. They were close enough now Ava could make out their individual shapes on the water.
Her first real battle. There was the attack at the pub a couple of months ago, but she had zero training then and had spent most of the fight helping the injured. Until she’d found Raine’s sister cornered by a soldier and stabbed him in the shoulder. That soldier had grabbed Ava and almost taken her back to Andras, but Raine killed him with an arrow through the throat.
And now she was about to do the same thing. This wasn’t practice and these weren’t straw targets. They were living, breathing soldiers who she had to kill with her bow.
Ava closed her eyes, steeling herself. She could do this.
Protect your kingdom,she told herself.Defend your friends.
Raine shouted orders. “Archers, ready your bows! Pick a target but do not release until I give the signal!”
Ava had never seen him in his role as captain. Had never been around when he was leading a group of soldiers. His humor was replaced by aggression, determination.
He turned to a small group of crew members without bows. “If you have usable magic, stand in between the archers and aim it at their rowboats. Take out as many as possible.” Addressing the whole group again, he finished, “We must prevent them from boarding our ship or we’ll be overrun. Don’t let them board!”
Raine rejoined Ava. “Get ready.”
She retrieved an arrow from the quiver on her back, squinting into the darkness until she found the shape of a soldier.
“A couple more minutes and they’ll be close enough to shoot,” he said.
