Page 180 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Within moments, the sound of his footsteps faded into the restless murmur of the halted army.
Rio heard it first—the distant, thunderous roar of wyverns echoing across the wastelands.
Something was happening.
The Black Lotus surrounding her seemed to draw closer without a word, their presence tightening like a living shield. Even they appeared to sense the disturbance ahead. Rio was just about to send one of them after Rowan to discover what was delaying him when he suddenly came rushing back through the waiting ranks.
Though Rio could not see, she had long since learnt to read the world in other ways; the subtle shifts in the air, the movement of bodies around her, the quiet language of presence and absence.
And she knew her friends.
Rowan was always easy to recognise. Whenever he was near, it felt as though the world itself carried a hint of laughter,a restless energy that moved with him.
Elowen was even easier.
She always smelt of summer.
The moment Rowan returned to her side, his hand closed firmly around her arm.
‘Witches,’ he said, breath still quick from his run. ‘They’re refusing to let the army cross into the wastelands.’
‘Wasn’t there already a group of wyverians and wolverians in the wastelands, guarding the land from the witches?’ Rio had been told from Adriana that they had left a small portion of the army behind to defend the wastelands, to ensure the witches could not snatch it back from their grasp.
Rio felt the way the air shifted when Rowan shrugged. ‘I’m probably guessing they are all slaughtered by now and that’s why no message was received beforehand.’
‘Where is Elowen?’ Rio asked at once.
‘With King Ozul, further ahead.’
Rio inclined her head, then turned towards the Black Lotus and the other Fae travelling with her. Though they stood deep within the heart of the wyverian army, she could feel the soldiers around them slow, their attention drifting towards her words.
‘We prepare ourselves to fight,’ Rio said calmly. ‘Keep the injured and the healers to the rear. Let’s move.’
Without hesitation she turned and strode forward, weaving her way through the ranks of wyverian soldiers. Rowan followed close behind, and Rio became aware of another presence trailing them, someone unfamiliar.
‘Is the child still following you, Rowan?’ she asked as the army parted to allow their small group passage.
‘Wouldn’t surprise me,’ Rowan replied lightly. ‘I think he idolises me.’
‘War is no place for a child.’
Rowan gave a quiet breath. ‘War is no place for anyone, Rio.’
Rio sighed softly.
They were still some distance from the front lines, having travelled within the army’s centre. Thankfully their group was small, and they were able to move swiftly between the marching bodies, slipping through the living tide of soldiers with little resistance.
It took them the better part of the day to reach the front of the army, where the great wall that once divided the Kingdom of Darkness from the witchlands rose like a scar across the land. Months earlier, part of the ancient barrier had been torn down, leaving a jagged gap where stone had crumbled and fallen. Yet a portion of the wall still stood, and upon it King Ozul and his closest advisers had taken their position.
It was there that Rio found Adriana, standing close beside the wyverian king. But Elowen was nowhere to be found. Which meant, Rio suspected, that she was almost certainly somewhere she ought not to be.
‘The moment we reached the wall it must have triggered some sort of signal,’ Adriana explained. ‘Witches appeared ahead of us almost immediately.’ She lifted her arm instinctively to point before realising her mistake. With an awkward cough she lowered it again. ‘The army left behind was slaughtered.’
‘How many are there?’ Rio asked.
‘A few hundred at least,’ King Ozul replied.
‘And yet this army alone numbers in the thousands,’ Rio said calmly. ‘We could easily obliterate them.’
