Page 74 of Wings of Starlight

“Most of the winter fairies have taken shelter in the Hall of Winter,” Clarion replied. “We need to ensure their safety first and foremost. We’ll meet Milori there, secure the entrance, and regroup. Understood?”

Artemis saluted. “Understood, Your Highness.”

Petra loaded another arrow and locked the string taut. The tip of it sparkled, filling her eyes with golden light. Her face had taken on that familiar, eerie calm; she’d entered the same mindset as when a deadline loomed so close, it left no space for panicking. “Let’s do this.”

Standing between them and the Hall of Winter was a veritable sea of Nightmares. They would not reach it without a fight. But as Clarion looked back at Artemis and Petra, their eyes blazing bright with determination, she decided it felt like one they could win.

They set out for the Hall of Winter, carving their path through knee-deep snow and dark thickets of trees. On foot, it was maddeningly slow going. The blizzard raged on, all lashing snow and rending winds. Ice scraped against the exposed skin on her face, and cold, as sharp as a blade, slipped into her very bones. Clarion did not know if the weather was the influence of the Nightmares, or Winter itself howling its battle cry.

“It’s not too much farther now,” she called back to Artemis and Petra.

How she hoped that was true. It was difficult to tell where, exactly, they were going. But the sound of skirmishes reached her: shouts and roars made distant as the storm snatched them away. Although she could see and hear little, the Nightmares’ power lingered like a low-hanging fog. It slithered over her skin, setting her every nerve alight with dread.

Here and there, she caught glimpses of Nightmares flying overhead: skeins of writhing shadow blotting out even the darkness of the clouds. They took no notice of the trio as they doggedly pursued the fleeing winter fairies. Panic constricted Clarion’s chest.

She sent up a silent wish to the stars:Let them fly fast.

It had been a mistake, Clarion thought, to let Milori forge ahead alone.

By the time she spied the Hall of Winter—its ice-hewn doors gleaming with the soft blue light of its runes—she was burning with anticipation. They stood at the top of a hill, staring down into the bowl of the valley where the Hall was carved into the mountainside. From here, Clarion could see the chaos unfolding before her.

The Hall of Winter was completely besieged by Nightmares.

Scouts ushered terrified fairies inside the cracked-open doors, doing their best to manage the frantic press of the crowd. Another group soared through the air, goading on the Nightmares as they lured them away from the Hall. And there, at the center of it all, surrounded by a phalanx of scouts, was Milori.

Her heart leapt as admiration and relief tangled together within her. She had never seen him move like this, with an efficient, ruthless grace. He unleashed blasts of sheer cold, the air bristling with ice crystals as it froze Nightmares mid-strike. The beasts jittered and raged beneath the frost, threatening to break free, and more still descended from the skies.

For now, they were holding. How long could they fend them off?

Artemis reloaded her bow. Her dark eyes glittered as she scanned the scene below them. “There’s so many of them.”

Clarion understood clearly what she’d left unsaid:Too many.

“We only need to hold them off until daybreak. They’ll need to hide from the sunlight.”

But daybreak was still hours away.

The runes etched in the Hall of Winter’s doors shimmered as a Nightmare struck the ice. The protective wards were powerful, but against an onslaught of monsters…

“Until daybreak, then,” Artemis said, her expression cool and undaunted. “Your orders?”

“Cover me. I’m going to the doors. After that, help the scouts keep the Nightmares occupied. Don’t do anything risky.” When Artemis gave her a wry half smile, Clarion added, “Just stay alive.”

They charged forward, into the fray. Her friends flanked her: Petra, her red hair trailing behind her like a comet; Artemis, her lips pulled back in a feral snarl.

Here in the valley, the oppressive atmosphere was as unbearable as it had been at the prison. All the negativity the Nightmares exuded pressed down on them like a smothering hand. Cold sweat prickled on the back of her neck, and the stale tang of fear burned at the back of her throat. All around them, Nightmares rippled like swaths of dark, tattered fabric. Scouts sailed past, their haunted expressions made skeletal in the orange light of their own glows.

The hordes were seemingly endless. Nightmares peeled off from the shadows and materialized out of the snowfall like wraiths. Together, Clarion and her friends picked off the Nightmares that drifted into their path. They fell to arrows and starlight. Under the heat of Clarion’s magic, some of them began to disintegrate, but they skittered toward the shadow of the woods.

Cowards,she thought.

Out of the veil of snow, a dark shape appeared. A deer loomed behind Artemis, its antlers dripping with shadowy venom.

“Artemis!” Clarion shouted.

Artemis jerked in surprise. On reflex, she unsheathed her sword and stabbed into the beast’s leg. Its form rippled like water as the blade passed harmlessly through it. Slowly, the shadows of its flesh solidified around her weapon and wrenched it away from her. As its hoof came down to dash her against the ground, Artemis dodged with only the softest intake of breath. A second blade materialized in her hand. She was twirling it through her fingers, preparing to swipe at the deer again, when Petra skewered it with an arrow blazing bright with pixie dust. The deer bellowed, staggering away from them as oily blood poured from its wound.

“Thanks,” Artemis said gruffly.