Echoes of the Raven (The Eldrystone #2)

9. CHAPTER 9

9

RíFíOR

“It’s not a fair fight, but these veilfallen took the princess and must pay and serve as an example to others.”

Eva Toromayor - Royal Guard Lieutenant - 21 BV

T he tunnel is clogged with people. Someone fights ahead, the clash of steel against steel making it obvious. There is no way to push past and help. There are two exits. We’ve tried both. They are blocked by guards.

I make my way to the front, pushing people aside. They squeeze against the walls to let me pass. Once there, I find one of the veilfallen stabbing an opponent. The guard falls to his knees, and another takes his place. Behind the new guard, there is another, and behind that one, another—more and more as far as the dim light permits me to see.

Here, at last, the humans’ sheer numbers will overpower us. We have always been too few to make a difference. It has always been our disadvantage, and today it will be our demise.

The new guard stabs the male in front of me in the stomach. I take the front and make quick work of the human, and then the next and the next and the next. But there is always one more, yet I fight them, unsteady on my feet as I step on the fallen, slipping in their blood and gore.

It doesn’t take me long to recognize my efforts are futile. There could be hundreds of Castellina’s guards queued up for miles, ready to enter the tunnels. We might dispatch a fair number of them before we tire, but tire we will, and then we’ll be nothing but vulnerable prey.

“Retreat,” I order those behind him, even though I know there is nowhere to go. We can hide in the bowels of this godsforsaken place, but our meager supplies would run out quickly, and then we would have no other choice but to fight. We must move back, regroup, and come up with a plan that gives us hope.

Calierin’s voice rages behind me. “Let me pass. I will blast them to their miserable hell.”

“No!” I shout as I slash a man’s throat and his blood sprays in every direction, hitting the walls and slicking my grip on the blade. “Hold back, Calierin. You will bury us all.”

This place is in shambles. A blast of her magic will bring the earth down on our heads.

“We have to do something,” she yells.

“Retreat!” I order again.

I repeat the message to the male behind me as I force my current opponent to take a few steps back with a quick succession of blows. “Everyone, head to the nexus. Now!” We all know this location. It is the largest alcove, which we use for gatherings.

The line of veilfallen behind me starts moving back. It goes slowly at first, and then more quickly until the path is clear.

With a growl, I lunge forward and stab with all my strength. I skewer the first and second man, and leaving my sword in place, I run back at full pelt, knocking down torches as I go, plunging the path behind me in darkness.

Many twists and turns lead me to my destination. The humans won’t find us easily. There, we will think of something, figuring out a way to best them .

A group of twenty-five veilfallen surrounds me as I squeeze into the cramped alcove. One lonely torch illuminates their faces, sharpening their features. Calierin and Kadewyn are among them. They all look at me, expectant.

My thoughts trip over each other, all of them futile.

“What now?” Calierin demands in a tone that suggests she anticipates nothing but failure from me.

“We cannot die here,” Saoirse says. She’s a druidess, trained in the ancient arts of herbalism. She reluctantly became a veilfallen after losing her mate in a tragic mugging perpetrated by two drunken humans.

Calierin thumps her back. “We won’t. Our amazing leader will come up with a solution, won’t you, Rífíor?”

“This is not the time,” I growl.

“This is the only fucking time,” she spits, her tone contradicting her earlier statement, suggesting she does think we will die here, and this is the only chance she has left to air her grievances.

I glare in warning, but it is no use. She points a finger at my face and yells, “This is all your fault.”

Calmly, I take a step forward and face her, my nose only an inch from hers. She’s as tall as me. “Shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you.”

Her violet gaze holds mine longer than most would, but in the end, she looks down and does as ordered.

“Now, think,” I instruct her, “is there a way you can use your magic that doesn’t involve the earth collapsing on our heads?”

She offers nothing. Calierin is powerful and has good control of her magic, but other than stabbing one guard at a time the same way I did, there seems to be little else she may be able to do.

“That is what I thought,” I say, then turn, face the others, and explain our situation in case they have not wrapped their heads around it. “We are outnumbered. I am sure there is a host of guards outside filing in as quickly as we can dispatch them. We cannot fight our way out of here. For everyone we cut down, another takes its place.”

I scrutinize their expressions, seeking traces of hubris. Each veilfallen present boasts the strength of ten guards, a common boast that has led many fae warriors astray since, too often, they overlook reality: they are not worth twenty, thirty, or forty guardias. The sheer numbers of the Castellan forces will always outnumber us as long as the veil remains closed. Yet, the somberness in their faces suggests that this time, they understand hubris will not help them.

“Hiding is not an option either,” I continue. “Even if the humans decide not to bury us alive themselves, we do not have enough supplies to last more than a few days. So, everyone, think! We need ideas.”

My eyes rove around, trying to find a spark of something in their expressions. Nothing.

Kadewyn shakes his head. “There are only two exits and both of them are blocked.”

“Um,” Aodhán mumbles hesitantly.

I turn to face him. He’s a young fae of eighteen, born here in Castella. He was orphaned when he was twelve, and practically raised by the veilfallen.

“What?” I urge.

He cocks his head to one side, hesitant. “I think there’s another exit, but… I don’t know if I can find it. When we first came here, I got lost and found a narrow opening. Light was streaming in, and I was able to squeeze through it. It put me out by the river.”

“Lead us to it then,” I say.

Shaking his head, he says, “I really don’t know if I can find it again.”

I put a hand on his shoulder and shake him slightly. “You have to.”

He nods.

“Conall,” I point at him, “go to the south exit, fetch those who fight there and bring them here. Hurry!”

He runs out, moving as fast as the wind. We wait for several minutes, no one saying a word. Calierin fumes in one corner, casting angry glances in my direction.

Faster than any other veilfallen, Conall is back. He is breathless and coughing as he speaks haltingly.

“A few are behind me. Most are dead. The humans have started a fire there. Smoke is traveling quickly.” Just as he finishes, a gray haze starts to form above his head.

I gesture toward Aodhán. “Lead the way.”

Feet leaden, he walks out of the alcove. I follow close behind. Ahead, he pauses, head down. I allow him time to think. After a moment, he veers right toward a tunnel I know leads deeper into the catacombs.

Five others join us as we make our way out. They are coughing and red-eyed, their faces blackened by soot.

“Fucking humans!” Calierin barks. “They’re trying to flush us out like rats. They’re going to pay for this. Also, that fucking queen and her sister. I will put their heads upon a spike, and no one will stop me this time.”

I cast a glance over my shoulder. “You try that, and I will gut you. They hold the key for our return to Tirnanog.”

“So you say.”

Kadewyn pulls on her arm and glares, his pale gaze flicking toward the males and females around us. His message is clear. He’s trying to tell her to show a unified front, to respect their chosen leader. And if my goals had not changed, I would make sure to deliver the message myself, but right now, all that matters is getting out of here alive.

Aodhán, who had paused, resumes moving forward. We walk hunched over, trying to avoid the smoke floating above us. The acrid scent burns my nostrils, and a bothersome scratch is building in my throat.

We veer toward a tunnel never traveled. I snatch a torch from the wall and hand it to Aodhán. He holds it aloft and leads the way ahead. Hesitating at a junction, he starts to turn left, then shakes his head and goes right.

I feel impotent and have to control my impatience. Pushing him will not help him think clearer and retrieve his memories of this other exit.

Sharpening my focus, I take mental notes of every turn, every new passage we traverse. I am tempted to ask if we are going in the right direction but hold my tongue.

When we enter a large alcove populated by a massive tomb built from mortar and topped with a long slab of rock, Aodhán looks at me and nods. Not showing my relief, I nod back, my expression letting him know I trust him.

We take many more turns, nearly obfuscating my mental map. A moment later, our guide stops, shining the torch all around at what turns out to be a dead end. He faces me, looking at a loss.

“I knew it!” Calierin exclaims. “This was a fucking waste of time.”

Aodhán lowers his head in shame.

I take the torch from his hand and do a second inspection that yields the same results. My jaw clenches. I take a deep breath and address Aodhán.

“Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?”

“I… I do not know.”

“Think.”

“This is the best of my recollection. I genuinely thought—”

“Fuck!” Calierin pulls her tunic over her nose. “It caught up with us.”

We’d left the smoke behind for a moment, but it has found us once more. In a matter of seconds, it floats thick under our noses. Saoirse begins coughing and so do some of the others.

“I’m going back,” Calierin declares. “If I’m going to die in this hole, I will take with me as many human dreg s as I can.”

Kadewyn frowns and snatches the torch from my hand. “The smoke,” he says, holding the flame toward the dead-end wall. “Look! ”

I get closer and squint. The gray haze is slowly funneling out through a small hole in the wall. Kadewyn tosses me the torch, drops to his hands and knees, and starts digging with bare hands.

After a frantic moment of digging, he stops and shakes as a violent coughing fit assaults him. “There is definitely a way out,” he manages.

I turn to Calierin, who stands frozen between leaving and staying. “You’re welcome to head back and kill as many human dregs as you wish,” I say. “Or maybe you would rather use your magic to widen this hole and get us out of here.”

Her throat bobs, and I’m quite sure that is her swallowing her pride. Clearing her throat and blinking smoke from her eyes, she comes closer and holds her hands up toward the wall.

“Small blasts,” Kadewyn suggests. “You would not want to overdo it and finish the job the humans started.”

She sneers but holds her tongue—not an easy feat for her.

As she works, releasing small bursts of magic, we wait, breathing through our tunics and coughing due to the smoke and the dirt that crumbles from above with each thrust of Calierin’s hands.

My head swims from the smoke, and my breaths come in short bursts.

After an interminable moment, Kadewyn pushes in front of Calierin. “That’s enough.” He starts digging again, scooping large handfuls of black dirt and pushing them backward under his legs. “Got it!”

He jumps to his feet, grabs Calierin’s elbow and shoves her down into the hole. She grunts in protest but crawls on hands and knees, worming her way out of our would-be tomb.

Kadewyn and I usher out the other veilfallen, one after the other. When we’re the only ones left, I get behind him and push him along, even as he attempts to do the same to me. I am their leader for one last day, and as such, I will abandon this sinking ship last .

I crawl out, lungs burning, eyes feeling as if someone poured acid in them. The others have found their way to the river’s edge where they splash fresh water on their faces and drink to relieve their aching throats.

Kadewyn lumbers toward them and waves me along. I hold up a hand as I hunch over, hands on knees and try to catch my breath. Only around thirty veilfallen line the bank. Are the rest dead? Since I joined a year ago, our numbers never surged above fifty. We’re slowly dying in this realm, losing our magic, becoming less .

Calierin is not wrong. I’m to blame for this attack, and the guilt that cuts through me is deserved. But even if I have lied to them, I have not betrayed them. Everything I have done, and everything I will do from this point on, is to serve the only purpose they care about.

Returning home.

I stretch to my full height, inhaling lungfuls of clean air. Slowly, I take several steps back and retreat under the cover of trees. Perhaps I owe them an explanation, but I do not have the stomach for it—not when Calierin’s rage will take center stage.

It’s better this way. They may hate me for a time, but when I reopen the veil, and reenter Tirnanog, I will be the last thing on their minds.

As quiet as a phantom, I walk away, my heading already set in stone.