19
The forest was a cathedral of shadows as our strike force moved through the darkness. Thirty Nightshade warriors rode in perfect silence, their horses' hooves muffled by strips of leather wrapped around each shoe. We were ghosts in the night, death given form and purpose.
I rode beside Darius at the formation's head, my borrowed armor feeling strange against skin that had grown accustomed to servant's clothes. The throwing knives Moira had given me hung at my belt, their weight both comforting and terrifying. In a few hours, I would discover whether I truly had the stomach for war.
The bond mark on my wrist pulsed faintly, not with warning but with anticipation. Whatever power lay dormant within me seemed to sense approaching violence, stirring like a predator scenting prey.
Marcus raised his hand from behind us, signaling a halt. We had reached the interception point a narrow valley where mountain streams converged, creating the only viable path through the rocky terrain. If my intelligence was correct, Kael's elite flanking force would pass through here just before dawn.
"Positions," Darius commanded in a whisper that somehow carried to every warrior.
The Nightshade wolves melted into the forest like shadows given life. Within minutes, the valley appeared empty except for moonlight and mist, but I knew that death waited in every tree, behind every boulder.
I crouched beside Darius among a cluster of ancient pines, my heart hammering against my ribs as we settled in to wait. The power beneath my skin was restless now, eager for release after so many hours of restraint.
"How long?" I breathed.
"Soon." His gray eyes reflected starlight as he scanned the valley approaches. "Your intelligence puts them here just before dawn, which means "
A low whistle echoed through the trees the signal from our forward scouts. Enemy movement detected.
My mouth went dry as shapes began to materialize in the valley below. Dark figures moving with military precision, their formation exactly as I had predicted. Kael's elite warriors, perhaps forty strong, advancing through what they believed was secure territory.
But something was wrong. I could see it in their movement patterns, the way they held their weapons, the casual confidence of their approach.
"It's a trap," I whispered urgently.
Darius's head snapped toward me. "What?"
"Look at them. They're not moving like scouts or an advance force. They're moving like bait." My mind raced through the implications. "Kael knew we might try to intercept them. This is exactly what he wanted."
Even as the words left my mouth, I heard it the sound of branches breaking in the forest behind us. Many branches, snapping under the weight of bodies that had no interest in stealth.
We were surrounded.
"Ambush!" Marcus's voice rang out from across the valley.
Chaos erupted as Bloodfang warriors emerged from concealment on all sides. Not just the forty we had been tracking, but twice that number, positioned to catch any force that tried to intercept the decoy column.
Steel rang against steel as the trap closed around us. I saw Agatha engaged in desperate combat with two Bloodfang warriors, her blade weaving silver patterns in the moonlight. Marcus was pressed back against a boulder, fighting three opponents with grim determination.
And through it all, I heard Kael's voice echoing from somewhere in the melee.
"Find her! Bring me Selene alive!"
Of course. This entire elaborate trap hadn't been designed to destroy Nightshade's strike force though that would be a welcome bonus. It had been crafted specifically to recapture me.
A Bloodfang warrior burst from the undergrowth directly in front of me, his sword already descending in a killing arc. I threw myself sideways, rolling across the forest floor as the blade carved through empty air.
The power exploded outward from my core like a dam bursting. Silver fire erupted from my hands, catching the warrior in mid-swing and hurling him backward into a tree with bone-crushing force.
But more were coming. Always more.
"Selene!" Darius's voice cut through the battle noise. I turned to see him fighting his way toward me, cutting down enemies with ruthless efficiency. Blood streaked his face, and his armor bore fresh dents from close calls.
"Stay close!" he commanded, reaching my side just as another wave of attackers emerged from the trees.
We fought back-to-back, his steel complementing my silver fire in a deadly dance that cleared a circle of safety around us. The power flowing through me was stronger than ever before, more controlled, as though the presence of true danger had unlocked abilities I hadn't known I possessed.
A throwing knife sailed past my ear, followed by a warrior who had scaled the trees to attack from above. I caught him with silver light, suspending him in midair before hurling him into his advancing companions.
"Behind you!" Darius shouted.
I spun to see Kael himself striding through the battle, his massive form cutting through the chaos like a force of nature. His dark eyes were fixed on me with obsessive intensity, and his lips were curved in a smile that promised suffering.
"Hello, my dear Luna," he said, his voice carrying easily despite the sounds of combat around us. "Did you really think you could escape me so easily?"
The sight of him arrogant, possessive, utterly convinced of his right to control my fate triggered something primal within me. The power that had been flowing like a river became a flood, silver radiance blazing from my skin with such intensity that warriors on both sides stopped fighting to stare.
"I am not your Luna," I said, my voice carrying harmonics that made the very trees tremble. "I am not yours at all."
Kael's smile widened. "We'll see about that."
He lunged forward with inhuman speed, but I was ready for him. Silver fire met his advance, stopping him mid-stride as though he had struck an invisible wall.
For the first time since I had known him, uncertainty flickered across Kael's features. "What have you become?"
"Something you can't control," I replied.
Our confrontation was interrupted by a horn blast from the valley's southern end the signal for Nightshade reinforcements. More riders poured into the battle, led by Agatha's war cry as she rallied the scattered defenders.
The tide began to turn. Bloodfang warriors, caught between our original force and the reinforcements, found themselves trapped in the same valley they had chosen for their ambush.
But Kael wasn't finished. He withdrew from direct combat, shouting orders that reorganized his remaining forces into a fighting retreat. As they pulled back toward the valley's northern exit, he caught my eye one final time.
"This isn't over, Selene," he called across the battlefield. "You can run to the ends of the earth, but you'll always belong to me."
The words sent ice through my veins, even as silver fire continued to blaze around my hands.
"Let him go," Darius said quietly, appearing at my side. "We've accomplished what we came for."
I looked around the valley, taking in the aftermath of our ambush. Bloodfang bodies lay scattered among the trees, their elite force shattered beyond recovery. But Nightshade had paid a price too I could see our own fallen, wolves who had trusted my intelligence enough to follow it into battle.
"Did we win?" I asked.
"We survived," Darius replied. "Sometimes that's victory enough."
As dawn broke over the blood-soaked valley, I realized he was right. We had prevented Kael's flanking strategy from succeeding, but the main Bloodfang force was still out there, still advancing on Nightshade territory.
The real war was just beginning.
And I had just announced myself as a player powerful enough to change its outcome.