The Darkling Queen (The Shadow Watch series Book 3) by S.A. Klopfenstein

Author:S.A. Klopfenstein [Klopfenstein, S.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Guardian Grey Publishing
Published: 2020-05-25T22:00:00+00:00

24

The world was a swirl of smoke, burning sails, and splinters of flying timber. Mischa’s eyes ached as she flew through the inferno. Her lungs were a hollow cave in her chest, but she held her breath as best she could to avoid inhaling the toxic smoke.

The explosion had come from below deck, near the central mast of Skya’s vessel. The ship went up in an instant, a hellish blaze that devoured the ship with ravenous fury. If not for her Fieri power, Mischa might have been dead moments after she descended into the heart of the fire.

A flash of blinding light somehow permeated the madness.

Another ship ignited a hundred yards off. Then another. Her senses filled with blinding flashes and the deafening drum of splintering timber as flames and smoke swallowed her up. In mere seconds, all their reinforcements were gone.

The world was chaos and death, screams and fire—fire everywhere.

Mischa could just make out the shape of the disintegrating vessel in the conflagration; she flew straight toward the helm of Skya’s ship. Flames shot across the deck from the center of the ship. Anyone below deck was already lost.

Dozens of sailors were shackled to the side rails, many of them screaming in agony as they caught fire. The ones near the center, who were already charred, had likely died the most mercifully.

Mischa whispered a prayer to the Unknown One, the forgotten god of the Southern World. Please! Please let me reach her in time!

Flames had engulfed the aft deck by the time she landed. The ship shuddered, the damaged center of the vessel shifting violently as all its supports disintegrated. The burning mast swayed against the night, groaning, like the neck of a dying Rulaq.

It would collapse in minutes, if she was lucky.

Mischa ripped the gag away from Skya’s mouth. She drew sharp breaths and then coughed violently, shaking her entire body, her shackles rattling hopelessly against the helm. Skya’s wrists were fixed tightly to the wooden wheel.

Flames thrashed around them, like a thousand blazing serpents. Mischa warded them off, concentrating her power to shield the space around the helm. Screams filled the night, and she wished she could save all these poor soldiers and sailors. But Skya was nearly lost herself. The mighty warrior was slumped against the wheel, barely looking up at her, her chest scarcely rising with tepid breaths.

“Thank the gods!” Mischa said, kneeling beside her.

Skya shrieked.

Her clothes ignited from mere proximity to the blaze surrounding them. Mischa doused the flame in an instant, using her Fieri power to redirect it back into the inferno. But she could only ward it off for so long. Skya’s skin was searing, her forehead drenched in sweat. Skya jerked violently, desperately trying to use the chain binding her to destroy the helm.

But it was no use, the wood was too thick. Skya’s wrists were already raw from previous attempts.

Mischa’s gut churned. She fought back tears. “W-where is the key?”

“The highborns!” Skya cried. “Th-they’re coming. You have to warn Ren!”

“I’m not leaving you!” Mischa pushed back at the flames, but the heat pressed in on them.

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