The Ever Cruel Kingdom by Rin Chupeco

Author:Rin Chupeco
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 2020-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Odessa and Janella

THERE WAS NO TIME TO demand an explanation. No time to question why Janella had appeared at camp with many of Mother’s Devoted, defending us like she’d never betrayed Lan or me before. The horde of galla that had once more appeared over the horizon was closing fast.

The air-shields were already up. We’d learned from the last fight, and now there were small pockets within the barriers for Lisette and the other gunners to position themselves behind, ready to return fire. Janella and her team were outside the barricade, retreating as the galla drew closer. Her Howler retorted again and again, sending wide swathes of azure flames into the thick of the shadow-army. The galla were most susceptible to blue fire, I remembered, but Janella was the only one of Asteria’s people capable of it.

Sharp icicles stabbed their way through some of the fiends, brutally impaling most and freezing the soil for yards around us. This wasn’t Haidee’s doing, judging from the startled look on her face. It wasn’t mine. No one I knew back in Aranth had been strong enough to do this. Nobody but . . .

My gaze swung to one of the fighters at the back of the pack, standing alone. Ice glittered around her, solidified into more spikes that sprung forward and skewered more of the monsters. I nearly stopped breathing.

“Odessa!” Haidee called, and I snapped to attention. More than enough time later. More than enough time to ask Mother what she was doing here.

My hand brushed Haidee’s, our fingers linking. I willed my thoughts somewhere fierier, hotter, and I felt her do the same.

The area around the neutral grounds exploded into flames, creating a fiery moat that prevented the galla from pushing forward. They slowed down long enough for the others to pick them off with more firebursts. Sonfei and the Liangzhu were summoning heavy gales of wind, channeling air patterns above the creatures and bringing them down with enough force and weight to crush them. We kept up the wall of fire, burning our way through as many of the galla as we could, our minds and thoughts so intertwined that it was difficult to remember we had ever been two people instead of the one that we were now.

“Lower the shields to my left,” Haidee shouted, “and bring them inside.”

“But they’re Asteria’s—” Lars, the Gila clan leader, began to protest.

“Asteria’s or not, they’re helping us, and I’m not going to let them die!”

The shields shimmered briefly, and Janella stumbled inside, gasping and smiling widely. “You have my thanks, Your Holinesses,” she purred, then lifted her Howler to send another barrage of shots through, taking out several galla.

“You and I will have a reckoning after this,” I hissed.

“As you wish, Your Holiness.”

Daughter.

I froze. Haidee had reverted to using fire patterns like they were glowfire, tossing balls of flames into the densest part of the army. She showed no signs that she had heard it.

Daughter.

From behind the army of shadows a dark figure unfurled and stood.

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