The humans marched behind the Unsidhe with the flightless Sidhe while we Avians flew overhead, keeping a sharp eye on the unfolding landscape. So, when we made it inland, we were the first to discover that Gremara was prepared for us. Farungal soldiers lined the battlements of her fortress, arrows notched and spears ready. They weren't going to come out until forced to. Which meant it would be up to the Avians to smoke them out. And I mean that literally.
Dalsharan swooped down to advise the other warlords to set up the front lines and the fires. Our armies spread out, ringing the Farungal fortress in a sea of fae, but staying well beyond the reach of their arrows. Fires burst to life everywhere, human soldiers setting up the pits and faeries lighting the kindling. Oil-soaked, leather cannonballs attached to metal chains were piled beside each fire, ready for Avians to snatch them up and set them aflame. The other fae races—both Sidhe and Unsidhe—prowled the perimeter, watching for any weakness as they scented the air and unsheathed their weapons. They would leap into action as soon as we smoked the Farungal out, but for now, they had to wait.
Owls, Falcons, Eagles, and Hawks circled, waiting for the signal to attack. But before we could begin, Gremara stepped onto the battlements with two male warriors who dragged a human between them. The Sidhe howled, yipped, and roared in warning while Trolls rumbled and Imps screeched. Everyone could sense that something bad was coming—that Gremara had a plan. I rode the currents beside Dal, watching the Farungal Queen warily. She was smiling; that couldn't be good.
“Welcome!” Gremara shouted at us. “Welcome fae and humans. Welcome Sidhe and Unsidhe. Welcome to your death!” She cackled wildly.
The human beside her was gaunt and dressed in torn clothing. He wasn't chained but he might as well have been. Monsters surrounded him, grinning as if they'd been having fun with him for days. He looked freshly scrubbed, like a hog on his way to the slaughter. His eyes stared hollowly out of his lean face, and he wore an expression I recognized. It was very similar to the one Kervel had worn in Brendallen's tent. But this was a human, whatever had been done to him by the Farungal, he wouldn't recover from it as easily as a faerie. It would take an incredible strength of will to remain sane through the horrors they had doubtless put him through, but he looked as though he had his senses... and wished for the opposite. The man stared at the armies before him as if they were his ruin, not salvation.
“We need to get him out of there!” I shouted at Dal. “Whatever Gremara's planning, she needs him to do it.”
“Do not leave my side!” he roared at me.
“Dal!”
The Hawk Lord shrieked.
“Do you remember a time, not so long ago, when the first Valorian was made?” Gremara called to us.
I went silent, focusing on her again. Everyone did.
“Do you remember the curse that we made? The beautiful weapon a human destroyed?” Gremara laughed as the two Farungal brought the human up beside her. “I have reconstructed that curse except that now, the human shall be the catalyst!”
The Farungal pushed the man to his knees as he suddenly started to struggle, then pried open his mouth.
“Dal!” I shouted and started for the man. Fuck this. Gremara had practically said it herself—this guy was the key to her plans. I had to get him away from her.
“Ravyn!” Dalsharan shouted and chased after me.
The Hawks followed their warlord, and the other Avians took it as a signal to attack. Giant birds swooped down to snatch up chains and swing the attached leather balls through the fire pits. The night sky came alight with flying firebombs. But I carried nothing in my claws. I was after something instead.
Below us, the flightless fae sprinted into action, running for the fortress in the hopes that it would soon be open to them. Sylphs spiraled above them like specters. On the battlements, Gremara ignored us all as she poured dark liquid down the human's throat. He gagged, but they rubbed his neck and forced him to swallow. I screeched in fury. I was too late. I should have ignored Dal and grabbed him sooner!
The man fell to his knees, out of my reach, and I swung up, arching back toward our armies. Arrows flew past me, one clipped my wing. Feathers fell but it was a minor injury. Nonetheless, Dalsharan shrieked in fury and herded me back toward safety while firebombs fell on the Farungal fortress.
Fires caught and the fortress started to smoke, but Gremara only laughed harder. Laughed while the human man screamed. His body was trembling and bulging grotesquely. He shot to his feet with a roar, and the world went silent. Even Gremara stopped cackling as the human stepped forward. No longer human, he was a beautiful monster, his body thickly muscled and his skin black as pitch. Eyes like twin stars stared out of his sharp face and his hands spread out to display long claws. He roared again, lifting his face to the moon.
“Isn't he fantastic? Isn't he beautiful?” Gremara shrieked. “Darkness made flesh! Poison in the shape of a man. Keep your seed, Hawk Lord; I have my child now! Gaze upon your ruin! My glorious creation shall walk across the world and burn it to ash. Poison your continent and the very magic within it. Your wards will fall to him and your cities will crumble! But first, all of you brave warriors will feed him. You will be his first sacrifice. Nearly all the races of Stalana and Varalorre laid before my beautiful curse to whet his appetite! A banquet befitting my prince!”
Beside her, the monster was panting, his shoulders hunched and his claws clicking together as if anticipating his first kill. His bright gaze swept over the armies again and again. I tried to circle back. I had this feeling... maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn't too late. I needed to get to him. I needed to get him away from Gremara. But Dal swept by me, clipping my chest with the back of a claw, and pushed me back. I shrieked at him furiously.
Then the monster who had once been a man took a step forward. His clawed foot scraped the stones and sparked. The monster lifted his hands and magic crackled over them, gleaming darkly. Oily, dirty magic. Evil. He held out his arms and stared up at the sky as that darkness ran across his chest. And that's when I saw the wet tracks on his cheeks. He wept. The human was still inside that monster, and he hated what he had become.
“Stalana!” the monster shouted the battle cry and leapt off the wall, his arms still spread wide. He turned as he fell so that he stared up at the star-filled sky, a peaceful expression coming over his face.
Gremara screamed and reached for him, bending over the battlements to snatch at her fallen prince, but he was too heavy and fell too fast.
I shrieked and dove for him as well even as a part of me trembled and pulled back.
Let him go, something whispered inside me.
Dalsharan sensed it too. He swept by me again and angled me away from the falling human. The sound of Gremara's rage echoed over the land as her monster hit the earth with a resounding crack. The earth trembled as magic erupted in a dark cloud over her dark prince. When the magic cleared, the bulging, black body had dwindled back into the beaten, gaunt, man. The broken hero stared wistfully at the heavens as he took his last breaths, a smug grin on his face.