I had suspected that would be Endrick’s next move. Once Basil had been freed from captivity, Endrick would know it was only a matter of time before I discovered the location of the Olden Blade. He would guess that I had it by now, and I did.
Since recovering the blade, I had worn it or held it in my hands, and it felt like the return of an old friend. Today I had been polishing it for so long that I could see myself in the reflection of the metal. I wanted the blade to catch the light just before I stabbed Endrick, giving him a final flash of knowing that he had lost the throne to me.
“After Endrick is dead,” I said, “I want the Scarlet Throne moved to Woodcourt, and Endrick’s palace burned. There should be nothing of him left in all of Antora.”
“You intend to rule in his place?” Joth asked.
“Of course. That throne is mine by inheritance, and if I am the one to kill Endrick, then I have earned my place on that throne more than anyone.” I turned to him. “I will heal your people, Joth. Restore life to all of them.”
“We will restore them, when the time is right,” Joth said. “I share in your powers now.”
“And I in yours.” Looking around me, I said, “I can feel the presence of your people, like never before.”
“They will listen to your commands, as they would mine.” Joth stood and found a gap in our walls with an easy view of the street. “But for now, they have orders to guard us, and to circulate throughout the city to find out what information they can. When we get word that the time is right, we will attack.”
“How long, do you think?”
“Perhaps as soon as tonight. If you’ve eaten enough, then you ought to get some sleep.”
Joth had prepared a bed for me against one wall while he would sleep nearer the broken window. I was immune to the cold, but he had begun complaining of the heat in this room, and he wanted all the winter air he could get.
I lay down and closed my eyes but could not sleep. My shoulder ached, despite having been healed. My heart felt worse, the wound widening with every thought of my last fight with Simon. I had come to him in hopes of repairing our friendship. He had come to lure me into a trap.
As I finally began to close my eyes, I heard marching sounds outside. I looked over at Joth, who was already sitting up and peeking out from the gap in the wooden walls.
“Ironhearts?” I asked, though I didn’t need his nod to confirm it. The soldiers were making no effort to hide their presence, so they must have wanted the people to know they had returned. Maybe they wanted me to know it too. If so, they would regret it.
I leapt to my feet, the room around me thick with half-lives eager for their first real battle. I had not yet issued any orders to them, but this was my chance. “Block them from behind,” I said. “This will begin here, and end here.”
I glanced over at Joth, whose breaths were more shallow than usual. He was nervous, and understandably so. He’d spent nearly his entire life in All Spirits Forest and never tested himself as a warrior. Everything he knew about the coming battle was pure theory.
He said, “With your powers, I can either draw strength from them or give them strength?”
“Never give more than half of your strength, not even to me. The body cannot recover if you do.” Then I smiled. “But I’m very interested to see how much we can take.”
Joth carried a disk bow and shield, and wore a lever blade at his side. I had a knife in my boot and the Olden Blade against my leg. If I happened to test it on some Ironhearts before using it on Lord Endrick, maybe that would help him understand that I was stronger than I had been in our last encounter.
At Joth’s suggestion, the half-lives went before us in battle, so by the time we emerged from the rotted building, the attack had already begun. The commanders had ordered the Ironhearts to remain in their formations while they retreated to what they believed were safer distances. In my head, I heard Joth’s orders to take care of the commanders first.
Without intending to, on the night he cursed the people in All Spirits Forest, Lord Endrick had created an army as immortal as himself. All they lacked was the ability to leave, and I had provided that.
“The Infidante is here!” one soldier called, and instantly, the focus of every soldier rested on me.
Disks immediately began flying toward us, more than I could count, but not one of them came close. To the eyes of the Ironhearts, they would have simply stopped midair and fallen to the ground. Only we understood that they had indeed hit a target, too dead to be killed, and just alive enough to provide a barricade for us.
Joth moved right and I went left, so confident in the protections around me that all I had to focus on was my attack. I swung fierce and hard, and when the blade wasn’t enough, with one touch of my hand, I drew enough strength from the soldier to drop him to the ground.
Despite the numbers on their side, the fight was hardly fair, not at the rate at which the Ironhearts were dwindling. After only fifteen minutes, an order was called for retreat, but that was immediately followed by a shout that no one could break through our barricade.
Ahead of me was a statue of Lord Endrick. I climbed it and shouted for the attention of those Ironhearts who were still alive. At least a hundred soldiers still remained on their feet, but the area was littered with their fallen comrades.
In my most commanding voice, I said, “You will surrender to us! Lord Endrick will not harm you; he needs every soldier he can get. So go to your knees now and you will live. Nothing else will save you.”
The Ironhearts closest to me were the first to toss their weapons and fall to their knees. In turn, so did the soldiers behind them, followed by yet another row. When the last row knelt, I looked past them and was surprised to see Simon and Gabe standing in the distance, just beyond where the barricade of half-lives would be. They could not get in any more than the Ironhearts could get out.
Simon was staring directly at me, his expression one of deep concern, which confused me because I had just caused the surrender of an entire company of enemy soldiers. He should have been happy, not looking at me as if I were an even greater enemy.
Joth ran up beside me. “I have an idea,” he said. “Take my hand.”
Grateful for the distraction, I did as he asked, and he shut his eyes. In my head, I heard his command, but before I could stop it, I felt the half-lives swoop in from around us. Somehow Joth was sharing my powers with them, the power to take strength. And they took with a vengeance, killing every Ironheart in their path. They moved so fast, the Ironhearts toppled over in a single wave. Within seconds, Joth and I were all that was left of the battle. Everyone else was dead.
I yanked my hand free of Joth’s. “I told them to surrender and they would live!”
“You shouldn’t have made such a promise. And you don’t know for sure that Endrick would have let them live.” Joth grabbed my shoulders. “At least this way, we benefit from what happened. Can you feel their strength flowing into you, Kestra? So much power!”
The icy core within me was pulsing with life. Their lives. It hungered for more, and the more I fed it, the more it wanted.
Yes, I felt it.
“What have you done?” With the half-life barricade dissolved, Simon had run up to the base of the statue. His sword was in his hand, which it shouldn’t have been. Not unless he expected to need it against Joth or me.