Do not allow father to know you are here.
That had been Rhysand's only demand, and I was about to break it--with the help of Mor. The boys had last seen me in Illyrian armor and believed me to be in the same legion of the foot soldiers.
How foolish of them to believe I would fight next to Illyrian men.
The three of them were scattered throughout the battlefield and I had no idea when the next time I would see them would be. I look down at my all white Valkyrie armor as Mor hands me the Valkyrie diadem to wear atop my braided hair.
Mor and I reach the hill that is mostly covered by trees, so we can see the battlefield--but nobody down there can see us. My heart drops at the vastness of Hybern's armies, his soldiers cover as far as the eye can see. Horrible monsters fly overhead of his army, and I cannot see where he stands amongst his army from this far away. I look on our side and see a considerable amount of soldiers, not nearly as many as Hybern's--but enough. I look to the empty area below, where the Valkyrie were supposed to be, my heart drops at the legion of Hybern soldiers across from that empty spot. Rhys, Cass, and Az were all speaking how that opening would be a problem in our flanks, but my father did not believe so. So I will make sure it is not a problem, even if I have to face an entire legion by myself. I finally make out where the King of Hybern stands and watch as he and the highlords walk away from trying to negotiate and raise the swords for battle, I nod to Mor.
Now.
She lifts up the Valkyrie's battle horn and blows, the sound casting over the entire battlefield. I pull my power from my siphons made from moonstone, all eight of them--my last gift from Kàra-- as I allow my shadows to begin to cover the clouds above where I begin to ride Sigrun. I kick as hard as I can as I leave Mor behind on the hilltop, knowing she will be safe until she finds her place on the battlefield. Every single soldier, on both sides, seem to turn to watch me. I do not let the nerves get the best of me as I jump off of Sigrun and hold my head up high as I stand in front of thousands of Hybern's soldiers, most of them laugh but some of them have the intelligence to look scared.
They should be.
I find where the King of Hybern stands, atop of a small hill surrounded by his generals. I unsheathe Arktos and I point it to him--a promise. Everybody seems to pause to see what I am about to do, and I smirk.
Good.
I want the world to witness that I can destroy anybody who stands in my way.
I sheathe my sword behind my back, and open my hands on either side of me. I close my eyes, and begin pulling the powers from my siphons as memories of the Valkyrie flood through me, a whole race of warriors--destroyed by Hybern just because he wanted to--and it was my fault. I had convinced the Valkyrie to join our cause-- and look where they ended up because of me. I will make him pay for everything he has ever done, even if it will be the death of me.
I open my hands and unleash my power along with an earth shattering scream, I think of how I felt when I misted those guards and use that feeling to place into my powers. Waves of shadows and violet power aim for the guards so quickly that they did not have any time to react. One moment, thousands of Hybern's stood in front of me and the next--
Droplets of ash and blood scatter through the wind where they just stood.
The battlefield becomes so quiet I can hear my own heartbeat, I fall to one knee as blackness begins to form in the corner of my vision and I feel my energy fading fast. The power that I unleashed comes right back to me--the siphons sucking it back in. I discovered I could do that only two days ago when I tested the moonstones out for the first time, and I take a deep breath as all of my power restores itself. I hear the King of Hybern command his army to charge, and I watch as the mortals and the courts of pyrthian crash amongst each other. I throw my hand out to Sigrun and my shadows wrap around her as they transport her back into the stables, I will not risk her life. I winnow myself in the legion where I knew Cass would be fighting because Rhys would be fighting beside my father and I knew I could not go there, and Az---I did not even feel Azriel on the battlefield currently.
The breath is taken from me as Illyrian men crash into me, they look at me with wide eyes but I ignore them as I unsheathe my twin swords and take off into a run, killing any Hybern soldier that tries to fight me with one swift motion. I run until I reach the front of the battlement, and I see red Illyrian power glowing behind a few Illyrian men, I push through them until I am standing in front of Cassian--he notices me.
"You ready to fight after your little show?" He asks, impaling a hybern soldier without even looking at him. I grin at him.
"Of course." I say, as I repeat his exact move and he gives me another grin.
"Archers!" My heart drops as the King of Hybern prepares his archers.
"Shields up!" A command is shouted down the line of the battlefield, I release my wings as Cass and I launch off of the ground as we fly up and put shields above our legions. More shields form down the line, of all different colors and sizes. I watch in horror as arrows cover the entire sky, the battlefield goes dark, our shields being the only form of light for a few moments. I flinch as the arrows meet with my shield, I let out a yelp as I realize they are covered in faebane.
"Shit." Cass says beside of me, struggling to keep his shield in place as the arrows keep hitting our shields.
"Cass, I do not think--" I am blasted back as a force so strong that it breaks through my shield and hits me.
"Velaris!" Cass shouts as I freefall, I struggle to open my wings again and I realize a chain is wrapped around one of my wings and it is covered in faebane. Cass tucks his wings in and flies straight for me, but he is still so far away. I look to the ground that is approaching too quickly.
I close my eyes as I feel a strong arm wrap around me, and I open my eyes as Helion lifts me onto the back of his Pegasus.
"Thank you." I say over the wind, he looks back at me with a grin, I flinch in pain as I take the chain off of my wing.
"I could not let you die before I had my way with you, Princess." Helion says.
"I would rather splatter on the ground." I give him a kiss on the cheek before winking at him and then once again free falling off of his Pegasus. This time, I am able to open my wings and fly back up to where those ugly creatures from hybern are now fighting against the aerial Illyrian legion and the Seraphim. I notice Drakon struggling to fight against five of those creatures, I unsheathe my twin swords as I cut down two of them in one motion, I use my power to shatter another ones mind and they all fall to their doom. Drakon easily takes down the other two, he looks at me with questioning in his eyes.
"Hello Prince." I smile at him.
"You have put a target on your back." He tells me, pointing his sword at the King of Hybern, who is currently talking to one of his commanders and pointing towards me. I look back at Drakon and smirk.
"What can I say? I like a challenge." He lets out a laugh, gods, even his laugh is perfect. I watch as hundreds of those winged creatures take flight--straight towards me.
"Do you need help?" Drakon asks me, and I just shake my head with a smile as I begin to fly as fast I can towards the mountains. The winged creatures do exactly what I want them too and follow me, a few Illyrian archers taking a few down.
"Velaris?" Cass shouts as I fly past him, he looks at me in horror as he sees how many of those creatures are right on my trail, I turn to face him but just for a moment.
"I got it!" I shout and continue my journey to the peak of the mountain. I speed up, the fastest I have ever flown in my life as the creatures also speed up. I smile as my plan falls into place. I approach the side of the mountain and push back my wings right before I splatter into the side of the mountain, and I winnow just in time.
I winnow into the middle of the battlefield, crashing into the ground instead of the side of the mountain, I look up just in time to watch all of those winged creatures splatter in the side of the mountain. I smile as some of them try to stop themselves, but their wings are too small to stop them at the speed they were going. My smile fades as I watch enormous pieces of the mountains begin to break off--and fall into the ocean below. The waves that began to form were becoming even larger than the mountain itself--I look to the white healers tents that were right in the line of where the waves would crash.
Miryam.
I launch myself off the ground as Summer Court soldiers notice the healers tents as soon as I do. They begin running towards the waves, and they hold their hands out as they break the waves in half so the healers can escape before the waves come down. I watch as multiple women sprint out of the tents in fear and I scan them from a distance--looking for Miryam's small figure. I do not see her.
"Do not winnow in!" A summer court soldier yells at me as he sees my shadows begin forming around me. "It will deplete our power, we cannot hold it for much longer."
"Miryam!" I hear Drakon's voice boom across the battlefield and look up to him--I see his shocked stare as I look back to the pathway that was surrounded by high water on both sides and notice a familiar figure just sitting there. My brows lower in confusion as to why Miryam was not running to safety when I realize that there was a spear through her chest. I watch in horror as the water begins falling right on top of her. Both Drakon and I begin to fly as fast as we can--but we were going so slow--so gods damned slow compared to the water that was crashing down upon Miryam.
I watch as a small figure speeds past us and flies right under the water that was coming down. The small seraphim struggles to lift Miryam but she manages to--and launches herself off the ground--holding Miryam in her arms. I do not breathe as I watch the small woman defy all odds and dodge all of the jagged rocks that stick out of the ground--all while barely making it out of the waves crashing down right above her. I watch in awe as they make it out of water that was crashing down. Drakon practically falls to the ground as the woman places Miryam down when they make it to safety. I make my way over to them and order healers to come and help Miryam who is still conscious. I watch as Miryam takes the winged female's hand in hers and gives her a small smile.
Drakon takes the small woman in his arms and hugs her, "Thank you for saving my mate, Nephelle."
"Of course, Prince." She gives him a smile and I watch as one of Drakon's commanders flies down and takes Nephelle's face in her hands and demands to tell her is she was okay. The healers quickly run over and carefully remove the spear from Miryam and quickly heal her. Once I see that she is standing and will be okay is when I fly back to battle. I land and look behind me once more to make sure Miryam would be okay--
The distraction caught me off guard as a Hybern soldier charges at me, with his sword raised. I roll to the side just in time to avoid the sword going straight through my neck, I look up just in time to see that it was not a Hybern soldier trying to kill me--it was a Spring Court soldier. I quickly knock him off his feet and throw a dagger into his skull. I look up and see the High Lord of the Spring Court and two of his sons fight beside Hybern--against the darkbringers and Illyrians.