The thickness of my shadows was about twice that of the other soldiers helping, thanks to my burgundy eyes, though Vagach had garnet, so I had to carefully hold back some, not only because I was using it to retain the form but also because I was pretending to be someone other than myself.
Izgath studied the shimmering tendrils weaving their way among the others, giving whatever I could to level the wagon. Stretching out his corded forearms, shadows sprung from the palms of his hands as he added more to the effort. With that final contribution, a solid base formed, and he shouted, “Let’s go!”
Rocks crunched beneath the horses’ hooves as they dug into the riverbed, and with the help of the soldiers at the rear, the wagon lurched forward.
“Hold!” Izgath yelled, ducking beneath the belly to retrieve the broken pieces while keeping one hand free to use his magic. They’d be needed if there was any hope of repairing the wheel.
Once he was free, Uzadaan gave the command to continue again. Sweat poured down the back of my neck, all the way to my low back, as we strained with the effort of moving the laden wagon forward.
“Should have taken a few things out,” I gritted through clenched teeth. Twisting my hands, I poured more magic into the frame, maintaining the lift.
“Too late for that now,” Izgath grunted, flexing his fingers to add more of his own. Slowly, the wagon rolled forward, eventually gaining momentum and closing in on the riverbank.
“Out of the way!” I shouted at those lingering on its sides, watching us. With a slight incline, we’d need to put all our focus on maintaining our magic rather than dodging onlookers. They scattered as the first pair of horses reached the soft, muddy earth, already carved up from the thousands of feet that had crossed it.
Fates, please don’t let it get stuck here.
“Push!” Uzadaan commanded, our lines of thought clearly running parallel. A sucking sound reached my ears as the horses lifted their hooves and planted them again, the leather around their bodies going taught as they surged forward.
It wasn’t enough. “More!” I yelled, changing the splay of my hands to accommodate the new angle of the slope. Black flared at the rear, and the wagon jolted, giving the horses enough slack to leap forward, successfully rolling it up and to level ground once again.
Several Demons ran forward with thick rocks and poles from the tents, hurriedly bracing them beneath the wagon. When they stepped away and nodded, I released the hold on my magic, along with the others, nearly sinking to my knees and heaving in the breaths my lungs craved.
Cheers erupted around us, and a moment later, Jaku was clapping me on the shoulder and giving it a shake. “Well done, Vagach. Thanks to you, we’ll be able to reach Uzhhorod days ahead of schedule.”
All I could do was nod and wipe the sweat from my face with the back of my sleeve. The effort of holding up the wagon took more than I thought, and I was grateful not to be assisting now as a handful of males worked to repair the wheel.
“Dromak, while we wait for the wagon to be fixed, show the new recruits some basic fighting maneuvers. It’s about time we get them used to it. Plus, Parancsok Olet will appreciate that we were proactive in our efforts,” Jaku said, never one to waste a moment. His obsession with the war was borderline unhealthy, though I supposed that was necessary to achieve a high rank in the army. “With the Halálhívó’s new plan, the Angels will be routed within the next few years.”
“You seem to have a lot of confidence in him,” I commented, wondering more about this venerated figure. Priestess Anara tended to focus on other subjects during her lessons with the females.
“We all do.” Dromak stopped suddenly and faced us. “Once you’ve seen him fight in battle…”
“There’s nothing like it,” Izgath finished for him. “His power is…unnerving but incredibly effective. Honestly, his presence on the battlefield is enough to shake the Angels’ knees. He’s a scary fucker.”
“I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side,” Dromak snorted. “He kills anyone and anything that pisses him off and calls it a day. No remorse, no regrets. He’s ruthless, cruel, and cunning, but it’s because of those qualities that the Demons will rule over the whole of Keleti one day soon. Between the Halálhívó and Kral Xannirin, the Fates have woven a path straight to victory.”
“Then why have the Angels gotten so deep into the Demon Realm?” I questioned. If what Jaku said was true, and the conscription of males from the southern plains, then the Demons were losing, and badly.
The four fell deadly silent. My mouth had gotten me into trouble again. Swallowing, I tensed, fingers flexing as I prepared to defend myself.
Jaku leveled a heavy gaze on me, then spoke with utter seriousness lacing his tone. “This time last year, we were well into Angel territory, from the Skala Mountains all the way to the Haka Islands in the north, and as far south as the entrance of the Eső Forest. The Weaver and the Reaper are offering us a challenge, a chance to prove our devotion to them and their cause.”
Trying to cover my misstep, I said smoothly, “Of course, the Fates are wise in their weaving. But what happened that caused us to lose that land?”
“The plague,” he replied simply.
The same one that tore my mother, father, and sister from me, and Izgath’s brother, too. The death toll was enormous in our region, but if the losses were great enough to lose massive swaths of land, then it was worse than I thought. Thinking of the millions of Demons that must have died from it brought a fresh wave of anger and grief from low in my belly. If it weren’t for the Halálhívó and Kral Xannirin and the Fates and all their stupid games, everyone I loved would still be alive.
I wouldn’t be so utterly alone.
“Well, better get these lazy donkeys into shape then so we can take back all that territory,” Dromak joked, breaking the tension. He shouted at the recruits lolling about the field just past the treeline, and they quickly formed ranks.
Uzadaan rolled his shoulders and neck. “I will help him.” Without waiting to see if any of us would join him, he and Dromak strode away.
My breathing and heart rate had returned to normal, but I was too tired to offer to join the male’s training. “I’ll stay here and oversee the repairs,” I offered. “This sort of break happens more often than not in a farming community.”
Jaku made a noncommittal noise, while Izgath regarded me in a way that sent icy fear skittering down my spine. I’d fucked up again with my mouth, and I really needed to keep it shut or they’d figure out I wasn’t Vagach in no time.
“I’ll stay and help Vagach. You should oversee the training, Jaku. You have an eye for who has potential and who does not,” Izgath commented, his garnet eyes ghosting over me before turning to our Százados. His bare arms shone with sweat, and the long hair piled on the top of his head was askew from the effort we’d put out. Somehow, the Incubus managed to make his roughed-up look something utterly sensual.
Stop thinking about him that way, Assyria!
“Come find me when it’s fixed,” Jaku ordered, picking his sword up off the ground and reattaching the scabbard to his back. Then he walked out of the treeline and toward the group mimicking Dromak in a series of strikes and kicks.
Izgath tore my attention back to him with a low laugh. “I take it you never learned to fight.”
There was no use in denying it. “I did not.”
The sly smile that spread across his face sent a shiver down my spine. “Don’t worry, I will teach you everything you need to know.”
More was implied beneath his words, which only added to my confounding curiosity about the male. At this point, I could only assume the feeling was mutual.
“Thank you, Izgath, I appreciate that,” I replied, pointedly turning my attention to the males working on the wheel. One of them pulled a strip of metal from his bag, then wrapped it around the broken spoke. Just as he was about to secure two stiff rods on either side of it I stepped forward. “Don’t forget to secure points above and below the break, otherwise we’ll end up in the same situation tomorrow when the pressure is transferred higher and lower.”
