He’d faced Davel and saw how having an enchantment that would allow him to move more quickly would be beneficial. He didn’t necessarily want to rely upon enchantments, but having trained without them, Gavin thought something like this might help, if only for tonight.
He moved in the darkness, heading toward the fortress. As quiet as he could, he tried to creep along the ground, and he kept his head down as he moved. In the distance, the fortress continued to loom closer and closer.
“Where are you?” he whispered to Gaspar.
“Not far.”
“You need to get moving.”
“We aren’t going to take any additional action until she reveals her presence,” Gaspar said.
“What if she’s already inside?” Gavin asked.
“There has been no sign of that.”
They’d been watching for the better part of the night, long enough that if the Mistress of Vines had moved on the fortress, they would have seen it. She hadn’t recovered Alex long enough to have acted any sooner. It was likely that she now had the jade egg and was already moving.
Unless she wanted to take time to plan, but that didn’t strike him as the kind of thing she would do. Something about the night felt off to him.
He moved closer to the building. There still wasn’t a sign of any activity in the yard. Gavin held onto the sword, keeping it pointed downward, and was about to say something to Gaspar when the blade surged with white light.
“Something changed,” Gavin whispered.
“What is it?”
“The sword. It’s starting to glow.”
“She’s moving,” Gaspar said.
“Either that, or she’s already here.”
He didn’t know if she had some way of appearing without them seeing her. Given how little they were able to surveil all of this, Gavin suspected she might’ve been able to show up without him even being aware of it. Had they a larger crew, it might not have been so much of an issue, but given how few of them there were, there was a limit to just what they were able to watch.
He focused on the intense glow from the blade.
Gavin turned slowly and felt a strange resistance against the sword that was coming from behind him. “Be careful,” he whispered. “There’s something back there.”
He started to creep backward toward the wall. There were shadows behind them, and he used the sword to light his way.
“To your right,” Gaspar hissed quickly.
Gavin spun, holding out the sword. There was movement, and the sword burst with more light, glowing brightly. Whatever was out there pulled on considerable magic.
He darted forward, sweeping the sword in front of him. “I don’t see anything.”
“Straight ahead,” Wrenlow whispered.
“You can see it?”
“Not well, but there’s something moving across the yard.”
Gavin had to trust in these other two. He stalked forward with slow, careful steps. As he went, he braced himself for the possibility that there would be some sort of magical attack. He lingered for a moment, sweeping his gaze around in the darkness, but he saw nothing.
“Are you sure—”
Power struck him.
Had he not been holding onto the sword, the power might have blasted over him. As it was, the blade seemed to absorb most of the power, keeping it from harming him. Gavin embraced that power and carved through it.
The sword swept over that attack, and Gavin darted forward again. He still didn’t see anything out there, but he could feel energy and movement in front of him. He didn’t need to see it now. Gavin could feel what was taking place.
In the distance, he could make out the dark shadows of three figures.
Not the Mistress of Vines—but enchanters.
She’d brought them into the fight as well.
Of course she had.
She’d probably convinced them they needed to be a part of this. Considering the Captain had been abducting enchanters and forcing them to serve, they had every reason for revenge.
He still didn’t know why the Mistress of Vines was willing to be a part of this.
Something about all of this felt vaguely familiar, though. Gavin didn’t know why.
A power play. He was certain of it.
A sorcerer. Enchanters. The Captain. And the constables.
All of it was connected.
The enchanters attacked him using a strange sort of enchantment. He thought about what he’d seen within Zella’s home. The sculptures there had suddenly been able to stretch, turning into something more dangerous.
What if they were using sculptures like that?
If they did something similar now, he’d have to be careful. There might be a limit to what he could handle.
Gavin sprinted forward. The bracelet enchantment gave him speed that took the others off guard. He caught the first of the enchanters and swung the sword around. In the glowing light, he recognized one of them from Zella’s home.
Gavin carved toward them and twisted the blade, slamming into the man with the hilt. He spun and kicked toward the other, driving his heel into their stomach, and then he flipped into the air and knocked down the last attacker.
All three of them were down.
“There were three enchanters.”
“Three?” Gaspar asked.
“Yes. Three.”
“What did you do?” Gaspar said.
“I didn’t kill them, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
He turned around and headed back toward the building. The sword continued to glow brightly, which worried him. He had no idea what the source of the glow was, but whatever power was out there was enough that it was calling to him.
Gavin spun around, and he searched into the darkness. A shadowed form stalked toward him. It certainly wasn’t one of the enchanters. The shape of it reminded him of the strange wolf that had gradually grown when he’d been in Zella’s home.
This one was larger. It had taken
