Unclasping his hands, Zayaan turned from the window, and for a second Lukys thought the would scream for the guards to attack, for the Flumeerens to resist at all costs. Then the queen’s advisor met his eyes.
“No harm will come to our people?” he murmured. “Our city will remain unharmed?”
“None,” Lukys said, his Voice ringing silently in emphasis of his words.
A grim smile appeared on the old man’s face. “Very well, Sovereign,” he said softly. “It seems Amina’s reign over Mildeth has come to an end.”
“No!”
A scream from the table was followed by a crash as Wallace attempted to leap across the wooden boards. He tripped and fell, but moving with a speed that belied his size, he scrambled up again. Steel flashed as he charged at Lukys, but Sophia was faster still. Though the steward was four times her size, a blow to his sternum sent him crashing to the floor.
Lukys’s gut churned as he approached the man. “Wallace, there is no need for this,” he said, even as the steward struggled against Sophia’s impossible strength. She was forced to push him face first against the ground and pin an arm behind his back, but he still continued to scream and whimper, sobbing into the wooden floors.
A frown touched Lukys’s forehead as he knelt beside the man, trying to make sense of his words.
“Please!” Wallace cried. “You don’t understand, you don’t know what she is! Amina, she does not forget. She’ll kill us all if you cross her!”
16
The Tangata
The water was the only thing that saved Adonis.
Even as the fire licked at his flesh, he felt the force of the explosion lift him up and hurl him backwards, sending him tumbling through the air, over and over until he struck the river with a harsh thump.
The icy waters extinguished the flames instantly, though the pain remained, the lingering agony of burns to his face and chest, a shrieking from his flesh that he knew would only grow.
For the moment though, he had more pressing concerns than his pain. Submerged beneath the water, his lungs screamed and he kicked out, struggling in the depths, unable to tell up from down, to find the surface. Caught in the currents, he slammed into something hard—and moving. Another of his brethren, or the queen?
Regardless, he caught hold of the unknown figure, fingers latching onto rough fabric—not the queen in her iron suit then—before he kicked out again, finally glimpsing the light of the flames. They would mark the surface.
He broke free of the depths with a gasp, sucking great lungfuls of air into his lungs. Strength rushed back to his failing limbs as he looked around at a world turned to chaos. The screams of the dying and the roar of the burning ship thundered across the river. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to drag his burden up from the depths. Something weighed the figure down, and it took all his strength to pull them above the surface. Only then did he see why they had been so heavy.
Nyriah coughed and spluttered as her head broke the surface, her water-logged wings churning the river as she struggled to keep above the water. It was clear she had no idea how to swim—and that with her heavy wings, she was in danger of dragging them both back into the depths.
Cursing, Adonis struck the Anahera across the face.
Calm yourself! he growled, his rage pressing upon her mind.
It did nothing to calm her panic though, and gritting his teeth, Adonis reached out again. This time he sought peace, to rid himself of the rage that had driven him for so long. Slowly the Anahera calmed as he sought to share some measure of tranquillity with her, until finally she stilled in his grip.
Lay on back, he ordered. Tuck away your wings, if you can.
Adonis offered nothing more, but after a moment Nyriah obeyed. Cursing his own weakness and the growing pain of his burns, Adonis gripped her beneath the arm and kicked out towards the distant shore.
Behind them, flames lit the night as the human flagship burned. Adonis watched as it sank beneath the waters, and cursed the queen with all his being. How had she caused such an explosion? It had not been the magic of her gauntlet, but some other power, born of fire. Something the Tangata had never seen before.
For the first time in his life, Adonis felt a tremor of fear for the humans. This night, he had witnessed the threat Maya had predicted. Finally, he understood the danger these creatures posed. Worse, he knew now they were not led by a fragile mortal, but one of Anaheran descent, a creature that could stand against any of the Tangata, perhaps even Maya.
Lying in his arms, Nyriah said nothing as they swam, though she was shivering by the time Adonis’s found ground beneath them.
We are safe, Nyriah, he said softly. You can stand.
Her overly large eyes blinked in her pale face. Unlike himself, it seemed she had escaped the worst of the flames, though the force of the explosion must have been enough to knock her from the sky. Her water-soaked wings would have dragged her straight to the bottom if he had not encountered her in those swirling currents.
“You saved me,” she murmured, standing in the muddy shallows. Her wings spread wide and a tremor shook them, spraying water into the air. A frown touched her forehead when she looked at him, clothes clinging to her body in an…unseemly manner. “Why…master?”
Adonis gritted his teeth and quickly looked away. Your aid proved vital to our cause, he said vaguely. And I needed information. He looked at her sharply, recalling his earlier suspicions. The creature we fought, the woman who led the enemy, she is not entirely human.
“No…”
