Snapdragon

  Second Thorn announces himself with disdain. “Why am I not surprised to follow a trail of blood and corpses to find you and a trio of foxes outside Amari’s carriage?”

  I join Amari’s sisters in growling a warning at my brother.

  Second smirks, brushing bloody fingers through green hair. “Look at that. They’ve even accepted you as their own! Ah well. You know what Seer Eluned says. Every body a resource and all that.”

  I snap at him. “You didn’t come all this way just to irritate me.” Looking at him more critically, I spot a nervous I’m not used to seeing in his movements. Is my eldest brother... Shaking? “I’d appreciate if you either grew a spine or got to the point before someone else tracks us down.”

  He shakes his head. “I’m here on my own initiative. Is Theriya here? There was no sign of her at the ceremony.”

  Talking past me earns him a glare. “We’ve been busy.”

  He eyes the half dozen corpses of various Watchers and the vulpine girls who’ve taken this opportunity to flank him. “I see that.”

  I interrupt. “Just tell us what you need and we’ll try to make time for you.”

  His smirk returns. Wider this time. “Good. You’re in a fiery mood. First and Fourth have joined Nineteenth in cages at Mel’Viora’s bidding. Something about us needing to be at full strength to hunt Cinder Blights being irrelevant to some binding ceremony.”

  I cross my arms. “So instead of looking for us at the ceremony you’ve followed a trail of bodies because…?”

  His smile fades as I needle his logic. “I’ve prioritized looking after my family. The remaining Thorns are lying low.”

  Mine.

  Not ours.

  “So what? Is this supposed to be you asking for help?”

  He scowls as his vision snaps to the carriage.

  But Amari apparently isn’t who he was hoping to see.

  I on the other hand am happy to hear her promised update. “Astraea is going to be fine. But she’s not going to be of use to anyone in her current state. Not if we want to keep her stable.”

  Second Thorn grunts. “If Theriya is unavailable, I’ll take my chances with your Princess.”

  “What’s his problem?” Amari gestures with an amused expression that causes Second to squint an eye at us.

  “Oh. He’s just upset that First would sooner trust the Thorns to me than him.”

  “Innnteresting.” Amari draws out the word.

  My predictable brother snaps at that. “No sister of mine would harm her own!”

  Ah. There it is.

  He can forgive First considering me less than a Lunarian for shirking the role assigned to me. But the moment I respond by nearly running spear through her eye and she still thinks I’m a more worthy leader than he’ll ever be? That’s too much for him to accept.

  I pry a javelin from the corpse of a dead Watcher. “So what? I’m supposed to just sit and take it when Mel’Viora orders the Howling Watchers to kill me? If I can’t be a perfectly willing Third Thorn, I can die in stead of her daughters to prove whether or not Vylia’s assigned bound can protect who they’ve been assigned?”

  Second flinches as I stride towards him. “You’re out line.”

  Oh. That’s amusing, coming from him.“Were the Howling Watchers out of line when they sought vengeance against someone Mel’Viora suspected they wouldn’t stand a chance against killing?” I jab him in the stomach with the butt of the javelin when he attempts to speak. “Pointless rivalries between Watcher plantings aside, you were at the wall last night. You saw them and Astraea take on a drake largely unassisted before countless others throughout the night! You know their measure now even more than the Howlers do!”

  Second sputters, struggling for breath. “-which… Is why I’m looking for Theriya… To convince Mel’Viora. We... Can’t free them. Not on our own.”

  I pause, holding his gaze for a long few moments in silence. And then I shove the javelin into his hands. “Then we die trying.”

  He blinks. “What?”

  Amari stops holding back her sounds of amusement. “Take one of my sisters with you. If nothing else, she can carry one or two of your wounded far faster than you could.”

  Second Thorn just looks between the lot of us, bewildered. “You’ve killed as many of us as you already have and now I’m supposed to believe you’ll willingly accompany me on a doomed attempt at freeing three of mine?”

  Amari’s bark is a derisive one. “Don’t you worry your stubborn little head about us. We’ve been given advice on how best to flee.” She looks to me. “Nineteenth Thorn is the one who lost a hand and was given a shoddy replacement, right? Aelinore took a shine to him?”

  I nod.

  She barks out a laugh. “Then of course we’ll help! It’s the least capable who most need a helping hand.”

  Theriya joins us, discarding two pairs of bloody gloves before taking Amari by the hand. The two make a point to share a moment of whispered affections like the rest of us aren’t here.

  Only after Second starts to shift with visible discussion does the Seer level her gaze on my brother. When she speaks, her voice is dismissive. “I’d recommend you take the help you’re being offered. While I’m needed here for a while yet, the moment I rejoin the congregation, I suspect that Mel’Viora will want to start the binding ceremony prematurely.”

  I tense. “You think she’s going to implement the Castellan’s plan early?”

  Theriya offers a three armed shrug. “After Astraea nearly killed Threnodias? She’s probably itching to make sure all the Primeval Seers are focused in one place while she can still control the situation. If you want to spring anyone she is keeping in cages, you should go before any Vylians present are in need of blood to recover from whatever she has planned. As soon as I’m done here, I’ll draw what attention away from you that I can.”

  “We can take this opportunity to arm ourselves.” I offer, focusing on practical details that Second might appreciate more than hearing more about a murderous plot against our ruling Seers.

  “That I can do.” He agrees.

  The tallest of Amari’s sisters strides up to Theriya. “You have my boundless thanks for patching up my sisters. I will see to it that your Snapdragon makes it out alive.”

  “My sister and I would appreciate that.” Theriya replies with a smile. “Good hunting, all of you.”

  The three of us depart with haste.

  Second Thorn takes the lead, intending to reunite us with the Thorns and get Amari’s sister something to wear that will cover up her tail.

  Unfortunately, there is no time to backtrack to the barracks or wall for weapons. I recommend we make do by retrieving javelins from corpses between us and where the ceremony is to be held.

  Amari’s sister follows after only once the coast is cleared at regular intervals.

  Every Lunarian we come across is on guard and looking for her, after all.

  Only the way they tell it, they’re describing a much larger creature merely in the shape of a fox. Not that anyone here is going to resist immediately attacking the imposingly tall girl with a fox tail and bloody canines.

  To her credit, her padded feet and sharpened senses serve her well in keeping her out of trouble. All without any need for Second or I to raise suspicion by attempting to discreetly ward her off when we run into other Lunarians.

  It isn’t long until we reunite with the rest of the Thorns and press every javelin we can into their hands.

  From this moment onward, everyone forms around Amari’s sister after throwing a cloak over her shoulders to hide the tail. They even don their own cloaks and volunteer to arrange themselves in such a way to most immediately surround her with our tallest members. All of this doubles as an attempt to present as my as my escort through the root tunnels where the binding ceremony is to be held.

  It’s not a terrible plan, but one that we could explain away as trying not to draw attention to any wounds received on wall duty last night.

  Thankfully the first Seedlings to approach us seem more set on informing us that primary dining chamber has changed on account of a fire both Astraea and Amari have already mentioned. But I nod along anyway.

  Escorts are offered to lead me towards Aelinore or Cerya.

  Runners are happy to let them know that we are here.

  I turn all but the latter down. “Grove Tender Mel’Viora has already sent for us. We have our assignments already. But do tell them we’ll be along shortly.”

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  Which is more than enough to pacify the Seedlings milling about me and the newly arrived Thorns.

  Thankfully we don’t need to make a show of hiding our weapons. There’s been more than a few altercations now enough that Watchers assigned to security have changed out of ceremonial armor to the full suits of chitinous plating that marks them as more experienced than any of us. Typically only Saplings and older are deemed worth fitting for armor.

  As we skirt the chambers where political exchanges are happening, security quickly thins out.

  The first snag we run into is an empty armory where we expected to better equip ourselves away from prying eyes.

  Second and I exchange wary looks.

  Light javelins aren’t going to do much against chitin plating or a Vylian prince.

  The root ways are intended to be the place everyone falls back to if the grove itself comes under siege. Armories down here are supposed to be well stocked and maintained at all times, no matter the circumstances.

  So we circle around to a second armory.

  Same result.

  Second risks a whispered question. “This is highly irregular.”

  I nod. “It makes sense, actually.” Knowing what the Castellan impressed upon Aelinore at least. “We’ll just have to take what we can get.” If we can find anything. “Take me to Nineteen and the others. I’ll handle it from there.”

  My brother sighs. “First left you in charge. What you say goes.”

  The rest of the Thorns take that as encouragement and we file out of the second armory… Only to immediately cross paths with a handful of Howling Watchers.

  Ninth is at the head of them, and she’s not happy to see me. “You. What you even doing on this side of the root ways?”

  Second surprises me by stepping forward on my behalf. “Our business is of no concern of yours. But I could say the same for the five of you. Where are the rest of your planting?”

  Not that we have all of our members present, but we do triple Nine’s group in size.

  Still, I don’t want us bickering. I hold up a hand, eyeing how nervous the other four Howlers are. “Wait. All of you. We might actually be on the same page.”

  One of the other Howlers balks at that. “Why? None of us are desperate to enough to cozy up to a pair of Seers and their pet Vylian Prince!”

  Ninth tightens her grip around a javelin, but she doesn’t raise it. “Stow it Tenth.” She glares at me. “We’re on edge. You realize one of our number had their throat ripped out by something with fangs, right?”

  Ah. And here I thought she was just upset over me putting a javelin through the leg of one of theirs. She still could be, but I need to make them see reason.

  Another voice entirely cuts me off before I can form a reply.

  It’s the last voice I want to hear. Iitharna’s. “Oh no! Do listen to the little flower!” The armored Crimson Watcher rounds the corner Second was about to lead us down before the Howlers spotted us. “I’m sure there is nothing nefarious at all about you two stumbling around outside where we’re keeping the food for our guests.”

  Guests in this case being the Vylian ones.

  Second tenses up.

  Ninth turns her back on us to face another Crimson Moon blocking off the path she and her Howlers approached from.

  Down every root way available to us is a Crimson Moon. All four of them are armed with their crescent moon blades, throwing knives, and the kind of armor I’m not confident a javelin will easily pierce. They’re much better equipped than us for a close quarters fight, and we’re not exactly in the kind of environment where we can leverage our number advantage.

  Uproot it all. I’m going to have to make a reckless call here.

  “Everyone! Follow Second! Force your way through! Hold them down if you have to!”

  The Howlers leap into action with their own rallying cries.

  Iitharna cuts the throat of one, but Ninth and one of her sisters takes him by the shoulders while I hook a javelin beneath his legs. The rest of us just shove him to the ground.

  Second quickly leads us into the room, forcing it open with the help of his sibling Thorns.

  By silent agreement, we all prioritize haste over retrieving the body of the Howler Iitharna has already killed.

  Amari’s sister drags a fallen Thorn through the door before we close it behind us. She’s quick to apply pressure to and bind wounds left by throwing knives. It is all quick and dirty work, nothing like the kind of care or attention Theriya could manage. But it gets Fourteen back on his feet.

  “Bar the door!” I order, even as I realize we have precious little available to us beyond a pair of chairs. But we need to press our momentum while we can if we’re going to free who we can.

  “I have the cunt’s keys!” Ninth shouts, already distributing them from a ring she must have lifted from Iitharna.

  Only then do I turn and realize the scope of the task in front of us. Something like fifty cages fill the space. All of them filled. Despite the room’s size, we’re not going to have much more room to maneuver.

  But our missing Thorns are here. As are the trio of naga I suspect were promised to Aelinore.

  Ninth prioritizes trying keys to a cage containing a Howling Watcher I recognize with a tinge of regret. I remember putting a javelin through her leg just yesterday. In the time since it’s been cut off at the knee and replaced with a crude stump.

  The two embrace the moment Ninth finds the right key, exchanging an intimacy that goes beyond obligation or the normal Watcher familial bonds.

  So much clicks into place in my mind at that moment.

  But there’s no time.

  Iitharna and the Crimson Moons are destroying the door with resonant gemstone invocations.

  “Can you fight?” I ask the naga as I begin to work through the keys available to me.

  “We do not need weaponsss.” Hisses a tall and slender scaled serpent of a woman. Then again, it’s kind of difficult to measure her height when she can effortlessly rise and fall as her serpentine body allows. I quickly note that none of the three of them have legs. Just two arms and an impressive set of fangs. “Ssstrip them of their armor and our venom ssshall do the ressst.”

  “You heard the snake!” I shout to the gathered Thorns.

  “That’s not a plan!” Second growls back.

  “Do it anyway.” First Thorn adds her shouted authority to my own.

  I call out one last bit of advice. “Be sure to mind their tails!” None of us can afford to be tripping over each other.

  By the time the door is incinerated, we’ve only opened ten or so cages. While not nearly as many as I wanted, it’s going to have to do. “Fourteen! Nineteen! Keep freeing who you can. Everyone else, overpower the Moons and strip them of their gear! We’re going to need it to-” I jerk to a stop as a knife buries itself in my chest. Red blooms through the black fabric of my dueling jacket as I stagger backwards.

  A Crimson Moon confidently cuts down a Thorn and one of the Scaled prisoners before closing the distance to finish the job.

  Second cries out in anger. But he’s not going to reach me in time.

  I trace the onyx trim of my glove, conjuring the ruby red rapier with an onyx lined grip just in time to intercept the crescent blade. A sudden appearance of my own weapon catches the Moon by surprise, cutting deep into his shoulder.

  I press the advantage while I have it. There’s no room for mistakes against the likes of them. No sooner do I deepen the wound, he manages to curve his crescent blade around my own.

  Metal bites into my shoulder.

  Both of us stagger backwards, but it is enough of an opening for Amari’s sister to leap at him from behind. While Second Thorn breaks his wrist, she sinks clawed fingers into the gap I opened in his shoulder plating. The Crimson Moon is forced to his knees between the two of them.

  I take the opportunity to run him through. A blade through the eye, quick and clean.

  That’s one down.

  Three to go.

  Two javelins manage to find gaps in the armor of the Crimson Moons. It’s enough for Ninth and her Howlers to wrestle another to the ground. Before they can do any real damage, Iitharna rips a javelin out of his leg and spears one of her sisters.

  It is enough that the downed Moon can recover.

  I offer a fallen javelin failed to harm the first Crimson Moon to the First Thorn. Of everyone present, she’s by far the best now that I’ve sustained injuries.

  Second begins to don a helmet and arm guards, the easiest parts of the armor to take.

  As Amari’s sister helps steady me and ensures I can still fight, First Thorn confidently lodges a javelin into a gap between the shoulder and neck of Iitharna. She staggers backward in an attempt to apply pressure to a potentially fatal wound.

  The Crimson Moons try to close ranks and retreat to the hall, but the two remaining naga are happy to sink fangs into the exposed flesh of both Crimson Moons that a now armored Second and Amari’s sister manage to subdue.

  “Just one more!” I call out. “Howlers! Thorns! Get your best fighters in armor. These four won’t be the last we have to kill!”

  Iitharna spits blood before reaching for one of her throwing knives.

  Nineteen shoves me aside, taking the knife to his side in my stead.

  By the time I’m back on my feet, the situation has changed for the worse.

  Vylia’s Twelfth Prince strides into the chamber. “What have we here?”

  “Utter madness.” Iitharna chokes out the words with bitterness as they fail to stem the flow of blood. “They’re traitors! The whole lot of them!”

  The Twelfth Prince shows off his fangs with a smile as he spreads his palms wide. “Is that so? And here I was beginning to believe you Lunarians didn’t know how to serve entertainment with your meals.”

  Second Thorn is the first to plant himself in the path of the approaching Prince, but his words are more aimed at Iitharna. “You put your own in cages! For what?”

  Iitharna’s slurred words are drowned out by the Twelfth Princes’s laughter. “For me. Unfortunately for Iitharna here, I don’t care about your crippled or who is disloyal! All I crave is knowing that you’re desperate to survive when I drain the life from you.”

  “You’ll not feed on me or mine!” Second lashes out with a curved blade.

  The Twelve Prince flashes a murderous grin as he catches him by the wrist. “Oh? Then maybe I’ll make you watch.” With a loud crack, he crushes both the chitinous armor and Second’s wrist they are nothing.

  Something white flashes from his other hand, piercing through the chitinous plate that a Howler managed to don.

  Both of Twelfth Prince’s attackers crumple at his feet. Not dead, but no longer a factor. He pauses only to withdraw a blood covered knife. “Huh. Well would you look at that. I really do have to hand it to you Iitharna. I quite like this knife. Iron ice, was it?”

  Both the remaining nagas hiss.

  “Ah. I’m being insensitive, aren’t I? You’re the ones I must really thank.” He leers at the scaled naga as he drinks the blood from its tip.

  I… Don’t like our odds.

  I’ve already seen Aelinore rip over a hundred cinder blighted corpses reanimated by persistent gemstones apart like it is nothing. As living creatures of flesh and blood, we’re going to go down far more easily than that.

  And this is the Prince who bested both of them.

  He looked just as smug in the gemstone memory as he does now.

  The Twelfth Prince only seems to grow more delighted with every throwing knife and javelin that pierces his flesh.

  He just stands there and laughs as a naga attempts to entangle him before sinking fangs into his flesh.

  Wait. Aelinore said they were susceptible to poison, right?

  The Twelfth Prince’s bite proves to be far more immediately effective.

  After the second naga drops dead at his feet, he kicks aside the offending corpse in his first display of irritation. Every javelin he plucks from his flesh is returned with far more force than any of us could manage.

  First Thorn really does take a javelin through the eye this time.

  Not like last night.

  I… Wish I could say I didn’t flinch at the sight of her corpse hitting the ground.

  It gets harder to breathe no matter how much I tell myself that I was willing to kill her myself when she screamed to my face that I’m no sister of hers.

  The tears still sting my eyes even as I try to tell myself that this is what she deserves.

  That she made my life as a Watcher miserable.

  Why is it her death that makes me lose my composure?

  No one deserves this.

  The anger I feel burns with the same intensity as it did last night in the tower.

  I run the Fourteenth Prince through the heart and he doesn’t even have the good grace to die on the spot.

  He just shakes his head at me and wrenches the blade from my grasp, breaking two of my fingers in the process. “Iitharnaaaaa. What is Mel’Viora going to think about you harming a guest of honor? You do realize what this means, right?” And with an utter disregard for those of us who are fighting for our lives, the Twelfth Prince just turns his back on me.

  I scream as Amari’s sister seizes the opportunity to pull me back and away. But I was helpless long before she secured her arms around me. So I just watch, finding no satisfaction or relief as the Twelfth Prince wastes time caving in Iitharna’s skull.

  So much senseless death.

  I cease my struggling and let Amari’s sister carry me to safety, knowing that the Twelfth Prince is now only putting up a token effort of resistance as he seems to decide at random who to stop from escaping the room. Maybe he’s just attempting to make it look convincing.

  To think I was willing to die saving everyone I could from monsters who are toying with us!

  I close my eyes to the senseless carnage and just focus on working through the nonsense of emotions. This nightmare isn’t over. I’m going to need to be useful if I want us to properly escape.

  It is better this way, I try to assure myself.

  If any of us can survive this, then we should all make an effort to save as many as we can.

  Otherwise all of this would just be wretched and cruel and pointless.

  Why do I have to work so hard to get everyone working together while the oppressive cunts who rule can get away with killing each other for the slightest of reasons?

  I’m still trying to find an outlet for my directionless anger when Amari’s sister puts me down.

  I try to think about anything else as she does what is necessary to patch me up and stop me from bleeding out.

  I know this to be logical.

  That we stop and recover is important.

  But I’m just so furious I don’t know what to do with myself. It is almost bad enough that I worry about lashing out at the next person to touch me.

  And then it happens.

  So I hit them.

  I hit them as hard as I can with an already wounded hand.

  And I hit something hard.

  Hard enough to break another finger on someone’s stupid scales!

  Who even wears scale mail?

  I blink.

  As I meet Aelinore’s eyes, I feel my furious spiral of thoughts lose their grip on me.

  “Hey-” Is all they manage to say before I cling tight to them.

  And I just start to fall apart.

  It’s nothing but tears now.

  They try to assure me. “It’s okay. I have you.”

  It’s not.

  It really isn’t.

  “Cerya and I have been looking everywhere for you.” They start to explain.

  But I’m so far past caring about any of that right now.

  I just… I need something to cling to.

  “Promise me something.” I find myself whispering.

  “Anything at all.” They say.

  No hesitation.

  I just… Appreciate that for a moment.

  “Don’t let any of us out of your sight?” I’m too out of sorts to specify that it’s not a question. Or clarify. Or consider what they’ve been through in all this time or...

  “I promise I’ll stay close.”

  I… Run out of things to say.

  The rush and urgency of fighting for our lives is slipping.

  Every wound is starting to ache.

  But maybe I don’t have to fight anymore.

  “Can you walk for me?” They ask, their voice gentle.

  I nod. But half hope they’ll carry me anyway.

  They take me by my one good hand, “You can lean on me if you need to.”

  So I do.

  It isn’t until Aelinore has led me around around enough to check on a comfortingly large amount of survivors that I realize no one has come to shout at or attack us.

  That realization alone is enough for me to breathe a sigh of relief and let down my guard. I squeeze Aelinore’s hand, thankful that they reached for the same words of comfort I shared with them after our confrontation with Mel’Viora.

  Even more than the their promise, I cling to the certainty of knowing I can trust someone who cares to take over from here.

  Second and Nineteenth Thorns are nursing wounds but both are alive. Seven others of our planting all made it out okay.

  Ninth is holding the Howler she fought alongside us in order to save.

  Even the last naga never seems to stray far from Aelinore or I after exchanging a few words.

  After counting, it looks like we managed to free another thirty prisoners who have all gathered in the chamber where we stopped to lick our wounds.

  It’s not much, but I can look into the approving expression of Amari’s sister and know that we saved who we could.

  I suppose I can take comfort in that too.