Page 27 of Wings of Ice and Steel

Fear trickled through her gut. She’d never much cared for whether she made it through a battle, but the terror she had felt for Ariadnne as she bled out changed that. Her eyes blinked, thoughts of the varanya’s dark hair, matted with blood, and faded, honey-kissed skin rising unbidden. She swallowed. Her reaction to seeing Ariadnne like that had been visceral.

She knew, damnit, that feelings like these would lead nowhere good. The varanya was out of reach, but she was struggling to care.

She’d almost watched her die.

They crested the wall, and Ariadnne’s grunt as a dozen arrows struck home brought Nieve back to the moment. Her nostrils flared, anger coursing through her veins; as if Ariadnne hadn’t suffered enough.

To cap it off, despite the firedrake’s best efforts, several siege towers had locked onto the wall, humans swarming across the gap. Two other towers were in flames, and the firedrakes were hammering a third.

Ariadnne’s muscles bunched, and Nieve’s heart leapt skyward as they plummeted toward the first tower, Ariadnne swooping dangerously close to the wall as she ripped the top platform clean off, sending soldiers flying.

She smashed the supports of the next with her head, sending her listing to the side, getting sloppy. A sign she hadn’t had nearly enough rest.

Beside her, Josef reached for another handful of arrows. The company were flagging too, more arrows skittering over Ariadnne’s scales and making their mark as the Gales’ wind shields failed. Nieve’s heart clenched to see Ariadnne’s beautiful white hide turn pink as blood streaked her sides. Then Finnick called out, an arrow lodged in his thigh; a lucky shot from an archer on top of yet another lumbering tower that had almost reached the wall. Nieve herself barely ducked to avoid an arrow to the shoulder.

Fights erupted along the wall as more towers made contact, the humans swarming like ants over a carcass, trying to get to the gate.

‘Ariadnne! Hold steady!’ Nieve yelled, making a split decision. She unclipped her harness, praying the dragon had heard as she slid down Ariadnne’s shoulder towards her wing, struggling to find grip on the slippery scales. She had seconds to process what she was going to do, but she had never been one to think first.

Ariadnne’s great wing swept down, and on the upstroke, Nieve took off, sprinting along the broad main limb to the central wing joint. She felt Ariadnne’s head swivel and muttered a curse at the sight of the daunting distance to the wall. With a prayer to Dianea, she leapt, Ariadnne bellowing as the wall came up fast. With a clatter, Nieve landed, rolling nimbly to her feet. She barely had time to be smug before the startled humans closed in. She whipped her blades free.

With a whisper, magic skittered down the steel, igniting the blades in icy fire. The advancing humans paused, glancing at each other, but Nieve didn’t hesitate, plunging into her well of power—which erupted in an intoxicating rush. Energy barrelled through her limbs, breath freezing as spiderwebs of ice shot across the floor.

Iceling, they called her.

Oh, she was so much more than that.

She moved as the ice brushed the closest men, freezing their legs and leaving them screaming as she cleaved between them in a whirlwind of blades. Her destructive ability set her apart. It was what had drawn Sol’s eye from his lofty perch above the southern killing fields of Illian’sa. She’d been a footsoldier; a nobody seeking escape, defending a province far from her home. Lord Gastalt’s army would have been decimated if not for Nieve—who had frozen the great Tomoko river as the raiders crossed, buying them precious time.

Feats like that were not normal amongst elemental fae. Not alone. When her homeland chose to imbue Nieve with ice, her Iceling father had been proud; she’d proven worthy to follow his path. But when it became apparent that her magic surpassed his, things changed. He made her promise to keep the extent of her power a secret. It scared him. Sometimes, it scared her too.

But now he was dead and there was no one to fear for her.

The humans tried to run. Nieve cut them down, brutally efficient as she picked up momentum. A glance to the side; Ariadnne was keeping pace, and a fierce grin tugged Nieve’s lips as she turned back to her task. Fae began to cheer, throwing themselves into the battle to finish the now-scrambling humans she left in her wake.

One wide-eyed youngster gave her pause, barely holding his weapon as she approached. She felt a pang of guilt. The poor thing muttered something unintelligible in his terror.

‘The demons…we had to—’

His words were cut short as a fae soldier buried a blade in his chest. There was no time to do little more than curse the humans for sending their young to war before she needed to move.

Slash left, spin right, jump. The movements flowed through her limbs as easy as breathing, her magic creating easy, frozen targets for the defending fae. Soon the tide turned and they had the upper hand. She raised her sword, and they roared their approval.

Ariadnne was struggling to keep close to the wall as they neared the keep, giving Nieve only a small window to get back or she’d be finishing the battle on the battlements. Fitting, perhaps, but something nudged her back to the dragon. Gritting her teeth, she sprinted towards the edge of the parapet, towards Ariadnne. As if reading her mind, Ariadnne dipped to intercept as Nieve launched herself into the air. She landed against the dragon’s hide, scrambling to find grip the harness.

Loose hair blew into Nieve’s eyes, blurring her vision. She felt herself start to slip when a hand grabbed her arm. Dantro stared down at her, a wild grin stretching ear to ear.

‘Gods!’ he whooped, tugging her to safety. ‘You’ve got one hell of a backbone!’

Nieve gave him a shaky smile, arms trembling as adrenaline faded. Grip over grip, she made her way back along the ridge of Ariadnne’s spine until she was on point and could latch into her harness.

Around her, the crew cheered, singing her praises. Acceptance rolled through her; she’d made an impression. Even the General shot her a rare, approving smile.

*

The human clans fled following the loss of the last of their towers, their once formidable mass reduced to a disorganised rabble. Ariadnne’s flanks heaved as horns blared, releasing cavalry to chase down the survivors. The Guild’s part was done.

Melixanthe signalled for them to return to camp. Nieve clutched the leather of her harness as Ariadnne dipped sideways, wings shaking with strain. Dust swirled as the ground hurtled to meet them, and knights slid excitedly down Ariadnne’s dull, bloodied flanks, their taut bodies humming with adrenaline. Nieve couldn’t help her lips twitching as her boots hit solid earth.