A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

63: Sacrifice

Leur

None of us had seen it coming.

There was no alert from the shadows, no warning signs, nothing. They had appeared seemingly out of nowhere in the field below, flaming arrows flying into the camp and lighting it aflame. Pounding drums, screamed battle cries.

Our forces were utterly exhausted from the move, still recovering from the previous battle. This was not the carefully planned destruction of the day before, not controlled, not within a plan. There was only chaos as we drove them back down the hill and into the battlefield below.

But we were outnumbered and outgunned. There was barely any energy remaining in our troops as I watched the battle, barely even a sign of progress as Cassian and Rhys tried desperately to hold the front lines. Azriel and Mor were on the far right of the battlefield, working back to back in sync as they moved. On the left, Tarquin and his forces were trying to hold the line as well. We had already called Helion and Kallias for help. They had responded, said they would get here as fast as possible. Still, it took time to gather an army, to move them. The Winter Court soldiers that had been in the northern areas of the army had arrived, blue and silver armor rushing through the battlefield as they fought side by side with the Darkbringers. Still, we were outnumbered nearly tenfold.

I had been tasked with guarding Feyre and Nesta as we watched the battle below. Nesta had her eyes trained solely on Cassian, Feyre doing the same with Rhysand. I was watching my own mate, wishing desperately to help him. We were behind a glamoured shield, the fires in the camp long since put out. Nobody had been seriously injured, only a few minor burns, but enough of our supplies had been burned to make a difference.

This was a losing battle. I had seen enough of them, fought in enough of them to see it. We needed to pull back now if we had any shot of making it out of here alive. Smoke still hung in the air around us, cut with the unmistakable coppery tang of blood. I was ancy as I stood, bouncing from foot to foot, my hand clenching and unclenching. The beat of the drums, the desperation occuring below- it called to me, My shadows were screeching in my ear for me to go, for me to help.

But I could not. Not yet.

I watched as the Hybern soldiers plowed through Keir's front line, cleaving them apart. They poured past the sheild as the Darkbringers fell, soldier after soldier collapsing in their wake. Azriel and Mor ran for them, the Winter Soldiers attempting to reform the line. But it was too late- the faebane tipped arrows Hybern wielded had found their way through the gap, ripping the power from warrior after warrior.

"Fuck." I cursed under my breath as my mate and Mor took up residence at Kier's sides, the three of them pushing as hard as they could forward to stave off the line from breaking any further.

Cassian was on the other side with Rhys, utterly feral as he pulled on those last dredges of power, Hybern soldiers had already seperated them- the line of Illyrians faltering behind them as they tried desperately to keep it from breaking the way Kier's had. Glowing siphons stuttered and died out as they fell, wings snapping as Hybern tried to shoot them from the sky. Spears were flying through the air, cutting through the smoke, clashing into Illyrian steel as the warriors blocked their killing blows. Rhys's drained power was fading too fast, dozens of soldiers falling under his shadows instead of hundreds. Cassian was surrounded, just a flashes of bright crimson light was all I could make out of my brother. He was holding them off, if only barely- his blades turning with such force that it cut right through the chainmail of the Hybern soldiers around him.

And still, they were pushing us back. Closer and closer to the camp's edge, where workers were trying desperately to repair what had been lost. If they made it up the hill, the three of us would be all that stood between them and execution of us all. A thunderstorm was rolling in overhead, the first drops of rain already spitting into the cloud covered skies. Thunder boomed in the distance, something fierce and strong.

"Leur." Feyre tugged on my arm, pulling me away from the fight and Nesta. Her sister didn't even bother to turn, her focus solely on the battle. She did not flinch, did not balk away from the carnage below. She only stared out, stone faced and utterly pinpointed on one male.

"I need to go." The High Lady said.

I furrowed my brows, "Go where?"

"I know how to catch the Suriel." She breathed, "I've done it twice before. I can get him to tell me information on where the main Hybern troops are located, where the Cauldron is, how to get out of here alive."

I just blinked at her, remembering the memory from Tamlin's mind of Feyre running from the Naga after catching the Suriel.

"Please." She breathed, eyes wild and panicked.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts as I looked at my sister, to think. "I'm not your keeper, Feyre." I answered her, finally, "I'm not going to stop you."

Her panic gave way to something more like shock. I reached out towards her mind, tapping on her shields and forming a bond between us before she closed them again. My hands reached out, my lips repeating an old protection spell in an ancient tongue like a practiced routine as violet power glimmered over her.

"I made a bond for you to call me if you need help and put a protection spell on you." I informed her, magicking a dagger to my hands, "Take this."

Her brows furrowed, "I have a sword and my bow."

"A word of wisdom, always carry a hidden weapon. I like to go with a dagger hidden in my boot." I instructed, "That way, if you drop your sword, you're not fucked."

She nodded, and I reached out, giving her a quick hug, "Call me if you need help."

"I will." She promised.

I let go, watching her vanish into the woods beyond. Her form disappeared into the tree line. One moment, there was a head of dark blonde hair and black leathers and the next she was gone. All that remained was the rain falling faster now, and the thunder booming in the distance.

"He doesn't even see it coming." Nesta whispered, something grace and solemn in her voice.

"What?" I turned back around, running to her side.

A moment of silence, something like utter terror in her eyes. And then she repeated herself, her voice panicked and horrified now, "He doesn't see it coming!"

I followed her line of sight, to where Cassian was taking on four Hybern soldiers at once. Red siphons were glaring, his drained power still pushing as he threw one to the ground and engaged with another. Sparks flew as their swords collided, an intersection of steel pushing against one another as my brother tried to get the upper hand.

But what he did not see was the fifth soldier running for him, coming up quickly from behind, sword drawn and heading straight for Cassian. He was only a few paces away, a few more steps and he would kill him.

Time slowed down to a crawl, and there was nothing but me and the choice. There was nothing but me and every moment I had ever shared with Cassian. Years spent growing up, the day I met him for the first time, all those training sessions, how he'd come home and immediately teach me whatever he had learned that day, the first face I remembered when I had nothing and no one.

Nesta was screaming now, and I stopped thinking. I stopped caring.

I would not lose him, would not lose my family again. Cassian was my brother, and I would not watch him die.

I winnowed without caring about the repercussions, without caring about what I revealed, who I revealed it to. I didn't care about myself, didn't care about the battle, didn't care about anything but saving Cassian.

Gwydion appeared in my hand, my power swirling at my fingertips, but there was no time. No time to go on the defense, no time to do anything but to throw myself in front of him.

The sword plunged straight through my stomach.