fourth wing xadens pov

chapter 35

Chapter 35: Choices

I hand Garrick the missive, as the others rush for the battlements to join Imogen and Liam. I watch his face as he reads it, see it drain of all colour. This isn’t just about survival; it’s a test.

Command knows.

“I can’t see shit down there,” I hear Bodhi say.

“Well, I can,” Liam replies, “and if those are what I think they are, we’re fucked.”

“Don’t tell me what you think they are – tell me what you’re sure of,” I order, shedding the guilt and panic for leadership and control in an instant. I can still feel fear pulsing under my skin, but I yank up my walls against it, drawing on years of training and compartmentalisation.

I don’t get to be scared. I did this. It’s my job to get us out of this alive.

“The letter says this is a test of your command,” Garrick says, scanning the letter again like it will have somehow changed its meaning. “You have the choice of abandoning the village of our enemy or abandoning command of your wing.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Bodhi reaches back and takes the letter, one hand still clinging to the battlement.

“They’re testing our loyalty without actually saying it.” I cross my arms, trying to find some strength. “According to the missive, if we leave now, we’ll make it to the new location of headquarters for Fourth Wing at Eltuval in time to carry out our orders for War Games, but if we leave, the trading post of Resson and its occupants will be destroyed.”

“By what?” Imogen asks.

“Venin,” says Liam.

“You’re positive?” I ask, clinging onto the tiny chance that I have monumentally misjudged this.

But he nods. “As sure as I can be without having actually seen them before. Four of them. Purple robes. Distended red veins spidering all around bright red eyes. Creepy as shit.”

“Sounds about right,” I say.

“I liked it better when we just delivered the weapons,” Bodhi mutters.

“Oh, and one guy with a giant-ass staff,” Liam says. “And I swear to Dunne, one second the plain was clear and the next they were just… there, walking towards the gates.”

“Red veins?” Imogen asks.

Somehow it’s Violet that answers. Violet who didn’t even know that venin were real an hour ago. “Because magic corrupts their blood as they lose their souls,” she murmurs, looking at me. “Nature likes everything in balance.” Andarna’s words come back to me with haunting clarity.

“If the fables are true, at least,” she says, and her eyes dart about like she’s lost in a memory.

“Seven gryphons have arrived, Wingleader,” Sgaeyl tells me. Everyone else stiffens as they receive the same message from their dragon.

“The guy with the staff just –” Liam starts.

A huge explosion rocks the air and a plume of blue smoke floats upwards from the valley.