Warrior of the Moon

21

Tarin coughed the dust out of his mouth as they reappeared on a rocky plateau. More black, volcanic rock jutted out on either side of a shallow canyon that he and his mother stood up above in their current position. He could tell immediately that it was not a natural landform, and it was not pretty, either; just dark and gloomy with the suns hiding behind the clouds.

Worst of all, he could see her armies, filling up the entire landscape. They nearly blended in with the rock, packed together and extended outward as far as he could see.

"We're at the northeastern edge of the Rosecrest Mountains, Tarin," his mother informed him, a relaxed hand sitting atop his shoulder the only restraint she bothered with. "In fact, this plateau used to be a mountain, but I needed something a bit easier to march my armies out from. So I flattened it with the other Fae who stand behind me. The magic we cast out was so hot that it melted it. What you see is the remains of the magma. I took the liberty of calling it 'Mistress' Mesa.' Funny, isn't it?"

"Because you cast a sick spell over a king to try to have a second chance at a crown?" Tarin spat, because of course that was why she called herself the Mistress. She was Grtyza, the barmaid who had somehow convinced King Agros to lay with her not once, but twice during his travels. She had wanted to rule, just as she had attempted to trick her way onto the throne beside Micah. When it did not work, she sent the child she had gotten out of the deal, Iliss, to live in the castle and do her dirty work from the inside.

Celestine just chuckled and gave him a slight push, making him walk ahead of her as they began to make their way down the steep rock wall. "Third chance, actually, Tarin. If you're going to try to insult me, you might as well do it properly. The factions that formed at the end of Kyon's reign only began to stir because I stirred them. It was my first attempt at gaining followers, you know. They weren't very good, but they were enough to kill a basically untrained king when he came riding to stop them."

Tarin whipped around, reaching for one of the swords at his back, but she just waved her hand, looking bored. His arms automatically came zipping down to his sides, pinned there by her magic. "Oh, please, Tarin," she sighed. "Don't make me bring you back to your cave before I show you everything."

Tarin thrashed against the invisible restraints anyway. He had already seen the masses of Infernals she had here, already knew that if she had Infernals to spare to linger here while different hosts of them had taken Azure, that the numbers might be far more even than any of them had suspected.

"Enough," Celestine finally hissed, and he dropped to the ground like a stone as his legs were suddenly snapped together as well. Before his head could hit the rock, his mother's magic lifted him upright and began to glide him along before her. She slid down the side of the mesa with practiced ease.

The sea of Infernals was no less horrifying once Tarin was on level with them. It just made the threat seem more real. He knew as he looked out upon them that they were not an illusion his mother had cast to try to fool him: they were really here, awaiting the order to move on the Realm he loved.

"What are you waiting for?" he spat out. He considered using his magic to get away, but held off for now. The least he could do was try to attain more information on her forces before escaping.

Celestine smiled at him. "To move this army? The last of my reinforcements from Perpetuum. Once Pevana brings in the last of her Eternals to join me, this army will march south."

Even if his Wolves or commanders knew of her plan, they would have to split their armies in two to face the full threat. He had a bad feeling that all of the Infernals they had dealt with till now were child's play. Celestine would have made sure that the men she kept for her final march across the Realm would be suited to the task, and the Fae she had turned to her side would be invaluable as well. He flashed back to what it was like facing Tolamar and his little squad. Without Theo's help, he was not sure what he might have had to sacrifice in order to defeat them.