Sacrifice (The Snow Queen #2)(29)

“Princess!” the leading officer—Colonel Danr—shouted.

“Coming!” Rakel shouted as soldiers and magic users scrambled into position. Rakel felt a pang of longing for Halvor—this was the first time she would enter combat without him—but she set her shoulders and joined Colonel Danr at the front of the caravan.

“Limited foot soldiers.” Snorri pointed at the incoming forces, who marched down the snow-crusted hill. “Most are decorated officers—magic users. That is Tenebris.” He raised a finger to point to a smudgy character standing on the top of the hill.

Rakel stared in disbelief. “He’s sending his men down without him?” Halvor always fought with his men, and Rakel herself was usually among the first to fight.

“Can you act first, Princess? Farrin will soon be on you, drawing you off,” Colonel Danr said.

Rakel extended her fingers, feeling the cool, restless snow coating the hillside. “Keep your men back,” she warned, and then she pulled.

The snow coating the hillside rushed down the hill in an avalanche, throwing soldiers to their knees and rolling them down the hill. Some resisted and stayed standing, but their formation was ruined.

Rakel, watching wildly for Farrin, then covered the hill with a layer of slick ice. Instead of dragging the temperature of the ice down, she nudged it up so a little bit of water and condensation beaded on the ice, making it extra treacherous.

The ice took down almost all the soldiers and some of the officers. A number of the magic users started using their powers, trying to counteract Rakel’s magic.

The mercenaries, when they recovered, tried shooting arrows down at the Verglas army. Rakel raised an ice shield, blocking all the shots.

“Line up! Magic users, at your will! Archers—on my signal!” Colonel Danr shouted.

“I don’t see Colonel Graydim anywhere,” Liv said. She stuck close to Snorri—her assigned guard for the trip.

Rakel’s brow furrowed. “Or any of the magic users under him.” Is this a trap? Why isn’t he here? Colonel Danr nodded, and Rakel shattered the ice shield.

“Now!” Colonel Danr shouted.

Verglas archers fired arrows at the enemy, engaging troops. The Chosen magic users swept down the treacherous hill, drawing closer.

The Verglas magic users met them.

Frodi and Eydìs teamed up and went after a group of four magic users. Ragnar stayed behind them and summoned his elf-friend, Genovefa. They stood by Steinar, smiting anyone who struck out at them.

“Princess!” Crow shouted. He flew past her, almost slipping on a patch of snow. “You gotta attack Tenebris—he’s about to launch his magic!”

Rakel ripped her gaze from the battle to Tenebris, but it was already too late. Inky black magic leaked from him, snaking its way down the hill.

It didn’t hit any of his soldiers, but he seemed to be feeling out the group. Instead of affecting the entire caravan, he hit a small group of five Verglas troops.

“Liv,” Rakel started.

She was already running, Snorri at her back. Phile met them as they reached the archers, and she helped Snorri grab the struggling soldiers and hold them so Liv could touch them.

It worked as smoothly as it had the time Rakel was cursed. As soon as she laid her hand on them, the magic was neutralized.

“What can I do, Colonel Danr?” Rakel asked.

The commanding officer roared, “Pikemen, in position!” then turned his attention to her. “You know your magic best, but I don’t think it would be wise to use it at full power.”

“You think it’s a trap?” Rakel asked, having guessed as much herself.

“The absence of Colonel Graydim feels too convenient,” he said. “If you extensively use your powers and are…er…unavailable, it will be all too easy for a second force to overpower us.”

“You want me to use my powers, but not enough to activate my price,” Rakel said.

“Yes.”

Rakel nodded and eyed the chaotic battlefield. “I agree.”

“Good luck, Princess,” he said.

“To you, as well.” She turned to a wave of incoming soldiers and froze their weapons in blocks of ice, debilitating them. Next, she caged two Chosen magic users and encased an additional one in a glacier of ice when another oily stream of magic crept across the field.

“Snorri, Phile!” Rakel pointed to the incoming stream of magic when they looked to her.

Phile gave her a thumbs up. She grabbed Liv’s wrist and dragged her after the dark magic, Snorri stalking in their shadow.

The earth groaned as a Chosen magic user knelt and shook the ground like an old rug.

Rakel staggered when the earth shuddered. Use as little magic as possible, how to… “Oh.” Rakel formed a slew of snowballs with ice cores and pummeled the magic user in the head. The magic user toppled, and the earth was still once more.

This is much easier without Farrin. Rakel thought, a little in awe of how effortless it was to use her magic against magic users without the colonel brandishing his sword at her. Unless Tenebris uses a large amount of his magic, we will win.

Happy with this realization, Rakel countered a few more magic users and stopped some soldiers, when she saw a streak of black out of the corner of her eye.

Tenebris, still sitting on the top of the hill, was sending down a river of his cursing magic—more than he had used in his test run. Oddly enough, it wasn’t aimed for the heart of the Verglas forces, or even for the front lines. The black, tarry magic oozed down the hillside, crawling towards the outer edges of the formation.