“You,” Bravi breathed, and nearly dropped her crossbow. For a terrible moment, it looked like the beast might dislodge the cord, but she pulled hard on it while staring at us in disbelief.
“Let us help you,” Dorian said.
Bravi nodded numbly. Dorian stooped. I climbed atop his back without hesitation; we’d perfected our silent communication in the Games.
“Hold the line steady,” Dorian called. Bravi grunted as she pulled it taut using all her strength. I grabbed on to him and took a dagger from my weapons belt. It was nice to feel the cold bite of it in my hand again. The hunter changed his tactic to firing at us, but someone else fired at him from behind. The hunter snarled, his attention diverted as he fought off the new enemy from his rear. We managed to climb the rope in mere seconds thanks to Dorian’s speed. He immediately launched himself at the hunter, while I aimed for the base of the beast’s spine. I held on for dear life at the base of the saddle, which was wide enough to fit four bodies. Had the hunter lost a companion? I looked for the spine. If it’s half humanoid, it’s got to have some vertebrae to cut through.
Bravi grunted as she strained against the beast. I threw my weight behind my knife and slashed it with a furious movement, but one of the wings managed to escape the cord. It smacked me straight in the face. I hissed with pain, but it was almost nice to feel true pain again after our time in the Higher Plane. Adrenaline, pure and without any of the darkness from the curse’s old fix, coursed through me. Dorian tussled with the hunter as I lodged the blade into the black wing.
The wing’s flesh was tough to cut through. I managed to make a four-inch slice across the surface, causing the beast to shriek and lurch to the side. Dorian used the momentum to shove the hunter out of the saddle. He claimed the saddle for himself and reached down for me. The bat monster shuddered beneath us as I grabbed Dorian’s hand, and he pulled me up against him. I heard the cord of Bravi’s crossbow return. We careened toward the ground, and Dorian rolled off the beast as soon as the body struck the dirt, pulling me with him. Dorian wrapped me in his cloak, using the fabric to protect us from flying rocks and debris.
The world swam. I found my bearings and scrambled upward. Sen watched with mild interest. Bravi grinned with deranged glee, and then her mouth opened.
“You absolute lunatics,” she said hoarsely, shaking her head in disbelief. “You’re here. You’re actually here.” Her face hardened, but for a brief moment, her gaze went glassy. She managed a stiff, pissed-off smile. “You have some nerve, showing up in the middle of a battle and taking down my beast. Where the hell have you guys been?” That was when Bravi spotted Sen, who stood over the twitching body of the hunter. His dead muscles pulsed, and Sen stooped to examine the body.
Bravi gave Sen an odd look as the arbiter stared at the hunter’s body. Bravi opened her mouth and then shut it, as if thinking better of wasting time on questioning Sen’s presence right now.
“It’s a long story,” Dorian said. I nodded, feeling a rush of joy just to see Bravi again. “We’ll explain later, but right now we need to warn you. There’s a second wave of hunters on the other side of camp.”
Bravi scoffed. “That’s your reunion present for me?” She cast a doubtful look across the camp, where nothing remained of the hunters but a few scattered corpses.
“They’re just beyond the wall, and apparently the rulers have figured out how to make themselves invisible, so you’re welcome for the information.” I smirked. “And it’s great to see you again.”
Bravi’s face softened. “Of course, I trust you two. Even when this one runs off like he’s king of the world all the time.” She raised a teasing chin in Dorian’s direction. “I’d follow you guys anywhere, even if I’m utterly furious at the moment. So, invisible hunters?” She placed her fingers in her mouth and released an ear-piercing whistle. A number of wildlings and vampires rushed over to us.
“Team Grayson reporting,” Kono wheezed as he ran up, clutching his side. “One of those skimmers nailed me right in the—” He stopped short when he saw us. “You guys!” He wasn’t originally on Team Grayson with us. I wanted to ask about Gina and Zach, but there was no time.
Bravi lifted a hand. “Kono, grab half of Team Than and anyone with a decent grasp of the crossbow. There’s a second wave of invisible fighters apparently hiding in wait for us.” She called out to the closest watchtower, “Reshi, I need two mechanical jaspeths on the southern end of the camp, if you can spare them.”
Reshi had dismounted her large mechanical jaspeth and was attending to the firing system in one of the raised columns. She spotted us and offered a quick wave. Two wildlings flew toward us on the smaller jaspeths.
Bravi turned to us with a satisfied grin as a group of a dozen Coalition members ran to join us. Their vests might have been torn, their faces worn, but they were ready to fight. I burned with pride. They obviously had been through a lot, but they were still prepared to persevere.
The sight reminded me of why we fought as hard as we did, because we did it together. Sen flickered her gaze between us and Bravi, clearly wielding a calm intrigue in the way that only an arbiter could get away with. Dorian motioned for everyone to follow him. We fell into silence as we moved away from the ongoing chaos. Two more skimmers had fallen. Members of the Coalition were still firing away from the towers at oncoming skimmers.
“Near the wall?” Kono whispered. “I can’t sense anything.”
Fear pricked me. “You won’t. They can cover their auras, but perhaps the makers or the wildlings can sense the magic they’re using.” I threw a glance at one of the wildlings on the jaspeth contraption. It was incredibly silent, despite the wings. He was the one who had helped Kono take out a skimmer earlier. He shook his head.
Okay, that’s not great. Makers and wildlings should have been able to sense magic up close, but not even they felt it. I met Dorian’s gaze with worry in my furrowed brow. We were in the same boat as our allies. What if the hidden team had moved since we’d been in battle?
Sen cleared her throat. “You know, I can sense them. They’re hiding in the trees.” Every head turned toward her. She spoke in her usual borderline dreamy tone. “This is the information you need to protect the camp and initiate our plan, correct?” A maker with feline features leaned forward, openly peering at the sea-green color of Sen’s skin.
Bravi rounded on her. “And who, exactly, are you that you can sense what none of us can?”
“An interested party,” Sen replied blandly. Bravi curled her lips into an aggravated snarl, looking on the verge of saying something Kane-like. I jumped between them and dropped my voice to a whisper. Even if our enemies had retreated to the trees, hunter hearing was excellent.
“We can make introductions later, but we need to move forward. Which way, Sen?”
Bravi pressed her mouth into a skeptical line. Sen scanned the wall in front of us. The tall treetops swayed, flirting just above the edge of the wall. Sen took off toward one of the built-in staircases, and we followed. Bravi directed us to a hidden door in the back wall from the stairs. I imagined a design component originally thought of by the hunters who lived here in case they needed to sneak in or out.