"Awena!"

Eoin reared as Gaerloms screamed out of the woods at the Obsidians. It was all Kindra could do to wrap her arm around his neck and hold on. As he came crashing down, she almost lost her sword, but she yanked his head and kicked his sides and he began running along the back of the Obsidians, penning them in to their death on the spears of the fishermen.

The men on the other side of the clearing attacked with the cry of "For Wain!" and Kindra turned Eoin in that direction. Pike was on the back edge of the fight and turned to run. Kindra pointed the horse his way before kicking Eoin into a fast gallop.

Instead of fleeing, Pike grabbed a spear from the ground and ran towards Kindra. They met in the open, away from the fighting.

She raised the sword as they barreled down on Pike, but as she swung, he held the shaft of the spear up. She saw the carved mark of the long-eared fox and tried to pull back as the blade caught the wood. Pike laughed, Eoin reared, and Kindra lost her balance and fell off the horse.

She hit the ground flat on her back as her breath went out. Pike kicked the sword from her hand, grinned, and snapped the ruined shaft of the spear over his knee.

"No," she gasped, trying to catch her breath as Eoin cantered away to safety. Pike threw the blunt end of the spear to the side.

"You've lost," he said, the glee in his voice unmistakable. "You’ve failed, Bride of Obsid."

She cringed from the name, but spoke in a weak voice. "I won. Your army is destroyed. You can kill me, but Fie Eoin is safe."

"Fie Eoin is dead. You chief is dead. Your High Priestess is dead. Your sister is mine, by her own will."

"You lie." Kindra pushed herself up, but Pike grabbed her by the hair and pressed her father's broken spear to her throat.

"You will die a nameless failure," Pike hissed in her ear. "The traitor who married the enemy for power. And I will take your sister every night until she begs to join you in death."

Kindra could see the discarded spear from the corner of her eye and stretched her hand towards it. Her fingertips barely touched it. "Please," she whispered in prayer to the Gods.

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Pike laughed. "Are you begging me to spare you?" He leaned into her, pushing her closer to the spear. "Beg me again, Nameless. Beg me to make your death swift."

Just a little further and she would have it. "Please, Jorsen."

He pushed her hard into the dirt and her fingers wrapped around the spear. "My name is Pi…”

She slashed his face with the broken end as the spear tip slipped across her throat, too shallow to kill. Pike roared in anger as he fell, and she pinned him to the ground with the shaft under his chin, just like the first day they sparred. He slashed at her back with the spear tip and clawed at her face with his hand, but she pushed harder. Pain ripped through the mark on her back, and power rushed up through the ground. She slammed the spear down on his throat until it gave. The noise he made as he tried to suck in air was the most painful sound she had ever heard. His hands fell, releasing her father's spear, but his eyes continued to glare.

She stared back, arms shaking and chest heaving, headless to the victories on either side until someone took her by the shoulders.

"He's gone." It was Monk's voice, and he pulled her from Pike's body. "You won."

Her hands released the spear as if it were hot and her whole body began to shake. Monk wrapped his arms around her until it stopped, and she looked at him.

"Gar?"

"The Faye took him into the woods. He's alive."

She stood and ran on shaking legs to the forest. "Gar!"

"Kindra." His voice was weak, and she turned to the right, scanning between the trees until she found him. Relief overtook her and she collapsed on top of him, arms around his chest until he coughed and groaned. She sat back and saw the blood, old and new, staining his shirt.

"What happened?" She lifted his shirt and pressed her lips together. It was obvious he tried to clean and dress it, but the wound was angry and weeping with red lines of infection.

"That bad?" he said as he watched her face.

She dropped his shirt, unwilling to tell him the truth. It was worse than any of the injuries she’d seen on Fennec. "I'll get a priestess."

He grabbed her wrist as she tried to stand. "They know where I am.” His eyes were fevered and his arms weak as he pulled her down and touched the burned side of her face, then her neck where she was bleeding. "Oh, my love."

She flinched at the pain across her cheek, but didn't pull away. Her injuries weren’t half as bad as his. "I hope you didn't want me for my pretty face."

"I've never seen anyone so beautiful."

She put a hand to his forehead, but he grabbed it and kissed the palm. "I mean it. When I saw you flying across the field on the horse, I knew it was the most beautiful sight I would ever see."

She smiled, but glanced at the blood on her hands. Aledan blood. Her smile slipped from her face. "I killed your brother."

Gar lifted her chin and when he spoke his eyes betrayed him. "He was not my brother any longer."

Tears began rolling down her cheeks as he pulled her into his arms. They stayed that way until the Faye found them.