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Sorrow filled her beautiful face "And I you" She gestured to the western gate, to the soldiers waiting for its final cleaving "Until the end?"

Aedion hefted his shield, flipping the Sword of Orynth in his hand, freeing the stiffness that had seized his fingers "I will find you again," he promised her "In whatever life comes after this"

Lysandra nodded "In every lifetiether, they turned toward the stairs that would take the eh the battle, through the world

Aedion went still

Whirled toward the direction of that horn, to the south Beyond Morath’s tee ranks Beyond the sea of blackness, to the foothills that bordered the edge of Theralis’s sprawling plain

Again, that horn blared, a roar of defiance

"That’s no horn of Morath," Lysandra breathed

And then they appeared Along the edge of the foothills A line of golden-armored warriors, foot soldiers and cavalry alike More andacross the crest of the final hill

Filling the skies, stretching into the horizon, flew hty, armored birds with riders Ruks

And before them all, sword raised to the sky as that horn blew one last ti like a s on the Lord of the North, was Aelin

CHAPTER 106

Through the ancient, forgotten pathways of Oakwald, through the Perranth Mountains, the Lord of the North and Little Folk had led theainst doom, they had made their last push northward

They had barely stopped to rest Had left any unnecessary supplies behind

The ruk scouts had not dared to fly ahead for fear of being discovered by Morath For fear of ruining the advantage in surprise

Six days ofbehind her

Inhospitable terrain s The trees blocked out the falling snow

They had traveled through the night yesterday And when dawn had broken, the Lord of the North had knelt beside Aelin and offered himself as her mount

There was no saddle for him; none would ever be permitted or needed Any rider he allowed on his back, Aelin kneould never fall

Some had knelt when she rode by Even Dorian and Chaol had inclined their heads

Rowan, atop a fierce-eyed Darghan horse, had only nodded As if he had always expected her to wind up here, at the head of the are of Orynth

She had fitted her battle-crown to her head, along with the arathered in Anielle, and outfitted herself hatever spare weapons Fenrys and Lorcan handed to her

Yrene, Elide, and the healers would remain in the rear--until ruks could carry them into Orynth Dorian and Chaol would lead the wild anate royals on the left, Sartaq and Nesryn in the skies with the ruks And Aelin and Roith Fenrys, Lorcan, and Gavriel, would take the center

The army had spread out as they’d neared the foothills beyond Orynth, the hills that would take thee of Theralis’s plain, and offer their first view of the city beyond it

Heart ha, Aelin had ascended the last of those hills, the highest and steepest of them, and looked upon Orynth for the first tih her

Where a lovely white city had once glittered between river and plain and ned The turquoise Florine flowed black

The sheer size, the booainst its walls, in the skies above it …

She hadn’t realized How large Morath’s army would be How small and precious Orynth seeate," Fenrys an’s army fanned out around them, across the hill The crest of a wave soon to break Yet even the Darghan soldiers hesitated, horses shifting, at the arrave, yet undaunted, as he took in the eneion above theht at the city walls," Gavriel observed

Indeed, she could barely make out the red cloaks

Manon Blackbeak had not broken her vow

And neither would she

Aelin glanced at her hand, hidden beneath the gauntlet To where a scar should have been