Chapter Seventy-Five

On the overlook above Charm Beach, Aeri watches Mikail force himself upright as the men cheer. Mikail ignites twenty more Weian ships with the Flaming Sword and Water Scepter, but he doubles over, vomiting seawater as the mounting toll ravages him. Aeri calculates he cannot sink the remaining fleet before it kills him.

Seeking to save Mikail, Aeri decides to let the enemy land and leverage superior numbers ashore. She asserts command, with Rune’s hesitant approval, and orders waves of flaming arrows at the approaching fleet. Several ships catch fire and sink, but dozens of Weian vessels still close on the beach.

The first galleys ground and unload Weian guards in full steel. Arrows and bolts mostly glance off their armor, and four more ships beach. Rune’s generals send in the first and then a second line of infantry, but despite numerical advantage, Gaya’s troops are cut down by the better-armed, better-trained Weians.

As the slaughter mounts, Mikail lashes out once more, immolating a hundred Weians on the sand to buy a brief respite, then collapses into convulsions, turning purple as the toll overwhelms him. Royo tends him, and Aeri wrestles with breaking her promise not to wield etherum, preparing to intervene as more ships near shore.

With the fleet still vast and Gaya’s lines failing, Aeri steels herself to unleash her relics regardless of the cost. Before she can act, Mikail rises, recognizes the unwinnable calculus, and asks Aeri to kill him to stop the toll and the enemy advance.