It took a couple of moments, but screams started coming from inside. Zayden and Kian’s teams must have found trouble already, and she was jealous. She needed to be in the action.
“Where are they?” she demanded, side-eyeing her partner.
“Calm. They’re mobilizing. If we go in, we’re trapped in halls and rooms too small for us. They’ll come.” He didn’t seem worried. “Zayden and Kian are supposed to bring their groups this way to draw attention. That’s why we sent them that way. Anything to keep Alchan and the others from being harassed or spotted during the assault.”
“He’s right, beloved. Give it a moment.” Mat ran a hand over her lower back.
She growled but waited. Footsteps, running closer, began to fill the night air. Zayden burst out of a door, his men behind him.
“We’ve got a group! More are probably coming!” He grinned wildly.
“Here as well!” Kian roared from across the courtyard.
Mave grinned as the Andinna flooded the courtyard, even continuing to block many of the hallways. The marching stomp of Elvasi was all that was left. Mave looked up, seeing soldiers run out into the courtyard’s second level, a catwalk that ran around the entire thing. Swords began to clash at the bottom doorways.
“Luykas,” she said, nodding up. The soldiers above looked calm, and she realized why as a second row with arrows came out. “Maybe we should take the party to them.”
“Ah. They’re trying to make this a kill box. Figured that would pull them out here.” He sounded amused. “Company! Second floor!” Luykas ordered, yelling it across the courtyard.
She stayed in contact with her fighting partner as they both jumped, completely in tune with each other. They landed on top of two soldiers who had foolishly pulled up their shields, giving them a place to put their feet. She drove a sword into the archer behind him before anyone had time to react. Beside her, Luykas cut into two soldiers trying to block the path to the archers.
They worked in tandem, spinning to take the soldiers off-guard. Mave drove her left sword into the neck of a soldier and her right into the gut on an archer while her partner gutted another Elvasi foot soldier. As they switched again, she caught a glimpse of Matesh, who was easily cutting a path through the smaller soldiers with Zayden at his back. Alone nearby, Kian was waging a personal war. She’d seen him fight but his easy-going nature, like Nevyn, made it easy to forget what kind of warrior he was and how long he’d been fighting.
It was fast, not a moment wasted as they dueled with the Elvasi flooding the courtyard and second-floor catwalk. Bells tolled somewhere in the city. Guards and soldiers screamed. Andinna roared. The world was filled with the symphony of warfare, and she loved it. It fueled her as the fight raged on around them. She felt the sentiment echoed back to her through the bond. She and Luykas were one in their emotions, even the rage they were taking out on the Elvasi for everything that had been taken from them.
She hacked and slashed, dancing with him in their practiced deadly pattern. She flipped her sword to stab a guard Luykas had sensed behind her. Without missing a moment, she flipped it back in the right direction and blocked two attacking guards, kicking one back as she slid the sword of the other away from them. Shoulder-checking him as she killed the one, she kicked, then cut him open as well.
All the while, she knew Luykas was in a fight against a well-trained Elvasi knight who had run at them. She turned, going under her partner’s arm and stabbed upwards, hitting the knight in the groin for a fatal blow and pulled back, going back to her own side of the fight. The amount of pride and respect that washed through the bond was unmistakable—Luykas had liked the move.
It made her crack a small smile as she cut her blades across the chest of the next faceless Elvasi soldier in front of her. Power rushed through her as Luykas made her stronger with the blood magic techniques she didn’t yet know.
Months of waiting for this—to come back to the Empire and open up the people who wanted to destroy everything.
She had never felt more at home.
30
Brynec
“Sounds like things are getting exciting up there!” Nevyn said as they crept down a dark hallway beneath the fortress.
Bryn nodded silently, holding up a hand for silence. They were supposed to be covert. The purpose of the assault was to distract from their real objective. If Nevyn started cracking jokes, the entire damn fortress would know they were there. Alchan had picked this group with care, but Nevyn could be too noisy for secretive missions. It was Bryn’s only problem with his friend.
Bryn was there for obvious reasons. He could pick locks, find the best paths through dark hallways, and knew how to do silent kills better than anyone in the Company. Nevyn and Varon were there to defend any of their rescued Andinna if things got too dangerous. Alchan was there because he had to be. He had to hide during the rescue in Elliar because they were in the heart of the Empire while Zayden, Luykas, and others went in. Here, however, Alchan wanted to see what had been done to his people and make sure they knew he was there for them.
It was one of only two reasons Bryn was okay with him making this team. He understood sometimes Alchan had to be a king first.
I don’t make the plans, just follow ‘em.
If he made the plans, he would have put Alchan in the assault in the courtyard, and things would look different—like killing Lord Junius. That motherfucker didn’t deserve to walk on the earth.
Alchan had different priorities—understandably different.
They had to keep making their way down, but it was a huge, expansive building, and they had no blueprints. They were flying blind, hoping they could get to the cells before the fighting spilled over, or their friends fighting got killed.
Bryn frowned as they found a downward staircase, waving the rest of the males to follow him. He crept down first, several steps ahead, silent as a mouse. The tight corridors were made by Elvasi and humans who never planned to have Andinna there, making the world seem too small. The merchant in Olost was better than this. He had wide halls, displaying wealth. His staircases weren’t pushed into corners, hidden from the eye. This was a dank, stone tunnel down into the depths.
He pulled out a dagger when he figured he was nearly at the bottom. He stopped as he heard footsteps. Behind him, his group understood and stopped as well, though they probably couldn’t hear what he did.
“I think I heard the bells tolling earlier, but down here, it’s like nothing else fucking exists. Can’t hear anything and half the time if you do, it’s not real. Can you go upstairs and see if anything is going on?”
“They would send a runner down here, wouldn’t they?”
“Just go check.”
Bryn grinned. The stone of the building was working in their favor, then. He hadn’t considered the possibility the soldiers down below in the dungeon wouldn’t be able to hear the noise far above their heads.
“Fine.”
The footsteps drew closer. Bryn stepped back just a little. If he let the guard come up high enough, the other one wouldn’t have any idea what was about to happen.
He waited as the soldier began climbing the staircase. He counted the steps—ten before he came into sight. Bryn moved first as the guard’s eyes went wide. His mouth opened and Bryn slammed a hand over it. With his dagger, he dragged a line over the soldier’s throat. Blood poured. Gurgling could be heard. He caught the soldier before he clattered to the floor and lowered him down gently—not that he had any respect for the fallen but because the armor falling would have ruined his secrecy.
He started walking without telling the other males to follow him. It wasn’t needed. They had done enough missions requiring silence; they knew how to look out for each other.
When he reached the bottom, he stopped, looking down both directions of the hall. The other guard was standing at the end, his back turned to the stairs. He seemed to be fiddling with a torch on the wall, but it was probably patrol boredom. Bryn knew how th
at was, but it was a fatal mistake. Patrols required constant vigilance—this one didn’t have that discipline.
He would die for it.
Bryn crept out into the hall and snuck up behind the soldier. He didn’t kill him immediately, wrapping an arm around the man’s neck and pulling him back. He used his other hand to cover his mouth to stop any screaming.
“Yer goin’ to tell me where the dungeons are from here. We’re close, aren’t we? Do you know where they keep the keys?”
The Elvasi tried to struggle, but Bryn waited it out. If he had tried this on another Andinna male, he would get thrown off by larger wings, but he had size on the Elvasi. The guard calmed down after a few moments, and Bryn relaxed slightly, hoping to give the guy a chance to answer him.
“The dungeon and the keys. Tell me now.” He didn’t have time for twenty questions. He just wanted the answer for those two.
Behind him, he heard footsteps approaching. Alchan walked around and looked the Elvasi soldier in the eye.
“Tell me, and I won’t make him torture you for it,” the king whispered softly. “I don’t personally like torture, but I’ll resort to it if I have to.”
The soldier pissed himself. Bryn growled in disgust, trying to make some distance. He took his hand off the guard’s mouth, hoping the sign of sheer terror meant they would get an answer.
“Dungeon is three flights down from there.” He tried to point to another hall. “Key is kept down there, hung on the wall.”
“Thank you.” Alchan nodded over the Elvasi. Bryn quickly grabbed a dagger and sliced open the soldier’s throat. He had no idea his death was even coming by his lack of struggle at the end. Bryn let him drop, unconcerned now.
Without a word, they started walking to the wooden door that held their next staircase. Bryn hadn’t paid attention to the hall they were in before, but now he did. Torture devices hung on the walls. Manacles too high for someone to properly stand if they were chained up. There was a table of devices waiting.
Training. This was where they ‘trained’ Andinna to be good slaves.
His stomach rolled. He’d been too young to get this sort of treatment, and the newfound slavery of the Andinna meant the Elvasi hadn’t yet developed any of these tactics. New slaves, though? They got this. They had to be broken in before they could be sold.
Disgustin’.
He led to the lower level of the dungeon. They stopped at the first door, and Bryn sighed. Nearly a dozen cells were down the dark hall. He could smell the sea and feel the breeze carry seawater into the room. He checked the wall by the door and found the keys as promised.
Alchan stepped around him, leaving him to follow. They stopped at the first cell, where Alchan went pale.
“This one first,” he ordered.
Bryn caught up to him, and his heart sank into his stomach as he saw the small children looking up with fearful eyes. Four younglings had been taken during the attack—they had found them.
“We’re goin’ to get you out,” Bryn promised. “But you have to be quiet, okay?”
“Thank you,” a little female squeaked. The rest were boys. They huddled around her, both protectively and looking for comfort—Andinna male instincts at their finest. They let her do the talking, but if anyone tried to go near her, he expected they all growled and got kicked around.
“Do you know who I am?” Alchan asked softly, kneeling down. Nevyn and Varon walked up behind them as Bryn fought with the door and wrenched it open.
“King Alchan,” the little girl answered. “Thank you, Sire.”
But they didn’t walk out. Bryn stepped back to let Nevyn and Varon in to try. He had to get to the next door, anyway. Sure enough, when the lovers got too close, the little males growled.
“Woah!” Nevyn chuckled. “I’m going to be much better at protecting her than you, right now. You can help, okay? Talk to me, young male.”
“Ours!” he snapped. The little female sighed, giving the adults a look of woe. It was far too mature for a little thing her age and it echoed adult Andinna females who were tired of the men around them. Bryn felt a race of goodwill run through him—some things never changed.
“Get to the next door,” Alchan ordered, standing up.
Bryn nodded and moved on, leaving the lovers to the children. They found three females standing in abject shock in the next cell. They must have heard what was going on but didn’t believe it. Bryn started working the key in the rusted lock.
“Go wake up everyone else,” Bryn whispered to his commander. “They should see you, and you can start telling them about the plans.”
Alchan didn’t seem to be listening, leaning close to the cage and extending a hand between the bars. One female reached out and took his hand.
“We’re taking you home,” he promised. “But you might need to fight.”
“I’ll gut anyone who tries to keep me in this cursed place,” the female snarled.
“Good.” He released her, walking to the next cell.
Bryn cursed as he fought with the lock. Another of the females walked up and pointed.
“They turn it like so.” She reached out of the bars and took the key. “You’ll need to figure it out from there.”
He twisted the key harder, finally getting the release mechanism to work. He yanked the cage open and left them there. “Help with the younglings, please.”
He was now one cell behind Alchan. He unlocked every door as Alchan talked to the next group, telling them they would need to fight, to pick whatever sword they could find when they made it up above and help, or none of them would make it.
Bryn had known there was something desperate about the mission, but he hadn’t thought it would be that desperate.
He was at the last gate when a roar made his chest vibrate. It wasn’t an Andinna roar. It was Rainev. He ran into the last open cell, ignoring who was there and tried to see what was happening out on the open water. He caught only the picture of Rain swooping down and setting a warship on fire.
“They found our ship!” Bryn called to Alchan.
“I figured they would,” Alchan replied.
“Took you all long enough,” someone snapped. Bryn turned to see Allaina and Senri walking out of the last cell. He hadn’t even recognized them—they were dirty, their hair matted, with dark circles under their eyes as if they hadn’t slept in weeks. They probably hadn’t. Staying awake while captured was the easiest way to stay alive. Asleep meant vulnerable. Allaina was the one who spoke, more hot anger in her eyes than Senri.
“How long have they had us?”
“Just shy of four months,” Alchan answered. “Kill them, not me. They got you out of Blackstone the morning before we got there. We missed you by a day. I’m sorry. We’re here now.”
“You’re lucky you’re the king,” she growled.
“Stop it,” Senri hissed. “They didn’t have to rescue us. Alchan, what’s the plan? The real plan?”
“We need to get above. I want all of you to get armed. Steal something from the dead. I want a third of you to protect the younglings. That’s fifteen of you. That should keep them safe.” Alchan looked over the females.
Bryn stepped back from the prison’s sea wall and looked over them. They were all skinnier than they should have been, underfed for months now. They weren’t going to be the best warriors, but the Company had done everything they could now. It was time for the females to help make sure they all survived the night. He wished he knew more of their names. They deserved that if they were lost tonight.
“Is this everyone?” Nevyn asked loudly.
“Yes, out of who was taken from the village. The Elvasi lord also has over a dozen slaves. They’re apparently kept in a separate house. We need to free them as well.” Senri sighed. “They picked Allaina and me out as the leaders early on in Olost. Since then, she and I have gotten special treatment and not the good kind. We were given…tours of everything here. He was planning on breaking us first and adding us to his person
al collection as a show of force to the others.”
“You spoke to him?” Alchan growled out.
“He spoke to us, not the other way around,” Senri answered. “Where’s the rest of the Company?”
“Fighting above. We have a lot to talk about, but it has to wait, for obvious reasons.” Alchan pulled out his sword. “Let’s go.”
“Alchan…” Senri reached out for him before he could walk past her. “Thank you. I know you didn’t have to do this.”
“No thanks needed, Senri. I had to do this.” Alchan smiled kindly. “Past my obligation to you as my people, Kian and half the Company would have gutted me in my sleep if I ignored what happened.”
“Are you sure?” Senri gave them a classic smile, and Bryn had a feeling she would be all right in the long run. “Not of them gutting you, but waiting for you to be asleep.”
Bryn was even happier to see Alchan dare to smirk back at that comment.
“Did you talk to your captors like that?”
“Yes, she did,” Allaina answered for her. “It kept the attention off everyone else.”
“Smart female,” Nevyn crooned. “Senri.”
They hugged, but it was time to go. Bryn followed Alchan and let the rest follow behind him. They needed to join the fight, but Senri was right, they had to save the other Andinna held captive.
Another roar echoed against the stone.
31
Matesh
Mat fought his hardest in the courtyard. He always kept his body angled to see Mave, needing to know she was okay. He should have been jealous of her synergy with Luykas, but it was impressive to watch. They fought together like they were made to, swooping around each other in sync without a word. It was honestly beautiful, and he meant that with every bit of his warrior nature. Seeing two fighters like that was the most beautiful thing his people could ever do.
One day, he hoped he would be the male beside her, but he was also really secure in his place in her life, so jealousy wasn’t something he found himself feeling—only pride and awe.
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