Lluava led the way. She could not help overhearing the conversation within the room well before she reached the door. The raspy voice of the oldest Guardian retorted, “That’s preposterous. It was to be her child!”
Stepping through the doorway, she confidently pronounced, “Prophecies are misinterpreted all the time. Is it so incredible that this one was misunderstood?”
The dark-robed Guardians wore their Obsidian masks, which caused strange whistling sounds when they inhaled through the carved fissures. One by one, they lowered those relics, revealing aged faces with mouths agape. The last one to remove his mask was so ancient that he needed the assistance of the Guardian next to him.
Hyrax entered behind Lluava and took a seat on the perimeter of the room, as all the chairs around the table were filled. The Guardians occupied most of them. Yena sat at the head of the table, flanked by several Outlanders, including Thoth, Ammit, and another who smelled of caribou. Each clan was represented by one person; Yamir had taken Father’s place upon his death. Holly and Jigo stood on either side of Varren, who was seated. Near one wall, Vidrick and Colonel Ojewa stood with two people Lluava had not expected to see: Admiral Merrow and Colonel Skipe, commanders she had served under in the Southern Camps. Apex sat not far from where Lluava stood.
The Razor Backs’ clan leader offered his seat to the young woman. Those seeing her transformation for the first time were stunned into silence. It was clear that no one would oppose her. All for the better. They waited for her to speak.
Claiming her position, Lluava began, “This war will end and soon. It is up to those of us in this room to ensure that the outcome is in our favor. This is the turning point. Have you been listening?”
Pausing, she allowed the others the opportunity to focus on the rumbles from above. Though the humans were unable to distinguish any unusual noise, many a Theriomorph’s eyes darted about.
“Yes. We are under attack as we speak. The castle and presumably the outer wall are being bombarded by projectiles from the Raiders’ siege weapons. If not stopped, the enemy will decimate our final defenses. We will be helpless and will fall victim to their cruel and ruthless behavior.”
“How do you know that is the case? Did you observe catapults at work?” one Guardian questioned. Across from him, another suggested, “It could just be thunder.” A third added, “It was reported that their construction had not been completed.”
Lluava calmly replied, “Go and look for yourselves, if you must. We will let you know what has been discussed upon your return.”
Several Guardians arose, though there was no need; a breathless Theriomorph burst through the door.
“We are under attack!” he gasped, then bent over to gulp air like a fish out of water. “Trebuchets! Many of them!”
A clan chief inquired, “Can any projectile reach the castle? We are in the center of the city.”
Still breathing heavily, the sentry stated, “They can, and they are.”
“Are the external walls holding?” asked a Guardian.
“Fairly well against the stone orbs, but their other projectiles concern us.”
“What are they?” Varren asked. He looked at Lluava. She knew he was remembering the initial attack on the Southern training camps. The pair had watched in horror as projectiles coated in flames tore through two of the camps, burning them to the ground.
The messenger explained, “Glass containers are filled with acid. The containers are wrapped in cloth soaked in oil. They are set on fire and aimed at the walls, and now at the castle. When they strike wood, fires start. The glass containers break on impact, and the acid dissolves the stone and mortar.”
The silence was broken by shouts, exclamations, and questions; everyone seemed to be speaking at once.
Apex silenced them with his wall-trembling roar. “The trebuchets must be destroyed. Until that happens, the enemy has the upper hand.”
“I agree,” Varren said. “We still have a small supply of Flashbang, the explosive that helped us wreak havoc upon their army. If an aerial attack were to target the siege weapons, we could destroy them without incurring significant troop losses.”
“That can be done,” agreed Thoth. “Though after the last mission, I know my troops are near exhaustion—as, I suspect, are most of the other warriors. Those who fly will not have the strength to help further until they rest and recover.”
Faint echoes of the outer explosions continued.
“My men also need rest,” Varren admitted; Ammit added, “As do ours.”
Lluava regarded the weary faces about her. The idea of rest at this crucial time in the war was now alien to her. Yet all living things needed rest and recuperation. Not everyone could survive without sleep.
“Well,” said Yena, “the first step seems clear. Those who can fly will destroy as many of the siege weapons as possible. If they accomplish their mission, we might gain a reprieve long enough for the rest of our forces to recover before we attack.”
“And what would happen next?” Yamir questioned. Lluava noticed that the youth refused to look at Varren or the Shadows. “Launch one army against another?”
“That would not be wise,” interjected Lluava. She quickly assessed various approaches of attack. “Even with the trebuchets destroyed, the Raiders might still have vast stores of this acid. They would find other ways to use it to their advantage.”
Grunting, Apex said, “I have to agree. We must discover where their munitions are stored and destroy their supply. Then we can focus on eliminating their leaders. Until then, we need to minimize our losses. That is the only way to survive a threat like theirs.” During the entire conversation, his gaze never left Lluava.
The young woman made a decision. “Rest will have to wait. The Raiders’ siege weapons and ammunition must be destroyed immediately.” Though several individuals were clearly disgruntled, none dared counter the goddess incarnate.
“All able-bodied fighters are to be divided into three factions. The aerial Theriomorphs will start first, by bombing the trebuchets with packets of Flashbang that will be exploded with the aid of archers. Next, a small number of ground troops will infiltrate the enemy camp and attempt to discover the location of the acid. If they can destroy the stores on their own, they will do so. If not, they will use our whistles to signal to the aerial troops where to deploy the last of the Flashbang.”
Lluava scanned the room. “Finally, the remainder of our army will stand guard at the walls to defend against the surviving enemy. Minimizing entry into the city is of the utmost importance. I need not remind you what damage just a few Úlfhéðinn can inflict.”
There was a pensive silence after she had finished speaking. Although some people might perceive Lluava’s ability to influence others as a god’s gift, she felt it had always been part of her essence.
“How are we to leave Cronus?” questioned Vidrick. “Surely not by the main gates.”
“There are other points of exit,” she noted, glancing at the high priestess.
Yena inclined her head toward Lluava and spoke. “All of which will be opened for your cause. I will back your plan and, in doing so, volunteer to help destroy the weapons stored outside the walls.”
“Do you think that is wise?” Thoth asked the high priestess.
“I believe this is the reason the Incarn of the goddess of war is here. So, I will join her on the battlefield.”
The ruire bowed his turbaned head and pronounced, “I will lead the aerial Theriomorphs in their attack.” Before anyone could ask about his injuries, Thoth added, “This is my obligation to my people as ruire.”
“Who will then take on the defense of our city?” Yena questioned, with unusual restraint.
Lluava noted that Varren’s eyes darted between her and Apex. “I will,” the young king stated. “I know this city well. I know her strengths, her weaknesses. I will protect her and her people with everything I have.”
Yena scrutinized the king. Was she questioning h
er decision? Could she actually entrust New Rhadamanthus to this man? Finally, the high priestess said, “That is the wisest choice.”
Next, the discussion focused on the division of the ground army. Aquila was an obvious choice for the defense of the walls. He would target not only the trebuchets with his arrows but also any oncoming projectiles that came within his incredible range. Apex would join Lluava and Yena on the front lines with a small band of volunteers. Using the tunnels, they would emerge somewhere between the Raiders’ encampment and the trebuchets. With luck, they would not be observed. Varren would lead the remaining forces inside the city walls. Those unable to fight would seek safety behind the inner curtain wall that protected the castle.
Once the meeting was adjourned and the participants moved toward their assigned stations, Lluava approached Holly. “Where is Regin? He should have been at this meeting.”
“He would have been, if we had been able to find him.”
“Is he not still in Cronus?”
“I can’t say for sure. Not yet.” The tone of Holly’s voice left a dark implication in the air.
Lluava paused for a moment, but she could not detect the missing Shadow’s presence. There was no need to push further. “You must protect Varren.”
“With my life,” the female Shadow replied, then left to follow her king.
***
Near the temple, a respectable group was forming. Yamir, along with several clansmen, joined a number of Yena’s men and even a few Elysian soldiers. Ammit stood watch as Lluava approached Apex’s side. They knew their objective was to breach the walls of the Raiders’ encampment, yet this suddenly changed when Colonel Ojewa left his position on the wall to raise an alarm.
“The Raiders’ entire army appears to be on the battlefield. Be warned.”
Yena’s eyes glazed over for a moment before she spoke directly to the other Incarn. “If the enemy attacks us when we leave the tunnels, as I believe they might, the two of you must take it upon yourselves to destroy their camp. I will remain with the others and prevent the enemy from following you.” Turning to Ojewa, she added, “Make sure the tunnels are destroyed after we leave.” Ojewa, along with Apex and Lluava, nodded their agreement, and the order for the ground troops was modified.
Aerial warriors had gathered near the front of the city, ready to take wing at Thoth’s command. Meanwhile, Yena led Lluava, Apex, and the volunteer troops into the underbelly of the old city. There they split into several smaller bands of warriors and headed down their respective tunnels to await a signal from the whistle. The sharp trill would permeate the passageways despite the distance and underground positions.
Once each individual group reached the end of its tunnel, the signal was given; the camouflaged openings were shoved wide open simultaneously. Lluava and Apex were among the first to clamber out. Looking to the sky, she saw the aerial Theriomorphs swooping over Cronus’s wall. Amid the disparate flock, she glimpsed a swan gripping a parcel of Flashbang in her webbed feet.
Wingbeats thrummed in the air as explosions began to rock the walls, and deadly projectiles flew through the skies. There was a stunted screech as the first of the aerial troops collided with a trebuchet’s orb. Soon, the archers let fly their initial wave of flaming arrows, targeting the siege weapons and setting off a new cacophony.
It was time for Lluava’s band to make its move toward the encampment of the enemy. As they approached the palisade, she glanced back at the battlefield. In the scorched swath of land leading to the castle gates, large siege weapons were aligned. Several rows of trebuchets and catapults continued to sling their lethal weapons at the stone fortress before them. Even as flames fed upon their oaken limbs, they hurtled fiery projectiles of doom in systematic order.
The trumpeting of a war horn alerted Lluava and the others that they had been spotted. A small detachment of Raiders at the rear of the lines turned and headed in their direction. Yena cried out, “All from Leucrocotta, the Clans, and Elysia, follow me! We feed on Ocean Men tonight!”
The high priestess looked at Lluava and Apex and said, “You must destroy their munitions. Here,” she handed Lluava a bag of Flashbang to add to the two she already carried. “I will try to keep them at bay.” Lluava inclined her head slightly in a sign of gratitude.
As Yena led her men toward the approaching enemy, she untethered Crocotta’s Hackles. With a flick of her hand, the coiled silver whip emitted a cracking sound far louder than should have been possible. How many of her followers understood they were striding to their deaths?
“Onward!” Lluava roared as she moved toward the remnants of the Raiders’ stronghold. Apex followed a few paces behind.
As they angled away from the main battle, Lluava felt alert and oddly composed. She was in control and could sense everyone on the field of battle. Her ability to foresee her opponents’ upcoming moves enabled her to avoid them, and she had no need for caution. Her boldness did not go unnoticed.
Apex jerked her to the side. “What in the seven hells is wrong with you?” he snarled, as an arrow flew past and sank into the ground where she had been standing. “Do you desire to be killed?”
“I was not going to be shot,” she replied flatly. Seeing the frustration and anger in Apex’s eyes, she tried to appease him, “But I thank you for your concern.”
“What’s happened to you? I stayed out of Varren’s way so he could have a chance to find out. It was my way to make amends… He and I, well, we are at an impasse for now. But I need to know what happened!” Apex barked after Lluava, who had started toward the broken fence line. “Lluava? Lluava!”
There was little time to reason with the disgruntled man. The stores of acid had to be found and dealt with immediately. She heard Apex’s rapid approach but chose to disregard it. Once again, he yanked her back. The heat inside her flared up at his rough handling.
As she turned to face him, he shoved her abruptly away, and a clang resounded overhead. One of Ullr’s Fangs had parried a strike from an enormous axe. Spinning around to see the attacker, she recognized the twin braids of Sweyn’s red beard, but this man had turned into a monstrosity with blue-black skin, devoid of all humanity.
Apex swung at the Úlfhéðnar with both blades. “What are you waiting for?” he roared at her. “Go! Go! Finish what you started!”
The smell of freshly welling blood in the air caused Lluava to salivate. Jerking her thoughts back to the mission at hand, she left the pair to battle to the bitter end.
Lluava reached the stronghold without further interference, although now she was alert to any sign of unexpected attack. Steadily moving around the wreckage of tents and half-constructed longhouses, she passed the row of snarling, dragon-shaped hotboxes. The charred remnants of burned-out fires had left the metal underbellies as cold as Lluava’s compassion for the foreign men who had brought the cruel devices with them.
Divots of earth and parts of dismembered corpses were strewn around the ground from Aquila’s earlier unholy lightning strikes. None of this affected her purpose. She searched every structure without success. There was no sign of acid, not even a small pile of their stone projectiles, and there was not a single guard. Lluava halted.
Was this it? This scattered rubbish? That meant that all the Raiders able to fight were on the field of battle, as well as all the remaining munitions. Was this the Raiders’ final push before claiming victory, falling to a dire fate, or retreating to more fruitful territory? Regardless, if the Raiders did not conquer Cronus soon, they would be forced to leave. They had no food, no weapons left. This was the Raiders’ last stand.
Scanning the area again, Lluava began to sprinkle the black powder from each parcel around the stronghold’s buildings. When she had moved away from the encampment, and only then, did she pull out her tinder and flint and begin to strike. Once…twice…
A sparking line of flame hurtled over the collapsed wooden posts that had once formed a mighty palisade, and jumped toward a mound of debris and the Fl
ashbang. In the next moment, the stronghold erupted in a raging inferno. The initial explosion sent Lluava flying backward to crumple on the muddy ground.
A deep sense of pleasure burned through her just as the fire burned through the camp. Columns of flames soared into the sky as if hoping to join the stars before dying down to a blazing bonfire.
A dark form emerged from the intensely hot wall of light. Sweyn shrugged off his smoldering clothes of singed fur and crackling hide. His unnaturally hued flesh had been blistered by the fire’s kiss.
Lluava’s eyes were riveted on his solid black gaze. Slowly, he lifted a blood-splattered fist into the air as if presenting a gift. In his grip was a large swatch of long bronze fur and oozing flesh.
The victim’s name slipped past Lluava’s snarling lips. “Apex.”
Chapter 35
Void
Sweyn dropped the swatch of fur as though he’d forgotten it. For a moment, he looked as if he were trying to speak, but his smoke-infused mind failed to form the words. Instead, he stuck his swollen tongue between his teeth and bit down until blackened blood oozed onto his ruddy beard.
The scent of the onyx droplets stirred the presence inside Lluava that awaited release. She felt her pupils narrow instinctively as her body prepared to shift.
The dark-skinned Úlfhéðnar swung the axe he held in his other hand. Sweyn seemed to have no reaction to the metal heated by the conflagration he had just walked through. Lluava’s lip curled in agitation. What had this creature done to Apex? Was the huntsman alive? The Incarn was not meant to be slain on this field of battle.
Around them, flames hissed and spat. Like summer’s fireflies, embers fluttered into the sky to merge with the twinkling of stars hidden behind the veil of clouds. Neither figure moved, even when hot cinders bit into their skin.
Something was wrong with this man, this monstrosity before her, but Lluava could not determine what it was. It was not his odor, which was akin to the smoke of the Berserkers. It was more than the unnatural hue of his flesh.
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