A Crumble of Walls (The Kin of Kings Book 4)

by B. T. Narro

  Sanya couldn’t discern how she felt about the prospect of a slaughter. It wasn’t pity, more like a longing to be there, to fight with them to the death. She’d never realized how much she would miss combat once she fled the Academy.

  She would have to kill Tauwin before the battle ended, before he descended down into the castle where Sanya could become trapped as soon as she showed her true loyalty. Here, she could kill the witnesses and escape to Ulric before anyone knew what had happened. But damn, Kithala was a complication. Sanya liked her.

  She gave back the spyglass and took her place behind everyone again. It was almost time to act. She looked around the sides one last time for signs of the Academy.

  Suddenly, a shadow came over her. Sanya started to turn when something struck her in the back and sent her hard onto the stone floor.

  What in god’s world? It was as if someone had descended from the sky and kicked her. She scrambled to see who she was up against, thinking someone loyal to Tauwin had figured her out. But she didn’t recognize this young man with blond hair holding two swords.

  He couldn’t have come up from the hatch leading down to the castle, for it was bolted shut. Had he really come from the sky?

  His swords began to float in front of him as everyone turned. Tauwin screamed out a jumble of words, “Wha-how? Kill him!” His guards ran toward the man, who couldn’t have been older than Sanya. He flicked his hand and a sword impaled each guard. They fell, but one grabbed onto the sword buried in him as if trying to staunch his bleeding. The attacker pulled back his hands and the sword came out of the other man and floated back to its owner. But the second sword was stuck, dragging the guard toward the attacker and forcing out grunts from both their throats.

  “Stop him!” Tauwin yelled as he tried to get to the hatch.

  As Sanya regained her feet, Tauwin’s psychic lifted his arm and unleashed a spell. The attacker screamed as he dropped to his knees.

  But the blond young man must’ve had some training resisting psyche, for he was able to get back onto his feet and send one sword floating once more. Everyone but Sanya and Tauwin moved toward him, the two injured guards as slow as snails, Kithala and the psychic quick as cats. Tauwin had his hands on the latch but fumbled with it. He watched in horror as the floating sword turned toward him. The psychic screamed and the attacker and his weapon fell once again. Kithala jumped on top of him. The two guards seemed to have given up, letting their agony take control as they cried out.

  Sanya finally recovered from her shock. This person was here to kill Tauwin, and she would help. The psychic ran toward the attacker with his dagger out, Kithala holding the attacker down while her son escaped and closed the hatch after him. Sanya pushed Kithala off, then kicked the psychic in the shin to knock him down.

  Kithala scrambled over to the latch as the psychic screamed at Sanya, “What are you doing?”

  She stood between him and the fallen attacker, refusing to answer. The psychic’s aggressive expression twisted into fear as he realized he would now have to face them both.

  The psychic ran and practically jumped down the open hatch. “Tauwin!” he yelled. “Where are you?”

  With only the dying guards left, Sanya pulled down her hood and lifted up her mask. “You ruined my chance at killing him. Who are you?” She pulled the young man to his feet.

  “It’s you, Sanya!” one of the dying guards grumbled.

  Something changed in the young man’s face.

  He knows me.

  He jumped back and lifted his arm. Unsure where the sword was at that moment, Sanya‘s best chance of defending herself was to attack him with psyche. She floored him with a spell.

  “You must be from the Academy,” she said, thinking aloud as to what to do now.

  He squirmed and screamed, but nothing intelligible came out of his mouth.

  “I don’t have time to deal with you,” she said, not wanting to kill someone of such power by stabbing him while he was disabled. If they were to duel, it would be on her terms, and it would be epic. She regretted not giving Alex more of a battle when she had the chance, cheating with psyche instead.

  She hurried over to one of the fallen guards and pulled the sword out of his stomach. It was shorter than the guards’ swords, easier to run with.

  “Save me and I’ll make sure you get away,” the guard grunted. “Wait! I’ll make sure…”

  But Sanya was already down the ladder. She didn’t bother to close the hatch behind her. The blond man wouldn’t chase them into the castle.

  It took but a moment to figure out where Tauwin must’ve headed. The stables. A horse was the only way he could flee from someone who could fly.

  Was that really what he could do? Sanya ached to find out. He hadn’t used bastial energy or she would’ve felt it. And she knew enough about sartious to tell it wasn’t that. A new energy. She wanted to learn it. Just another reason I shouldn’t have left the Academy.

  She encountered no one but the usual inhabitants of the castle, but their shocked expressions showed that Tauwin had definitely gone past them. Many of these men and women appeared to recognize Sanya as she rushed down the halls and stairs, yet nobody tried to stop her.

  Her long robes impeded her process, so she paused to cut away the bottom half with the attacker’s bloody short sword. She had on flexible leather that ended at her knees. Longing to feel freer, she threw down her silver mask and cut away the last of her robes, leaving her in just a sleeveless shirt to go with her shorts.

  She could hear Tauwin on the floor below her and peered over the railing. He’d gathered at least a hundred soldiers to protect him. A few were archers, dammit, although at least there were no mages she could see.

  “Send out the flare!” Tauwin yelled at someone Sanya couldn’t see from her vantage point.

  She leaned back so as not to expose herself, but someone was staring. He was a mere boy and seemed frozen in fear. His clothing told Sanya he wasn’t a child-servant but probably the offspring of a soldier or someone more important.

  She gritted her teeth at him. “Run away and say nothing or I’ll kill you.”

  He let out a frightened squeak as he fled.

  “The flare!” Tauwin yelled again, starting down the last set of stairs. “The castle is under attack.”

  Little did he know that the man in charge of the flare was one of the few who knew Ulric to still be alive. Tauwin would find no help there.

  Sanya cursed as she noticed the royal psychic trailing the descending army. This was not a battle she could win alone.

  She kept her distance as she followed them out of the castle. It was no surprise to see them run down the main road and straight for the stables. She cursed again. Tauwin might live to see another day.

  Sanya closed the heavy castle door behind her, hoping Tauwin’s exit meant this was the last time he stepped foot inside. She could command the horses with psyche and prevent his escape, so long as she wasn’t seen. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to hide down this wide road. She could only hurry and hope none of the guards turned and recognized her.

  The stables had only two walls and a roof, not including the stalls for the horses. There were only a few of the animals left, the most timid of the bunch most likely, for the strongest had gone to battle. Rockbreak and an unmasked Ulric stood in front of the last of the horses. Tauwin tried to maneuver around Rockbreak, but the giant shifted to block his path.

  “Move,” Tauwin commanded.

  “He’s not going to,” Ulric said.

  Tauwin gasped and stumbled backward. “That voice…it’s you! No, you died.”

  “That wasn’t me.”

  It was the distraction Sanya needed to take cover around the side of the castle.

  “Move your enormous idiot!” Tauwin yelled. “I don’t care right now how you’re alive. I’m under attack.”

  “By who? Look around. I see no one.”

  “There was someone who can control swords without touching
them. I think he came from the sky.”

  Ulric let out a harsh laugh. “That’s absurd. You will stand here and have a conversation with me. You owe that to me after what you did.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You asked me when we met why I wear a mask. Now you know. The greed of your family was not lost on me when I decided to assist your father. You both come from a long line of men who care about nothing but power.”

  “Ulric, what the bastial hell are you saying? Do you think I had something to do with your supposed assassination?”

  Sanya noticed a small crowd gathering on the streets branching out from this one. She was too conspicuous here, so she moved around the buildings to blend in among the spectators. She was confident Ulric would keep Tauwin and his guards busy, but what she didn’t know was what Ulric would do next. Their plan had fallen apart thanks to the surprise atop the castle. Does Ulric expect me to kill Tauwin here, while he’s protected? That’s impossible.

  Perhaps Ulric was buying time to change the plan. She used psyche to urge the crowd closer until she was in range of Tauwin’s energy.

  “I know it was you,” Ulric said. “I’m just surprised it took you this long.”

  “Ulric, I had nothing to do with the assassination. I’m telling you the truth!”

  Sanya was shocked to find Tauwin was being honest. But if he hadn’t tried to kill Ulric, who had?

  Sanya noticed movement from a nearby hill. There were three people at its peak, one with a spyglass, but they were too far away to be a threat. Tauwin’s attacker was one of them, while the spyglass blocked the middle one’s face. The third was older. She didn’t recognize him, though he did look familiar.

  The one in the middle let down the spyglass, and Sanya clearly saw Basen’s face. No doubt they were here to kill Tauwin. They must know that if he got on horseback, even these crowded streets wouldn’t impede him enough and he could escape to his army just outside the city. The three men quickly made their way down the hill. Sanya figured the blond had told the other two about her by now, but she couldn’t be as much of a priority as Tauwin, could she?

  “I’m getting one of my horses,” the king announced. “You can have one as well and come with me, Ulric. Question me in front of one of your psychics, and you’ll see the truth.” Tauwin stepped toward one of the horses, but Rockbreak’s movements had Tauwin retreating.

  “You will not.” Ulric untied the lead from one of the horses and boosted himself onto its back. “You will stay here and die for your crimes. Go, Rockbreak.”

  “With pleasure.” The giant drew his enormous bastial steel sword, its multitude of oranges and reds giving it the appearance of a living flame. He beheaded two of Tauwin’s men before anyone else had a chance to move.

  Tauwin fell backward and screamed, “Kill him!”

  Rockbreak slashed his sword across the chests of two more soldiers, then spun and slashed three more. Swordsmen swarmed him, but his plated breastplate and pauldrons deflected the attacks his sword didn’t.

  “Make room!” shouted one of the few archers.

  Rockbreak lifted his massive plated arm to protect his head as arrows glanced off him. One struck a horse but did not stick. It was still enough to frighten the animal into rearing up and trying to break free. The other horses became just as scared and the entire stables began to shake, the power of these frantic beasts matching Rockbreak’s.

  At the back, Tauwin and his psychic hopped around frantically with their hands up as if hoping to do something yet having no idea what.

  “No more arrows!” Tauwin yelled. “Just kill him with your swords!”

  The horses began to break free.

  “Get one.” Tauwin pushed his psychic toward the escaping animals.

  The psychic lifted his hand, and one horse careened over.

  “No!” Rockbreak yelled. “You fight me and die!”

  He tried to reach Tauwin before the king could jump up onto an unsaddled horse, but the horde of swordsmen got in Rockbreak’s way. They batted at his armor, one getting through to the giant’s side. He backhanded the swordsman and seemed to gain power in his fury as he swept two full-sized men out of the way with his other arm.

  Sanya couldn’t let Tauwin escape. She broke out from the crowd just as he leaned down to pull his mother onto the horse.

  That gave Sanya time to get there and pain the animal. Its legs buckled as it shrieked, then it reared up, sending Tauwin and his mother sliding off.

  “Get it under control or I’ll have you killed!” Tauwin yelled at his psychic.

  “Sire, it’s her!” The psychic pointed at Sanya in disbelief.

  “Kill her! Kill her!” Tauwin’s face was dangerously red.

  The psychic took out his dagger and ran toward Sanya. She struck him down with pain before he had a chance to do the same to her. He screamed and coiled on the ground, but what she didn’t expect was his strength even through his agony. The spell hit her suddenly as if she’d run into an invisible wall.

  She somehow managed to frighten the horse while keeping the psychic on the ground. Tauwin and his mother chased after the beast, quickly reaching the edge of Sanya’s range. She didn’t have time for this damn psychic. She broke the bastial energy in the air and rose up.

  The psychic jumped up as well and shook his arm as he clawed in her direction. “What?” he muttered to himself. Sanya sprinted toward Tauwin and his mother.

  “Stop her!” Tauwin yelled to his men.

  Five of them blocked Sanya’s path. Had there still been bastial energy to work with, she could’ve pained them all, but the energy wouldn’t be available to her for some time.

  She was forced to back away from them as she tried to figure out what to do. She turned and ran her blade through the psychic before he could stab her in the back. She barely pulled it out in time to deflect the first attack of the five swordsmen. They circled her, forcing her even farther from Tauwin. He’d gotten on the horse by then. His mother was holding onto his leg.

  “Let go,” he told her as he shook her off. “They’re coming for me, not you!”

  Sanya had only a moment to look over her shoulder in the direction Tauwin was pointing to find Basen and the two others rushing toward the king. The blond one took flight to sail over the guards in his way.

  Tauwin kicked the horse and rode north. The galloping beast was quick, faster than the flying man. Kithala ran after them but had no chance of catching up.

  “Help her, Abith!” Basen yelled, pointing at Sanya. He leapt higher than Sanya thought possible, landing on the shoulders of a guard and soaring even higher. He came down on the other side of them and bolted down the street like an arrow.

  “Who are you?” Abith asked as he took to Sanya’s side and made quick work of the first guard to challenge him.

  “A friend,” she answered.

  They’d never formally met, but Sanya remembered him now. He was the mage instructor of the most skilled casters, like Basen. What he was doing with a sword—a bastial steel sword at that—she had no idea. But god’s mercy, was he skilled. He took on the first four guards as more began to swarm from behind, kicking the dead psychic’s body out of their way.

  Rockbreak, covered in sweat, showed no signs of fatigue as he fought at least a dozen others. His armor was dented and breaking apart, blood streaming down one of his legs. But a sea of bodies lay around him.

  Every attacker seemed to underestimate Sanya, making reckless moves to get at her and leaving themselves open. But she couldn’t take advantage for long as more veered away from Rockbreak to surround her and Abith.

  Soon there were too many. She took a cut along her leg and rolled forward to avoid being sliced in half but lost her sword in the process. Someone grabbed her in a hold too strong for her to free herself.

  “Cut her open,” the gruff voice said from behind as two men closed in and pulled out daggers.

  The man’s tight grip on her loosened as his head roll
ed down her face. She fell backward to avoid the daggers, then popped up and jumped away as Abith moved to defend her. But there were so many more still behind her. She ducked and weaved, barely jumping out of the way of an enemy sword that impaled his comrade’s shoulder.

  Shooting pain in her leg slowed her. Sanya couldn’t move fast enough and soon took another cut, this one to her arm. She needed to make it through the next few moments. The bastial energy was forming back together.

  Rockbreak screamed aggressively from somewhere beside her, and Abith yelped in pain. Both of the skilled fighters were being cut down as she, too, was overwhelmed.

  Finally, the familiar feeling of the energy returned. She let out a roar as she pained everyone around her. Unable to pick out Abith’s energy, she felled him as well.

  Rockbreak was completely unaffected. But to Sanya’s horror, he stopped killing their enemies.

  “No.” He pointed at her. “Let them fight.”

  “Idiot,” Abith grunted as he surprisingly fought off her spell to regain his feet. He groaned as he stabbed one man, and another, then a third. “Kill them.”

  “Let them fight!” Rockbreak roared. “Or I kill you instead!”

  Abith killed five more as the giant started toward Sanya.

  She couldn’t keep up the spell any longer even if she dared to challenge him. Tiring, she fell to her knees.

  Her attackers rose up, but many began to flee. At seeing some run, the others gave up as well.

  “No. No!” Rockbreak yelled, bloody and sweaty, his massive chest heaving with each quick breath. “Fight me!”

  “Are you safe here?” Abith asked Sanya as he helped her up.

  “Yes. Go.”

  He sprinted north. Rockbreak stomped over and pushed her back to the ground. “I want to kill you!” he roared. “I told you not to stop them from fighting. You’re lucky Ulric wants you to live.” He started south, in the direction Ulric had gone. “Come on.”

  She limped after him, the frightened crowds parting to make more than enough room.