Revolution (Cartharia Book 2)

by Spencer Reaves McCoy

  "Kill them all!" the man roared to the guards circling the crowd. Just as quickly as they drew their weapons, they started to drop on the crowd. Arrows were flying through the air. Her resistance was standing up. Her stomach dropped. They'd be slaughtered. Whatever their strategy, they'd be slaughtered.

  "No!" Penny screamed. She looked up at the crowd of faces, "They can't stand up alone! The soldiers will kill you all! Take back your lives, for Gods' sake! Do something!"

  Then a single arrow flew through the crowd, and struck Peter Sterling in the chest. His hands clutched at the wound, as he fell forward onto his knees. Penny turned towards the crowd, and saw Janice standing in the very back, bow in hand.

  The silence that had descended suddenly broke as the crowd surged forward as one, large, angry mob. The spell of fear that Lamonte had cast was suddenly broken. These people wanted to live for themselves again.

  "Kill them!" Penny shouted. She saw the executioner come at her with his ax, but he was tackled by two men she recognized as nothing but farmers.

  This time, she knew, everyone would fight until it was over. She let herself get swept up amongst the crowd.

  The fighting lasted all night. Penny did her share of it, helping with her fire manipulation and the combat experience that Eldrin had taught her. It was a blood bath. Civilians and soldiers littered the streets, their bodies broken and ruined. Penny wasn't sure who was going to win till the very end. The soldiers were trained but Valishna was large and people were angry.

  There were many people killed but by the morning not a soldier was left in the city. All of them were dead. At the end of the fighting, some men had gathered up stakes and they had taken the officers' heads and mounted them on the walls of Valishna.

  Under Erin's command, the beach was lined with men to guard it from oncoming assaults. Mike was down there showing everyone how to prepare for an attack.

  Penny found Ryan and his wife coming with ways to hold the city. They had ingenious ideas that she knew would take some fine-tuning but could really work.

  Alicia, it turned out, had been training with George when he wasn't busy. He had taught her the basics of multiple types of manipulation and she was good at it. She had volunteered to help many of the citizens start learning. She was by no means an expert, but she had potential.

  She found Chrissa comforting small children that had been forced to the execution. She was showing them how to help tie bandages while keeping the mood light and their spirits high.

  Penny could not have been more proud. She made her way through the many crowds, shaking peoples' hands, giving them her thanks, and receiving thanks in return. There was the occasional sting of grief. Kevin Bishop's body was found. He was next to Joanna Whitetree, who had a sword through her chest. Penny had knelt down and held her hand while she died. There were some injuries that were impossible to repair.

  Shauni had been killed too. So had both of the Lund brothers.

  Penny was exhausted and full of grief for those lost but she refused to go to bed till she found who shows looking for.

  It took her awhile but when she made it outside of the crowd, Penny finally spotted Eldrin. She'd been looking for him since the attack had started, unable to find him in the crowd.

  He was standing with Sean and Janice and the three of them were laughing. She thought of Janice and how she'd looked, bow in hand.

  When she approached the three, they fell silent. Sean and Eldrin exchanged a brief handshake while Janice watched.

  Penny raised both eyebrows.

  "Thank you," Sean said, holding up his hands and letting the fall, "What you did tonight was amazing, Lady Belmonte."

  "Penny," she corrected.

  Janice nodded her agreement, "I misjudged you. Thank you. Sean, why don't we go for a walk? There's someone you should meet."

  Sean caught her very obvious look and nodded hurriedly, "I would love to." They clasped hands and strolled off. "You're right. We should talk to her. Together."

  Janice hesitated and then nodded.

  "What was that about?" Penny asked.

  Eldrin shrugged. He had an uncomfortable look about him that made Penny pause for a second.

  Shrugging it off as exhaustion, she smiled, "We did it, Eldrin."

  "You did it," he corrected, "Sean and Janice are right. That was an amazing thing you did. You inspired everyone to finally take back what belonged to them."

  "I had a lot of helping getting to the point where I was able to do that," Penny reminded him, "It took a lot of confidence to be able to fight. Someone taught me that."

  Eldrin smiled.

  "You got the resistance to do that too," Penny said, "You saved my life."

  "I wasn't going to let you die," Eldrin said, "I've done too much of that already."

  "So what now?" Penny asked.

  "They'll defend themselves now," Eldrin said, "They're going to be a lot more willing to defend their freedom now that they've won it back."

  "I mean about you," Penny said after a moment of hesitation, "You said you were leaving when were done."

  Eldrin gave a slow nod, and then looked away, "I am leaving, Penny. I have things to do."

  "What about us?" Penny asked suddenly. She felt her face turn red but she stared at Eldrin anyway.

  "Us?" he repeated.

  Penny rolled her eyes at him. Then she stepped forward and pressed her lips firmly against his.

  Eldrin blinked, allowing the kiss for a moment longer than he'd planned. Then he shoved her away. "What are you doing?" he demanded, clearly taken aback. He seemed embarrassed. It wasn't the reaction Penny was expecting at all.

  "I was kissing you," she said, her cheeks reddening even more.

  "I got that!" Eldrin said, "Why would you do that?"

  Penny shrugged, "After all we've been through together, I thought maybe we had that kind of connection. Don't tell me you don't feel it too."

  Eldrin closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, Penny was taken back by the amount of pain and emotion she saw within them. "Penny. Gods, Penny. I have something to tell you. You might not like it."

  "Whatever you did out there, I don't care," Penny said, "I knew you before, and I know you now. You may think you're not the same person, but you are, Eldrin, and I care about you."

  "It's not about that," Eldrin said, "Though the Gods know I've done things I'm not proud of. There's something else. Something that may change your mind."

  "What?" Penny demanded.

  Eldrin sighed, "I just talked to Sean and Janice," he told her, "They knew who I am."

  "Of course they do," Penny said with a slight smirk, "But why would that change my mind?"

  Eldrin hesitated for a long, long moment. Then he said, "Penny, Matilyn's alive. She's alive, and she's out there, fighting for Lamonte."

  About the Author

  Spencer Reaves McCoy's fiction has appeared in several publications and is available in both print and eBook. A writer to the core, she loves nothing more than to sip cups of coffee on her back porch with notebooks strewn all around her.

  She lives at the footsteps of the mountains between Northern California and Nevada where she draws inspiration from lakes, trees and dark skies, alongside her family and wise border collie, Jack Donaghy.

  If you liked this book, please take a minute to rate and review it. You can reach Spencer Reaves McCoy directly by sending an email to: spencer@clubspencer.com. She always takes the time to respond to any emails sent her way.

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