Mikkal, Alex, and the rest of Ethan’s guard entered the pavilion.
Mara nodded at them, then turned back to watch the field as their army arrived. Wynn rode ahead of her clan. She wore an all-leather outfit and so much steel it was a wonder her horse didn’t collapse beneath the weight. Astrid rode beside her on her bear, Teeny. She caught Mara gaping and threw her a wink.
Tomar led his Kerani to the right side of the field. Their brightly-colored suvalis would do nothing to protect them from enemy attacks.
Mara’s Gifted lined up in the center—Saxums in the front to form stone shields as needed to protect the Tellum behind them. Five rows of Armises flanked the sides and the rest of the Gifted filled up the remainder. Halder and the Tregydarians joined Arianna at the front.
Mara wished she could be with them instead of keeping her distance like a coward. “Will they be okay without you?” she asked Mikkal.
He grunted. “They don’t need me to hold their hand. Besides, I put Arianna in charge of command.”
“That’s what I was afraid of.”
“Say what you want about her, but the woman launched a successful naval assault against the Miestryri—” his voice cracked—"I believe she’s more than capable to lead your Gifted to victory. Silvano will be free from the Order’s bonds, able to rule Crystalmoor the way he pleases.”
“Not if Arianna has anything to say about it.” She snorted. “Is that why you volunteered for Ethan’s guard? So you wouldn’t have to face him on the battlefield?”
He gave her a sharp nod. “I couldn’t risk it. In the chaos, it’s almost impossible to tell friend from foe. You keep swinging your weapon until you win, or you die. Understand that everything I’ve done was to protect him, and it would kill me to know he died by my hands.”
Two Avems stepped up to the pavilion pulling a crate of birds between them on a wagon. One set out a stack of papers and pens next to the crate. While each commander had an Avem assigned to them to translate the messages, there was a chance that they would fall in battle. If that happened, they would resort to using written word to pass messages directly to the commander.
The gates to Order Headquarters opened, and a seemingly endless number of disciples marched through. They filled the field in front of the iron fence as they lined up in formation. Just how many were there? Mikkal handed her a pair of opera glasses. She peered through them and gasped. The disciples wore matching breastplates, scalloped shoulder guards, and helmets over their gray disciple robes. Each was armed with a sword and dagger at their hips. Her stomach bottomed out. Cadmus was more prepared than she’d given him credit for and she realized that every fight that had led up to this point might as well have been children squabbling over toys.
Last to come through the gate was a smaller battalion of Gifted who wore dark blue uniforms and gray pants. None had metal armor except for one man who rode up front next to . . . her eyes widened, and her heart clenched painfully at the sight of Steel. Mikkal hissed through his teeth and Mara knew he’d spotted him too.
“I don’t see Aravell. Aren’t they one of the Order’s allies?”
“They probably decided to stay out of the conflict, at least in person. I wouldn’t be shocked if they had some surprises for us though.”
As if summoned by Mikkal’s words, the last of the Gifted from Crystalmoor dragged five long, metallic tubes behind them on wagons. Try as she might, she didn’t understand what the tubes were used for. Some sort of weapon, maybe? If so, how did they work? The centers appeared to be hollowed out, and the size made them too bulky to make effective clubs. Additional wagons filled with stacks of metallic balls were brought out and set next to the tubes.
Ethan strode to her side. “We don’t have much time. Once the battle begins, I’ll need to focus, but there’s something I need to say first.” One arm snaked around her waist and pulled her close while the other hand brushed down the side of her face. His hand tightened in her hair and he claimed her mouth, sending a wave of dizziness coursing through her body. Her arms moved of their own accord and locked behind his neck. The sounds of the army faded to nothing. All she could focus on was his lips on hers.
The sound of Alex whistling broke them apart. “Now that was a kiss!”
She prayed to the gods it wouldn’t be their last.
Ethan pulled away and whispered in her ear, “No matter what happens today, I love you.”
Before she could respond, he walked back to his post and surveyed the battlefield. Mara shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts.
Some said the wait before the battle was the worse than the fight itself. She felt that keenly. The anticipation, the not knowing, was torture. Her mind went through every scenario, tormenting her with the worst possible outcomes.
A horn sounded from Order Headquarters. The disciples roared and began to march forward.
Ethan shouted, “Steady!”
From this height, the disciples looked like ants crawling across the field. Tiny, deadly ants that could swarm them and rip them apart.
Ethan’s eyes rolled back into his head. Mara held her breath, waiting for the order to attack. His eyes snapped open. “Now!”
With a ferocious battle cry, Wynn charged forward to meet the disciples. Her clan raced after her, screaming for blood while the Kerani swept the field in a wave of deadly color.
Once they were in range, the first ranks of disciples dropped to their knees. A row of Tellum formed behind them. They drew back their bows and fired glowing arrows that arced through the air. Halder stood in his saddle and raised his hands above his head. A shield formed above Mara’s Gifted like a plane of glass. The arrows struck the shield and vanished.
A loud crack and a boom drowned out the battle cries. Mara’s head snapped back to Steel’s forces. Smoke poured out of the black tubes as a round metallic balls tore through the ranks of the Kerani warriors. The balls exploded. Dirt shot up in the air like a sunburst. Horses screamed, sending their riders flying through the air.
Halder urged his mount toward the Gifted from Crystalmoor. Mara watched as he retracted his shield and pulled it in on himself until it crystallized on his skin like ice. The Order’s Tellum swung their bows and aimed at him. They released their arrows. The arrows cut through the air and zipped toward Halder, but instead of piercing him, they bounced off. Halder swung his arm toward the nearest disciples. They fell to their knees, clutching their throats. Then he pointed his hand at the black tubes and let loose a blast of energy strong enough to level a building.
The nearest tube exploded apart into thousands of pieces.
He turned toward the next.
Ethan gasped, and his eyes rolled back in his skull. He motioned for the nearest Avem and whispered in his ear. The Avem selected a sparrow from the cage. The sparrow flew over the army, straight for the Avem struggling to keep up with Wynn.
Moments later, another bird flew toward Tomar.
The Order’s Saxums reached toward the ground and pulled. Wynn shouted something at her clan and reined her horse to the side. The ground split in two, swallowing dozens of Lingatians. Wynn’s scream could be heard over the battlefield.
She vanished from her horse and reappeared on the other side of the crater, blades whirling in a nonstop cyclone of steel and death.
The Kerani fell back, leaving Tomar exposed and alone. Somehow, he had lost his horse. Seizing the chance to kill the Rei, disciples charged at him. Tomar waited until the disciples were close enough to strike. He spread his arms wide and released a black cloud that engulfed the disciples.
When the cloud dissipated, the disciples were lying on the ground, unmoving. Tomar broke into a run as the Kerani warriors clashed against the enemy.
The Lingatians closed the crater and flooded across the field.
The two armies collided.
Birds filled the sky as Ethan scrambled to maintain control of the battle.
A firestorm large enough to burn a house swept through the disciple�
��s ranks, engulfing them in flames. The disciple’s Irrigos rushed to put out the fire.
Just when Mara thought this might be an easy victory, the gates of Order Headquarters opened and the young Impriga stepped out. Bile rose in her throat. She wanted to scream at her Gifted to retreat. The ranks of disciples parted, allowing him to walk calmly to the front lines. The ground blackened beneath his feet as he walked. Mara’s eyes widened in horror. Just how much energy could this child hold?
The Impriga didn’t move a muscle. He looked toward the closest of Mara’s Gifted and they fell as one.
The disciples swarmed the fallen and butchered them where they lay.
Alex’s face turned ashen. “Gods save us.”
33
Chaos reigned at the front lines. The clanking of swords and pain-filled screams blended together in a symphony of anguish as the two sides grappled for dominance. Mara clapped her hands over her ears, wishing she could block it out. Dust from the explosions blew across the field. A metallic, sulfur-like smell invaded her nostrils and coated the roof of her mouth.
A dozen disciples detached from the ranks and charged up the hill toward the pavilion. An Avem scratched a message on a piece of paper and tied it around a dove’s leg. He let it fly as a glowing arrow pierced his chest. The Avem slumped to the ground.
Mara stared at him in horror. That could just have easily been her.
“Get ready.” Alex drew his twin swords.
Mara planted herself in front of Ethan. Alex and Mikkal moved to flank her while the rest of the guards took their positions. Her blood pulsed in her ears and her palms slickened with sweat. She nocked an arrow and drew back her bow, aiming it at the closest disciple. She exhaled and let it go. It pierced the disciple’s shoulder, but he kept running.
She loosed another arrow. And another. Two disciples fell before they reached the top of the hill.
Alex shifted to the side and drove his sword through a disciple.
Then they were on her. She dropped the bow and drew her short sword, widening her stance. An Armis with a glowing axe rushed at her. Mara feinted to the right. The disciple caught the ruse and jumped back before Mara could strike. The disciple roared and swung her axe at Mara’s head. Mara blocked the blow. She kicked out, connecting with the disciple’s kneecap.
Mikkal cut down his man and rushed to help her while the guards engaged the rest. He barreled into the disciple, sending her sprawling on the ground. The disciple’s axe vanished. Mara lunged forward and pierced her heart.
A sharp gust of wind knocked Mara off her feet. Her head hit the ground and black spots filled her vision. Disoriented, she groaned and looked up in time to see a Caeli racing for Ethan. She scrambled to her feet. Alex jumped forward and reached out to grab the Caeli’s wrist. The disciple crumpled to the ground.
The guards finished the rest of the disciples.
Mara glanced up sharply at Ethan who seemed oblivious to the fight around him. His eyes rolled back in his head and he gave another message to the last remaining Avem.
Mara braced her hands on her knees, chest heaving. With shaking hands, Mara raised her glasses to her eyes and almost dropped them. Her army had fallen back in a desperate attempt to put distance between themselves and the Impriga. Tomar rallied his Kerani against the soldiers from Crystalmoor.
A hawk dove past her, piercing through the sounds of battle with a sharp screech. Mara’s eyes widened as it circled overhead.
She heard the sound of hoofbeats behind her. Mara spun around and caught sight of a large army approaching from the south. Her insides liquified. If they were enemy forces, Mara’s army would be massacred.
Mara and Ethan exchanged a stricken look as the emperor’s army emerged from the forest beyond. Their blue banners snapped in the wind as they rode closer.
“I didn’t See them,” Ethan said, his face going slack. He stared at the army with dull eyes and his voice went flat. “They’re masking themselves somehow.”
“It’s not your fault.” Mara reached out and took his hand. “Together?”
“Together.”
Mara stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her friends as they prepared to die.
But as the they approached, the army made no move to attack. Mara lifted the glasses again, training them on the two figures riding at the front of the army. She blinked and looked again. How was it possible?
“Oona!”
Oona spotted her, and her face broke out in a wide smile. She kicked her horse into a gallop and aimed straight for the pavilion, the second rider close behind her. Oona leapt off her horse and Mara ran to her side, throwing her arms around her in a smothering embrace.
“I’ve missed you so much!”
“Never thought I’d hear you say that,” Oona said with a laugh. She turned her smile on Ethan. “Thanks for leaving the instructions on how to brew that elixir. Judging from your expressions when we rode up, you weren’t expecting us.”
The other rider turned out to be Isaac. He tossed his long, flaxen hair and smirked down at them from horseback. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“What are you doing here?”
“A little birdie told me you could use the help.” He winked at Oona and her face turned red.
Well, then.
“Some notice would have been nice. You scared us to death!” Mara barked out a laugh and stared at Isaac, incredulous. “How did the emperor give you permission to use his army? Has he changed sides?”
Isaac’s expression turned grim. “My father is no longer the emperor. Word got out to the masses that he had paid the Order to assassinate his brother and his family. I believe he’s currently waiting in a cell back home for trial. Until then, I am acting emperor.”
Her eyebrows rose. “And the people accepted you?”
“Considering I was only two years old when my father stole the throne, the people don’t hold me responsible. Now, where do you need us most? My Gifted are your Gifted.”
Ethan pointed across the field to where the Lingatians were struggling. “We could use your support there. If you can split the disciples in two, it will disrupt their ability to fight and force them to fall back. Oona, could you help send messages?”
Mara watched Isaac ride off to join the battle, wishing she could do something to help. By now, both forces were decimated, and the field was littered with the bodies of the fallen as the Impriga ripped his way through her army like they were made of paper. Mara couldn’t look through the glasses again—too afraid of what she might see, or more specifically, who.
How many more people would have to die?
Her thoughts went back to what she’d said to Arianna in the tunnel. In order to kill a chicken, you had to cut off its head. But they weren’t aiming for the head, were they? Her eyes lifted to the Magi building that lorded over Order Headquarters. Cadmus was safe within the walls of the Order while the two armies massacred each other.
It was time she did something about it.
“This isn’t going to work. Until Cadmus is dead, both sides will keep fighting until everyone is dead.” She turned to Alex and Mikkal. “I’m going after him. Are you with me?”
Alex grinned. “We’ll watch your back.”
“You’ll need this.” Ethan pulled out three bottles of elixir from his robes. “These will mask your movements long enough to get inside the Magi building and do what you need to do.”
She drank hers in a single swallow.
His gaze lingered on her a beat longer and Mara wondered if he was going to tell her not to go. Instead, he gave her a nod. “Stay safe.”
“No promises.”
Mara took a deep breath and charged into battle with Alex and Mikkal at her side.
Isaac’s troops cut through the disciples. As Ethan predicted, the Order’s army was forced to fall back and split into two.
It gave her an opening.
Mara raced across the field, skirting the battle as much as she could. She dodged a head-sized rock aimed at her
face. Her feet shifted to the left, putting her in the path of an Armis. He stabbed at her gut and she jumped back. She heard the sound of fabric ripping as the blade cut through her tunic and grazed her abdomen. Warm blood trickled down her skin. Not deep. She ignored the pain and sidestepped the next swing.
Mikkal drove his sword through the Armis’s chest and kicked him to the side. Alex grabbed her arm and dragged her forward. Her feet slipped through the blood-soaked mud. She gripped his tunic with her other hand to keep from falling.
It was one thing to watch the battle from a distance when she could see the overall picture. Up close, the fight was a blur and being in the midst threatened to send her into sensory overload.
She kept her eyes glued to the towers, trying her best to block it out as she ran to the iron fence that surrounded Order Headquarters.
Alex gave her a boost and she climbed over the fence. He and Mikkal followed. They crept around the Novice building and peered across the deserted courtyard. Together, they ran around the fountain and into the Magi building.
Mara froze in the entryway. Her legs shook, and her stomach heaved, threatening to spill her breakfast on the marble floor. She was about to confront Cadmus—Cadmus, who had nearly destroyed her. The thought of seeing him again made her want to curl in a ball and give up. Only the thought of her friends spurned her on.
Alex led the way up the stairs. Mara raced after him, her boots thudding on the stairs while Mikkal brought up the rear. They rounded the corner and came to a halt. The hallway was filled with disciples.
Mara stepped to the side to let Mikkal pass. As one, the disciples reached their hands to the side and manifested glowing weapons. Then they charged. Alex parried blows with the first disciple. Off balance, he stepped back. Mikkal ducked in and stabbed the disciple in the gut. The next disciple jumped over the body and swung at Mikkal. Mara raced in. She drew her dagger and sliced along the disciple’s calf muscle. He dropped to the floor. Mikkal reversed his grip on his sword and drove it downward.
The Dreg Trilogy Omnibus Page 95