Page 114 of Renegade Kings

“I can’t make you trust us,” I said sadly. “But I hope you will. I don’t want to see you die here today. Arik has taken too much, too many. It’s time for it to stop.”

The kid next to me gently touched my arm and when I turned to look at his face, I saw how much he understood what I was trying to say.

“Thank you,” he whispered, before turning back to the others who had been imprisoned here with him. “Run! Now! Come with me.”

And with that, he turned and ran.

It was what the others had been waiting for. For one person to take the leap, and when nothing happened, they scampered after him, slipping in the mud as they ran for their lives away from the camp and the battle behind them.

Fizzle glided over my head and I heard his hurried shouts as he ushered the children away and, hopefully, towards some kind of safety.

I quickly released my hold over our fighters, not wanting to risk them any more than I already had and braced myself to face the consequences of my actions.

I was surprised when the first shouts I heard from our side were encouraging shouts telling them to hide and reassuring the kids that we’d find them soon.

Every muscle in my body wanted to sag in relief.

“Thank you.” One fighter came to my side, clapping me on the back. “If we all die here today, at least on some level, we won.”

With a grim smile, he turned away from me, adjusted the grip on his sword as he cracked his neck and then strode back into the fight.

My gaze went to where Arik’s forces were organising themselves. They were heavily armed and clearly ready for a fight. This was where the battle would really begin, but there was at least some reassurance that we’d saved some.

I shifted back into my wolf and he gladly took control once more. There was more blood to be shed, and we had to make sure it wasn’t from any of the people we cared about.

Chapter 46

Maddox

As Dean freed the fighters on our side, they quickly formed squads along the line, facing down Arik’s forces that were organising faster than we ever could. We were outnumbered yet again, but when had that ever stopped us? We hadn’t come here naïve enough to think we’d have the upper hand. Arik had stolen these people for their magic, and our fighters couldn’t hope to match that… unless the stories weren’t true.

But our fighters looked energised, ready for what was about to come, and I knew it was all down to Dean freeing the kids and pulling them out of the camp. None of them had that look in their eyes anymore that made you think they’d only come here to die. They wanted to fight. They were ready for whatever they could throw at us.

Arik’s forces didn’t give us time to organise ourselves before they charged. It meant that we hadn’t reinforced our line far enough, and I knew those fighters further into the camp would have a tough battle ahead of them.

The Endless seemed to have their sights set on a certain area of the field, and I knew without a doubt it was where Alyssa was fighting. Arik was making a move to either capture her or put her down for good. This was his opportunity to finally get what he wanted, but he wouldn’t find Alyssa to be the easy target he wanted her to be.

Every instinct I had in me screamed to go to her. To pull her out of this madness. And as I raised my sword to meet the first of Arik’s soldier’s head on, I felt my lion push against my control as, for the first time, we disagreed about what to do next.

“Trust her. She is a force to be reckoned with,” I screamed at my lion in my head.

He chuffed in agreement, but I could still feel his anxiety. I tried to push it to the edge of my mind as I fought for my life. I couldn’t afford the distraction right now. This wasn’t practise, and these weren’t training swords. One wrong move, and I wouldn’t be around to worry about her.

I twisted to the side, letting my blade run through the side of my attacker. Feeling absolutely no remorse when he cried out and fell to one knee on the ground. I didn’t hesitate. I knew this would haunt me in the quiet hours to follow, but the thing that mattered now was survival. And I clung to that as I turned and drove my sword down through the base of his neck.

There was no time to weep, no time to mourn the life of the man I’d never know because as soon as the killing blow was dealt, there was another soldier there to take his place.

Ryder strode closer. He had a sword in each hand and was cutting through the other side with a fury few knew he possessed. When this whole thing was done, he’d still be the same man he was. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect his people, and if his actions were towards those intentions, he’d never regret them either. He was fierce in his love.

“There’s more than we thought there would be,” Ryder shouted across to me. “But at least we’re not being bombarded with magic.”

I nodded, glancing around. In fact, there was barely any magic being used on the battlefield. Were they holding it back, or did they not even have it to begin with? If Arik hadn’t taken these fae for their magic, then how was he choosing the ones that he stole?

There wasn’t time to figure it all out now. Instead, I concentrated on the fight that was coming.

Ryder grabbed me by the shirt and hauled me closer to him. “Don’t get separated. We stay together. We need to work our way back to the others.”

It was only then that I looked around and realised that we’d been separated from Dean and Tank. I’d had eyes on Dean only moments ago, but now he was lost in the fray.

---