Page 79 of Renegade Kings

Chapter 28

Alyssa

We moved silently through the trees, and I reached out for the magic that was growing here. The magic the dryad had used to cause such violence before. Because violence was about to revisit the Spring Court and I’d be damned if it would be my people left dying on the ground this time.

The others followed my lead, happy to provide backup and follow me to wherever the danger lay. Rhidian and Fizzle would be a few minutes behind us, having stayed back to prepare our fighters.

We’d taken only moments to discuss what was happening, and the plan was simple. We would defend our home and the people here at all costs.

I latched onto the magic flooding the court, and I felt it rise to my call just as a foreign sensation further ahead registered on my senses.

I slowed to a halt. The guys clustered around me as I crouched down, threading my fingers into the soft loam of the forest floor. Instead of an echoing silence like I’d felt the last time I did this, I could feel the pulsing magic of the court. It flowed through the ground like a network of vines, connecting the trees, the plants, and every living thing that touched them.

Including them.

There was no doubt in my mind who was moving through the forest ahead of us. I’d felt this darkness before. A malevolent magic that seemed completely unnatural. But there was just so much of it. More than I’d felt in one place.

“They’re about three hundred metres ahead,” I whispered.

“Can you give us an idea of numbers?” Maddox asked from where he’d crouched down next to me.

I reached out again, feeling along the edge of their lines, as I tried not to let the foreign magic leech into mine. Even if it had the potential to strengthen me, there was no way I wanted anything to do with whatever Arik was wielding. It was dark, polluting. There would be no coming back from touching that darkness.

“A lot. That’s about as much as I can give you. I can’t feel them as individuals, just the size of what’s coming at us.”

It wasn’t good enough. I needed some way of figuring out how many we were going to face. How were we going to prepare if we didn’t know what was coming for us? I’d spent too long sulking and trying to sort out my own shit. I shouldn’t have left the logistics of keeping the court safe to Rhidian. This was my job. My parents would be ashamed of how much I was dropping the ball here.

“Here’s an idea,” Maddox said softly, clearly trying to keep me calm. “Feel back towards where Rhidian and the others are. Get a feel for the size of their group. Then look at what we’re facing. How much larger is it than our own forces?”

Okay, that made sense, and it was something I should have thought of before.

It took a fraction of a second to reach out towards the others. This was our court. Despite what had happened before, these people had made a home here and the magic that lingered held no ill intent towards them.

But as soon as I felt the familiar magic of our fighters, I realised numbers weren’t going to be our problem.

“They’re not much bigger than us. I’d say a few people at most.”

“Then why do you look like you’re getting ready to tell everyone they’re about to die?” Dean asked grimly.

“Because whatever is coming for us is strong. This magic that Arik fuels his Endless with is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before. They outmatch us so much that I don’t see how our forces can possibly survive. Swords can never win against power.”

I looked up, staring into the forest as if it would give me a glimpse of the shining armour that heralding the most feared thing in Nymeria. But there was nothing there.

“We need a long range attack to thin their ranks,” Dean muttered. “Something to give us a fighting chance. If we could slow their advance, get them through some kind of bottleneck…”

Dean looked around us and frowned when he saw nothing but trees.

“I’m going to shift,” Tank muttered. “My magic isn’t strong enough to take on the Endless, but I can do some damage with my bear. He’s fought them before.”

I nodded numbly as the reality set in.

We were about to go up against the Endless. Rhidian’s fighters had no chance. I’d seen them train. They were good with swords, but their magic was weak. The most they could hope for was to take one down collectively. That wouldn’t happen in this situation, though. Not when we faced these kinds of numbers.

I knew my guys could fight. We hadn’t exactly had an easy ride of it until this point, so I’d seen their skills already. But the numbers we were facing now? Dean was right. We needed to thin their ranks.

My mind spun frantically as the Endless advanced. Sitting here on our asses wouldn’t get us anywhere.

As I looked around frantically, I saw the one thing this forest had used to protect itself before and prayed it would work once again.

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