Page 94 of A War of Three Kings

“I have no idea.” I scan the distant camp as though it will give me answers. Great masses of foot soldiers collect before it, with thousands of stragglers running toward that perceived safety.

I open my mouth to say something, but all thought flies from my mind as the ground rumbles and shakes ferociously beneath our feet. A thunderous roar follows, increasing in intensity until I am deafened by it. Explosions blast in fast succession. The entire world tilts as the ground rolls and moves and my shoulders strike the pavers.

The mountains are falling, stone by stone. Or perhaps they are erupting. But that booming comes from underneath us. A detonation below the ground.

An avalanche of fist-sized rocks rains down upon us, striking me multiple times before I pull my senses together enough to throw up an air shield. I sense my people’s magic adding to it, reinforcing that protection, which buckles as larger boulders fall on us.

The battlefield shudders for an eternity. Every time I think it has stopped and try to get to my feet, more aftershocks rattle us. Dust fills my lungs. It suffocates me and makes me cough and gag. Pain shoots through my spine. I am utterly disorientated, unable to see through the black plumes surrounding us.

Smoke hits my nose. Not that of a wood fire, but the fumes of something more toxic, with the oily aftertaste of chemicals. I have never smelled anything like it before.

A single thought races through my mind.Keira.She has to be okay. She must be alive. I don’t want to exist in a reality where she isn’t with me.

I send out that thought, reach for her in the way she said she did for me when we were realms apart, and it is as though I can hear her heart pounding in my ears. Those are her emotions, the utter confusion and blood-chilling fear, but they are not laced with pain, and that is a thing I can accept.

I cannot see the fortress through the screen of dust and smoke, so I whip up a volley of air magic to thrust it away. My mind freezes up at the sight that awaits me. It refuses to accept it as truth.

The entire main gate of Fort Blackrock and the battlement above it have been blown away, and there is a huge, gaping mouth into the North in its place instead. One of the main towers on the eastern mountain slowly topples to the side and crumples into a pile of blocks right before my eyes. Entire regions of the western battlements have collapsed inward, reduced to half their original height.

Leading right up to the foot of the fortress, beneath the battlefield, is a tunnel that has been blown open. They dug deeper than even our furrow. Black smoke churns from where its head meets the wall.

The enemy distracted us for a week with their catapults, and then this battle, while their miners dug beneath our fortifications, filled the hole with explosives and blasted away the North’s greatest defense.

I run a hand through my hair as I stare at the devastation. Keira is right there, in the middle of it. Her panic floods into me, poisoning my blood and freezing my body with terror. She is too far away for me to save her. I have never felt more helpless in my life.

For a few heartbeats, there is utter stillness across the battlefield. Then the enemy’s low horns bellow again, and their soldiers charge forward. It is a thing of brutal savagery. No neat front line is kept. No ordered columns. The foot soldiers carry dozens of bridges with them and those siege towers roll toward our defenses, now wide open.

Horror floods me. It snaps me out of my stupor. “Muster your power!” I roar at my band. “Forget the bolt launchers! Grow fortifications of roots across the gap in the wall!”

I throw everything I have into those wields, tearing up roots from the soil and weaving them into a makeshift barrier. It is not enough. No matter how much power we throw into it, orhow many roots we pull up, it will not keep the enemy out for long—but it will give the Northern forces a chance to retreat.

I don’t care if I drain myself completely of power and energy. If we get stuck here behind enemy lines, weak and vulnerable. I only want a chance for Keira to get out.

Where are you, Aldrin?

The whisper of her voice echoes in my head, as though from a great distance. It is laced with terror.

Get out, Keira,I urge her.Run. I will find you.

I do not tell her that it will be in this life, or the next.

Promise me you will live, Aldrin.There is so much love, so much fear in that murmur, that I crumble and make her that promise.

The distinctive brassy horns of the Appleshield Protectorate bellow sharp, short notes over and over, calling the retreat. We had every advantage, and somehow, we lost this battle.

I glance at my people. Sheens of sweat coat their faces, colorless and streaked with mud. Some already sway where they stand. We could stay here and hold the gate for a few more moments, but our deaths would not save the humans wehave aligned with. They would not protect Keira from future battles.She needs my sword at her side.

I draw my blade and turn to my people. “We fight our way out and live to battle another day.”

There is no shame in a necessary retreat, and no honor in a needless death.

Chapter 24

Keira

My father pulls me by the arm down a flight of stairs leading off the battlement.

“We have to go back,” I yell at him, trying to yank myself free. “I can still fight!” My voice is hoarse, my throat filled with dust and the smoke of that black powder. I should have known those mercenaries were parading under a false banner.

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