Page 76 of The Endless War

Zarrah stepped out onto the bridge, walking until she reached the center, where she stopped, the structure swaying beneath her weight. The captain stared at her in horror even as he caught hold of the arm of the soldier who had been about to slice the mooring ropes.

“Put down your weapons, and you’ll be spared,” she said as her companions raced down to the bridge. “Surrender.”

“Are you mad?” he shouted. “The prisoners on this island are more beasts than men. Killers and rapists and cannibals, and you’d set them loose on the world?”

“These people were unlawfully imprisoned by the Empress because they dared to criticize her,” Zarrah countered as the bridge shook, the rebels pouring onto it. “This is your last chance. Surrender or die.”

“The Empress was right to send you here,” the captain hissed. “You are a traitor to your people, and I will personally throw you back on that island, where if there is justice, you’ll spend the balance of your days.”

“So be it,” Zarrah answered, right as Saam and Daria pushed past her, weapons in hand.

“Kill them,” the captain roared, “but leave the traitor alive!”

Archers crouched behind stone barricades loosed arrows, and Zarrah clenched her teeth as screams filled the night, every instinct demanding that she join the fight. Except she was the only thing that was keeping the soldiers from cutting the bridge ropes, so she held her ground as her friends threw themselves into the fray.

Aren passed her, ducking as an arrow whistled past his head. “Bermin is nearly upon us.”

Horns sounded, so close it was all Zarrah could do not to look back.

“They’re coming!” shouts echoed from behind her, the air filling with cries of terror. “We need to cross!”

“Not yet!” she shouted. “Give them time to secure the opposite side!”

“Shoot them!” the captain yelled. “Secure the traitor!”

Bowstrings twanged, and prisoners screamed.

“Hold your ground!” She half turned to see them massed well within bow shot, the torches held by Bermin’s forces drawing closer by the second. The children, the infirm, and the injured were caught between her cousin and the cliff top, pushing closer despite the arrows flying across the channel.

Then she heard Keris shout, “Rocks!”

The rebels behind her all lifted their arms and threw, a wave of small rocks flying overhead to smash into the archers. Many fell short. Others struck the stone barriers. But some aimed true, screams of pain rising from the archers as they were struck.

“Again!” Keris shouted, and more rocks flew. “Go! Hurry!”

No. No no no!They hadn’t secured the far side of the bridge. It would be certain slaughter.

“No!” she screamed at the rebels, the children wide-eyed as they clung to the hands of their mothers. “Go back!”

Then a roar of voices filled the air, coming from the far side of the raging battle. “In the name of the True Empress, attack!”

The battle paused as both sides lifted their heads, staring in shock as another force appeared. It was at least one hundred strong, all heavily armed, and for a heartbeat, panic filled her veins that the navy was already here. Except none of them wore uniforms, and fairer-skinned individuals peppered their ranks. Then her eyes latched on the familiar face of a blond woman running at their head.

It was Lara.

An unfamiliar Valcottan man ran at the Ithicanian queen’s side, and he shouted, “Fight for your freedom! Fight for the rightful empress!”

Then all was chaos.

But it was not to the battle that Zarrah looked, but behind. Racing toward them were Bermin and eight soldiers. A paltry force, but more than enough to defeat the one man who stood between them and the escaping prisoners.

Keris.

“God damn it!” Swinging over the side of the bridge so as not to impede the flow of escaping injured, Zarrah edged back to the cliff top. Leaping the last bit of distance, she raced up the slope and skidded to a stop next to Keris.

“We cannot fight them alone on open ground,” she said, hauling on his arm. “We have to …” Words stalled on her tongue as she looked backward. The bridge was full of injured who could go no farther, for beyond was a teeming mass of people trapped by the battle. Several tried to press sideways down the cliff tops, only to be jostled, and Zarrah clenched her teeth as they fell, screaming, into the water.

And there was no swift victory in sight.

---