Page 141 of The Stolen Kingdom

Maris gave her one last quick glance before tilting her head upward. Her jaw tensed as the loud groan of shifting wooden bolts echoed through the air. Slowly, the massive gates to Oberon Castle’s courtyard creaked open, revealing what was on the other side.

Inside, Skylian soldiers were scattered across the courtyard—some engaged in rigorous training, others tending to makeshift camps. But as the doors widened, one by one, their movements stilled.

Dozens of eyes turned to Valda, and she felt the weight of their stares like a blade to the spine. She wasn’t sure what Arwin had promised them, but whatever it was, it wasn’t worth the betrayal.

A sudden, sickening thud snapped her attention away. Valda turned just in time to see a body hitting the ground behind them.

Valda barely had time to react before a second soldier tumbled from the guard towers above, limbs flailing before crashing lifelessly into the dirt.

“What in Tartarus?!” one of Arwin’s men shouted.

He rushed forward, kneeling beside the first fallen soldier. With a sharp yank, he rolled the body onto its back. From where Valda stood, she could see the unmistakable shaft of a Vulcanian arrow protruding from the man’s chest.

“Close the gates! Now!”

Cursing under her breath, Valda crouched down, but not before slamming her foot into Maris’s heel, sending her crashing to the ground just as a barrage of arrows flew through the open gates, striking more Skylian soldiers guarding them.

Maris hissed angrily, looking at Valda, her face pressed into the now wet cold grass. Arrows pierced around them as agonized screams filled the air.

As the other soldiers scrambled to draw their weapons, Valda’s soldiers moved towards them. With a single clean slice, the ropes binding their wrist fell away.

Valda wasted no time. The moment her hands were free, she extended her arm forward, palm open, towards the carriages they had brought in.

The Heaven Sword burst through the wooden carriage it was in, splinters flying before shooting through the air and to her hand.

Valda caught the hilt in midair, her grip tightening before turning to the multitude of soldiers running towards them.

Traitors.

Every single one of them were traitors, and if there was one good thing that Valda learned from Arwin, it was that the only thing a traitor to the crown deserved was death.

Next to her, Maris lifted her hand, her fingers curling as if she was grasping an invisible thread, the rain around them shifted, merging into thin streams that slithered forward winding through the debris of the carriage destroyed by the Heaven Sword.

Maris found Poseidon’s Trident curling around it. Exhaling, Maris’s gaze locked on the weapon. With a flick of her wrist, the water wove tighter, lifting the trident from the wreckage. With a sharp pull, the water yanked the trident forward. It shot through the rain, mimicking a harpoon, straight into Maris’s outstretched hands.

Without hesitation, she spun and pressed her back against Valda’s, facing the open gates to which Arwin’s soldiers were desperately trying to shut out the oncoming Vulcanians.

“Kenna is here! They are trying to get in!” Maris yelled through the cracking thunder.

“We need to get those fucking bombs inside now! The rain will damage them!” Valda said as she pushed against Maris, her gaze on the Skylian soldiers charging towards them.

“Maris, you need to keep the gates open. I will make my way to the castle.”

Valda gave Maris one last concerned glance before the first soldier charged. Sidestepping him, she pushed him away from her and Maris, giving her mate enough time to move towards the gates.

The soldier threw another attack, his blade slicing through the air. Moving away from the clumsy attack, she drove her sword into his gut, and twisted. The wet squelch of flesh and the stifled gurgle barely registered before she yanked her blade free, letting his body collapse.

As a second soldier lunged at her, one of her soldiers grabbed him by the throat before pressing a blade to his flank.

Another soldier took his place just as the hilt of Valda’s sword slammed into his temple. A sickeningcrackreverberating her. His eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the ground.

And then there were more. Valda didn’t stop. Shecouldn’tstop. She needed to make way, she needed the plan to fucking work.

Her blade carved through bodies, the stench of blood thick in the air. The metallic tang she knew all too well clung to her tongue as rain and gore slicked the grass beneath her boots. Fallen soldiers slumped lifelessly at her feet, their blood staining her clothes.

She barely had time to register the dark blur leaping before a soldier’s pained yelp was abruptly silenced.

Cerberus.

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