Page 100 of Destiny Redeemed
“Behind you,” I panted.
“Really? That’s the best you can—”
The observatory door crashed open, and Anderic burst in, his armor splattered with blood, fury etched on his face.
Callum whirled, but too late. Anderic’s blade caught him across the chest, driving him back. The two princes engaged in a flurry of blows that left me breathless to watch.
I scrambled to the Queen’s side. “Are you hurt, Your Majesty?”
“No, child,” she said, her eyes never leaving her son. “But you are.”
I’d almost forgotten my own wound. “It’s nothing.”
Callum was outmatched. Anderic drove him back step by step, his technique flawless, his strength seemingly inexhaustible. When Callum’s back hit the observatory rail, Anderic knocked his sword away with a powerful blow.
“Yield,” Anderic commanded.
Callum glanced at the sheer drop beyond the rail. “Never.”
A horn blasted from the city walls—three long notes. The signal we’d agreed upon if the battle turned irretrievably against us. My heart sank.
Callum smiled, blood trickling from his split lip. “Hear that? Your city falls.”
Anderic’s expression didn’t change. “Retreat if you wish to live.”
Callum hesitated, then dove for his sword. Anderic moved to intercept, but Callum wasn’t attacking—he was fleeing, disappearing down the staircase.
“Let him go,” Queen Felicia said. “We have more pressing concerns.”
She was right. The horn sounded again, more urgent this time.
* * *
From the palace battlements, we had a clear view of our impending defeat. Darian’s forces had pushed our defenders back to the inner walls. The Red Cross gang was systematically destroying the eastern quarter. Elentharian reinforcements streamed through the western breach.
“We can’t hold,” I murmured, watching Commander Maxwell’s northern forces being steadily pushed back toward the city center.
Anderic’s jaw clenched. “We must.”
“Your Highness!” A guard pointed toward the horizon. “Look!”
At first, I saw nothing. Then, a glint of sunlight on armor. A line of horsemen appeared on the northern ridge, then another, and another. Banners unfurled—the black stag of Everard, thesilver hawk of Thornvale, the blue lion of Tiberix, and the green serpent of Valeraine.
“The dukedoms,” I breathed. “They’ve come.”
Leading the Everard contingent was a familiar figure—Duke Eldrick Stormbourne, Noah’s father, his armor gleaming in the sun.
“Perfect timing,” Anderic remarked, a slow smile spreading across his face.
The horn sounded again—but this time, it was different. A rallying cry. Hope surged through our exhausted forces as the dukedoms charged down the ridge, thousands strong, catching our enemies in a pincer movement.
“We need to push them back,” Anderic declared. “Coordinate with Duke Eldrick’s forces.”
We rejoined the battle with renewed vigor. The tide had turned. Darian’s men broke ranks, retreating toward the breaches. The Elentharian forces, seeing Prince Callum fleeing, began a disorganized retreat.
Only the Red Cross gang fought on with the determination of men with nothing to lose. I spotted their leader, Red, cutting down three of our soldiers with brutal efficiency.
Then Anderic was there, golden armor shining like a beacon. The two clashed in a spectacular display of swordsmanship that drew all eyes.
