Page 131 of Silver & Smoke
‘Loose!’
‘Pull back!’ Torj shouted, the muscles in his arm spasming violently as he raised his hammer to gain his unit’s attention. ‘Pull fucking back!’
His commanders saw him and barked their own orders across the ranks. Arrows rained down, creating a much-needed pause in the fighting as the enemy pulled back to lift their shields. The dull percussion of arrows embedding in metal reverberated across the ranks, and shrieks of pain followed. Torj didn’t look back. He clambered over the bodies alongside his company, hauling the injured to their feet and pushing them towards the rallying point.
As they retreated, the masters’ alchemy rained down in clouds of powder that reacted with the enemy’s armour, accelerating any existing rust – corroding the metal so drastically that it caved inwards upon the wearer. All around him, people screamed.
The enemy swarmed the choke point, obliterating the stone walls that had created the narrow path. Someone shoved a set of reins into Torj’s hand, and he swung himself up into the saddle, the motion second nature to him. His stallion was sturdy beneath him, and he urged Tucker towards the secondary position, where the remaining Thezmarrian forces were gathering, falling back into their ranks. He spotted Vernich and Graves taking their places in the frontlines astride their own stallions, and Audra rallying bands of shieldbearers at the rear, but there were notable absences.
‘Vernich!’ he called across the mayhem. ‘Where’s Hawthorne? And Thea?’
The Bloodletter’s gaze snapped up, wild with adrenaline. ‘Up top,’ he yelled back, pointing to one of the remaining walls. ‘Anenemy unit attacked the archers. The happy couple are fighting them off while Whitlock covers our retreat. Get ready, the next assault is coming!’
Torj didn’t look to the enemy; his eyes went straight to the rampart, the one where his soul-bonded had been stationed.
Wren?he shouted down their bond.Wren!
CHAPTER 68
Wren
‘If you seek logic within the violence of war, you will find none’
– Elwren Embervale’s notes and observations
‘THEA!’WREN SCREAMED, sending a bolt of lightning into an enemy soldier whose sword was poised at her sister’s back.
Thea glanced at the man crumpling behind her. ‘Thanks!’ she shouted over her shoulder.
Wren didn’t even get the chance to sigh her relief. Heart hammering, she threw another spear of brilliant white light into an enemy unit ascending the parapet, sending them flying. She could hear Torj’s voice distantly through the bond, panic edging his tone as he called her name repeatedly. Her heart clenched at the fear in his inner voice, but the madness surrounding her wrenched her attention away.I’m here, I’m alive, she tried to send back, but wasn’t sure if he could hear her. It was taking all her strength to focus on channelling her storm magic while enemies closed in from every side.
‘Where is he?’ Thea shouted over the roar of battle, her swords a blur of silver as she cleaved through the necks of two attackers, spraying Wren with blood. ‘The bastard won’t even show his face at his own fucking war?’
Wren wiped the mess from her brow with a grimace. ‘He’s coming.’
Wilder leapt in front of her just in time to deflect a spear. He threw the enemy soldier from the parapet into the ranks below, crushing several more.
‘Our forces are in the secondary position,’ he said, barely out of breath as he pointed to the madness below. ‘The Kingsbane’s army has breached all three choke points faster than we anticipated – they sacrificed their frontlines to overwhelm us with sheer numbers. They’re advancing through the ruins, and we’re running out of defensible ground.’
He was right. Through the vortex of alchemy and storm magic, enemy figures broke from the mayhem with lethal purpose, directing their ranks into a forked attack.
‘Shit,’ Thea muttered. ‘They’re using a pincer move to surround us.’
Wren whipped around to the far end of the parapet. ‘Cal!’ she shouted. ‘Redirect our archers!’
Cal already had them at the ready, arrows showering the rear of the advancing enemy below.
Wren caught sight of Kipp near the edge of the secondary position, his face turned up to her, waiting. She lifted her arm and slashed it down in a signal. Kipp nodded once and ducked away into the shadows of a half-collapsed building.
Moments later, the ground between the choke points and the secondary position rippled. As the enemy forces rushed forwards, intent on overwhelming their defensive line, the earth gave way beneath their boots. Screams erupted as soldiers plummeted into the carefully concealed pit traps.
‘Yes!’ Thea breathed beside her, gripping Wren’s arm in anticipation as they watched on. Those who weren’t immediately impaled on the poisoned spikes were crushed by their comrades falling on top of them.
‘It buys us time,’ Wren told her sister. ‘Not much else.’
‘We’ll take it,’ Thea replied, pointing to Kipp emerging from theother side of their forces, already signalling to Torj and the others to ready the next line of defence.
But Wren’s momentary triumph faded as her gaze returned to the larger battlefield. Her heart lodged in her throat as she saw how quickly the fallen were replaced, and how Silas’s commanders were motioning to each other across the rallying numbers.
