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“Tell them to retreat,” I said to Jasmine. I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off, but a plan was slowly forming in my mind. “Get inside the castle.”
She nodded. “We can use the battlements to keep them off ourselves for a while longer.”
Jasmine stood where she was, but I was more useless here than I would be out there. I stole a few seconds more to stare at her before I grabbed my sword and turned away from her to join the fighting. We had to stall the army as long as we could.
Lugh’s army still hadn’t arrived here fully, but we were already outnumbered. They came from all around me, and I had to conjure things to push them off just as I used my sword to meet their attacks.
When the ground tore next to me, heating the air, even I was surprised. Qai came without being called. He stepped out of the rift and got before me as a tall woman with a spear attacked me from the right side. Qai caught her spear with his sharp teeth and broke it at once. She took a few steps away in fear when Qai growled at her, but I could not watch what happened next because another soldier attacked me from the left.
I always thought fighting was fun. Sparring with friends or opponents in times of peace had given me that misguided impression.
This wasn’t fun. This was full of blood and pain. Fae fell, clutching their wounds as their faces contorted in agony. Screams and shouts joined together; anger and fear competed for dominance within each soldier.
I couldn’t tell how long it had been. I fought, trying to protect anyone I could. I saw Dearen in the distance, he fought with his rocks and spear. I wanted to go to him to fight side by side, but there were too many soldiers between us, dying and killing.
We are ready, Jasmine’s voice rang inside my mind after a while. She didn’t sound like herself, but more. We are retreating into the castle. Follow.
It took me a moment to realize that the message had gone out to everyone around me. The monster folk changed tactics. Now, instead of pushing the enemy away, they were trying to come together to retreat in relative safety.
I joined them after I was done fighting a soldier wielding a sword. Her blonde hair covered her face as she fell on her side. I couldn’t see if she had died as we ran back at once.
We reached the moat and passed it quickly. Jasmine was constantly in my mind, telling me what to do and who to help. When I reached the other side of the moat via the bridge, her voice rang inside my mind once again.
Lift them!
My feet lifted off the ground. The air carried me up and up until I was over the battlement.
Qai jumped onto the battlement after me, seeming dumbfounded as he growled. I felt the queasiness from being lifted with air and knew that he felt the same.
“It’s okay,” I told him as I turned around to face the army rushing at the castle.
No. Qai said. It wasn’t okay.
Make water inside, Jasmine shouted in my mind. I knew she wasn’t talking to me but still, when the water elementals turned to the courtyard and created water there, it caught me off guard.
Portalers, Jasmine shouted. Come here to open a portal!
This time, no one around me moved. It took me a moment to realize that the portalers were all at the prison, deep inside the castle.
“Jasmine!” I shouted at her since she was close. “How long will it take them to get here?”
They sent all the prisoners away, Jasmine spoke into my mind in response. A few minutes.
We don’t have a few minutes, I said, my eyes darting toward the army rushing to the castle. They were advancing along the bridge, some even swimming in the moat to get to the wall at once. They would use their air elementals to push themselves up to the battlement, just like we had.
I know, Jasmine said. But we are weakened.
I knew she was right. All around me, the monster folk bled. They helped each other walk and managed to reach the puddle created by the water elementals, but they could not push away the soldiers quickly approaching us.
The numbers of Lugh’s army did not seem diminished at all as I turned around to stare at them. The other side of the moat was covered with them, so much so that I could not see the ground underneath.
They were here. We didn’t have enough time.
We need to stall them, Jasmine said.
No one beside me moved. I could see it on their faces that they, too, knew we were doomed.
I had to try again.
