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8. The First of Many
As our troops wait for the order to attack, I keep my eyes firmly on DaiSzek.
I think he is sleeping at first until his large head rises, cinnamon eyes half-open, and he looks right at me. Those RottWeilen senses are superior to our enemy. He knows we’re here. He knows we’ve come for him.
Niles and Ruth seem to notice it, too, releasing small gasps.
“We’re coming for you, buddy,” I whisper. “Just hold on.”
He doesn’t look harmed. And for that, I should be grateful. But instead, I’m terrified—if there’s even a chance Niles and I don’t succeed in freeing him. We could lose. And DaiSzek will be shipped away.
Anytime you need me out there, just hold my hand.I remember Ruth’s words before we left; remember that I’m not alone. I have to believe we can do this.
My hand slips into Ruth’s, squeezing gently.
“You can do this,” she whispers.
I look over at Niles, who has lost all color in his face, looking just as terrified as I feel.
“Do you have the dagger?” I ask him.
He nods without looking at me. “Warrose gave me one of his.” With one hand, he waves it at us.
Good. We can do this. Wewilldo this.
But my body doesn’t agree. I’m shivering with nerves, every joint, bone, and muscle burning in anxiety. My skin tingles from the furious pumps of adrenaline coasting through me.
The world stills moments before it happens. Disturbing silence on our end. Casual conversations and fire roaring on theirs.
The two halves of our unit move in synchrony, charging from the left and right sides of the Vexamen Breed’s camp.
Chaos erupts.
The element of surprise works in our favor. Their soldiers stumble as they realize they’re being surrounded, tripping over their equipment to race to their weapons. The salty air is filled with the bizarre sounds of screaming men, clanking metal, and arrows whizzing through the air.
Our men attack with swords of all sizes, and a secondary group hangs back to fire their crossbows at the scrambling breed of deadly warriors.
But the unorganized surprise doesn’t last long. They begin forming into fighting lineups with shields, double-bladed swords, and whips that are ignited with fire.
And the collision happens like a natural disaster. An avalanche cascading down a mountain, wiping out every tree and animal in sight. Dessin and Aurick lead each side, and although Aurick isn’t half the warrior and assassin Dessin is, he’s obviously deadly.
Taking an exploding leap over a cluster of falling men, Aurick swings his sword into a man’s rib cage, crunching into his side until blood sprays over the sand. He’s quick and well-trained, carefully avoiding their deadly attacks.
Dessin is a marvel to behold. He fights in a fury. A feral dance around their weapons. And it’s more effort than I’ve ever seen him display. He uses his fear of DaiSzek being taken as a weapon, harnessing his aggression and letting it erupt over anyone standing too close. His movements are inhumanly fast, chopping off limbs like their joints are made of butter.
And Warrose is only a few steps behind him, swinging his whip to behead three Vexamen soldiers at one time.
Ruth is squeezing my hand to the point of searing pain.
Suddenly, we see two men running our way, holding a baby in each arm as they lock eyes with Ruth. She perks up, standing with her arms out as they hand her their babies. She stumbles a few feet back, setting them in the grass one at a time, trickling yellow liquid from the satchel over their blankets.
Niles nudges me, jerking his head to the fighting. Every soldier is occupied. This is it. This is our moment to end it all.
I look at him one last time, nodding my head. “Let’s go.”
We stand at the same time, taking in a deep breath before we take off in a sprint. My nerve endings are on fire with paralyzing fear. Our pace turns sluggish as we try to run quickly in the sand. Each step sinks. And we’re out of breath before we’re halfway to the bucket, to DaiSzek, who is now standing waiting for us to arrive.
I know he understands what’s happening. He sees the battle. He sees us sneaking to reach him. The legend knows what he has to do once we set him free.
