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Everyone in the trench had a magical ability that was able to be wielded from afar. One soldier could create shields of stone. Another created bursts of light, like a star exploding. When her blasts appeared out of thin air, the ground shook and the sound echoed through the valley. It was clear hers were the explosions we’d heard under the mountain.
We hurled strike after strike at our enemies. Before long, their troops and ours were so commingled, it was difficult to aim without maiming our own.
Lucia sighed. “Well done everyone, but the fight isn’t won yet. Follow me to the battlefield!”
Ladon had told me to keep my distance, but I couldn’t abandon my squadron now. It felt like I was already a part of their group. And I wanted to have their backs, the same way I knew they’d have mine.
So I stood and double checked my weapons—all in place and accounted for. Then we began our descent down the steep mountainside, back to the valley where the battle was raging on.
I second guessed my decision to join the battle when a soldier charged at me within seconds of reaching the fight. Side-stepping him, I drew my sword and slashed across his back. The tip of my sword barely grazed him, but it was enough to anger him.
He spun around and prepared to charge again, but this time, I was ready for him. I called on the wind and he propelled toward me as I sliced my sword through the air again. His head fell to the ground.
“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Lucia said with a smile.
I gave her a tentative grin in return. I could do this.
Remember what they did to you. What they did to Ladon. Remember everything they took from you. Show no mercy.
I sent a blast of wind into a pack of Murvort soldiers, knocking six or seven to the ground. Bianca came up beside me, and icicles rained down, impaling our enemies in a matter of seconds.
A man with a long, black braid spotted us and threw a pair of daggers in our direction. With a powerful gale, I halted the blades in mid-flight and sent them soaring back in his direction. One hit his thigh while the other landed right between his eyes. He collapsed right next to his fallen comrades.
Most of our soldiers seemed to be fighting two against one, so I stepped in wherever I could, taking out assailants left and right with a lethal mix of magic and steel.
The ground was littered with bodies and reeked of metallic blood. I tried not to look at their faces, frozen in time. I didn’t want to know which ones belonged to Osavian, though it was hard to miss the insignia embroidered on their sleeves.
While I was blocking blows from a soldier with black eyes and blood soaked, tangled hair, I felt something wrap around my ankle. I lost my balance and fell forward, hitting my face on the ground and possibly breaking my nose. I could feel liquid dripping down my face and winced as I brushed the tip of my nose. Ignoring the pain, I turned over quickly before the man could stab me in the back.
He smiled, knowing that I was at a disadvantage, and took his time playing with his prey. Gods, I was sick of people using me for their entertainment.
That thing around my ankle tightened, and I realized in horror that someone had a hold of me. A soldier who had fallen but wasn’t dead yet. Their eyes were hungry for destruction and I kicked at them, hoping to loosen their hold, all while still thwarting the other soldier’s slashes.
Sweat rolled down my neck, and I prayed to the gods. My magic was strained; I’d been without it for so long and the expenditure earlier in the battle had nearly drained me. It was getting harder and harder to summon. I’d have to choose my next moves wisely.
I tried not to panic, but I wasn’t prepared for this. A voice in my head told me I was a stupid girl for getting myself into this predicament. But I shut her out. I was smart and strategic and completely capable of fending for myself.
Mustering what little magic I had left, I thrust it down toward my feet, blasting that half-dead soldier away from me. He roared and then fell limp a few feet away. With my full attention on the other soldier, I thwarted a few more blows and looked for an opening in his attacks. A place where I could rise to my feet once more.
I reached deep inside, summoning another blast of wind that hit him square in the chest. He stumbled backward, and I was on my feet in record speed, thrusting one of my daggers into the soft part where his jaw and neck met. Blood squirted as he struggled for breath and then his eyes went dull.
There was hardly time to recompose myself before another one of Murvort’s warriors was headed my way. It seemed like they were coming from every direction. My muscles were throbbing already, but I held the sword up, prepared to take the first strike.
It landed with a ringing clamor. I dodged each of his attacks as quickly as I could, but he moved fast and with lethal precision. Just when I thought I might get a blow in, he sliced the back of my arm and my sword fell out of my hand.
Shit.
I still had my shield, and I lunged ahead, trying to drive into him with the weight of the round metal armor. We clashed, but he was stronger than me. Bigger than me. He forced me backward, and I tried not to trip over the lifeless bodies at our feet.
I shook the sweaty hair out of my face and from the corner of my eye, I spotted another soldier lining up an arrow to send toward one of ours. I gritted my teeth and focused my magic on that arrow, pulling it from its path and driving it into my assailant’s back. He grunted before slumping to the side.
I heard the sound of horses stampeding behind me. Spotting a boulder a few feet away, I ran and dove behind it just in time to avoid being trampled. I wasn’t the only one who sought refuge. A blonde woman with a massive bloody gash fell down on top of me.
She screamed when she noticed me, lashing out and trying to wrap her hands around my neck. I used the move Ladon taught me, forcing my hips up into the air and knocking her off with ease.
We both stood, assessing each other. She looked wild, rabid even. I wasn’t sure there was an ounce of humanity left in her.
She crouched to leap forward, but then, a horse came out of nowhere and its rider sliced the girl’s head clean off. It rolled to a stop in front of me and I could see her face frozen with hatred.
