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The guards in the carriage ahead of us leapt down into a massive puddle in the center of the opening. Water came to their ankles as they splashed toward us, then pulled open the carriage door.
One man helped Emilie out first. Cyrus held his jacket over her head and I followed behind them. We walked quickly to the center arch and once we were under cover, I shook my hair out.
I entered the greeting hall first and froze as soon as my eyes adjusted to the light. I felt the blood drain from my face. From my entire body. Bile rose in my throat.
I was no stranger to death. To gore and all the horrors that come with battle. But nothing could’ve prepared me for what I’d stumbled upon.
I stepped over one body, the head detached and nowhere to be found. A pile of mangled limbs lay beside him. The next body still had a head, but his face had been removed, leaving only cartilage and bone.
My breath came uneasily. Bodies were piled everywhere, and the floor was slick with blood. I leaned down and closed a woman’s eyes. Her shirt had been ripped open, and she’d been gutted.
The smell was enough to make me sick, so I tried to take shallow breaths. I was dizzy from the rancid scent of decay and the sight of all my soldiers brutally murdered and left for me to find.
Worst of all, at the front of the hall, a man had been dismembered. Each piece of him—his torso, his arms and legs, and his head—had been rearranged and pinned to the wall with large spikes.
Kalen.
He hadn’t sent that message. Someone else had. Someone who wanted to set a trap.
I whipped around, my boots sliding in the crimson puddles. When I turned, I found Emilie, her face pale and eyes frozen in shock. Cyrus didn’t look much better.
“Who…who would do this?” Cyrus asked between shaky breaths.
Emilie looked as if she might feint. They needed to get out of here.
“Take her. Take her and leave. She doesn’t belong here and you need to get back to Renoa. Tell the captains at the other outposts—”
A shout and the clank of metal interrupted my commands.
Cyrus and I wasted no time running back from where we’d come. It had to be less than ten steps to the arches, but by the time we ran out into the rain again, the courtyard was full of masked fighters. They swung wildly, untrained, unlike my armies. Our four guards held them off easily, but their numbers grew as more spilled out from the side arches.
Anderson, the oldest guard, was taking on four at once while Braden and Clarence fought three a piece, slicing through their foes with deadly precision. On the other side of the carriage, Lee was engaged in combat. His sword clashed against another masked soldier’s, but two were approaching from behind.
“Lee!” I shouted, running toward him and drawing my sword as I went. I slashed through the first’s chest with little effort, and he hit the ground with an anguished scream. Then I brought my sword up and went for another fatal blow. The second heard me coming and turned just in time, blocking my sword with an old, dented shield.
It clanged, the vibrations rippling up my arm. I planted my feet and took another swing, this time aiming for his thigh. He quickly brought down his own blade, which clashed with mine at the last second. He twirled in a move that was more theatrical than practical, and I thwarted his attack. We danced back and forth until Lee surprised him, jabbing his sword into the soldier’s back while I took the fatal blow to his chest.
It was my first chance to look around the clearing. Somehow, there were even more soldiers than before. It was like a tidal wave of enemies and there was no way we could continue to hold them off.
“Cyrus!” I shouted, swinging my blade and massacring our enemies as I made my way toward him. He was surrounded by six more soldiers, and I could see the strength draining from him as he fought valiantly. I paused and took a deep breath, sending a shock wave through the ground.
The soldiers were unprepared and thrown from their feet while Cyrus was able to get away. The moment it took for me to focus my magic cost me. Someone attacked from behind, slicing the back of my thigh. I roared and clutched at the gash, blood covering my hand in a matter of seconds.
Cyrus rammed his sword through the assailant, giving him an extra kick in the chest for payback. As the man fell to the ground, I heard Braden shouting and I whipped my head in his direction. Clarence was lying face down, blood spilling from his abdomen. Braden sank to his knees beside his brother. Even though Clarence had stopped breathing, Braden protected him from further violence. He fought and fought, but after a few minutes, our enemies buried him and his brother, swarming over them like flies on a rotting carcass.
I tried to find Anderson in the chaos, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Get back to the carriage!” I yelled at Cyrus. With Clarence and Braden gone, and Anderson missing, our odds of getting out of here alive were dwindling.
“Where’s Emilie?” Cyrus shouted back at me.
For fuck’s sake, had he not been watching after her?
I searched the bloody battlefield, dodging and cutting down soldiers as I did. Just as I was about to give up, I spotted her behind one arch, her hands outstretched as a magical barrier kept our enemies at bay.
Fuck, I really should’ve taught her proper self-defense. She couldn’t hold on to that power forever, and judging by her faltering stance and pained expression, she was going to give out soon.
Cyrus took a step in her direction, but I stopped him with an outstretched arm. “Get to the carriage. I’ll get her.”
