A bell from outside tolled loudly once, twice, three times. The sound as urgent and alarming as a yell for aid.
I froze, dread flickering to life inside me as silence crashed down on the tavern. A silence that lasted all of two seconds. Then every officiate jumped to their feet, their faces hardening, and rushed out of the building—all bar one.
Keyes’ perceptive gaze skimmed over those who were left. “Candidates, we have company. Go to the armory now, arm yourselves fast, and then get onto the battlements.” His facehardened. “Whatever’s here cannot be allowed to get over the wall.”
CHAPTER SIX
Armed with a scythe, bow, and quiver of arrows, I rushed across the bridge that led to the city’s left curtain wall, dozens of candidates both in front and behind me. A bubbling sense of urgency pumped through my blood with every beat of the heart working overtime in my chest.
The torches on the rise had been lit, indicating the direction from which the invaders had come. But I would have known which way to head whatever the case—the officiates had already reached the battlements, and I could hear the distant cries and growls of the invaders who were fast approaching.
Archers were keeping the aggressors at bay, along with those operating the catapults projecting large rocks that were either on fire or covered in boiling oil. Phoenixians were tossing balls of cold air, and Delphiae were letting out elemental energy blasts that shimmered in the air. Among them, Talon held his arms out straight as power rushed from his splayed fingers in vivid gold streams.
The moment we were all across the bridge, Keyes ordered us all into position on the battlements. Stood only a few feet away from Talon, I could hear everysnapof his power cracking through the air. Soule was also nearby, busy filling bubbling cauldrons with various things—liquids, animal fat, oil, and hot sand.
I balanced the scythe against the battlement wall in front of me, hoping there wouldn’t come a point when I’d need to use up-close-and-personal weapons. Reaching back to grab an arrow from the quiver, I looked down. Dog-like creatures were swimming toward the island while others sprinted across the expansive terrain that lay between the river and the city walls. They had pointed ears and strangely spiked marbled black/gray fur.
“What are they?” I asked no one in particular.
“Mutated Molossian hounds,” replied Soule. “And they’re rabid.”
They also weren’t alone.
Hundreds of clawed, shrieking, dark-haired women with pale skin were among them. “Lamiae,”I noted. Both creatures came from different areas of the Dark Lands. “Is it normal for them to join forces?”
His expression grim, Soule shook his head. “No.”
I positioned my bow just right. “How is it I’m seeing through the fog right now?”
“Anyone within the city walls can. It’s only if you’re out in the Pines that it obstructs your vision.”
Huh. All right.
Noticing that Bevan was beside me, I spared him only the briefest glance before I shot an arrow straight at a lamiae. Satisfaction gripped my belly as it speared her head and took her down. Thanks to my years hunting food, pure muscle memory had me retrieving another arrow and—no hesitation or fumbling—firing it through the heart of another lamiae.
I drowned out the nervousness beating in my system, letting my mind center on the weapon in my hand, as I targeted one enemy after another.
I noticed that Deimos’ creatures were joining the battle. Horned panthers with scales on their back wrestled theswimming-invaders. Massive golden eagles flew down, their talons extended. Lions with vipers for tails tore across the land, roaring fire. As if it wasn’t weird enough that those felines could breathe fire, it made it weirder that their snake-tails were hissing and snapping.
The lamiae fearlessly attacked the beasts on the ground—shrieking, lunging, clawing, biting. The hounds also fought back against Deimos’ creatures, tearing into them with their teeth; whipping their prehensive tails back and forth.
I fired another arrow. And another. And another. I hit my mark each time, just as most of the other archers appearing to be doing.
The catapults were doing an equal amount of damage, as were the balls of ice-cold air and the blasts of elemental energy. Every golden whip of power coming from Talon obliterated a foe, making them burst into ashes.
As one, our side was literally raining down death and destruction. The evening was alive with screams, roars, flames, and the flashes and crackles of power.
But the intruders kept coming.
Several rabid hounds were fast approaching the thick stone wall. I shot more arrows, took more down, watched others fall at the metaphorical hands of other candidates or officiates. Still, some hounds managed to reach the wall. They jumped and clawed at the stone, thankfully unable to traverse it.
That was when officiates began tipping over the bubbling cauldrons, pouring all sorts of things over the beasts. Liquids and fats hissed as they landed with a splat while the rain of hot sand pattered like hailstones. Each time, there were roars and yelps of pain that made my chest squeeze.
More came, as did several of the lamiae. I sent another arrow whizzing through the air, eliminating one of the screeching women. Another of them leapt—
And buried her claws into stone, using them to keep purchase.
As she began to awkwardly scrabble upwards like a spider, my belly rolled. I cursed as yet more of her kind mimicked her move.
