“Yes!” Zaela roared a few feet away from me as she struck down soldier after soldier, her eyes repeatedly flashing in Veli’s direction as she admired the use of her shadows put to work.
Archers appeared then and lined the parapets, releasing their arrows through the air and finding their marks among our ranks.
My eyes widened in horror as an arrow found purchase through one of Veli’s palms, immediately cutting off her shadows and forcing her body to drop to the ground. Her shriek of pain radiated over all the surrounding sounds of war.
“VELI!” Zaela screeched as she was forced to fight her way through the onslaught of enemy soldiers.
“Fuck!” I roared at the same moment as I swiped my sword alongside her.
My mind raced as I desperately tried to come up with a plan. The surrounding men became distracted by the outburst and eruption from Veli, and I immediately was forced to start shouting out orders to get their minds focused once more. If they thought our witches were already defeated, it wouldn’t be long before they all lost hope.
My mate had endured too much—and so much of it I wasn’t even able to help her with, feeling entirely gods-damn useless. I couldn’t step foot on the haunted isles. I couldn’t enter Isla when we tried to evacuate her people. And the worst of all was that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t take the weight of the realm off her shoulders. But what I could do was lead our armies in her absence and do everything in my fucking power to ensure our victory. And I intended to do just that.
“Hold your fucking ground!” I screamed over and over. “Donotforget your training! Everything we’ve done our entire lives has led to this moment!”
The massive Islan gates held firm against our relentless catapult attacks, and Lia and Nox were still raging through the sky.
I forced my way to my queen’s aide and heaved her body up from the ground, mortified to see that the arrow was still protruding through her palm.
My hand reached to help her pull it out, but her eyes flashed, not the pink color that we had grown used to, but pure, blinding scarlet—a red as deep as the rage that was exuding from her.
The arrow ignited in flames beneath her stare and burned to ash within seconds, the flurries of it fluttering down to the blood-soaked terrain.
Through deep breaths, I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she flashed her terrifying stare at me. “Are you alright?!” I shouted over the chaos.
“Yes.” The word barely left her in a whisper as her eyes roamed over the insanity unleashing around us at every angle.
Screams of terror sounded as the roaring beat of wings erupted from directly above us, sending storm-like winds through the field.
“Look out!” Veli screamed, the sound blood-curdling, as she lifted her uninjured hand above us and towards the sky.
A bright golden light burst from it right before Adler’s wyvern sent a roaring blaze directly down at my troops, not even giving a damn that his own men were deeply mingled among us all.
A roar of horror left me at the sight of the blinding, all-consuming flames that were unleashed upon us, just barely blocked by the force of power Veli shot out to meet it.
The flames poured over the far ends of the shield she conjured, scalding the unfortunate souls that were fighting just beyond its reach.
Lia and Nox were directly behind him, her mount snapping at the tail of his as she desperately tried to distract him from raining more hellfire down on our troops.
Veli’s force field dropped, and she nearly collapsed into my side, drained from exerting herself while already injured.
“I’m alright!” she snapped as she shoved out of my protection.
I struck down a soldier that barreled toward us.
“No, you aren’t!” I barked. “Go to the healers’ tent! Check on Finn!”
A rage-filled retort was working its way up her throat, but I cut her off before she had the chance to say it. “That is a fucking order, Veli!”
She watched me beneath furrowed brows as her breathing quickened, but a moment later, she vanished. An enemy soldier immediately took the place where she stood, who aimed to strike her down, but I met his attack just in time, killing him instantly.
We were already surrounded. It barely took any time at all for absolute chaos to ensue. My men were scattered, some troops no longer working as a unit as they desperately fought for their lives.
“Hold the line! Hold the line, damn it!” I bellowed, my voice straining to rise above the madness. “Archers, cover the left flank! Hold your fucking ground!”
The archers, positioned towards the back of our lines, released a volley of arrows instantly. Below them, infantrymen locked shields and braced against theoncoming soldiers who charged toward our arrows as if they were nothing.
Leon found me then, his face smeared with dirt and blood, panting heavily. “Commander, the eastern troop is under heavy assault with Landon. They’re aiming for our healers’ tent to take them out. We were relying too much on the witches. We need reinforcements!”
