Not with training.
Not with strategy.
With instinct.
A guard lunges towards Jamie, and I’m already moving before I consciously register it, stepping into the path, blade up, deflecting the strike with a jarring impact that sends a shock through my arm.
The force of it surprises me.
The new strength behind it.
I adjust quickly, shifting my footing, bringing my weight into the next movement as I drive forward, forcing him back just enough to break his momentum.
I’m not graceful. I’m not controlled. But I’m not useless either.
“Stay behind me,” I snap, not looking back.
Jamie doesn’t argue. That, more than anything, tells me how serious this is.
Another soldier closes in from the side, and I pivot, barely getting my blade up in time to catch the strike. Metal grinds against metal, the sound harsh and too loud in the narrow space between us.
The smell hits then.
Iron.
Sweat.
Damp earth kicked up under shifting boots.
Someone shouts—maybe Sonny, maybe Jack—and the sound slices through the clash of weapons as Solan takes down one of the attackers with a force that is almost frightening to watch.
He doesn’t just fight. He overwhelms.
The soldier goes down hard, and Solan doesn’t pause, already turning to intercept another before they can reach us.
“Move!” he barks.
We don’t. We can’t. They’re too close.
Another guard breaks through the line, faster than the rest, and this one is aiming straight for Jamie.
I see it a second too late. “Jamie—!” The warning tears out of me as the guard lunges, hand outstretched.
Jamie stumbles back, slipping on loose ground as he scrambles away, the fear finally breaking through the composure he’s been holding onto.
Jack moves to intercept, but he’s blocked. Sonny is tied up with another attacker. Caly shifts, but the angle isn’t right.
That leaves me.
I throw myself forward.
The impact is rough, unbalanced, my shoulder slamming into the guard hard enough to knock him off trajectory. We both go down, the ground hitting harder than expected, and I scramble to regain footing.
Pain flares along my ribs, but not enough to stop me.
The guard recovers fast, too fast, his blade coming up in an arc that I barely manage to block in time.
The force drives me back.
