Page 179 of A Courage of the Chosen

I’ve spotted him training a time or two, and I have to admit he’s impressive, and more than capable of holding his own. Both Elsie and Rach will be safe with him.

I look to my brother, resignation on his face. We’ve arrived at the same conclusion. We cannot turn away now.

“Ready the horses,” I command. “We leave at nightfall.”

Those final hours are spent by Elsie’s bedside, until the very last moment where I need to don my armor and ride out, knowing it’s highly probable I’ll never see her again.

The man who left our rooms is a shell of who I used to be. Switching off my emotions and walking away from Elsie will always be the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.

But the war we’ve been waiting for has arrived, and as I secure my weapons, I become the Seelie who has fought and bled for Elfayne for a long, long time.

By nightfall, the army is mobilized. We’ve been waiting for this, and so it didn’t take long to prepare the forces for the trek. I ride at the head, alongside Hector, and we’re flanked by Reyne, Eòghann, and Brodie.

It won’t take us long to reach where Tavish and his horde wait, only a few hours north, where Ederline changes from the vast Loch to a flowing river on a large field with an incline. He currently has the advantage. High ground, and an army almost twice the size of this one. But I’ll be damned if we don’t die without giving them a fight that will go down in history as the greatest of all time.

This is our final march. One way or another, this will come to an end.

The army is mostly quiet, conversation limited in the thousands that navigate their way through the forest under the cover of night. It worked well for us last time, so we opted for the same tactic to ensure we face our enemy with the dawn, and hopefully weaken the Brollachan.

The ground is coated in a light layer of snow that has fallen intermittently over the last day or so. Which means the earth should be pretty solid, and soldiers will find it easier to remain on their feet in combat. At least one thing will work in our favor. It’s also less challenging to fight when the air is colder. Heat tires armies out quicker.

Puffs of air curl away into the night from the horses of mounted units, and the collective breaths of fifty thousand brave Seelie, ready to face certain doom.

In no time at all, the forest begins to thin around us, and the sky turns from an inky black to a deep purple as we break through the line of trees into a wide expanse of land, surrounded by uneven terrain and soaring mountains.

The air is unnaturally still in a way I’ve experienced only a handful of times in my life. One that tells me war awaits, and death follows.

“Into formation!” I issue the command, and it ripples through the ranks.

I urge my horse forward a few lengths, Brodie following close behind while the army arrange themselves into the lines that need to hold if we’re going to survive this day.

Hector joins us. “I can sense them.”

The view at the top of the incline is obscured by the night that’s still clinging on with weakening fingers, but they’re there. Thousands of eyes watch unseen, and suppressed chills pepper goosebumps along my arms.

“Aye, they’re watching,” I say.

“Why haven’t they attacked?” Hector asks the question, and I already know the answer.

“Because he wants a show. He won’t come in the dark. He’ll want us to see his power and tremble in the wake of it.”

Hector spits on the ground. “I’ll tremble when I’m dead.”

Brodie chuckles low and dark.

I pivot my horse back towards Elsie’s army, watching them file out as quickly as they can under the orders of their commanders. Within a few minutes, they’re assembled, weapons ready, shoulders tight.

The broadsword at my back hums as I unsheathe it, and I project my voice so that everyone can hear me, including the enemy at the top of the hill.

“Over a hundred years, and it comes down to this.” The words pierce through the fading night. “All of you know someone who has been affected by the evil that’s roamed free for too long.”

My horse begins trotting along the lines so they can all see me, draw courage from me, if they need it.

“I’m not going to ask you to raise your swords and follow me. I’m not going to ask you to risk your lives for your realm, or your queen. This fight doesn’t just belong to one person. It’s all of ours. I’m asking you to ride with me, to avenge those that have been taken and lost. For our mothers and fathers. For our sons and daughters. Sisters, brothers, cousins, and friends.”

Every face I ride past is set in steely determination. Every hand steady.

“It’s them we ride for. To end this, so that no one else is corrupted. To give them their rightful passage into the afterlife, so they may finally rest with Dhia.”