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As soon as the people of Senadia saw the onslaught of our soldiers, they cheered and fought with a renewed vigor.
Sage jumped down, then I followed. I almost ran out onto the field myself, but I stopped. Who knew if I’d ever see Varga again and I wanted to properly thank her.
I laid my palm flat on her nose when she dropped her head down to my level. She snorted softly, this time not with any attitude.
“Thank you, friend. I hope I’ll see you again one day,” I said.
“You will. Maybe not today, or tomorrow. But one day. Until we meet again.” She kicked off the ground, soaring into the air on a burst of power.
Across the field, the commanders quickly released the ropes from the harnesses and they too lifted off the ground. They circled the battlefield, following Varga’s lead.
She focused on an isolated pocket of enemy Manno soldiers and dipped down, bathing them in fire. A raucous cheer went up, as the other dragons followed suit with the different tents the enemy Mannos had set up.
After the last one caught a healing tent on fire, they headed off the way we came.
Nato and Jari stepped up on either side of me. “I thought they were to remain neutral?”
Egan unsheathed his knives, as he closed his eyes. “When the realms are burning down, there is only so much neutrality nature can take. I won’t question it. Even just their perceived assistance helps our chances.”
“Agreed. You all ready to kick some ass?” Sage pulled his sword from over his shoulder.
“Absolutely,” I grinned, then ran into the crowd of bloodthirsty people, my LL covering my back.
I searched for my powers, anything to help us win, but there was nothing. A dry well that seemed like it never had that first drop of water. Which I knew was a fucking lie.
Frustrated, I grunted and spun with my nun chucks, catching Mannos off guard with my weapon of choice.
A child who couldn’t have been more than ten growled and attacked a Manno soldier, biting him right on the ass cheek. That was, unsanitary, but effective as the man yelped and dropped his weapon to grab his ass with both hands.
A little fox who looked just as young circled the man, attacking his ankles as he turned.
“Son of a—” He raised his hand to strike the girl, but I threw out my arm, wrapping the chain of my nun chucks around his wrist, and yanked sharply, satisfied with the abrupt snap of bone. The man screamed as he fell to his knees.
The child surprised me by stepping back, but the tiny fox jumped and ripped the man’s throat out.
Untangling my nun chucks, I nodded to the child and fox. “Stay close to me. I’ll protect you when I can.” I wanted to check them over, then shove them off the field, but from the chaos surrounding us, our best chance was to fight our way off together.
The girl wiped some of the bloody grime off her face as she returned the nod. “That man hurt my mama.”
My heart cracked right down the center. She never should have had to see that. “Stay with me,” I repeated.
“Okay,” she agreed, and the fox barked. We tore through the field, taking down soldier after soldier, and somehow, I collected five more children. Two with animal companions, one with small lightning bolts in each hand, and another with daggers melting and reshaping into different tiny weapons as he needed them.
Tears filled my eyes with each new child I took with me. They were so young, ranging from about eight to thirteen maybe. Where were their families? Who taught them to fight when they were so young?
My entire LL, sans Yunez, joined me as we headed toward the castle. On the hill, Yunez and Sliad had moved apart and were now slinging elemental magic at each other.
Sounds of fighting came from inside the castle.
Go help Yunez or join the fight in the castle? As much as I hated to make this decision…
The castle. Yunez was a big boy. He could take care of himself, and he was more than well matched with Sliad. Whoever was inside, they needed us.
I exchanged looks with my LL and they all nodded their agreement. Even without my powers, we were on the same page. Good.
We sprinted toward the double wooden doors hanging mostly off the hinges. The children yelled as they followed on our heels.
I wanted to tell them to stay back, to find their parents. But how could I take them out of the fight when they’d already proven their ferocity more than I ever had?
