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“Then keep watching,” I snarled, and sent the lightning out, seeking targets.
Blue fractals of electric energy split open the world, shooting out in all directions. The line of panicked soldiers rushing our position tried to stop. Some turned to run back the way they had come.
The lightning was faster. It slammed into the armored soldiers in a shower of sparks, jumping from one to the next of its own accord. Most of them went down immediately, but a few were warded against spells. The magic broke on their shields and their armor, bouncing off in search of other targets.
A single silver soldier stepped forward, gave a flawless thrust of his spear, and put it straight through a charging soldier’s face. Then, as if he had done nothing at all, he stepped back in line.
I swung my hammer through the air, sending lightning in a wide arc, driving back the advance. A handful of shields broke through the line and charged. The Silver Company struck, smashing shields against attackers, stabbing with their spears, and then back in line, never advancing more than a few feet beyond where I had planted them.
Step, smash, stab. Step, smash, stab.
Nock, draw, loose. Nock, draw, loose.
Hammer up, lightning out.
We found the rhythm of war and leaned into it, an unbreakable, unshakable dance.
I almost forgot these were just the opening steps to a dance I barely knew.
A hundred men, maybe more, lay dead, dying and burning when the first volley of dragon fire tore through the open field. Brenna’s soldiers, covered in pitch and oil, were caught in the blast and reduced instantly to ash. The fire sailed to the right, close enough to form blisters on the face of the Silver Company soldier on the end. He didn’t even flinch, just gritted his teeth and readied his spear.
The next column of flame shot into the sky, scattering the gargoyles that were still harassing and guiding the dragon to me. Two didn’t get out of the way in time. I froze, watching their wings alight, their zigzag patterned crash to the ground. They were too far away for me to smell the distinctive scent of burning gargoyle wings, too far away to see the blisters, and yet I saw and smelled it all over again.
My body went numb and though my eyes could see, a block settled between what was happening around me and my ability to process it. Sound faded to a distant, underwater thing. A crack in reality formed, and I slid into it, fading, falling, detached from everything…
The searing acrid stink of sulfur brought me back in time to see the twisting column of orange-red flame coming straight for me.
“Shit!” I brought my hammer up and reached for my power to create a shield of lightning.
The dragon fire crashed into it, and for a moment, there was nothing in the world but the war between lightning and fire. My arm shook with the effort of maintaining the spell, my will waning. I was tired, sore, and sweating, and I felt the shield around my mind begin to slip, just a crack.
I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough.
I licked my lips, tasted blood, and thought of Hellion’s kiss. I thought of Cian waiting on the other side of the pass. Waiting for me. They’d trusted me to do this. Needed me to do it. If I failed here, it was all over. I couldn’t let them down.
The pressure makes you stronger. Use it.
A surge of willpower rose in my chest. I reached for it, pushed it through the hammer and out into the world with a yell. The wall of lightning pushed back. It flew over the field like a single mass and slammed into the dragon.
The beast roared and shook its head as sparks raced along its scales. Brenna battled for control of her mount. Her head snapped up, and she sneered at me, the bright red scar from our earlier encounter marring her perfect cheek. One eye had gone white and cloudy. I had blinded her with my first strike.
And now I was going to kill her.
The dragon’s agonized scream cleaved the air and shook soldiers to their knees. I could almost understand it as it cried, “I remember you, you who dared take the sky from me.”
I cracked my mental shield and relayed the command.Now!
Marching feet moved. Hooves stamped and wood groaned. The wagon whirled around and sped for the mouth of the pass with the Silver Company in tow. I was supposed to be with them, escorting, directing. Commanding. Instead, I lingered where I was, hammer at the ready.Closer. Come and get me!
I waited until Brenna and her dragon were close enough that I could see the flush of rage on her face. Then I turned and rode hard for the pass.
I heard the dragon’s cry, felt the earth tremble as it slid to follow me, and I pushed the horse harder.
The first set of pits lay ahead. The wagon had already cleared them. The vanguard of Brenna’s army had stumbled into the pass ahead of me. Heavy boots stomped over the wooden planks as they charged the army waiting on the other side. I brought my hammer down on the back of someone’s head as I rode by.
Fire roared through the air behind me. I pressed myself flat against my horse. There was nothing else to do in that narrow space but pray and ride faster, so I did both. Flame crashed into the rock face on my right, turning the veins of dreamsteel molten.
The largest pit loomed ahead, with the other two ballistas waiting on the other side. The first wagon had only just cleared it. The Silver Company was supposed to wait for me to cross before they pulled the ramp, but the dragon was too close behind me. If they waited, we would lose our best shot.
