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She nodded, a smile spreading across her face as if a weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders. “You will rule well. Better than I would have.” She stood, looking at the assembled soldiers who watched our exchange.
“HAIL KING THERON,” she shouted. A responding roar went up, our army yelling in unison. Pride and gratitude filled me as I looked around, determined to be the man who deserved such trust as I held Endbringer aloft, causing another round of cheers.
Kael squeezed my hand, her eyes misty. “Hail King Theron,” she murmured, pulling me down for a kiss. I pulled my bone sword from my scabbard and handed it to her.
“Here,Sihaya.”
Her eyes widened and took it. “Are you sure?”
I winked at her. “You look good with two swords.”
She grinned at me. “That I do.” I leaned down, kissing her once more.
I pressed my forehead against hers. “Come back to me, love.”
“I will,” she swore. Kael pulled away, her eyes tortured, before she turned and strode off toward the group of rebels. My heart ached as I watched her walk away, every fiber in my being arguing that this was a mistake. That I shouldn’t separate from her. I pressed my hand to my chest, holding it as if that could stop the pain. I just had to get through this. Once we were through this, then we’d never be separated again.
Taking a deep breath, I composed myself and walked out to speak to the soldiers. A hush fell over the army as I strode out, their eyes on me. All of us connected in purpose and mutual understanding of what we were fighting for.
“My friends,” I began, raising my voice so that even those at the back could hear me. “We are here today, ready to take back our homeland and our heritage. I don’t speak of only Athain. No. From this day forth, all of Maeoris will be free, as our gods intended. No longer will we be sending our sons to die in wars that aren’t their own. No longer will we be slaves because of the choices of men long dead. Today we fight one last battle—a fight for peace. A battle that will once again see our peoples band together. To reclaim our birthrights.”
The group cheered as one, raising their weapons in salute. Courage filled me as I watched them stand together in solidarity despite all odds. If we could have them standing side by side, maybe we could win this after all. It was up to us to take it and make something great from it. “Let’s go!” I roared. And with that battle cry echoing around us, we advanced.
Metal clashed and screams tore through the air as arrows rained from the skies, the unseen hands of the empress’s archers dealing death from above. The hums of the strings and the whistles of arrows moving were like malevolent ghosts in the air, unseen, unfelt, until they ripped through flesh and bone.
“Shields up and advance!” My voice rippled through the clamor, a beacon among the cacophony of death. “Move as one!” I shouted, struggling to penetrate the pandemonium.
The scents of iron and sweat mingled in the air, metallic and raw. The earth below was a canvas painted with the crimson of spilled life and trampled grass. My heart raced, the throbbing pulse a relentless drum in my ears, a symphony of impending doom and unwavering resolve. Kael was somewhere up on the mountain, most likely finding a defensible position to tear down the walls and towers. We needed her to take them out soon. The archers were proving far more effective than I expected.
Our shields were bulwarks against the relentless assault, forming a metallic canopy against the sky’s deadly rain. The echo of arrows against the shields was a constant companion, like the rhythm of a grim, unending storm delivering only blood and pain.
“Press on! We need to get closer!” I urged them. We had to draw them out enough to give her space, but I didn’t want our troops harmed by debris either. I was balanced on a knife’s edge.
The taste of fear and determination lingered on my tongue, a bitter, metallic concoction of life and death. The relentless whispers of the unseen archers grew louder, the shadows of death looming larger. Our lines teetered on the brink, a thin thread of hope straining against the overwhelming darkness. The clamor around me was a tumultuous sea, waves of sound crashing over me, whispers of metal, and wails of the wounded.
All of my senses strained to the limit, every fiber taut with the tension. The enemy seemed a relentless tide, an insurmountable wave of shadows and steel. My breaths were quick, my heart a wild, unrelenting drum in my chest. We were exposed. An easy target. We couldn’t hold this position much longer. If the archers weren’t taken out soon, we’d lose.
Where was Kael?
Chapter 26
Kael
Imovedsilentlythroughthe brush, ducking behind a stone as a sentry passed. We were close—too close to the wall. I’d need to find a safer location, or I was liable to kill all the rebels waiting below me for my signal. I glanced back to see Haemir and his teams hidden in the tree line, their worn clothes and armor blending in with the dappled shadows.
I chewed my lip, listening as one sentry stopped and chatted with the other, their voices too low for me to make out without activating my aluminum, something I didn’t want to risk. I settled in for a wait, my nerves fraying as a shout went up, the archers launching their first volley. Fuck. Theron must have his formations within range. I didn’t have much time or they wouldn’t be shielded from the debris.Only a little further,I told myself as they launched more arrows. I knew every second of being in that deadly rain would seem like an eternity.
I stifled a shriek as Xadrian appeared beside me, hiding behind the same boulder. The lilac hues of the rising sun painted his features with a myriad of shades. He spoke, his voice a whisper, too low for the sentries to hear. “Kael. Can we talk?”
My eyes widened. “Here?”
He shot me a sad, crooked grin, his dark gaze darting over my face as if studying every plane. “We might not have another chance.”
I nodded, a mixture of curiosity and apprehension filling me. “Alright.”
“I need to apologize,” Xadrian began, his voice filled with regret. “I didn’t listen… and I should have.”
“Xadrian, it’s fine, we can just—“
