Not yet. You only have one chance at this. They think you’re weak, that you can’t fight. We need to take out as many as we can before they can regroup. Just a few more seconds.
A wicked looking grappling hook flew by, just inches past Connor’s head. The hard steel hooks rattled across the wall’s stone surface and caught on the battlements. Connor saw the rope grow taut.
He could feel his hand shaking as he grabbed his black war axe in his right hand. He drew his knife from the sheath at his waist with his left. Everything burned a bright red as Connor found the force inside of him that made him different.
Still he waited.
Finally a hand reached the top of the palace wall, followed by another. Then the very top of a head.
“NOW!” Connor shouted at the top of his lungs. His throat was dry and scratchy from the smoke but he must have been loud enough because a noise like thunder answered him. Elites of the five families roared as one and the battle for the fate of human and Elite kind began.
Chapter 31
Connor almost felt sorry for the man who had climbed the rope directly in front of him. He only saw the leather-beaten face and sunken-in orange eyes for the briefest of seconds before he slammed a fist into the man’s surprised face. The blow knocked him backward and sent him plummeting to the jungle floor below.
Morrigan and Katie lit the sky with gigantic bolts of energy that reminded Connor very much of lightning. Connor couldn’t be more proud of Katie as he glanced her way. She was standing beside Morrigan, her brow furrowed, sending sizzling energy bolts into the grouping of enemy soldiers below who had begun battering the iron gate.
All around him yellow, red, and orange eyes fought the enemy back. Lu was leading his family as they hacked at ropes and threw back those who had scaled their side of the wall.
To his right, Connor could see Miyanda, spear in hand, ordering her orange-eyed warriors to throw spears and shoot arrows at the enemy below as fast as they could.
More ropes were thrown over the center of the wall. More heads crested the middle of the battlements. Connor hacked at ropes left and right. Whenever a head was seen, his fist soon followed. Connor couldn’t help but think of the game where moles popped up out of various holes and it was up to the player equipped with a hammer to knock them back down.
As the minutes wore on, Connor thought about how easy it would be to end life. How easy it would be for him to slice or stab an attacker instead of cutting the rope or knocking them to the ground. Even as these thoughts came, the memory of his dreams came as well. The picture of the man’s face Connor had killed in the Catskill forest rescuing Laren and Lu still haunting him.
Connor ignored the thoughts of killing, instead he continued to slash at ropes and bully attackers back down the high wall. The section of the wall was held by himself and the red-eyed members of his own family.
Although he didn’t know the warriors personally, they fought side by side like they were involved in a war every weekend. Grunts passed between them, nods of warning, or shouts of danger.
The preferred weapons of the men and women he fought with were swords and axes. They wore thick leather armor with the occasional animal pelt draped across their shoulders. They reminded Connor of Vikings. Men and women who had led normal lives until the call to arms was announced. They had traded in their everyday clothes and embraced their heritage, the culture of the Elite race and the history that came with it.
As the minutes wore on, Connor knew their plan was working. Where eager faces had crested the walls and ropes thrown up by the second had been, now those below were not so eager to come up.
No doubt the enemies who were readying themselves for the ascent up the wall had seen what happened to those who reached its peak.
Connor knew his plan had succeeded. Vercin assured his men that the virus inhibiting the Elite gene would work on their enemies. That all they had to do was crest the wall and they would be free to take revenge on those who had imprisoned them for so many years. This, however, had not been the case.
Instead of finding humans choking on smoke, the inmates of Karnag found a group of warriors enhanced with the Elite gene. Even as the last of the smoke was thrown from its canisters, the palace defenders remained ready to die for a cause in which they whole-heartedly believed.
Amidst the screams and yells, Connor kept a careful ear out for anything out of the ordinary. He knew that he had to be ready for anything. Connor saw that the defenses were holding. Lu on his left and Miyanda on his right were throwing back eighty percent of their attackers. Those who did make it over the wall were soon overwhelmed and dealt with severely.
It seemed as though neither Lu nor Miyanda shared Connor’s beliefs on sparing life. Blood spattered their ends of the walls. Connor’s stomach twisted as he witnessed Lu exact revenge for his father and Miyanda do the same for her grandmother.
Connor’s eyes blazed red as he controlled his urge for more power.
Not yet, he told himself, You don’t need to tempt fate yet. Control it now, there will be plenty of time for that later.
Seconds seemed like minutes and minutes like hours. With the clouded sky hiding the sun, it was impossible to tell how much of the day past. It felt like he had been on the wall all morning.
The muscles in his arms bulged as he swung over and over again. Dozens, maybe a hundred ropes were hacked. Time and time again Connor forced the attackers off his wall.
Sweat from the exertion fell down his face and chest. Connor tore off the scarf that had been protecting his nose and mouth from the smoke. The smoldering canisters had all but burned out. Only the lingering taint of the toxic fumes permeated the air.
The dark hood also came off, hanging from his back. Pushing and shoving attackers back, Connor tried to listen past the sound of war. He didn’t know how he would know the plan had worked, but he would know.
Then it happened. A lone horn was blown long and loud over the chaos of battle. The inmates of Karnag looked at one another, confused. Loud battle cries and screams of pain rang out from across the jungle.
Their plan was working. Connor and the defenders on the wall had managed to fend off the first attack. Now it was up to Zheng and his warrior monks to successfully carry out the second part of their plan.
As soon as the fighting had started, Zheng had led his monks out the rear of the palace grounds and around the fighting. The Island was their home and King of The Island and his men knew the terrain better than anyone else. They moved quickly through the thick jungle interior to the enemy encampment. Taking the enemy by surprise, their goal first and foremost was to rescue Orion.
The way the horn pealed and the enemy army hesitated during the attack, Connor knew Zheng and his men had arrived at the enemy camp.
Get in and get out, Connor whispered to Zheng and his men. They’re coming for you now.
Sure enough, the attack on the wall ended. Connor couldn’t see or hear Vercin through all of the moving bodies, but he knew he was down there somewhere. The tyrant king would be furious. Connor had to keep himself from laughing at the expression he imagined on Vercin’s face.
A cheer rose up past the sound of metal and the screams of war. A cheer from the defenders as hugs were passed around and grins exchanged.
“They’re leaving! We did it!” Miyanda said, watching the fleeing enemy.
“They’ll be back. They’ll be back soon,” Morrigan warned, wiping the sweat from her brow.
Connor felt his adrenaline slow as his eyes dilated from red to brown. They had fended off the attack and that was something to be happy about, but how happy could he be, should he be, when so many lay dead and wounded?
Looking over the wall, Connor saw the battlefield littered with dead and dying bodies. Most of the limp forms belonged to the enemy, but only most. Defenders that had been torn off the wall or pulled down were out there as well.
Connor pushed all the feelings of worry and doubt aside. He pulled his eyes from the
dead and dying bodies and focused on what was next. He knew the only way to prevent more death was to prepare for what was coming.
Vercin was a proud and stubborn leader. He would not take defeat very well, much less Orion’s release if Zheng and his monks were successful.
Connor sheathed his knife and placed the war axe in his shoulder sling. Elites along the wall were already in movement. The celebration of victory had been short-lived as Lu and Randolph’s voices could be heard ordering their men to prepare for the next onslaught.
Connor hurried down the long flight of stone stairs carved into the wall and headed for the gate.
When he arrived at the steel structure, his heart sank.
Chapter 32
“What happened?”
Randolph looked up as he directed his men to hammer bent nails back in place. “No steel or metal has been made to take the kind of punishment an Elite army can produce.”
“Can’t we get Morrigan to put a spell in place or strengthen the steel?”
Randolph shrugged. “I wish it were that easy. She can strengthen the steel but that’s not our problem.” Randolph pointed a gloved hand to the large metal doors and the area where the gates met the stone wall.
Connor could see what he was referring to without him even needing to open his mouth. The steel was bent but holding. The area that was not able to withstand the constant battering were the hinges that anchored the doors to the stone wall. Even now Randolph was ordering his men to bend back the large nails and secure the hinges but how much longer the gate would hold was anyone’s guess.
As if Randolph were reading Connor’s mind, he ran a hand through his black hair and shrugged. “I’m sorry. I wish I had better news. It will come down next time they attack.”
Connor’s mind searched for an answer. He knew if Vercin was allowed into the courtyard, it would be over. Even though they had made the enemy pay for their first overeager attack, they were still outnumbered. Before Connor could come to a solution, he heard Katie yelling his name.
“Connor! Connor! Hurry, come look!”
Katie was pointing an outstretched finger over the top of the wall. Connor left Randolph to deal with the door and took the stone steps four at a time. Katie was pointing to a spot in the jungle that ran parallel with the main road. Connor squinted, willing his eyes to see past what any human could.
First nothing, then a blur of movement. Men running. Connor raised a hand to place above his eyes, not shielding himself from the sun but his body instinctively trying to find a way to look closer.
Then Zheng sprang out of the jungle foliage, Orion’s limp body over his shoulder.
“Open the gates!” Connor screamed below.
Zheng was running fast with a trail of monks behind him. Further down the path, Connor saw what they were running from.
Vercin had marshaled his men. He had ran back to his camp to fend off Zheng but the monks had escaped with Orion. Vercin was not pleased.
Connor ran down the steps faster than he had climbed them. The clouds were beginning to part and sun shown down at awkward angles, gleaming off of warriors’ weapons and the battered steel gates.
“Open the gate!” Connor yelled again as he reached Randolph and his men.
Randolph was already lifting the large steel bar that ran across both doors. Metal nails were being pried open. Grunts of exertion escaped the lips of the Elites at the door but in a few seconds the metal gates were open and Zheng ran inside, followed closely by his men.
Orange-clad monks were bruised and bloodied. They had all paid a high price for the rescue of the ferryman.
Connor helped Zheng place Orion on the courtyard floor. The usual fun-loving dark-haired man entrusted with the passage between The Island and the human world was not moving.
“Zheng, is he…” Connor’s voice trailed off and he hated how small he heard himself sound but he couldn’t finish the sentence.
Zheng was sweating with a line of blood coming off his own scalp. His long ponytail fell across his shoulder as he lowered an ear to Orion’s still lips.
The courtyard was quiet. The air that had been filled just minutes ago by the sound of war and death held now for the uncertain fate of Orion’s future.
Zheng looked up into Connor’s worried face. “He’s alive. His breaths are shallow but he will live. We need to take him inside.”
Connor moved to lift Orion’s still form but another shout stopped him in his tracks.
“Connor! They’re coming!” Lu roared from the battlements.
Connor left Orion with Zheng and ran to the front gate. That was the thing about being a Judge, in time of war, you were the one people were depending on. When Connor looked out of the palace entrance, he knew why Lu had shouted.
Vercin had not stopped his chase of Zheng and his monks, even when they had reached the safety of the palace walls.
Randolph and his men were securing the battered steel gate. Connor had just enough time to look out the gate before it was closed and secured. What he saw chilled him to the bone.
Vercin was leading the charge this time. His eyes were alive with hate and the lust for blood. Beside him was Julie and the monster that had once been Faust Ulfric. Following behind them were the prisoners of Karnag, howling for war.
“Here, you’re going to need this to brace the gate. When it falls, you just worry about Vercin. I’ll take care of Faust. I’m sure Morrigan and Katie can handle Julie.”
Despite it all, despite the situation, despite what Connor knew was coming, her voice brought reassurance. Beside him, Laren was holding up a shield.
“Laren? You can’t be here, can you?”
“Yes, the doctor pulled through. It’s you and me against the world right now and it’s going to stay like that for a very long time.”
Connor felt a smile spread across his lips. Laren’s eyes were yellow. A fire hotter than hell itself burned inside the woman he loved. He knew she would stand by him until the end. It was her strength that gave him support now.
Connor grabbed the heavy metal shield she offered and he took his place in line with Randolph and the soldiers at the gate.
“Hold the walls!” he shouted up to Lu and the rest of the defenders. He was done with the wall. The brunt of the fight would now take place at the gate.
Chapter 33
Left shoulder pressed against the shield, Connor braced himself and waited for the impact he knew was only seconds away. He could feel the pressure of the soldiers behind him pressing their own shields against his back. He could smell the sweat they had poured into holding the gate through the first attack all around him.
Dirt was churned underfoot as footholds were found and lost. Laren was beside him on his left, her hair pulled behind her in a tight ponytail, armor glimmering in the emerging sun. She was gorgeous.
“Here they come!” Lu’s voice boomed from the wall.
The first impact made Connor’s teeth rattle. The blow from the opposite side of the large metal doors was deafening. The impact of the shock flowed through the steel walls and pushed Connor backwards.
Lowering his head, he resumed his place on the door. His shoulder was tingling with the sensation of the hit. Yells filled the air as men from the opposite side of the barricade threw their Elite gene against the obstacle. Steel groaned and iron bent.
“Hold the gate!” Connor yelled at no one and everyone. It seemed an obvious thing to say but it gave the men hope as they pushed against the steel doors.
Connor felt the door rumble and vibrate again and again under the unrelenting force of Vercin’s army. Through red eyes he could practically picture Vercin, Faust, Julie, and the rest of the army hurling bone crushing blows at the door from the other side.
Laren was yelling with him. She was shouting encouragement to the men and women beside her. But Connor knew that no shout, no verbal inspiration would save the gate. The sound of tearing steel met his ears and he knew he was right.
The gate was
a dimpled mess of twisted metal. The hinges holding the gate to the palace walls had held as long as they could. With one last charge from the enemy the hinges burst, sending steel pellets down on the defenders.
“Back!” Connor yelled.
He could hear shouts to follow his orders coming from behind him as men fled from the tottering wall of metal.
Connor threw his shield to the ground and braced the gate with both hands. He needed to buy them whatever time he could before the gate crushed them. Hands on steel, he gritted fanged teeth. Out of the corner of his red vision he caught Laren on his right.
“Laren,” Connor grunted under the pressure of the gate. “Run, I can’t—I can’t hold it up!”
“I’m not leaving you!” she shouted back over the hammering of weapons on the steel gates from the opposite side.
“If you don’t, we’ll both be crushed!”
“Well, then you better Judge up and throw this thing back at them. If they want it down so bad, then let them have it!”
Connor knew what she was getting at. She wanted him to tilt the gate and send the pounds of solid steel on top of the enemy. Connor’s arms trembled as the top of the gate inched closer and closer to his head. His feet churned in the dirt trying to find a hold.
“I can’t—it’s too heavy!”
“Find a way, Connor. I know you can!”
The steel wall was coming down on him and Laren. If there was ever a time to call on the untapped power that he held deep inside, this was it. Tears filling his eyes with intensity, Connor let the power that he held inside free.
Every muscle bulged. From his arms to his back to his legs, every fiber of his being reached a new level of strength. Hands on the steel gate, Connor let out a long breathe and took a step forward.
The steel bent under the pressure. Connor could feel the metal forming around his hands as it was submitted to a force not of this world. The raw animal force inside him told him to go forward. It tried to take over his body with the idea that he was capable of anything. It was intoxicating but Connor knew that he needed to focus. He thought of the woman beside him and he moved forward.
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