He took a sip of his wine and grimaced. Vinegar. Last year’s vintage had not been one of Prime’s best. A blight had struck the vineyards, and many of the plants had died. Those that survived delivered a crop of small, sour grapes. Still, any wine was better than none, and he took another sip of the dry red.
A deafening boom sounded from the wall, and he smiled. That had been a good shot, one that caused a ton of damage. The noise had become a part of him. He almost didn’t notice it anymore except for moments like these.
A thrill of excitement traveled through his body and fizzed through his veins. He imagined the sensation was the direct opposite of what the Primes must feel every time they heard it. For him, each hit was a victory that took him one step closer to winning the war. For the Primes, each blow was yet another nail in their coffin.
Suddenly, the flap to his tent was swept aside, and a shaft of bright sunlight nearly blinded him. Sikes jerked his head away, and the chair tipped backward. For a second, man and chair teetered on the edge, and wine sloshed onto his pristine white shirt. “What the hell!”
With an enraged growl, Sikes slammed his feet back onto the ground. He jumped up and whirled around to face the intruder. It turned out to be Captain Phelps, a very scared looking Captain Phelps.
“What is the meaning of this?” Sikes demanded. “You’d better have an excellent reason for bothering me at this hour. I gave strict instructions not to be disturbed. Unless…”
Excitement gave way to elation.
“Did we do it? Did we breach the wall?” he asked, unable to contain himself.
“I’m sorry, Sir, but no. This is something else,” Phelps said, heaving for air. His face was beetroot red, and sweat dripped from his chin.
“What is it then?”
“The Primes, Sir. They’re opening the gate!”
“What?” General Sikes dropped his cup, and the wine seeped into the earth like blood. There could be only one of two reasons for Prime to open its gates. Either they were about to surrender, or they had decided to attack, and Sikes was willing to bet it was the latter. “Mobilize the army. Get the men up and ready to fight. Form a defensive line. Move, damn it!”
“Yes, Sir,” Phelps cried, ducking out of the tent.
For the next few minutes, all was chaos as the general rushed about getting ready for war. He yanked on his belt and slipped on his knife. Another went into his boot as a backup. He cast about, his mind in a whirl. “Where in hell’s name is my ax and my gun?”
Outside, the alarm sounded. “The rebels are attacking. The rebels are attacking!”
Men cried out in confusion, carts wheeled to the back of the camp, junior captains shouted out conflicting orders, and Phelps tried to form a defense. Any defense.
With his weapons in hand, Sikes stormed out of the tent and entered the arena. The situation was worse than he’d thought. Only half the soldiers were ready to fight. They formed a straggly line in the front, and Sikes swore at the sight.
He grabbed the nearest junior captain and said, “Get your squad into formation now! Move it, soldier.”
“Yes, Sir,” the young captain cried with a frantic look.
Shading his eyes, he glanced at the sky above. The light of day was waning, and the sun dipped toward the western horizon. Dusk. The time when everyone was winding down, tired after a long day’s work. Callum had chosen his time of attack well, and he’d caught the camp by surprise. “Boy, bring me my horse!”
The stablehand rushed over with Goliath. The mighty steed chomped at the bit and tossed its head. Like Sikes, its blood was up, and the stallion was ready for action.
The general swung into the saddle and galloped to the front of the line. “Get ready to fight. Show the rebels what you’ve got. Get ready!”
The soldiers responded with answering cries, pumping their fists in the air. While they didn’t want to fight their own people, they were more than willing to take on the treacherous Rebel Faction.
A thunderous roar reached his ears, and he looked ahead. To his horror, the gate was already open, and the attack was in full swing. Prime’s forces stormed the camp, screaming at the top of their lungs. The two opposing sides clashed with terrific force, and the battle was underway.
Raising his ax in the air, General Sikes joined the fight. He slashed and hacked his way through the rebels, sowing death and destruction. Blood misted the air and splashed across his arm. A soldier tried to ram his horse, but he booted the man in the face. With a crunch of broken cartilage, the rebel disappeared beneath Goliath’s hooves. Ribs splintered as the great horse trampled his victim into the dust.
With a triumphant yell, Sikes forged ahead. Surprise attack or not, his forces outnumbered Callum’s five to one. Victory was his. He could taste it on his lips. Today, I take back what’s mine.
***
From the shadowed confines of a tent, Bones watched as Sikes scrambled to get his forces in order. A grin tugged at his lips. It was the first time he’d ever seen the general flustered, and he liked it.
For days now, he’d hung about the camp waiting for his chance to assassinate Sikes. It was the last thing he needed to do before he disappeared forever. The general had to die if Rogue was to live in peace. It was his final act of love. What happened after the deed was done mattered little.
Killing Sikes turned out to be easier said than done. The man was as slippery as a snake and as wily as a fox. He surrounded himself with people every hour of the day, and he never dropped his guard.
Now, however, Bones would get his chance. During the heat of battle, anything could happen. He waited until the two armies came together in a maelstrom of death. He drew his knife and picked up a discarded spear before slipping into the action.
Within seconds, he’d become part of the battle—just another soldier in the ranks. Moving with the grace of a predator, he worked his way through the crowd, drawing ever closer to the general. Soon, he’d have his chance.
And then he saw her.
Rogue.
Bones stumbled to a stop, his heart stuttering in his chest. It couldn’t be. What was she doing here? It was too dangerous. She’d get killed.
In an instant, Bones forgot all about Sikes. The only thing that mattered was Rogue and keeping her alive. No matter what.
Chapter 21
The thunderous clash of metal on metal filled Rogue’s ears, and the smell of blood and dust hung heavy in the air. The two sides fought for dominance, their cries of rage mingling with screams of pain. The sea of bodies moved across the battlefield like the ebb and flow of the tide, neither one gaining ground.
Arms rose and fell, blades sheared through flesh and bone, and feathered bolts sowed fearsome destruction. A crimson haze hung in the atmosphere, and men were trampled underfoot. The greedy earth soaked up the spilled blood, and their footing became treacherous as it turned into an ocean of mud.
Rogue ducked beneath a swinging ax and stabbed upward with her knife. The razor-sharp point slid into the man’s sternum, and he fell away with a gurgling cry. She rolled sideways when another soldier stabbed at her with his sword and ended up on her knees.
Seth prevented a second blow from skewering her, and he shot the man point blank with his crossbow. Whirling around, he yanked her to her feet, his eyes wild. “Stay on your feet.”
Not bothering to reply, she charged a big man with a spiked club. He didn’t see her coming, and she slashed at the back of his leg. With a roar of shock and pain, he fell to his knees, and Seth finished him off with a bolt to the chest.
Moran was down, and a man straddled her torso. His knife was pointed at her throat, and she struggled to keep him at bay. Bruce appeared out of nowhere and slashed sideways with his samurai sword. The soldier’s head flew from his body, neatly severed.
Moran crawled to her feet and favored them both with a fierce grin. “This is fun, isn’t it?”
Rogue threw her a disbelieving look, but Moran and Bruce were already gone, lost in the c
rowd. With a shake of her head, she continued to fight, aided by Seth. As promised, he never left her side, sticking to her like a burr.
Now and then, she caught sight of Callum, his bright red hair flashing in the sun. He wielded two axes at once, and his level of skill was astonishing. A mound of corpses gave silent testament to his abilities, and a widening circle grew around him.
Seth let off several more bolts but went down when someone caught him a glancing blow with the butt of a spear. With a fierce yell, Rogue jumped over him and tackled the man to the ground. They rolled around, and she stabbed him twice with her knife. He stiffened and fell away, and she jumped back to her feet.
A fist appeared out of nowhere, and her head seemed to explode. Plowing to the ground, she lay unmoving for several moments. Then Seth was there, his expression filled with fear. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” Rogue moaned, one hand pressed to her aching jaw. Blood filled her mouth, and she spat it out. “Ow.”
“Get up,” Seth cried, shooting off two more bolts.
A lull in the fight allowed her to catch her breath, and she looked around. What she saw caused hope to blossom in her chest. “We’re winning!”
The general had been caught by surprise, and so had his men. They faltered before the fierce onslaught, and the fight shifted further from the wall.
“It looks like it,” Seth agreed, reloading.
A crackle of gunshots caused her to jump, but she relaxed when she saw it was one of their own teams. Moving fast, the gunmen flanked Sikes’ army on both sides. With their quarry hemmed in, their bullets sowed fearsome destruction. Enemy soldiers fell by the dozens, and great rents appeared in their defenses.
“Woohoo,” Rogue cheered, jumping up and down. “This is it, Seth. The plan’s working.”
But her joy was short-lived. Three blasts from a horn sounded, and Sikes’ let loose his gun squads, the ace up his sleeve. They stormed through the ranks and opened fire. In an instant, the tide of battle turned, and the Primes found themselves pushed back to the wall.
“Rally to me,” Callum cried, but his command had little effect.
Moran likewise tried to regroup the remnants of the Rebel Faction, but many of them were down. All around them, people lay writhing on the ground, their wounds weeping blood. They screamed for help that didn’t come.
“Attack!” General Sikes bellowed, charging ahead of his men on his great white steed. Emboldened, his men followed, and the Primes found themselves surrounded.
With her back pressed to Seth’s, Rogue prepared for the worst. Presenting a united front, they cut and parried, hacked and slashed. Cuts appeared on them both. A slash here, a stab there, and still they fought on.
“Come on, you suckers! Who wants a piece of me?” Rogue screamed, her teeth bared in a fierce grin. Blood ran down the side of her face, and more trickled down her leg.
Seth began to laugh. “You always know just what to say.”
Rogue chuckled. “You know me, love. Always the life of the party.”
“I do, and I love you for it.”
“I love you too.”
Rogue ducked beneath an incoming blow and managed to slash the man’s throat. But exhaustion and loss of blood dragged at her limbs, and she knew it would be over soon. Her lungs burned, and she couldn’t quite catch her breath.
A familiar cry caught her attention, and she looked up in time to see Steven go down in a hail of bullets. “Steven, no!”
A sob caught in her throat. So much death, and for what? One man’s greed.
A different horn sounded, this one long and deep. It drew her attention, for it seemed familiar. Where had she heard it before?
The press of bodies eased, and their attackers appeared confused. Milling about, they began to run the other way. Confused, Rogue stared after them. “What are they doing?”
The horn sounded again, and it hit her like a bolt of lightning. A bloody smile wreathed her lips, and she grabbed Seth’s arm. “It’s the Exiles! They came!”
“I can’t believe it,” he said, but it was true.
A line of fighters had appeared on the horizon. Catching General Sikes’ army by surprise, they let loose a volley of bolts. A second volley and third volley followed before the crossbowmen stepped back. In their place came the foot soldiers.
They charged the enemy ranks with their spears held before them. At the same time, Callum and Moran rallied their forces and pushed forward. Caught between two armies, the general’s men stood no chance. It didn’t take long for them to realize the battle was lost. One by one, they dropped their arms and surrendered.
Not General Sikes. The man was enraged, frothing at the mouth. He spotted Callum and bellowed, “I’ll kill you, you traitor if it’s the last thing I do.” Kicking his horse in the ribs, he charged through the masses, headed straight for Callum.
Rogue watched it happen as if in slow-motion. The crazed general and his galloping steed cut through the press of bodies like a hot knife through butter. She was confident that Callum could defeat him, but that wasn’t the problem. She and Seth were directly in the general’s path, seconds away from being trampled by those gigantic hooves.
“No!” Rogue screamed, latching onto Seth.
She closed her eyes and prepared for the blow. When it came, it wasn’t what she’d expected. A warm body smashed into them, and they went flying to the side. She landed on top of Seth, and both of them appeared to be unscathed.
“Who…?” Seth asked.
She twisted around and sucked in a shocked breath. Their rescuer lay on the ground, his sternum crushed beyond all medical help. Blood bubbled up from between his lips, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Bones!
Rogue scrambled toward him and cradled his head between her palms. “It’s you.”
His eyes found hers, and he tried to speak. “I… I…”
“Don’t talk. Save your strength. Help is on the way,” she said, tears stinging her eyes. With infinite care, she lifted his head onto her lap. With the end of her sleeve, she wiped the blood from his face. “I’m right here. I won’t leave you, I promise.”
Bones convulsed, and a crimson river poured from his lips and splashed onto his chest. His mouth worked, and he managed to utter three words. “Please… forgive me.”
Rogue bit her lip and nodded. “Of course, I forgive you.”
Bones nodded and took a shuddering breath.
“Be at peace,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his forehead.
The corner of his mouth twisted into a half-smile, and his eyes cleared for a moment. Then his head rolled to the side, and his muscles grew slack as his life force ebbed away. Bones was no more.
Rogue shook her head, hot tears running down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She raised her head, looking for Sikes. In her chest churned a ball of hatred so great she thought it might burn the world. He has to die. He doesn’t deserve life.
After trampling Bones, the general never even paused. He continued his rampage until he reached Callum, but the Scotsman was prepared.
With a bloodthirsty roar, Callum sidestepped the horse and yanked Sikes from the saddle. The man rolled across the earth, arms and legs flying. “Come on, Sikes. Show me what you’ve got.”
With a grunt, Sikes pushed himself to his feet, brandishing a knife. “I’ll kill you, you bastard.”
“Give it your best shot,” Callum taunted. He dropped his twin axes and pulled a knife of his own. “Let’s make this a fair fight.”
The two faced each other with their teeth bared like savages. For a few seconds, they circled around, each looking for an opening. Sikes swiped at Callum with his blade, a blow the other dodged with ease. A second cut whistled past Callum’s ear, and he ducked beneath a third.
Feinting to the side, Callum made his move, and a deep slash opened across Sikes’ midriff. A second and third cut spilled blood from his arm and leg, while a fourth nicked his cheek.
Si
kes retaliated, but he was no match for Callum. The Scotsman moved like a whirling dervish, and each flash of the knife opened another rent in the general’s skin.
Bleeding from a dozen places, Sikes faced his imminent demise. Terror flickered in his eyes, and he threw himself at Callum with a panicked roar.
The two men clashed in mid-air, their arms flung around each other. They almost appeared to hug, only Callum’s knife was buried in Sikes’ chest.
“It’s over, General,” Callum said before he stepped away.
Sikes’ mouth worked, but not a sound emerged. His knees buckled, and he toppled facefirst onto the ground. Silence, deep and heavy, fell across the battlefield.
The war was over.
Chapter 22
Rogue picked through the debris, looking for her friends. Seth followed, a silent shadow. They didn’t talk, for what was there to say? The battle for Prime was won, but there would be no winners that day.
Women keened over the bodies of their husbands and sons, children wept for the loss of their parents, and men dreaded the thought of having to raise their families alone. Dozens were dead or dying, and many more were injured. Even worse, the scent of blood was sure to draw predators, and the light was fading fast.
The citizens of Prime worked alongside the Exiles, carrying the wounded through the gates. Others checked the bodies, making sure that none with breath remained on the field. Soldiers hastily broke camp, and a long line of wagons and carts piled high with supplies rolled into the city.
Rogue found Steven’s body and sank to her knees next to him. After a brief whispered farewell, she closed his eyes and moved on. She did the same with Bones and prayed she wouldn’t have to do it again.
To her immense relief, no one else she knew had died. Callum, Moran, Bruce, and Bear were alive and well, though they too grieved for their friend.
When the last ray of light winked out on the horizon, Callum ordered the gates closed. The dead would be left for the scavengers. There was no other way, no time to bury or collect them. Even grouping the corpses into a mound for cremation was beyond their ability. Those who lived on had to mourn in private, without a body to bury or a grave to visit.
The Extinction Series | Book 4 | Primordial Earth 4 Page 12
