When the ball was nearly as big as Miles himself, he gestured to send it flying down to the grass before the gate, a good ten yards in front of the advancing hellions. With a final twist of his wrist, the water froze solid on the ground, forming a line of ice at least fifteen feet wide.
The lumbering hellions reached the ice, and anarchy ensued. Their feet and fists slipped out from under them, and they went crashing to the ground. With another massive twang, another volley of bolts flew forth to pierce one of the creatures on the ground as it struggled to stand up. Its arms pinned, the hellion could only scream helplessly.
“Raven!” I said. “You and me, the one on the left. Remember: the head.”
Raven nodded. I dropped my concentration on the wall of fire, and the Shadows beyond it pressed forward with renewed vigor. I readied myself to focus on the hellion, but a fresh volley of arrows skittered off the battlements, making me flinch and breaking my concentration.
“Okay, mister big and ugly,” I growled. “Chew on this.”
I unleashed flame at the same time that Raven let loose with her lightning bolts. A gout of electricity and fire engulfed the hellion’s face just as it regained its footing. I concentrated on the flames, holding them in place and wrapping them around the hellion’s head while I turned up the heat. Beside me, Raven was unleashing blast after blast of lightning, so often that the thunder quickly made me deaf to every other noise on the battlefield.
The hellion clawed desperately at its face, trying to douse the flames. Its limbs jerked and spasmed every time a fresh bolt of energy lanced into it from Raven’s hands.
With an agonized roar, the hellion went crashing to the ground. Its arms spasmed at a final blast from Raven, and then it lay still.
My knees began shaking and I slumped against the wall, every muscle on fire as if I’d suddenly run a marathon. Raven shook her head as if to clear it.
“You good?” she asked. I nodded.
With the death of yet another hellion, the two that were left on their feet stopped their advance. As I watched in disbelief, the creatures turned and began lumbering away. To add insult to injury, a fresh volley of spears lanced into the hellion that still lay on the ground, its limbs useless. The roars coming from its maw were suddenly cut short. The Shadows who had been congregating at the base of the wall turned and hightailed it after their bigger cousins, and silence once again settled over the wall, save for the hiss of a final volley of arrows that cut more of the Shadows down as they ran.
“That’s right,” I said, panting. “You’d better run.”
“Totally awesome,” Calvin said shakily. “We rocked that.”
“We totally did.”
“You guys are such…guys,” said Raven in disgust.
I chuckled and motioned toward the other tower. “Okay, come on. Let’s get with the others and figure out what we do next.”
Bwooooo
“I swear,” I said through gritted teeth, “if I hear one more horn today…”
I shoved myself up, leaning heavily on the wall as I looked out over the field. The hellions and Shadows had reformed into ranks in the exact same place where they’d waited for us all day, just outside the range of the ballistas. Once again, they stood perfectly still. Once again, they stared at us as though daring us to come forth and take the fight to them.
And as we watched, another tide of blackness came over the lip of the horizon. More Shadows. And my heart skipped a beat as I saw five forms lumbering above them — four hellions to replace the one’s we’d killed, plus an extra thrown in for good measure. As we watched helplessly, they joined their companions on the battlefield, standing and staring solemnly at us.
The message was clear: Stay on your guard. We are coming for you.
“Fantastic,” I said.
Slowly we began to stagger toward the stairs that led to the wall above the gate. Samuel walked beside me, looking ready to catch me at a moment’s notice.
“Do you need some support?” Samuel asked, his voice carefully concealing a smile. “Perhaps you need someone to take your arm? Perhaps a cane?”
I shoved his shoulder plate gently. It almost made me topple over. “Har har.”
“Truthfully, though,” Samuel said, his voice suddenly becoming serious. “You performed admirably.” He turned to look at Calvin and Raven. “All of you. I was most impressed. I believe that even the Realm Keepers before you would have been proud.”
I rolled my eyes, hoping my face wouldn’t flush with pride. “Right. They totally would have been impressed by six teenagers who still barely know what they’re doing.”
We reached the other tower to find Sarah and Miles looking about how Calvin and I felt. Tess didn’t look too bad, at least. Greystone, on the other hand, looked furious. As furious as he’d been when Podric showed up at the gate.
“You guys did great,” I said to Sarah.
She smiled weakly. “You, too. Good job over there. You really put the heat on them.”
I groaned. “Please. Terrible jokes are Calvin’s territory.”
“Hey! My jokes are awesome!”
“So what do we do now?” I asked. “I’d looked forward to going home and getting a good night’s rest, but it looks like our little friends out there are sticking around for the long haul.”
Sarah nodded, troubled. “It’s getting on toward evening, too. I think they’ll probably try attacking at night. Can they see in the dark?” she asked, turning to Greystone. Greystone only nodded.
“Of course they can,” said Miles ruefully. “Because when have we ever gotten lucky on something like that?”
Sarah’s foot began tapping. A bad sign. Sarah always kept her cool. If she was starting to get nervous, that meant I should be really nervous.
“Okay,” she said finally. “We stay tonight.”
“You sure?” I said, surprised to hear the concern in my own voice. “Your parents aren’t going to freak out or anything?”
“My parents are absolutely going to freak out,” Sarah said. “But what are we going to do? Leave? When we’ve literally got an army camped on our doorstep?”
“Forgive me for speaking out of turn, Lady Sarah,” said Cara, stepping forward. “But even Realm Keepers need to rest.”
Sarah shook her head. “Maybe once this is over.”
“Lady Sarah,” said Cara seriously. “This will not be over tonight. It likely will not be over tomorrow, or the day after that. You cannot remain awake forever. And the last thing we would want is for one of you to nod off here, atop the wall, just before a fresh attack.”
Sarah’s mouth twisted in a frown and her brow furrowed, but I knew Cara was right. And Sarah knew it, too.
“Okay, here’s an idea,” I said. “We do shifts. You three go to bed now.” I pointed at her, Miles and Tess. “I’ll stay here with Calvin and Raven. You try and get back here as soon as you can, and then we’ll trade off. We’ll do that as long as we have to.”
Sarah scrubbed at her face with her hand, seemingly trying to shove some energy back into her head. “Do you think you can hold the gate yourselves?” she asked dubiously.
“No sweat,” I said, smiling with a confidence I didn’t feel. “You know I’ve literally never lost a fight, right?”
Sarah raised an eyebrow. “You can’t punch your way to victory here, Blade.”
I chuckled. “Okay, fine. But trust me, we’ll be fine.”
Sarah looked at Raven and Calvin. “And you two? You’re fine with this? Everyone needs to agree to this. I’m not giving this as an order.”
“I’m down,” said Raven.
Silence from Calvin. I turned to look at him in surprise. He was staring out over the field at the Shadow army. His gaze was distant, as though his mind was somewhere else entirely.
“Calvin?” Sarah said, more insistently.
His head snapped around. “Sorry! What was the question?”
Sarah stepped forward and grabbed his arm. “Okay, never mind.
You’re already exhausted. You’re coming home with us.”
“No!” Calvin cried, looking around in confusion. “I just zoned out, that’s all! What’s happening?”
“It’s cool, bro,” I said, giving him a reassuring slug on the arm. “You’ll be back before you know it. Don’t worry. Pretty soon we’ll be sick to death of each other.”
Calvin gave up his squirming and looked gloomily at me. For a second I thought he might cry.
Truth be told, I wished he were staying. Just me and Raven against the Shadows was going to be a tall task. But Calvin looked dead on his feet already, and we’d only fought off two attacks. If he tried to stay tonight, he’d probably fall asleep standing up before the third attack came.
Sarah looked thoughtfully at him. “Still, you’ll need a screen,” she muttered. She turned around. “Tess, would you be willing to stay tonight? To help with defense?”
My stomach did flip-flops as Tess stepped forward and nodded. “No problem,” she said. “But my screens aren’t very strong yet.”
“It worked fine for us. You’ll do great,” Sarah said. She turned back to me. “You’ll be all right with just three? You’re sure?”
“I’d be all right with just me,” I said, smirking.
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Okay, Conan. Just stay safe.”
There wasn’t much more to say after that. We gave the others awkward good-byes. Raven gave Sarah a little hug, looking extremely uncomfortable. I mussed Calvin’s hair one last time and shook Miles’ hand. And then with promises to return as soon as they possibly could, the three of them entered the hatch and left us there to guard the wall.
Alone.
I thought the Shadows might strike again at sundown. Actually they waited until around midnight before attacking. I was pacing back and forth to try and keep myself awake. Tess and Raven walked around as well, doing everything they could think of. We talked. Some food was brought up, and we ate. We drank water and splashed it in our faces.
When they came, they swarmed at us out of the darkness. Their charge was silent, so we only saw them in the dim starlight when they were a few dozen yards away.
The cry went up all along the wall, and we sprang into action. This time we were in the middle of the wall, where we could reach all across it with ease. Raven fried them with lightning bolts. Tess held up a field of force as long as she could, whimpering every time a barrage of arrows crashed against it. I cast wall after wall of flames, burning them, containing them, driving them back. The ballistas fired again and again, and the hellions fell one by one. Then they reached the gate, and the hellions slammed their fists into it again and again, but their attacks were hampered by the giant metal spikes that had been installed there. The Shadows brought forth their battering rams, but they echoed pitifully against the tall, thick iron of the gate. Greystone stood by us, bolstering us with spells of Mind to keep us on our feet whenever we lagged. But despite his best efforts, I grew more and more weary. My fireballs began to sputter. The lakes of fire I created at their feet sparked furtively.
Finally, just when I was sure I was going to pass straight out, they had enough. The war horn sounded, and they turned to flee. With renewed vigor, I saw them off with a few more blasts of flame before they passed out of sight into the darkness.
As soon as they were gone, I fell to the floor again. Tess slumped where she stood, and Raven stepped over to lean heavily against the battlements. I felt my body sag as adrenaline flowed out of my veins, leaving my arms and legs shaking.
“Like I said, no problem,” I gasped. It drew a weak laugh from the girls.
Samuel knelt by my side, pulling out a water skin. “Here,” he said gently. “Drink.”
I took a sip and felt a fire burn my throat. Not water. Something stronger. I turned and spit it out.
“It will help you relax,” he said insistently.
“I don’t need to relax, I need to stay sharp,” I told him. “It’ll make me drowsy, and if I fall asleep here, we’re all toast.” I smiled up at him reassuringly. “I appreciate it. But it’s better for all of us if I just stick with water.”
He shrugged and produced another skin. This time it was clean, clear, crisp water. I drank greedily.
Barius helped Raven stagger over to sit against the wall beside me. She sank to the floor and closed her eyes, slowing her breathing down to long, deliberate breaths.
I felt myself beginning to drift. I blinked hard to dispel the feeling, but every time I blinked my eyes stayed closed a little longer.
I sprang up, shaking out my hands and kicking out with my feet. “Nope, nope, nope,” I said. “God. I’d kill for some coffee. Is coffee a thing here?”
Samuel nodded. “It’s a rarity, but we can procure some.”
“That would make my night. I just need a cup. The others should be back in a few hours. Hopefully before dawn. I just need to stay on my feet till then.” Samuel nodded and headed for one of the towers.
Barius looked at Greystone, concerned. “Watcher. We should replace the men on these walls. The Runegard sit unused on the field below, and their skills do not end with the sword and the shield. They are the finest archers in Athorn, and better disciplined than the soldiers of Morrowdust’s armies.”
Greystone shook his head. “No. They are to remain in reserve in case the enemy breaches the gate. I still fear that Terrence has some other great mischief up his sleeve, some card yet to play.”
Barius shrugged. “As you will it, then.”
“Calvin and I were talking about that before,” I told Greystone. “Any idea what it might be?”
Greystone shook his head. “None. And that troubles me more than any army at our doorstop.”
“I’m plenty troubled by the army, thank you very much,” I grumbled.
Greystone chuckled. “And yet you make a good show of it when that army is at your door.” He sighed and turned. “I will be close if they come again, but there are matters that require my attention. Stay vigilant.” He strode off with a swirl of grey cloaks.
I tossed a two-finger salute at his retreating form. “Will do, cap’n.”
The world settled into silence once again, a silence that lasted until the sky began to grow grey with the approaching sun. The archers on the walls were replaced by more from below, some of the soldiers saying good-bye as they headed for home and a few hours’ rest. Several of them shook our hands in the weird way they did in Midrealm, gripping your arm almost all the way up to the elbow and pulling it into their own gut. You were expected to do the same, bringing you and the other person practically face-to-face.
Then we had to keep ourselves awake until the others returned. We did it by walking around. We did it by talking and telling stories. Simple ones, funny things that happened in high school. Nora, Tess’ bodyguard, sang songs. She had a gorgeous voice. She invited us to perform some songs of True Earth, but Tess, Raven and I simply shook our heads.
Finally the sun broke over the horizon, and almost at the same time, the others returned. They came to us quickly, worry in their eyes.
“We heard there was another attack during the night?” Sarah said, getting right to the point.
I shrugged. “We turned it back. They reached the gate this time, but there’s not a whole lot they can do to it. After we took out a few of the hellions, they ran away again. And they’ve just been sitting there ever since.” I scowled in the direction of the army sitting out there in the dawn’s light, watching us.
“Good job,” she said earnestly. “Okay, get home. Get back as soon as you can, but give yourself enough time to rest.”
I turned and looked at the others uneasily. “I’ve been thinking about that,” I said. “Listen, all of you guys have got stuff to do back home. At least just to make sure your parents don’t freak the heck out while this is going on. But I’ve got more flexibility. I’m going, but just to take care of one thing. Then I’m going to come back.”
Sarah gave me a look I couldn’t rea
d. “You need to get rest, too.”
“I need to stay alive,” I countered. “And I’ve got an idea that will help that happen. So, I think I’ve got a little bit of a vested interest.”
Sarah sighed. “Okay. Do whatever you think is best.”
“Thanks.” I turned to Calvin. “How am I over there?”
He shrugged. “I think you’ll be okay as long as my mom doesn’t do a full cleaning of my room. I shoved you under my bed and told my mom you finally went home.”
“You moved me?” I asked.
Calvin grinned. “Hey, I’m scrawny, but I’m not that scrawny.” He shrugged sheepishly. “Plus, I used leverage. I took down my curtain rod and used a shoe as a fulcrum to flip you over on to my floor rug, then dragged that under the bed. Simple, really.”
I laughed. “Thanks.”
“What about us?” asked Raven hesitantly. “How bad is it?”
Sarah paused. “You’re in the hospital,” she said reluctantly. “Tess, you’re not, but I’ll bet your parents are really worried. So take a little time over there if you need to. But please come back as soon as you can.”
Raven looked worried, but she nodded. “Got it. That’ll actually make things easier. I’ll stay in the hospital, and I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“What about the rest of us?” Tess said, her voice awash with worry. “I can’t go to the hospital. I can’t let my parents take me there.”
Sarah shrugged. “Hopefully, none of us have to go,” she said. “But there’s always the risk that our parents will take us while we’re asleep. We’re going to have to alternate a night shift to make sure that there’s always three of us — ”
“I can’t,” Tess snapped. The volume and harsh tone of her voice were so shocking that Sarah shut up immediately, staring at her. Calvin actually jumped a little.
Tess was staring at Sarah with a look on her face I’d never seen before. Her one visible eye was wide and wild. Her nostrils were flared. Her mouth was twitching.
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