Iron Breakers: The Floodgates (Iron Breakers Book 3)

by Zaya Feli

  Anik brushed her wet hair out of her face. “Valerie, my name's Anik. You and I are going to get out of here, okay?” he asked. A memory tore at his heart: his sisters after they'd fallen and scraped their knees, sniffling and begging him to kiss the hurt away. He hadn't been able to save them, in the end, but he could make sure Valerie got to see her family again.

  Valerie nodded.

  “Hold on tight,” Anik said, pulling her against his chest. He scanned the edge of the roof for handholds and placed a foot on the rail. “I might need both hands sometimes, but just cling like a monkey, okay?”

  Valerie nodded against the side of his neck.

  Anik crawled onto the slanting rooftop, careful where he placed his feet. The water hadn't reached this high, but the tiles were loose and sliding under his boots. He looked around. If he walked across the roofs, he could follow the curve of the buildings ahead and to the right, where a tower would give access to the city wall. He couldn't see Rafya and the group of hostages, the castle blocking the view of the section of the wall that led to the hidden door, but it shouldn't be far. He could make it.

  Shouts pierced the air and Anik flinched. They weren't the cries of distressed citizens, but the sharp barks of guards. He scanned the streets below until movement caught his eye. The water had reached the castle gates, although it was far shallower there. Still, Skarlan guards rushed from inside like ants from a hill. Unlike the people in the streets, the guards seemed to realise that a flood of this scale didn't happen on its own. As Anik watched, they split into groups to comb the streets.

  On the roof, Anik was painfully exposed. He ducked, slowing. So long as they didn't come this way and didn't look up -

  Suddenly, the guard in charge seemed to come to a realisation. He barked orders to the men surrounding him, and while most of it was unintelligible, the word 'sanctuary' made Anik freeze in his tracks.

  The group of guards gathered, weapons raised, but instead of wading down the flooded street towards Anik, they turned, heading for the tower that was Anik's target.

  Anik swore, moving faster. Guards shouted to each other from the surrounding streets. He couldn't climb down and he couldn't hide on the roof. Speed was his best bet.

  Tiles slid under his boots and dropped into the water below as Anik half-ran across the slanting rooftops, leaping onto a smaller building and crawling onto the next. The tower was ahead. Somewhere behind him, the rumble of a collapsing building shook the ground.

  Anik froze. Ahead, the guards had reached the tower, making their way along the wall in direction of the sanctuary. Anik sank low, pressing himself flat against the tiles. His heart leapt as his foot skidded on a tile and it slid off the roof. A moment later, he heard it splash. Against his neck, Valerie whimpered. Anik hushed her softly. He looked over the edge of the building. Here, the water was only a few inches deep. A fall from this height would shatter his legs. With quiet whispers, he told Valerie to shift onto to his back. He could hear boots striking the stone of the walkway. The sound grew fainter. The coast was almost clear.

  Slowly, carefully, Anik reached for the peak of the roof, closing his hand around it and pulling himself up.

  The fallen tile had pushed the ones around it loose, and when Anik placed his weight against them, they slipped. His body twisted and he tightened his grip on the roof and on Valerie as the tiles disappeared under him. Valerie screamed, arms locked around his neck. For a moment, Anik hung from one hand. He searched frantically with the toe of his boot for a place to put his weight and found it at the edge of the roof. Gingerly, he pulled himself up, away from the section of loose tiles. Blowing out a breath, he moved onto his knees...and stopped.

  The guards on the city wall had turned, alarmed by the sound of Valerie's cry, or perhaps the tiles dropping into the street. For a moment, they stared at Anik in puzzlement, then one shouted an order. They ran for the tower.

  Anik looked ahead. The tower was so close. He could still get Valerie to safety if he could reach it before the guards.

  He sprinted forward, kicking tile after tile into the streets below. The end of the row of buildings opened onto the street, but Anik couldn't stop. The narrow tower window was just above the level of the roof. He reached the end of the building, summoned all his strength, and jumped. Valerie screamed. It was too far. It was-

  Anik's hands closed around the window sill, body slamming into the tower wall. It knocked the air from his lungs and he almost lost his grip, but his instincts were strong. With a groan of exertion, he pulled himself through the narrow window. The rough edges scraped his legs and elbows, but he didn't feel it. He dropped onto the tower floor, gasping for breath.

  The guards were just beyond the door.

  Anik twisted towards the other entrance, the one that led towards the hidden door, and he yanked it open as the guards burst through. Anik grabbed Valerie by the waist and lifted her off his back. He felt the hands of guards lock around his neck and chest, and he pushed Valerie through the doorway. She stumbled and fell out of reach of the guards. “Run!” Anik shouted. “Run along the wall!” He managed to kick the door shut before the weight of the guards hanging off his body pulled him down and he collapsed, slamming his head into the tower floor with guards piled atop him. He tried to struggle, to blink away the blurriness of his vision, but the world around him grew darker until he could see, hear, and feel nothing at all.

  * * *

  The banners were white.

  White, with a golden moon at the top and a smaller stag's head below. Ren stared at the line of approaching riders closing in behind them, the sight stealing the breath from his lungs.

  The banners were white and gold.

  Evalyne spun her horse to face the strangers. Ren shouted, gesturing for her to follow.

  Ren nudged his gelding through the lines of soldiers pushing in the opposite direction. Three riders broke free from the line of shining white and gold. Ren joined Evalyne and let them approach, heart drumming against his ribs. He knew. He knew, but he could hardly believe it.

  The three riders pulled their horses to a halt and the one closest to Ren crossed his arm over his chest and bowed in greeting. “Your Highness.”

  “Lord Alasander,” Ren said, feeling a smile grow on his face.

  “Who is this?” Evalyne asked.

  “Lord Elgrin's brother,” Ren explained. “We sought Elgrin's help before you found us near the border to Draxia, but he refused. I didn't think...”

  “My brother did you a great disservice,” Alasander said. “He neglected his side of a deal with Draxia's protector and most important ally. He didn't want me to come, but he seems to forget that I'm a lord too.” Alasander winked at Ren, hand falling to the gilded hilt of his sword. “When I heard that Prince Ren was taking up arms and bringing the fight to Aleria, I assembled an army. I have three hundred soldiers with me. It isn't much, but we've come to aid you in the battle against the thief king.”

  “You came just in time,” Evalyne said, her horse tossing its head with excitement. “The front is struggling. We need to stop the chargers.”

  Alasander nodded, expression turning serious. “I am yours to command.”

  Lord Alasander's men had only been on the road for a short time and were well-rested. It showed. They pushed the enemy Skarlans back with brutal efficiency, recovering the front. Shouting above the chaos, Ren explained the situation with the hostages to Alasander in the briefest possible terms to keep his soldiers from getting cut down by allies mistaken for enemies, and Alasander relayed the message to his men.

  It wasn't a victory. Their collected force had suffered a hard blow, pushed back a hundred yards, but at least they were no longer losing ground. Ren allowed himself to bask in the rush of hope, if only briefly. Halvard had to die. Until then, there'd be no victory.

  Ren looked around. Fraynean soldiers were scattered along the front, numbers almost halved since the clash.

  A rumbling crash loud enough to drown out the sound
of fighting soldiers shook the ground. Ren's horse whinnied nervously, dancing sideways, and Ren brought it back under control with a firm hand. He looked towards the city, but the high walls obscured what was happening inside. Ren turned in the saddle and looked to Evalyne. Their eyes locked and Ren saw his own anxiety reflected in her eyes.

  The floodgates had broken.

  Ren whirled, looking at the narrow line of trees to the west where the hostages were meant to appear, nervousness making his hands tremble. “Come on, Anik. What's taking you so long?”

  Nothing.

  Nothing.

  Until...

  Movement from the foliage made Ren squint and he raised his hand to shield his eyes. Was it...? People poured from between the trees. This was it. They had done it. Reaching for his belt, Ren fumbled with the straps of the war horn and raised it to his lips. Taking a breath, he let the bellow of the horn sound across the fields. “Left flank forward! Protect the hostages!”

  Like a rolling wave, the soldiers around him obeyed his command, repeating it through the ranks. Their entire army shifted, curving slowly around the mass of enemy soldiers to shield the hostages from attacks.

  “The hostages are free!” Ren shouted. His words were echoed all along the front.

  “The hostages are free!”

  It happened slowly, then spread through the crowd. Ren's eyes were fixed on the Frayneans with their weapons raised against them. They paused, eyes wide as they stretched their necks to see through the closing gap of bodies shielding the hostages. They looked at each other as if they couldn't believe their eyes, seeking reassurance from their brethren. For a moment, everything ground to a halt. Even the enemy Skarlans hesitated. Ren seized the moment, heeling his gelding forward. He leaned down and gripped the blood-stained uniform of the Fraynean soldier nearest to himself. The man looked up at him like he'd seen a ghost.

  “Turn your sword on the true enemy,” Ren said, voice raised so everyone around him could hear. “Your family is safe.” Ren let him go.

  The soldier stared at him for an agonizing second. Then his eyes grew hard and he raised his sword, swinging it with all his strength. The edge sliced through the air as he spun, the shining steel embedding itself deep in the skull of the Skarlan soldier standing behind him.

  That first attack sent a ripple through the front. On both sides, as far as Ren could see, Frayneans turned and unleashed their rage on the men who had held their families captive, a rage unmatched by the loyalty of men fighting for a thief king. The front line of the enemy Skarlans seemed to shudder and began to give, unprepared for the sheer force with which the Frayneans and the fresh soldiers of Alasander's army struck back against them.

  Ecstasy rushed through Ren and he shouted in wordless joy. Pulling his gelding around, he scanned the crowd for familiar faces. A small section of soldiers near the back had broken off to lead the hostages to the safety of their camp. A whistle made him turn his head. Evalyne waved at him, pride in her eyes when she gave him a thumbs-up. Their plan couldn't have worked better. Their soldiers pushed the enemy Skarlans back towards the city walls.

  “Ren!”

  Ren turned, locking eyes with Rafya, who rode towards him on a chestnut horse.

  “Excellent work, friend,” Ren said, reaching out to shake Rafya's hand. “Where's Anik?”

  Rafya shook his hand stiffly, brow creasing. “He hasn't returned.”

  Ren stared back at him. “What do you mean?”

  “He broke from our group with two others to chase down guards escaping from the sanctuary.” Rafya looked troubled. “They didn't rejoin us and I decided not to wait.”

  Ren tried to ignore the way his heart clenched. “You did the right thing.”

  Ren yanked the reins of his gelding, forcing his way through the crowd of people around him. None of them moved out of his way fast enough. “Evalyne!”

  She turned towards him and her smile was replaced with confusion that turned to worry when she saw his expression. “What is it?”

  “The reservoir is broken,” Ren said, suddenly breathless. “Anik is still inside.” The realisation ate away at his elation and pride, replacing them with crippling fear. It had been going so well. They were winning. “I need to go in,” he heard himself say.

  Evalyne stared at him for a long second, gaze shifting. Then she seemed to come to a conclusion and nodded. “Go. I'll handle this.”

  “Thank you.”

  He rode hard, breaking free from the crowd. He didn't ride to the treeline, but straight for the hidden door that Rafya had described, his horse heaving below him. He was alone and exposed, but none of that concerned him. All he could think about was Anik and the bone-breaking force of the rushing water. He could be okay. If Anik had been far enough from the reservoir when it broke, surely he'd be okay. Only then, why hadn't he returned?

  Approaching the wall, he forced himself to slow down despite his galloping heart, which urged him to move faster. A rider came towards him and he raised his weapon before he realised that it was not a rider, but a horse. A dark horse with a long, flowing mane.

  “Sakai,” he called, reaching for the stallion's reins. Sakai came to him, rubbing his nose against Ren's thigh. “Where's Anik, huh?” His voice shook.

  The horse whinnied, head twitching with unease.

  “Don't worry. I'll find him,” Ren murmured, as much to himself as to the horse. He dismounted, leading both horses around the curve of the wall. There was the door, still ajar from when Rafya had led the hostages through. Two more horses came towards him – Valkon's grey and Cainon's chestnut. Ren let go of Sakai and his gelding and slipped through the door, grip firm on his sword.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Water filled the streets. Where Ren stood, it was only a few inches deep, but it was still flowing like a river down the gentle slope and around the buildings. Which way? Bootheels struck stone and Ren flinched, squeezing against the side of a building as a group of guards ran past. Fuck. Of course there'd be guards out searching. Pushing away from the building, Ren turned a corner and ran for the sanctuary.

  He knew before he arrived that Anik wouldn't be there.

  Ren ducked into the shadows, listening to the barked orders and footsteps of soldiers investigating the sanctuary. He closed his eyes, leaning against the cool stone. Think. Where else could Anik be? Rafya had said Anik, Valkon, and Cainon had pursued a group of soldiers fleeing the sanctuary. Knowing Anik, the soldiers wouldn't have gotten far.

  Turning back, Ren moved between the buildings in a circle around the sanctuary. Had the reservoir burst while Anik was in the streets? If he was hurt or unconscious from the blow, the water might have carried him several blocks.

  The sight that met Ren made his stomach twist. This close to the reservoir, the impact of the water had taken down the entire facade of a building, splintered wood pushed inwards as if someone had taken a giant hammer to it. There would have been people inside, but Ren spotted no movements in the rubble. He couldn't linger. He had to press on.

  Turning a corner, Ren paused, the sight of someone lying face-down in the shallow water making his heart leap into his mouth. When Ren moved closer, he saw that the man was a guard, his brown hair close-cropped. The still water around him was dyed red with blood from his slit throat. The four dead men lying nearby were strangers, too.

  “If there were three, there could be more. We need to search – hey!”

  Ren froze, then raised his head.

  A man dressed in a Skarlan guard's uniform stood in the mouth of the alley. As Ren watched, a group of men came up behind the guard, hands going to their swords.

  Ren hesitated. He wore a Skarlan uniform. He might have been all right, if only he hadn't been covered in blood from the battle, crouching over the bodies of guards. He swallowed, tensed all his muscles, and ran.

  Ren bolted down the street, water splashing behind him as the group of Skarlan guards threw themselves into the chase. He rounded a sharp turn, leapt over
a broken cart, and darted down a narrow alley.

  Think, Ren. Think. Where could Anik be?

  What had the guards said? If there were three, there could be more.

  The breath burned in Ren's lungs as he crossed a yard and cleared a low fence.

  Three Lowlanders. Anik wasn't at the sanctuary and he wasn't in the streets. If the guards had caught him, he was either dead or had been taken to the castle. Ren wouldn't allow himself to consider the former an option, but the latter wasn't much better.

  Ren knew the castle and the upper district like the back of his hand. He could shake the guards there. He spun ninety degrees down a wider street, nearly slipping on a banner torn off its pole as he darted into the open space before the castle. He panted, sweat making his hair stick to his brow. Running in armour took a toll and he was already tired from the battle. A glance over his shoulder showed that the guards had kept pace.

  Ren swore under his breath. He didn't steer straight for the golden castle gates, knowing they'd likely be guarded. Instead, he followed the curve of the walls. He knew where a tall apple tree stretched its branches over the roof of the royal stables. Squeezing between two buildings, he waited for the guards to run past, then darted for the tree before they could come back his way.

  Thais had shown him the secret route once, many years ago when they had both been young. It wasn't an easy climb – across the roof, a squeeze between the two adjacent stables, a climb over the fence of the dunghill, and around the rightmost stable into the courtyard.

  Ren paused before stepping into the open space of the courtyard, pressing his side against the cool stone of the stable wall. He checked the arrows in his quiver, glad he had managed to avoid losing any in the climb.

  As Ren watched, the main castle gate swung open and a group of guards marched in. Ren shrank further into the shadows.

  He looked around. There were several paths he could take, but all required him to leave his shelter and cross the courtyard. The gardens were straight ahead. He could get inside from there, but he'd have nowhere to hide. The castle doors were flanked by countless guards, even more filing out as he watched. The guard barracks and servants' quarters were around the side of the castle, to the left of where the guards stood watch.