by Candy Crum
That won't stop the archers, Arryn sent quickly.
No, but it sure as hell throws them off. Now's our chance to get the upper hand, Cleo responded.
Arryn couldn't agree more. Without wasting much energy, she sent a mental order to several in the front line to charge forward as she signaled with both hands for anyone behind her to move.
Shields were lifted and the soldiers began to charge, their footsteps muffled by the sand. Without any hesitation, the Queen's Soldiers blew through the wall of sand to the other side just as Arryn heard the loud thwap of several hundred bows. The sky was dotted with arrows, but Cathillian was fast.
With a wave of his hand, a large gust of wind blew through, knocking all the arrows off course so they simply fell to the ground, limiting injuries to scrapes rather than piercing wounds. Arryn had expected a large amount of sand to move through with the wind, but the powerful Kemetian magicians had anticipated his movement and kept the sand on the ground.
"All right, Snow. Are you ready?" Arryn asked. The tiger growled loudly in response, and she nodded before turning to the archers. "Change of plans! No blind shots. Stay low and take out their archers—non-lethal shots if you can."
Looking back, she saw Corrine and Amara sitting on their mounts beside one another. Arryn's eyes flashed white again as she spoke to them. Stay vigilant. Use your energy sparingly, and for the love of God, Corrine, don't heal anyone too much!
Both girls nodded, and Arryn urged Snow to run toward the battle. Cathillian was quick to join her on Maia. As the horse ran, he stood on her back in a crouch, holding onto her mane.
When they got close to the fighting, the horse stopped and bucked hard, and Cathillian pushed off at the same time. He flipped over in the air once and unsheathed his sword before disappearing into the crowd.
"Let's not do that," Arryn said as she and Snow arrived. "But do let 'em know we're comin'."
Snow loosed a loud growl that sounded like death. Several men turned in horror as they saw the large tiger charge through their line. Arryn slashed at people with her ram's-horn daggers as Snow took several out with her large paws as well as her powerful jaws.
"Non-lethal if you can manage it," Arryn warned Snow as they came to a clearing large enough for her to slide off the big cat's back.
Snow growled her acknowledgment before running into the crowd and taking down three more men in a single leap.
Arryn felt a presence behind her, and she dodged a swipe from one of those swords Amon had told her about, the khopesh. It looked horrifying as he swung it.
"Now or never," she said to herself as she ducked another swing.
Taking a deep breath, she dropped to her knees and used an old favorite—jabbing her attacker between the legs before twisting her body so her back faced him. As he predictably leaned over, still groaning, she reached up with both hands and wrapped her arms around his head before pulling him over her shoulders to land hard on his back.
"The queen is not your enemy! Zuri is!" she blurted.
"Bullshit!" he ground out as he grabbed her thin shirt, ripping the straps on her right shoulder as he pulled her down. He quickly scrambled onto his knees.
"I could have killed you," she continued as she rolled out of the way of his downward strike, slinging sand everywhere with her braids.
"Bullshit!" he said again. "The bitch tried to sacrifice us to the demons!"
Arryn cried out as she leapt at him from her position on her knees. His eyes widened as she landed hard on him, kneeing him again in the groin. "Zuri is using all of you to sack the city! If she wanted you dead, I'd have killed you!"
He laughed. "That's cute," he said before headbutting her in the face.
She cried out as she saw her blood spray out with what little vision remained and the battle on the beach came back to her. Anger washed through her, and she knew she had to channel it before she killed an innocent man.
Opening her senses, she felt several dark souls in her midst, and she smiled. The man on the ground reached for her, but her eyes flashed black, startling him for a moment before she vanished with a loud crack!
She reappeared in the opening a few feet away, her irises clouding over and bleeding into the black. She sent a quick non-verbal threat to the men she’d targeted as killers, and they quickly turned to find what had alerted their senses.
There were four of them, and she remembered the last time her odds seemed so easy. This time, she wouldn't underestimate them. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
One charged forward, and she ducked his swing before punching him hard in the side. She grabbed the spare sword he had on his hip and unsheathed it before slashing it across his neck and chest as he turned. As he dropped, she twisted both of her hands, a bright blue fireball appearing in each one. She threw one at one of the men who ran.
She then turned to face the man still on the ground, his eyes wide with confusion as she took the second fireball and dropped to her knees, forcing her fist in the sand. When she raised it, she pulled a long shard of glass free. The other two men she'd targeted shifted back and forth as they anticipated her movements, but she knew they couldn't anticipate this.
"You've turned innocent men into murderers, and for what? For Zuri? You've damned your own souls, but you didn't have to damn all the others."
The men laughed. "There are twice as many of us as there are of you, and this isn't even all of us. You can't save them all."
She smiled. "Oh, but I'm gonna try."
She lifted the glass spike into the air and clenched her free fist, shattering it into dozens of pieces that suspended in the air. Her opponents' expressions fell as she flicked her wrist, the shards cutting through them like butter before dropping them to the ground.
Once again, she turned to the man on the ground, her eyes fading to their normal color. She walked over and offered him a hand. "Like I said, if the queen wanted you dead, you would be. My goal is to save as many of you as I can. Zuri's men are fair game, though. I won't hesitate to take them out."
The man accepted her hand and stood. "What can I do?"
"Get to as many of your men as you can and do your best to stop them. Believe it or not, all the soldiers have been ordered to inflict non-lethal damage, but if they can't help it, they are to defend themselves. Understand? If you come across any fights, tell them I sent you. My name is Arryn."
He nodded. "Thank you. You should know that five hundred of Zuri's men went north with him."
Her eyes widened. "What?"
"Zuri. He left before we did. They were all on horses and rode through the desert as fast as they could to make it north in time. The plan was to send someone to watch the city for the queen and her army to leave. Once they did..."
Arryn's shoulders fell. "Jadid would be left with minimal protection, and he'd be able to sack the city."
He nodded again.
"Go. Save as many good men as you can," she ordered. "I have to alert the queen. Thank you for your help."
Before he could say anything else, Snow leapt over the wall of men and landed a few feet away, having sensed her druid's distress. The tiger was covered in blood, but that didn't stop Arryn from climbing on her back.
"We have to find the queen," Arryn said.
She erected a barrier around them as Snow charged through the fighting men. To her surprise, several of Zuri's men fought others. It seemed the tide was slowly turning. The soldiers had been successful in changing the minds of at least a few.
When Arryn and Snow charged into a large, wide-open area, she saw Asim and her daughters fighting several magicians. Arryn watched in fascination as the queen stomped, the ground shaking even under Arryn. She split her hands apart, and the sand parted as it swallowed the three men she battled up to the chest, their arms and legs immobilized.
When another man charged her, she leapt, flipping over once before landing gracefully on her feet. As the man turned, she kicked him hard in the chest, sending him back more than t
en feet.
"Let's go," Arryn said, and Snow obeyed.
"What is it?" Asim asked as Arryn rode up.
"It's Zuri. I turned one of his men, and he said five hundred of their men went north with Zuri. They waited outside the city for us to move out."
The queen's eyes widened. "We're a full day out! What the hell do we do?"
Her face contorted in rage as a man in black ran toward her. She took several quick steps forward, and Arryn could feel the hate rolling off her. She sure as hell wouldn't want to be on her bad side right then. The man swung, and Asim caught his fist in one hand while using the heel of the other to snap his elbow backward.
He screamed as she twisted it behind his back, dropping him on the ground before she grabbed his head and jerked, ending him.
When the queen turned, Arryn stared at her with wide eyes. "What?" Asim barked.
Arryn held up both hands. "Nothing. I saw nothing."
Asim's breaths came fast as fear and adrenaline flooded through her. "Those in black are Zuri's men. They've all been dressed the same, and they're all just as filthy as the next."
"I just took on four of them, and you're not wrong." She paused as Bast and Cleo ran up. She gave her daughters a brief smile before turning back to Arryn. "What do we do?"
"We need to go back quickly. Over a day away, there's not much we can do to stop whatever's happening right now, but we can end his future reign of terror."
"What's happening?" Cleo asked, and Arryn filled them in.
"We'll go with you," Bast said. "We can't let Jadid fall."
Arryn shook her head. "You also can't let this army overtake yours. They outnumber us."
"So, what?" Cleo asked sarcastically. "You're going to run back to the city and take on all five hundred of Zuri's men alone?"
She shook her head. "There won't be that many by the time I get there because the remaining Guard, as well as any well-trained civilians, will have taken out the majority." Anger that she'd had to say that overwhelmed her. "Do we have anyone capable of teleportation?"
"I'm unsure. It's possible, but it would be hard to find. Unfortunately, you might be more likely to find that among Zuri's men since they aren't trained in Kemetian magic. Far outside the city, people connect with whatever suits them best," Asim said.
Arryn's eyes flashed white as she reached out to the man who turned to their side. She found him and connected easily. Do you or anyone you've managed to pull back to the queen's side have teleportation abilities? she sent.
Yes. A few do. I don't have any magic, he quickly responded. She could see flashes of him fighting alongside a royal soldier.
Send them north of the battle. I need their help to get to the city.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Corrine and Amara sat and waited for what felt like forever, watching a large battle take place in front of them while doing nothing.
"Is this what it's always like?" Amara asked.
Corrine nodded. "For the most part. I know I'm strong enough to take care of myself, but I also know this is a bit too much. We'll be the most help when people need healing or there isn't a large group."
"Like that one over there?" Amara asked. "Those guards are outnumbered."
"Shit," Corrine said, debating what to do. If they didn't intervene, the group of four queen's soldiers would be taken down. If she did, she could risk getting hurt. "Let's go."
"Seriously?" Amara asked. "Will Arryn kick our asses?"
Corrine shrugged. "Only if we wind up dead. Trust me, you don't want to piss her off."
Dante responded to Corrine's directions and rushed toward the fight. She jumped off him at the last minute, and Amara did the same from the back of her horse. The horse turned and ran back while Dante leapt close to the larger fight to keep anyone else from joining in.
Corrine's eyes flashed blue as she felt power surge through her body. "Here we go. Time to see what I can do."
When the physical magic users attempted to leave the battlefield, several of Zuri's men attacked them, causing another fight. Arryn and the others rushed forward, but she hesitated, taking a hard punch to the face as a result.
She grunted as she jabbed the thick man in his soft belly. He swung again, but he missed when she ducked.
"Everything okay?" Cleo called.
"It's…” she rose and punched the man hard in the face, knocking him off-balance, "Corrine," she forced out. "Dante says she's rushing into battle."
"Go!" Asim called. "We’ll get the men out. Go to the girls."
Arryn climbed onto the tiger's back again and ran toward Corrine. It didn't take long to find the girls, and when her eyes locked onto Corrine, they widened as her jaw fell open.
Corrine's eyes flashed blue as she rushed into battle. The girl leapt and mule-kicked a man in the back hard enough that he flew several feet. She landed flat on her back in the soft sand and rolled out of the way as a large man stomped at her.
Her hand whipped up and a ball of sand hit him in the face, then she kicked out, breaking his knee. When he fell, she punched him in the head and knocked him out.
Amara thrust her hands out, telekinetic energy throwing a man back as he ran toward Corrine. Arryn watched in amazement as Corrine charged forward, planting her foot on his leg before flipping backward and kicking him under the chin. He landed on his back, and Amara slugged him hard in the face to incapacitate him.
Dante took out several men trying to run toward Corrine. She trusted him, so she paid no attention to those men as she continued to go for the group fighting the Kemetian soldiers. Arryn thought about interfering, but the soldiers were holding their own, and the girl was kicking ass. The druid wanted to see what she was capable of.
Two men turned away from the other soldiers and ran toward her. She did several back handsprings before landing on one knee in the sand. As she stood, sandy whips rose with her hands. She smiled as she began to lash out with her arms and the sandy whips tore her opponents' skin.
One dodged an attack from one of her whips, only for her to swing the second, wrapping it around his neck and throwing him far from her. The other man stopped in his tracks and clutched his chest before falling to the ground. The second he was down, Arryn saw Amara's eyes return to normal.
She'd used the death touch, but only enough to weaken the man charging for Corrine. While Arryn didn't like that she'd used it at all, she'd stopped herself and had done it to protect Corrine. She made a mental note to talk to Cathillian about it later.
The soldiers took down the final few and turned to the girls. Arryn nudged Snow forward as they approached the heroines of the day.
"Thank you," one of the soldiers said. He was wounded in several places and limping.
Corrine's eyes flashed neon-green as she lifted a hand and healed the small group of men just enough to be able to stand upright again. "You're welcome," she said with a big smile.
Arryn almost laughed. Her daughter had been a total badass, but she still had that cheesy, childlike grin. It made her happy to see it.
"What are you doing here?" Corrine asked.
"Dante warned me you were heading into battle. I came to help." Arryn looked around. "But I see you didn't need it."
"See? I'm not so bad after all, huh?"
Arryn shook her head, still smiling. "Not even a little."
Corrine turned to Dante. "You're a rat, not a cat."
The tiger grumbled in response.
"I have to go back to Jadid, and I think you should both come with me," Arryn said.
Both girls looked offended. "What? Retreat? The battle isn't over yet!" Corrine said.
"No, you don't understand. Zuri took a lot of men north early. He's attacking the city, more than likely right this second." She turned to Amara. "If you want the revenge you seek, you need to go back with me."
"I'm going," she said without hesitation.
Corrine nodded. "If he's there now, a lot of people will be in bad shape. I'm coming too."
> "Arryn," Bast called behind her.
She turned to see fifteen men running alongside Amon, the princesses, the queen, and a few Queen's Guard who had refused to let her go alone.
"These are the physical magic users you requested," Asim said.
Arryn smiled. "Just in time. Who's ready to go back to Jadid and reclaim it in the name of the queen?"
By the time Asim and the others got the physical magicians free, hundreds of men in the opposing army had discovered the truth and began to turn on the others, doing their best to save as many as possible. Zuri's numbers were dwindling fast, but that didn't matter. It had never mattered to him. His goal had always been the city, and he'd used all those people as a distraction to get what he wanted.
Though it pained her to say it, Talia had taught Arryn a very big lesson in teamwork when it came to physical magic. The more, the merrier, and power could be shared when there was a common goal.
With sixteen people able to teleport, they could transport themselves, Arryn, the girls, Amon, and the tigers longer distances. They would have to conserve their energy by making small jumps, but Jadid was much closer to where they started than the Frozen North had been to Arcadia when Talia and fewer people had transported Arryn to the top of the mountains.
After four jumps, they reached the city. While no one felt their best, they weren't drained, and that had been the point. When they arrived, Arryn was prepared to see the city on fire, people screaming, and the world in chaos. What she found was nothing shy of mind-blowing.
The sky was dark, and lightning webbed across it. A few hundred feet away, Arryn saw a large red-skinned figure. It was feminine in nature, but she couldn't sense anything bad about it.
"Is that..." Amon started. His eyes flashed steel gray-blue, and he shook his head. "I don't know what that is, but it's not dark. I don't understand. It has to be one of those monsters. Red skin. Horns."
Arryn nodded. "I don't sense anything bad either."
"Do you plan to join me in saving the city, or are you going to sit and watch the show?" a masculine voice said in her mind.
