Page 134 of To Kill a King
Malkov nodded to one of the guards standing next to Karlee.
The snick of metal against wood raised the fine hairs on Aliya’s neck as the guard drew his sword.
“We will be your downfall,” Karlee spat, glaring at Malkov. “And we will be free once more.”
The sword fell. Karlee’s head tumbled away as a crimson splash stained the white stone.
“No!” The scream wrenched from deep inside Aliya, echoing off the walls. The one person who’d forgiven her, and so easily… Aliya’s blood froze as her mind went numb.
Kord met her gaze as the guard moved to his side. “Don’t give in,” he mouthed. “We need you.”
The blade swung again. A falcon screeched from the rafters.
Aliya curled in on herself, a sob clawing from her throat. This was all her fault. Her stupid idea. Now Karlee and Kord were dead, just like Cressida and Elessan.
Malkov waved to his guards. “Take her to The Chamber. Before the elves and dwarves get here. Move! And release the Shadow Dragon. We’ll see what the invaders can do against it.”
She didn’t bother to fight as the guards dragged her from the room.
Elessan shifted position on the back of his sturdy mountain pony. Thane Hedul rode to his left, with Zadé on Hedul’s far side. The pony’s saddle was designed for dwarf proportions rather than elves, and it rubbed in all the wrong places. But the discomfort vanished as the ramparts of Lions Grove appeared through the haze.
A large fire rampaged through the port district. That might throw a wrench into the coming battle in the dwarves’ favor.
Today would bring either the end of King Malkov and his whisperers, or the destruction of the dwarven legions.
Behind them, the Thane’s second blew his horn, with responses echoing from each of their three regiments. Through the mists, the higher pitched rings of Tsara’s sun-elf army rang out.
Elessan smiled as a heavy weight lifted from his shoulders. Against all odds, she’d arrived on time. With both races joining the battle, their chances of success were much improved.
He turned his gaze to the city walls, to the shadows of men scurrying among the parapets. Alarm bells sounded. Elessan chuckled at the humans’ surprise. The sudden appearance of not one, but two armies this deep in the human realm must have the defenders in complete chaos. He and Zadé had gone to extreme lengths to make sure they’d remained undiscovered.
Zadé leaned toward Hedul. “We need t’ attack quick-like, ta keep the humans off-balance. If’n they get th’ chance to deploy more o’ those Whisperers, or more o’ those things the gnomes call Dragon Sticks, we’ll lose our advantage.”
Elessan shuddered. It still blew his mind that the silver balls from the Dragon Sticks had gotten past Cressida’s battle magic. Despite Hedul’s assurances, he didn’t give much credence to the reinforced dwarven armor when even Lady Brightleaf had fallen to them.
Thane Hedul’s voice lifted over the alarms. “Coordinate the charge with the elves.”
Elessan dipped his head and turned to the dwarf with the horn. “Three short bursts, two long.”
The horn’s blast vibrated Elessan’s bones. The elves repeated the pattern in acknowledgment and added a series of trilling blasts.
Archers, fire.
Elessan met Hedul’s gaze, then Zadé’s, and nodded.
The thane hefted his hammer. “Battering ram! Charge!”
Twenty ponies, carrying a massive log between them sprinted toward the gate, their riders holding large shields overhead.
The wooden beam thudded against the entryway as arrows and rocks poured down from above. Most bounced off the sturdy dwarven bucklers. Horses screamed as a handful of projectiles found their mark.
Elessan reached for his bow. Grabbing an arrow, he sent it sailing into the group of human soldiers above the gate. One tumbled to the ground with a cry. Elessan bared his fangs as he snagged another quarrel. One down, approximately twenty to go.
“Retreat!” Hedul’s order rang across the battlefield.
As one, the steeds pranced backward out of the human’s range.
The archers above mounted several long tubes to the battlements and shoved large spheres down them as they aimed at the battering ram.