My body was wrenched from the mast, and I went sliding across the deck. I caught myself on a length rope as the ship straightened itself out, Kolvar appearing next to me and cursing up a storm as he nearly lost his footing.
He quickly pinned me against the main mast as the waves roared, drowning out everything except for the sound of something like an explosion behind us. Without looking, I knew another ship had crashed into the sea wall. I fucking knew it. My chest tightened, but I couldn’t move, gritting my teeth in frustration. We had not come this fucking far only to be destroyed by some damn waves.
Then all at once, it stopped.
We broke past the sea wall, our ship dipping into an alcove that was no longer lined with a cliffside, instead a sandy outlet greeted us. I swore, nearly slumping against the mast in relief, as the sailors congratulated one another—clearly feeling victorious over navigating the seawall.
But I didn’t feel victorious.
Instead, I sped up the quarter deck staircase and stood at the back of the ship, my gaze running over the cliffside—not noticing any guard posts before moving my attention down to the ships following us.
Off to the side, I spotted a sinking ship, but it appeared that everyone had been evacuated like the first time. I sucked in a deep breath and concluded that it must be part of our navy’s protocol to handle a sinking ship like that. It was a system they seemed to have down, and I was beyond thankful for it.
“The minute we pull ashore, I want to ensure we haven’t lost any lives despite having lost two ships.” I turned to face my men, who joined me on the quarter deck. “I need to know if someone won’t be returning home.”
With a sharp nod from Elijah, I turned my attention to a group of men getting into the water and dragging ropes, tying, and securing them to the land to anchor the ship. Not all the vessels would be able to pull as close as this one, some having to anchor in the water, but we were able to get close.
Deciding to go ashore as the other ships followed our lead, I used the ladder to make it halfway down the side of the ship before dropping down, bending my knees. Twisting out my hair to remove any extra moisture, I turned back to examine the ships, noticing that most of them had taken only minimal damage.
Good. We needed them strong and ready for whatever would greet us moving forward.
Empress.
Barnabus’ voice had me snapping my gaze upward as his familiar form swept down in front of me.The attack has started.
“Please keep an eye on them and update me on whatever happens,” I instructed, and he immediately flew off, not questioning the order. I knew Tristan had the attack handled, but I couldn’t help but think of those on the front line, an essential but extremely dangerous position.
“The attack has started.” I announced, knowing that even if it wasn’t loud enough for everyone to hear they would pass the message on. “We need to be prepared to load people onboard, so I want half of you to stay here by the ships in case of an attack, and the rest of us will begin to gather individuals. Understood?”
Calls of ‘yes’ and ‘understood ' had me turning toward the pathway between two trees, my men joining me. I kept an eye out, looking back up at the cliffside and still noting the absence of guards. I wasn’t sure if that was normal or if our plan had worked to lure all of them toward the docks with the frontal attack.
Either way, it meant that we could focus on our main priority right now:saving lives.
Chapter Thirteen
Kyella
“Do you think they ever had guards stationed there?” I asked Elijah, keeping my voice low as we moved through the thick forest that overtook the deserted beach we’d landed on.
As much as I wanted to speed through here and get to the first town as quickly as possible, Elijah had cautioned that just because the cliffs hadn’t been guarded, didn’t mean the areas surrounding the nearest towns would be the same.
“Hard to say,” he mused as his eyes flicked around the dense foliage. Tension lined his features, his body taut and ready to spring into action. “If it was our empire, without a doubt, there would be guards there. Malakai has shown his arrogance time and time again, so I’d venture a guess that he thinks no one would be foolish enough to pass the sea wall with how dangerous it is. Honestly, he probably also doesn’t care about the safety of the small towns near his capital. His food source is in the capital. We’re simply moving slowly as a precaution.”
A huff came from Dakath, and as I glanced at him on my right, I found him shaking his head in disgust, his lip curled. “He’s shown no empathy or regard for human life, even within the capital.”
It was like a hand reached inside my chest and squeezed my heart in a vice. We were one in the same, losing our family at Malakai’s hand. If there was one thing Malakai had made clear, it was that the depravity of his mind and his malicious actions knew no bounds.
Kolvar’s voice carried back to us with the wind from his position ahead of us, “I don’t think with the battle having just started, they would have had time to carry the word to forces out here to return to the capitalandfor those forces to have made it there already.”
While I knew our team would defer to my orders, I was truly counting on my men and their expertise to make the right call. Elijah was correct when he said that they had much to offer and could help greatly in formulating plans. I was more thankful than I could ever put into words for having them at my side as sources of emotional support…as well as their sound expertise.
“All right,” Elijah barked out loudly enough for our entire team to hear as he came to a halt. “It’s time to increase our pace. Kolvar will halt the moment he hears a noise at the front, so despite us running now, you must pay attention and be ready to stop with a second’s notice. Ears open and eyes wide, team.”
The pace of my beating heart quickened at his words. While I feared what was to come, purely due to the unknown, I couldn’t deny that there was a thrill creeping beneath my skin at finally being able to make a difference. It wasn’t just all talk and hope for a better future anymore. It was time to make those dreams become a reality.
With an affirmative nod, we quickly set into a run, keeping pace with the humans on our team so no one was separated. I was so thankful that the armor that had been made for me felt light as a feather and didn’t weigh me down or make me uncomfortable despite having been made from the blue steel I had chosen in the smithy. Ross had truly outdone himself—it felt like he’d perfectly molded the metal to fit my frame.
The only odd thing was not being able to strap my daggers to my thighs anymore. Now, they rested in leather holsters wrapped around my waist, with multiple lighter throwing daggers residing in a closed pouch. When Ross had asked me my preferred weapon and I’d told him daggers, he’d had the forethought to create feather-light and perfectly balanced throwing daggers that I could use for longer range targets. It was comforting not having to worry about losing my beloved daggers Elijah had gifted me.
