“Yes.”
“Then go,” Uther barked. “We’ll cover you.”
I stumbled toward the gate, Uther’s bulk shielding me from the left, Elwen guarding the right. Arrows rained down. One grazed my shoulder.
My hands slammed against the giant rune, and the magic bit through the gloves like a row of teeth. I gasped, pawing the threads aside. It was like touching muscle. So hard to grip, the power immense. It sucked at my arm, dragging me closer.
Break.
An arrow thudded into the gate, inches from my skull.
I shoved back, tearing at the threads. They slipped, slick and wrong. I plunged deeper, turning my head as magic seared through me. I seized on the core—a knot of rotten threads—and pulled.
Blood dripped from my nose.
Break.
The gates blew inward with a deafening boom.
56
BREACH
“Move!”
Kairos hauled me onto Morvaen, vaulting up behind me, the mairen lunging into the main thoroughfare.
The road was wide, built for parades, but the upper levels crowded inward—balconies, parapets, and battlements stacked tightly above us. Our warriors thundered after us as arrows screamed down.
Archers leaned over parapets, firing straight into the street below. Shafts shattered against stone. One skimmed past my ear. Another struck Morvaen’s armor and ricocheted away.
Kairos snapped his fingers. Mist erupted upward like a white geyser, coiling around throats, yanking bodies over the edge. Archers wailed as they plummeted, hitting the cobblestones with meaty thuds.
A shield wall slammed into place across the far end of the thoroughfare. Dozens of Skaldir soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, spears braced.
“Another line!” Elwen spat.
Kairos drew his scimitar, his blade gleaming with the red light. “Sanguir!”
“Sanguir!” the warriors shouted.
Kairos loosed a war cry that rattled my teeth and Morvaen lunged forward.
Arrows hissed. Someone behind me howled. Mist billowed, deflecting bolts, but not all of them.
Oh gods, we’re going to?—
“Hold on!” Kairos roared.
The collision nearly ripped me from the saddle. Bodies flew. Shields splintered. Blood sprayed hot across my face.
I couldn’t watch.
I buried my face in his back, listening to the crash of bodies, the wet crunch of steel meeting flesh. Magic sizzled and crackled, the heat of it washing over my skin. I felt every strike as Kairos hammered blows.
“It’s done,” he grunted.
I opened my eyes and counted heads. Uther, bleeding from a gash on his scalp. Elwen, her shield arm hanging wrong. Torvin and two others. One of the warriors who’d ridden with us was gone—I didn’t see where.
