Queen Kaila.
She came to help. Sheactually came.
The magical sounds cut off, only to start blasting all around in different directions at different times, confusing the fae even more, making their horses bolt.
Ecstatic relief charges through me because…we’re winning. We’re fuckingwinning.
A groan from Tyde makes me check on him, and I know we need to get his wounds bound so that he stops losing blood. “We need to get him to Cliffhelm!” I shout.
Judd must hear me, because he yanks his timberwing around, and I brace Tyde and myself for the turn. But then Judd spits out a curse. When I wrench around in the saddle to look and see why, my stomach drops.
The fissuring ground has spread all the way to our outpost. Rifts lengthening, reaching further into Fourth’s border.
Shit.
My plan to stop the fae by cracking the earth didn’t just work—it’s working too fucking well. I thought I’d measured things out, thought I’d had us plan accordingly. I calculated where to focus Finley and Maston’s magic so that it was far enough away from Cliffhelm that it wouldn’t spread there.
I was wrong.
With a ferocious crack of cliff and stone, Cliffhelm begins to fall. The guard towers give way beneath the crumbling snow, and the protective wall snaps in half as the ground snaps with it.
“Os and our men are still up there!” I yell.
A few of Kaila’s soldiers try to swoop their timberwings down to get them, but it’s too late. The ground rumbles and shatters with thundering chaos, and I have no choice but to look on with horror as Cliffhelm’s wall collapses completely.
CHAPTER 27
OSRIK
I load chunks of stoneinto the catapult and let the pieces fly, making sure I obliterate as many bodies as fucking possible.
At first, the guard tower to my right was practically bursting full of pieces of debris. Small enough for me to load into the catapult, big enough to be heavy as shit.
When we got the signal from Ryatt and readied the trigger, I waited inside the guard tower, attention fixed on the sky for our timberwings.
The rest of the men stayed crouched down along the wall, making Cliffhelm appear empty. We needed to draw the fae’s eyes to the threat at the iron forest so that the big veins of rot could hopefully bleed them out.
And it worked. This crazy ass plan of Ryatt’s fucking worked.
The second we saw the rot tearing open the frozen ground, my men started launching arrows at whatever fae got within range. There was a group of them who tried to split off and race for Cliffhelm when the ground started to give way, but we were ready and easily picked them off.
And I keep launching the catapult. Arms burning, muscles straining, sweat dripping down my skin just as much as the shitty snow. It’s not just the stones that are heavy, the whole fucking catapult is. It’s meant to be a three-person load, but we can’t spare two more men. So I do it myself. Launching, then re-aiming the arm and setting the trigger again with gritted teeth before loading another piece and launching into another group of fae.
I enjoy that part.
Idon’tfucking enjoy when someone comes in and threatens us. I won’t stand for it, no matter how bad the odds are.
Before I shoot off the catapult again, movement catches my eye far in the distance. White wood on white snow, pulled by creatures with flaming feet.
That’s a sight I didn’t fucking expect.
Fire claws are pulling Red Raid ships, and they’re cutting off the fae who are running back toward Fifth Kingdom. I watch nearly a dozen of the ships slide right through their contingents, and the flames from the fire claws spread through the army, seeming to burn them where they stand.
Down the wall, the soldiers I have with me let out cheers and whoops of victory. Then, timberwings—notours—start dropping down from the clouds and roar. I stare in surprise, watching as one of them takes a shit mid-flight, and I see the splatter from here as it lands on some of the fae.
Fucking amazing.
The men laugh as I yank off my helmet to wipe the sweat off my brow, and I can’t help but smirk too. I don’t know how all this help just swooped in, but what could’ve been a suicide mission just turned around to become a fucking victory.
