Fallon didn’t wait to see if his words resonated, jerking his chin at Shea and Reece, telling them to follow him. They backtracked down the steps.
“We’re under attack,” Fallon said, not pausing. “Report to your stations and prepare for battle.”
Those assembled obeyed without question as Shea nearly ran to keep up with Fallon.
“Do your people have any other weapons in the Keep that might help us?” he asked.
Shea and Reece glanced at each other. Shea didn’t know of anything else, but Reece might. He’d had more recent access.
He tilted his head. “Nothing that would be of immediate help. Everything would take time to bring up and set up.”
“How long?” Fallon asked.
Reece shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea. It’s been centuries since anything was used. I’m not even sure if it would still work.”
“Do what you can,” Fallon said. “I’ll buy you the time I can.”
Reece nodded and jogged off.
Fallon turned to Shea. “Stay by me.”
She gave him a jerk of her chin in agreement. She didn’t plan on going anywhere.
He turned and raced away, Shea dogging his footsteps. He was heading to the battlements. It would be a good place to observe and see the minute changes of the situation. With the help of the Koa, they wouldn’t have to worry as much about an aerial assault at least.
Braden was already there when they arrived, shouting orders. Relief crossed his face at the sight of Fallon.
“I was afraid you got caught in that mess,” Braden yelled as Fallon approached.
“Don’t worry, old friend. I wouldn’t miss this battle,” Fallon said, giving the other man a feral grin, one that was answered with an equally fierce smile.
Shea realized with a start that the two men were enjoying this. For Fallon, battle was a necessary ingredient for life. There was something about it that made him seem more vibrant, more alive. She didn’t know if it was a good thing or not. A problem for another day.
Perhaps enjoy was the wrong word, but the two never seemed more at home in their own skins than when they were preparing for a fight, be it with beast or man.
She saw why the two men got along so well.
“What’s our status?” Fallon asked, joining Braden at the edge of the battlements.
“They’re holding on the other side of the bridge,” Braden told him.
Shea looked out over the Keep and onto the plateau that the bridge led to. It would limit the number of beasts that could attack at once. Not for the first time, she admired her ancestors’ foresight in picking this place as their home.
Its defensive capabilities were probably unmatched anywhere in the Broken Lands. Though, it would probably help if they had a full army waiting inside its walls instead of a few hundred pathfinders, some of whom were children, and a handful of Trateri.
“Here,” a pathfinder told her, handing her an eyeglass.
Shea took it with a murmured thanks and put it up to her eye. The view was suddenly magnified. She ran the eyeglass over the army assembled, noting the various types of beasts out there.
Red backs, revenants, sixers, grindles, and numerous other beasts milled about—many of which didn’t get along. She was surprised they could stand side by side for any length of time. In the wild, the red backs and sixers were sworn enemies and attempted to eliminate the other whenever their paths crossed.
As she watched, a revenant ventured too close to a large red back that easily dwarfed anything near it. The red back rose to its back legs and roared, swiping at the revenant. This action seemed to incite a brief spat as other creatures near it set about attacking anything in reach.
“They might be here together, but it looks like our enemy doesn’t get along,” Shea said, lifting the glass from her face.
Fallon had appropriated one of his own use. “I see it.”
Shea looked back through and frowned as she noticed a creature, its skin blue with a tail nearly as long as its body. It waded into the fight and ripped creature after creature apart. The others cringed away from it, as if afraid.
