From above, the distinctive sound of the Koa came, roaring to life as bright blue and green lights flew over their heads to crash into the waiting ranks of beasts. It punched through, killing many instantly.
But not enough. The way things stood now, it would take more shots than the Koa were capable of before they needed to be recharged.
The beasts seemed to know that as they surged forward, their lust for human flesh such that several were pushed over the edge of the gorge as those behind them were sent into a frothing fury.
Fallon shouted below. “Hold that line. Gawain, your left flank is about to collapse.”
Gawain turned and barked several orders, taking up a bow and sending several arrows flying, one right after the other, each one perfectly placed. The whole time he advanced on the beast who’d managed to make the top of the wall.
Gawain’s arrow took out the beast’s eye as he closed the distance. He used the bow to repel one attack while drawing his sword with the other hand. It came down in a clean arc, sinking deep in the beast’s neck.
“Woah,” Shea said, impressed in spite of herself. If Gawain wasn’t such a pain in the ass at times, she might find it in herself to like him.
“There’s a reason he’s the leader of his clan,” Fallon said next to her. “He’s a fierce warrior. If not for his issues with his father, he would be even better.”
Shea looked up. Henri, the leader of the horse clan, was his father, if she remembered correctly.
“Is that why he sometimes seems to hate you?” she asked. Gawain seemed to respect Fallon and dislike him by equal measure. There was a relationship she didn’t really understand.
He nodded. “I was very young when we went to Henri, but Gawain was younger. Henri devoted much of his time and attention to preparing me to take control of the clans. Some part of Gawain feels that I stole his father’s love, even as the rest of him knows that’s not quite true.”
The battle drew Shea’s attention back down. Something was happening at the gate.
A pathfinder above it was wrenching the gate up, inch by inch as the people around him were consumed with protecting the walls from encroaching beasts.
“Fallon,” Shea warned.
He looked where she pointed. Unexpectedly, a grin crossed his face.
“Good, they’re doing as instructed,” he said.
She gaped at him. “You told them to let beasts into the Keep.”
His face was amused at her disbelief. “It’s a common tactic. This’ll allow us to thin the herd with the least amount of risks to ourselves.”
Shea’s mouth clicked shut and she turned her attention to those below. The Trateri had locked shields and were now baiting the beasts, forcing them to concentrate on the ones with long spears poking at them, while other Trateri shot from above or took them from the side.
True to Fallon’s word, the gate began descending shortly after the courtyard filled up with beasts.
Before long, every beast who’d made it past the gate was dead. There were a few Trateri who didn’t survive, but the overwhelming loss was on the beast’s side.
“Tell Ember to switch out with Lion,” Fallon told a Trateri waiting behind him. “I don’t want them to tire out this soon in the battle.”
The Trateri left to do Fallon’s bidding.
The afternoon wore on, the men doing their best to hold the line. For the most part they stood fast. Sometimes a beast got through, but the pathfinders and Trateri worked together to bring it down before it could do too much damage.
“I’m going below,” Fallon said after a while. To Braden, he ordered, “Alert me if there are any problems.”
Shea’s head spun toward him, but she kept her mouth shut against any protest. She didn’t like him down there in danger, but how could she argue given the very real threat of annihilation? They all had to do their part to protect the Keep, even if she’d prefer those she love stay safe and far from the beasts currently trying to knock down their gates.
He gave her one last lingering look before disappearing into the Keep.
“Don’t even think about following him,” Braden said without looking away from the battle taking place beneath them.
“I wasn’t,” Shea denied. Though she had been thinking of ways she could contribute to their defenses in her own small way.
The problem was she wasn’t part of any of the teams. While she was decent with a sword now—courtesy of Braden and Trenton—she hadn’t taken the time to integrate with any of the units. Cohesion and teamwork were skills built up slowly. It took trust and time. Fallon had both. There was rarely a day that went by when he wasn’t training with some of his warriors. By now he would know every position and fit seamlessly into their fighting force.
