Shea looked back at her hastily assembled team. Dane, Peyton and Witt looked determined, their faces hardened. The Trateri looked unsure, as did Allyn.
“Today, I don’t care if you’re Trateri or pathfinder, warrior or teacher,” Shea said. “We’re fighting to preserve our lives. If this wall falls, the beasts can attack the main group from the back. They will sweep through the Keep killing all within, including any children they find.” That last was aimed at Allyn. “We’re going to stop them here.”
Looking back at her were five resolute faces. Her words seemed to have an effect, steeling their determination.
“Alright, let’s do this,” she said. “Dane, you and Peyton, are our snipers. Just like at Edgecomb.”
A smile flashed on a couple of faces at that statement. Yeah, she thought they might appreciate how they’d come full circle.
“The rest of you, we’re going to hit them from the ground. Pick your shots wisely and don’t hit our people. We’re going to work our way through the courtyard until we get to the wall. Allyn and Witt, you’re going to keep any beasts off us when we’re firing. Got it?”
They all nodded.
Shea took a deep breath and said a short prayer.
Dane and Peyton peeled off, making their way to the second floor where their line of sight would be slightly better.
Shea stepped into the courtyard, the rest of her group flanking her. A beast that had made it past the wall noticed immediately. It leapt over the few Trateri warriors battling its brethren and galloped straight for Shea and the others.
There was a high-pitched squeak from Allyn, but to her surprise, none of those who’d joined her broke and ran.
“Steady,” she said. It came closer and closer. “Steady.”
They couldn’t waste their shots. Better to let it get uncomfortably close.
Shea waited until the last possible second, when she could stare into its cold, alien eyes, see the bright amber of its irises and smell its breath as it gave her a fang filled smile.
“Now,” she shouted.
As one, the boomers barked. Shea’s boomer bucked in her hand, almost knocking her back a step. Another reason she had to wait so long. From this distance, even she couldn’t miss.
The beast’s charge slowed as the wounds on its body bled sluggishly. Still, it came on, looming above them like a sinister reaper.
A whomper crashed into it from above, knocking it down. Witt and the Trateri warrior darted forward, finishing it off with their swords before it could gain its feet.
“Reload,” Shea shouted at the rest even as she busied herself with the same.
It took seconds and then they were advancing across the courtyard in a steady march. Dane and Peyton keeping watch from above while Witt and the warrior did their best to protect Shea and the rest as they tried to shoot beasts off the wall.
The Trateri and pathfinders on the wall quickly caught on to what they were doing, maneuvering so the beasts had their backs to Shea’s group as they picked them off one by one.
When Shea ran out of ammo and a beast was too close, she switched her grip on the boomer, using it as a club to knock a beast’s snarling snout away from her.
By now, they’d somehow fought their way onto the wall. She fought shoulder to shoulder with Trateri and pathfinder, a mad dervish of movement as the onslaught continued.
Shea’s arms and shoulders ached even as she pressed on. The boomer was useless at this close range and she’d been forced to resort to her sword, wielding it like a woman possessed. She didn’t plan to die here. She had a future, she had plans. She had a traitor to catch. She wouldn’t let these beasts keep her from her goals.
A beast leapt, tackling Allyn. He fell back with a cry, toppling over the edge of the wall and to the ground behind them. By some miracle, he landed on his back on a small cart, the beast on top of him.
His screams reached Shea as he struggled to keep the beast and its claws from eviscerating him.
Shea tossed the boomer down—it was useless with the way they were struggling—and tightened her grip on her sword. She leapt after them, her stomach leaping into her throat during the fifteen-foot drop.
She landed on the beast’s back, her knee and ankle throbbing in protest. She wrapped both hands around the sword and stabbed down into its back, aiming for any vital organ she could reach. Its hide was thick and tough. She had to work hard to make any headway in her slices.
Allyn fought from below, his face a mask of panic. Between the two of them, they managed to bring the beast down.
It slumped where it stood, crushing Allyn beneath.
