His chin jerked down.
“Shall we get up there?” he asked, tilting his head toward the wall.
She gave him a surprised look. She’d expected him to have her escorted back inside the Keep.
“You’ve done a good job of securing this place, might as well finish the job,” Trenton said, only a trace of sourness on his face. His gaze turned to Fallon who had returned to Shea’s side.
Fallon gave the both of them a bland look. To Shea’s shock, he didn’t challenge Trenton’s assumption. “He has a point. I would normally place you in command of this spot for your actions since the original person in charge has fallen.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. That might be the case, but she also suspected that he wanted her where he could keep an eye on her, given her tendency to find odd, dangerous situations. This way, he at least had a chance of protecting her.
Her hand tightened on her sword and she looked above them. The additional Trateri Fallon had brought had done their job. At this point, the only thing left was to mop up and kill as many of the beasts as they could before they scampered back over the side of the wall.
Fallon and Shea fought side by side, their movements perfectly in sync. He was the better fighter, but she was creative in the way she forced her opponents off-balance. He sent her a wolfish smile after they’d dispatched a particularly big beast. It was a smile she returned, the thrill of victory and triumphing over her enemies chasing any tiredness from her bones for a brief moment.
A strange sound reached her ears, familiar in a way that told her she’d heard it many times before. She almost missed it in the din of battle.
“Do you hear that?” she asked, cocking her head.
Fallon cleaved a beast’s head from its shoulders in a single blow then cocked his head. “Yes.”
It was still faint, but Shea recognized it. Trateri war horns. Not from inside the Keep either. They sounded too distant.
Shea walked along the edge of the wall, on the lookout for stray beasts. They had begun retreating down the wall and her progress was unhindered as she weaved through battle-weary fighters. She came to one of the watch towers that had been built into the wall and opened the door before climbing the steps to the top. Once on the outlook deck, she turned to the southeast from where the sound of war horns swelled.
Fallon shadowed her.
Shea drew in a sharp breath at the sight that greeted them.
The horde of beasts was still there. Their numbers didn’t appear low enough given the amount of fighting that had already taken place.
That wasn’t what caught Shea’s attention. No, it was the impossible sight at the far end of the valley.
Countless numbers of horses streamed over the ridge, on their backs Trateri warriors in full battle dress with leather armor, their long-curved bows nocked and drawn over their horses’ heads as they aimed into the army of beasts before them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The war horn sounded again. Above the ridge, several banners rode into view. Earth clan’s colors mixed in with Horse clan’s and the rest of them. All of the clans were present.
Darius had brought the whole army. At least ten thousand strong.
The horses broke into a gallop, the ranks of Trateri surging forward as they charged into the valley and the army waiting there.
“Darius brought the army,” Shea said in a wondering voice. “How did he know we needed him?”
“That is a good question,” Fallon said, not taking his eyes off the scene in front of him.
There was a dull roar as if even the air itself screamed in victory as the Trateri warriors drove the beasts in front of them, their momentum and great numbers acting as an unstoppable wedge.
The beasts, caught between the gorge in front of the Keep and the Trateri at their backs, were trapped with nowhere to go.
Arrows flew as Trateri on horseback shot into the beasts’ ranks.
The beasts panicked, their instincts taking over. Some were knocked into the gorge as the ones at their back tried to get away from the humans sweeping in for the kill.
It was a total reversal from just moments ago.
Shea watched in stunned disbelief as the beasts that had seemed so hopelessly invulnerable were slain by the mounted warriors who rode them down.
