She’d been wrong.
As the humans fought the beasts in front ofthem, the rest waited until their prey had spent its strength andthought victory was close at hand.
“Back, back. Reform the lines,” Sheascreamed.
It was a lost cause. Shea knew that even asthe words left her mouth. The fury of battle had left the mendisorganized and slow to react. Even as some tried to fight theirway to place their backs against the cave mouth, the remainingrevenants surged forward, cutting them off while their packbrothers streamed from the trees.
Shea felt her breath still in her lungs asthe revenants formed a black wave against the ground. There must benearly a hundred. It was going to be a massacre.
Men streamed past her to form hasty lines.Eamon appeared at her side, his eyes wild with adrenaline, and histeeth bared in a macabre smile. Buck let out a loud war hollerright beside her and raised a weapon coated nearly black from thebeasts’ blood.
“Tough fuckers, aren’t they?” Buckyelled.
Eamon’s eyes glinted as he leaned slightlyforward, anticipating the impact from the revenants sprintingtowards them.
“Don’t mind him, boy,” Buck said, withouttaking his eyes from the beasts. “When he gets in battle mode hegets fixated and doesn’t talk.”
Shea hadn’t been concerned much about Eamon’ssilence but rather about their current problem.
“They’ll write stories of this battle.”
Shea’s eyebrows flew up. “Only if someonesurvives to tell it.”
Buck chuckled even as he swung his sword downin a two handed chop severing the head of a leaping revenant.
After that, they were too busy to talk asthey hacked and sliced at any body that came near. Clark joinedtheir little group and, together, they rotated constantly,protecting each other’s backs.
Shea lost count of how many revenants hadattacked and been turned back. Her arms felt like lead weights andeach time she lifted her sword it got harder and harder to lift itagain.
She fell into a rhythm, lift, slash, lift.Again and again. Until she reached a lull in the fighting. Shelooked up and realized she was all alone. The others were severalfeet away.
Between her and them a revenant lifted hishead from his latest prey. Blood dripped from his face as he staredat her. He was huge, bigger than any other revenant in the pack andhad scars all over his sides and legs, an ugly looking slice on hismuzzle and another next to his eye where his enemy had missed.
The monster lowered his head, his lipspulling back in a crazy grin as if to say come and get me. He leaptover his snack. Nearly two hundred pounds of pure muscle barreledinto her.
She protected her body with one arm, feelingthe pressure of his fangs against the cloth and leather, andstabbed into his side with her other hand. Blood coated her hand asshe pulled it away and stabbed again. It had little effect on thebeast as he snapped his head side to side nearly tearing her armfrom the socket.
She screamed at the pain and sunk the bladein again. A hand caught hers and guided the blade below the ribsthen helped her plunge it in deeper, finding the heart and givingthe blade a twist.
The light faded from the revenants eyes ashis body softened on top of hers.
Hands grabbed the revenant and lifted it offher.
Shea blinked dumbly at the dead beast. Barelyable to process that she wasn’t dead. That somehow she was stillbreathing. Her arm throbbed. It was good to be alive, to feelpain.
Blood and gore coated her from head to toe.It was in her hair, on her face, ground into her clothes. Shelooked like someone had slaughtered a dozen pigs right on top ofher.
“On your feet, warrior,” a voice above herbarked.
She looked up into a set of fierce,whisky-colored eyes.
Fallon.
Her mouth opened and closed several times ashis frown deepened. She belatedly realized that they were still inthe midst of the fight and popped to her feet. It was difficultsince her arm didn’t want to support her.
The battle had turned as men streamed fromthe trees on stallions that seemed to take great delight intrampling any revenant unlucky enough to be in their path. Sheawatched as a man leaned almost casually down from the side of hismount, and with a flick of his wrist, buried an ax in a creature’shead.
Shea’s party had pulled back to the cave towatch the strangers work.
