Something inside Kassandr snapped through, and instead of running away from the siege tower, he turned and charged toward it. But as he leaped at an Urkan warrior, Kassandr saw the man’s dark eyes fix on something behind him and widen in surprise. A shadow passed across the moons, the distant cry of an animal meeting his ears, but Kass focused on raking his claws through the berserker’s throat. As he set his sights on the next warrior, that berserker turned tail and ran. Kassandr pushed through his puzzlement, hunting the man down and tearing him to the ground.
The strange animal cry grew louder over the din of battle, andKassandr paused amid the carnage. His enhanced hearing recognized it at once—this was no animal, but the distinctive, all-female war cry of the clans beyond the river. He whirled, then stumbled in astonishment at the sight that met his eyes.
A legion of winged horsewomen descended upon the battlefield with bow and blade. And at the front of the group was a golden-haired woman. For a moment, Kassandr felt weightless, as though the ground beneath him had fallen away. But then he was firmly rooted on solid ground.
Saga wasalive.
Nothing made sense. She was clad in horsemaiden’s armor, a feathered cloak rippling behind her as she rode upon the murderous winged horse. But it didn’t have to make sense, because his Saga wasalive,and not only that, but she’d brought help when they needed it the most.
Saga broke off from the rest of the horde, directing Havoc toward the siege tower. Horror calcified in Kassandr’s chest. There were too many archers…it was too dangerous. He roared his warning into the skies, but Saga did not falter. Arrows zipped up, but the winged horse was too quick, twisting away and, in one case, kicking the arrow right out of the skies.
Protect,Kassandr’s beast snarled, and he crouched low to launch himself over the teeming battle. The white stallion swooped, wings spread wide as he glided over the siege tower. Saga leaned to the side of the horse, and it seemed there was something in her hand—
And he understood. Kassandr loosed a savage snarl, calling his men to him. Together, they twisted away from the siege tower and loped over the berserkers staring slack-jawed at the winged horses. He didn’t look over his shoulder to see the moment the fire flask slipped from Saga’s hand and bounced down the stairwell into the belly of the siege tower, but Kassandr heard it. The explosion was swift, and though it did not have the same force as the barrels, its aim was fatally true.
He glanced over his shoulder to see smoke pouring from thesiege tower, the screams of men growing to a crescendo. Flames licked up the sides of it, warriors throwing themselves to their deaths as they tried to escape the flames. And through the smoke, he could just make out a small blond figure enfolded into the aerial horde of helmed clanswomen.
Saga had escaped.
Kassandr lifted his maw into the skies and howled with every ounce of his being. But he hadn’t the time to stand in his wonderment. As an opponent lunged at him, he turned to greet the man with fang and claw. His blood pumped with renewed vigor, hope a buoyant thing in his chest. Kassandr’s world grew wholly red as he became an instrument of death. He could feel it in his bones, could smell it in the air—the tides of battle had just turned in Zagadka’s favor.
And it was all thanks to Saga.
Over and over, Kassandr showed each foul Urkan what it meant to face the Beast of Zagadka—what he thought of their coming to take what was not theirs. At some point, Rovgolod appeared on one side, Oleg on the other, and they fought a path into the thickest throng of berserkers. All the while, the winged horsewomen swooped down with speed and ferocity, delivering death with hooves and blades and arrows.
It wasn’t long before the flaming siege tower splintered and crashed to the ground. But the moment Kass saw the Urkans turn and flee was one of the sweetest in all his life. Kass and Rov chased them down, felling every last berserker they could. A beleaguered fleet of prowed ships rowed furiously away, the winged horses haranguing them from above, forcing the warriors to cower under a wall of shields. An hour ago, death had seemed certain, and now…now it was over. He could hardly believe it.
All this time, Kassandr had wanted Saga to see her potential—to show her fire and her heart to the world. But this warrior queen was beyond his wildest imaginings. How she had managed to convince the clans and to gather a horde of winged horsemaidens, he could not imagine.
His gaze swept the skies and the field of death all around him. The horsemaidens had formed a queue at the Kovosk River, rapidly filling buckets and passing them back along the line to those who took to the skies. Over and over the horsemaidens flew above the burning fortress, dumping bucket after bucket onto the flames.
And then Kassandr sawher,just beyond the horsemaidens. Helm clasped at her side, Saga shielded her eyes from the glare of the rising sun as she searched the snowy battlefield for something—or someone. Kassandr gave a triumphantwhuf,and then he was loping toward her, his chest too small for his heart. In that moment, his exhaustion was long forgotten; his injuries no longer pained him.
At last, Saga’s gaze fell upon him, and her lips formed his name. But the horsemaidens had also spotted him, and they closed around Saga, arrows trained on him. Kassandr skidded to a stop with a whine, his claws gouging deeply into the snow. A low warning snarl slipped from his maw, and it took all his will not to claw through the horsemaidens to get to his Saga.
“Don’t shoot him!” Saga cried out, pushing her way through. “Khiva, stand down!” She put her hand on the shoulder of the tall horsemaiden whose glare was the sharpest. The woman did not drop her bow, but her stance eased just a touch. And then Saga was breaking free; was running, throwing herself at his beast form…
She landed with startling force, and between his injuries and complete exhaustion, Kassandr nearly toppled over. But as Saga’s arms slid around his neck, all his pain fell away. This moment was better than he could ever have dreamed. She buried her face into his gore-smeared fur, muffled words falling from her lips.
“You’re alive,” and, “We did it,” and, most inexplicably, “Thank you.”
Unable to speak in his beast form, Kassandr relented to nuzzling against her, scenting her for injuries. He found none. She was safe. She was alive. And she’d saved the city—likely the entire kingdom.
As Saga unwound her arms from his neck, Kassandr reared on his hind legs, lifting his maw to the skies and howling in triumph. Nearby, Rov joined in, and then Oleg, and then the whole of thebattlefield howled in unison, the war cries of the horsewomen weaving in last of all.
He looked over the battlefield, lit by the rising sun.
It smelled of blood and smoke.
Looked like chaos incarnate.
Yet it felt like a new day.
Chapter 46
Kopa, Íseldur
Standing in the caves deep beneath Ashfall Fortress, Silla tried to distract herself from her nerves by studying the murals painted on the walls. But no matter how hard she stared at them, she could not shake the thought from her mind—everythingwas riding on today’s meeting. Two days remained before she and Rey would ride to the heartwood, and aside from thirty warriors Atli had pulled from their reserves, and the fifteen Jarl Holger had committed to send, they had otherwise failed in mustering the necessary forces.
