They rushed at us with an unnatural speed and ferocity.
They writhed on the bloody, muddy ground and swung their swords even after being eviscerated.
Whatever dark magic had transformed them into brutal beasts wouldn’t let them die.
“Xamor himself would have fallen faster!” Kylian yelled as he kept impaling his spear into a fallen soldier that still reached out to cut him.
The sky had shattered, raining icy water on us all. The bloody mud trapped our feet, as if it wanted to drag us quicker into its depths.
The mayhem slowed me down.
My mud-coated boots slid against the gore. So many sharp, fallen weapons stuck between the bodies, I was in danger of lurching straight into a blade.
It was a miracle the Blood Brotherhood warriors were still standing.
The Battlefield Butcher sent wave after wave of soldiers upon us, while keeping most of his army on the other shore, menacing and protected.
“Fire!” Zandyr roared over the chaos.
Another rain of arrows ripped through the skies. They suffered the same useless fate as their brethren–stopped in mid-air by an invisible wall that barely shimmered.
Behind the veil, the Butcher smiled, showing his sharp, metal teeth.
That’s why he’d wanted us to cross the river.
Whatever depraved magic he’d gotten his thick, liver-spotted hands on protected the entire Serpent army on that side. Some of that power must have trickled into the soldiers that crossed.
They were too strong.
Too fast.
Too unwilling to die.
No cannons, arrows or spears we fired could touch that army.
“On your right!” I yelled as I passed Myron, two soldiers at his back.
The hiss of his daggers slicing through bone ghosted after me as I pushed toward my main target.
My warriors had managed to lure the snake toward the hill. I had a split-second chance for a mad plan.
Sanity had no place here.
A hulking Serpent soldier blocked my path.
My bones snapped as I swerved out of his way, jade-encrusted sword hissing a breath away from my ear.
The halt was so sudden, I skidded back.
Teeth clenched, I reared and launched myself at him. I embedded my dagger right at the junction of his shoulder, where his armour was held together by thick hide. Only half of the blade sunk in, but it should have been enough to paralyze him.
He swung at me once more.
I stuck my dagger into his eye.
He swayed, but still didn’t fall.
Gods above, what was keeping him upright?
