Page 59 of Triplets for the Barbarians

“How’s it looking?” I ask Ivo once I get back. The entire base rumbles with agitated soldiers moving from one position to another, constantly in motion as they anticipate the enemy coming toward us by the break of dawn. At least they’re ready for whatever is headed our way. “Have they reached the northern gate yet?”

“Yes, but we’re holding up for now,” Ivo replies. Beads of sweat trickle down his temples as he gets out of my seat, and I settle in front of the screens once again.

“Okay, the western ridge seems clear,” I mutter, going over each live footage. “The eastern gates have some activity, I see.”

“The Sky Tribe sent a battalion down there, but the bulk of their forces is focused on the northern gate,” Ivo replies. “I haven’t seen anything at the southern gate yet.”

“And we’ve got the west covered, more or less,” I say. “They don’t really need to surround the city in order to take it. They got accurate intel from their Kreek prisoners, so they know what they’re doing.”

“What do you want us to do?”

I give Ivo a short but heavy glance. “Nothing yet. I need you to stay here. I may have to leave again, and I want your eyes on the screens.”

“Commander, I feel like I could maybe do more…”

“More? As in what, exactly? Would you like to go into the city and join the fight there? Because we’ll need every man we can spare up here when the enemy does reach us,” I shoot back. “Ivo, that excitement making you restless in these dire moments is just the adrenaline kicking in. Do not let it cloud your judgment. We must be prepared.”

He shakes his head slowly. “I’m amazed by how calm you can be, Commander.”

I shrug and take a deep breath. “It’s not as if I have any other choice. If I could, I’d fire every single weapon we have at those bastards. But we have limited resources and a higher goal to accomplish.” Pausing, I look at my tablet device, watching the drones fly farther out, their sensors unable to pick up any nuclear signatures. The longer this takes, the heavier the ball of lead in the pit of my stomach gets. “We’re needed here, Ivo, with clear heads and calm hearts, whether we like it or not.”

The young Sunnaite agrees and settles into the chair beside me. Together, we watch the screens as the battle unfolds.

The Sky Tribe troops came prepared with special diamond-glass shields to divert some of the laser beams, which is how they got through the labyrinth so quickly. Not all of them survived. Parts of the maze are already littered with bodies. I notice the poisoned darts that shoot from hidden nooks in the black walls have been the most effective. Apparently, Shaytan’s prisoner didn’t give up every last detail of our defenses.

At the northern gates, I see our men on the walls, firing at will. Lights dance across the screen in flashes of white and red, and plumes of black smoke rise here and there. We’re taking serious hits, but the last-minute support from the rest of the Fire Tribe is coming in handy. The newly arrived fighters are remarkably good snipers and are able to take many mercenaries down before they even attempt to breach the gates.

It’s not enough, though.

Our men fall to their deaths from the top of the walls, one at a time, as Sky Tribe snipers come up from behind their front line and unleash the wrath of their laser weapons upon them. In horror, spot Fadai as he comes down from the wall and joins the Fire Tribe warriors below in one of their flanks.

“Shit, they’re going to breach!” Ivo exclaims, watching the screens with equal horror.

The Sky Tribe engineers emerge with laser cannons strapped to their shoulders. These dangerously capable weapons release single-fire beams so concentrated and thick that they melt the gate hinges in mere minutes.

I can almost hear our men from above shouting at the ones below to move farther back now that I realize what’s about to happen.

Heat swarms through me like a billion fire ants as I see the black smoke tendrils rising from where the massive steel hinges used to be just before the gates fall backward. Some of our men are crushed underneath, and it makes my stomach churn—yet I cannot look away.

“They’re in,” I whisper.

The Sky Tribe troops pour into Opal City, eager to gun down as many of our fighters as they can, but ours aren’t the feeble kind. The Kreek boys are on the front line, as always, shouting and roaring and coming at them with everything they’ve got. The clash is bloody and violent, and my eyes lose track of who’s who. I only see bodies crushing against one another, beams of bright light shooting left and right, fighters falling in pools of blood, and soot spreading across the granite cobblestones. I see death in a strange mélange of slow motion as my brain registers every gory detail.

I finally spot Fadai, who’s like a panther in full swing, moving like a shadow as he takes down his opponents. He is calm and calculated, firing his laser weapons and slitting throats in between. I don’t know how he can keep his intense focus, but I’m sure the inner fire of Sunna has helped plenty.

We’ve been drinking that stuff like water for days, which is probably why I’m so highly functional at this point and able to process so much information in such a short time.

“It’s about to get worse,” Ivo says, pointing to the corner of one screen.

“Oh, no…” I mumble, recognizing the two men.

It’s Blaze Pyrin and Shaytan Hull. Of all the places in the world to be right now, they chose Opal City. My teeth chatter as I try to steady my erratic breathing, the implications of their presence causing my blood to freeze in my veins.

Shaytan is a deadly man in the field. He’d risen high in the ranks precisely because of his battle skills. Blaze plays dirty—deadly dirty. I worry about Fadai now more than ever. These two are heavily armed and armored and surrounded by a throng of equally threatening guards.

They’ve come for us, and something tells me they won’t stop until they get us, dead or alive.

And I’m too far from the conflict to do anything.

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