Page 89 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

“Then Athos will cease to exist,” the king said.

“You can try,” Lagina snapped. “But humans are stronger than you realize.”

“We’ll see about that,” the king said. He turned to his men. “Begin the attack.” He turned and walked away.

The soldiers with the battering rams fell back and a new group pushed forward. These men were not clad in armor. Instead, they wore loose fitting tunics and trousers in expensive materials. They were polished and clean, none of them had the appearance of a soldier.

My brow furrowed as I took them in. Were they here to try diplomacy? They had to be nobles. They were far too nicely dressed to be anything else.

Just as I was about to ask Ryvin, the men raised their hands and the shield began to vibrate.

“Throw everything you’ve got at it!” Laera yelled as she raced back to where her mother and Selena were standing.The fae women lifted their arms to the sky, offering their magic to the shield.

I looked back at the line of fae. They were attacking our shield with magic. Wide-eyed, I turned to Ryvin. “Can they do that? Is that going to work?”

Ryvin’s jaw clenched, and I didn’t need him to respond. We were on borrowed time.

Dark tendrils began to swirl around me, shadows billowing up, responding to my stress. “Can you take them out? The fae? Can you use your magic?”

He shook his head. “It won’t penetrate the shield. Only physical things can get through. I’ll have leave.”

“Not yet,” Vanth replied. “Get back there, Ara. We’ve got archers and catapults and we might as well use them.”

Rvyin fell back with me. Our job would begin once the shields were down. For now, all we could do was watch.

Archers stepped forward and struck quickly, knocking down several of the fae at the barrier. The fae soldiers moved forward, creating a wall with their shields in front of the magic users. Our archers fired back, occasionally getting something through before the fae changed tactics, sending some of their magic wielders to protect the others rather than focus on the shield. At least that would slow them down.

We launched catapults, but the payload never hit anyone. The fae stopped it before it reached the ground. So our archers took to shooting at random intervals and in irregular directions to try to catch the fae off guard.

The shield cracked. The sound like a whip, followed by a rumbling. It was weakening. I glanced over at Ryvin.

It was late afternoon when our archers ran out of arrows. We had craftsmen making more, but they couldn’t keep up. Our soldiers fell back, retreating from the barrier.

Half of them were sent to rest, while the others were given rations and waited, just in case. There wasn’t anything else we could do.

Suddenly, the attack ceased. The magic on the shield stopped. The fae troops began to leave. Our soldiers whispered and shuffled their feet, some of them moving closer to the shield to get a better look.

“What are they doing?” I asked.

Ryvin looked to the sky. “I guess he’s calling it early tonight. They must be close.”

I saw Laera walking toward us. Her face shone with sweat and she had dark circles under her eyes. “There isn’t much left. He could break it before nightfall if he wanted, but I think he’d rather they save some of their magic.”

“He plans to break it and then attack immediately,” Ryvin said.

“That’s my guess.” Laera rubbed her eyes, then shook out her hands. “I’m nearly spent. I need to sleep or I won’t be able to help tomorrow.”

“Go on,” Ryvin said. “We’ll need everyone at their best in the morning.”

“If he waits until morning,” she replied.

“He’ll want them rested,” Ryvin said.

“What’s happening?” Mortagan asked as heapproached Ryvin. “Where are they going? We can’t have won.”

“No, we didn’t win.” Ryvin explained his theory and Mortagan looked grim. “I’ll inform my men.”

“What happens in the morning?” I asked.

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