Page 101 of Of Scale and Blood

No, it was the number of short metallic tubes they carried.

I could see at least thirty of them, and I dared say there were far more I couldn’t see.

“Shoot at those carrying the tubes,” I yelled, pointing. “They fire acid that eats through stone. We can’t let them get near the wall.”

I drew my bow, nocked an arrow, and released in one smooth motion, quickly losing sight of it in the forest of arrows coming back at us. Far below, Mareritt soldiers fell, their bodies trampled by those behind them; their weapons, however, were scooped up and carried forward.

Several more flaming orbs tumbled clear of the deep fog still covering the bulk of the lands beyond the valley and arced toward Esan. The air around us swept upward with enough force to snatch our plaits upright; fists of wind caught the fireballs and flung them down into the surging mass of Mareritt below, killing dozens.

But dozens made little difference when there was a sea of them.

A sea of them armed with tubes that were now being raised.

We needed fire.Ineeded fire.

And it still wasn’t fucking there.

I swore, slapped a hand on Kerryn’s shoulder to catch his attention, then said, “Go find Falconie—tell him to issue incendiary arrows and fire pots, because hitting those tubes with fire will destroy them.”

“Your flames?”

“Currently absent. Go.”

He turned and disappeared into the controlled chaos. We continued firing our arrows, hitting target after target but making little difference. On the wall around us, soldiers fell, some dead, some not, their positions immediately filled. Overhead, the skies cracked open and unleashed their full fury, the rain torrential, cutting visibility down to mere yards.

I wiped my sleeve over my face in a useless attempt to clear the water and kept on firing arrows until my quiver was empty. I tore it off, swung around, and yelled for a replacement. A soldier hurried forward with a fresh quiver and handed it to me, but as I swung back to face the wall, an arrow clipped my cheek, biting deep.

I swore, and deep inside, fury echoed. Not mine. Kaia’s.

I come. I help.

NO, I yelled back mentally.It’s too dangerous, and we can’t risk undoing the spell.

You risk life.

I’m not going to die, Kaia.

Can’t promise.

There is revenge to be had. I’m going nowhere until that is done.

Go nowhere after.

I certainly don’t plan to. Stay. Please.

Her response was an unhappy grumble. I dropped the quiver at my feet, drew and nocked an arrow, and unleashed it into the wildness, aiming for the foe I could no longer see.

Orders were shouted across the wall for the beacons to be lit. It was pointless, us remaining in the dark, and it wasn’t like the Mareritt didn’t know where we were. All they had to do was push forward until they hit the damn... I stopped as a shudder ran through the stone under my feet.

The sense of doom sharpened.

“They’re attacking the wall’s base,” came Falconie’s shout from farther down the line. “Soldiers, aim down. Earth mages, repair. Air mages, attack.”

As the air abruptly shifted direction and plunged downward, Kerryn returned, two men carrying a fire pot and another a large cache of arrows wrapped with oil-soaked cloth. We weren’t the only ones receiving them—it was happening along the length of the wall.

Another shudder ran through the stone. I grabbed an arrow, plunged the head and the soaked cloth just below it into the pot, then nocked it, leaned over the wall, and fired. As it shot down, I saw the shadows. Mareritt on ladders.

“They’re scaling,” I shouted, plunging another arrow into the fire and shooting it down. Again and again, I repeated the process, until my arms and shoulders ached, and my fingers burned. Not from my fire, but rather the flames dripping from the arrows.

---