Page 97 of Echoes of War

“But, sir, Pres—” one of my soldiers started.

“I said,” I forced command into my tone, making them remember who was in charge now, “close the gate.”

“Sir, we can send reinforcements out. They’re on the w?—”

I sent vines out, yanking him from the entrance and placing one of the women from my squadron in his place. She faced me, studying my features before turning to see the incoming assault.

“Close the gate!” she yelled, hands behind her back but her posture shuddered at the order.

North Gate shut with a thud. Everyone behind the gate went quiet and flinched when they heard Prescott’s painful cries, and then silence. When reinforcements got here, it would be too late.

Elie was on all fours on the ground, her head tilted, eyes glaring at me, snot and tears dripping down her sepia skin.

“Elie,” I reached for her and she flinched back.

I pulled my hand back, brows furrowed as I tried to figure out what to do. My mind was racing. The path forward from this wasn’t clear.

She pushed to her feet, her light brown curls wild around her face. Elie spat on the ground near me, “Amaia will never forgive you, and neither will I.”

Staring over my head as she spoke, she took off into The Compound. I laid back, closing my eyes as my hands dragged down my face. When I opened them, I found myself to be the center of attention of every soldier and civilian nearby.

Riley

Four hours. It took four hours before the gate was safe enough to open up again once reinforcements arrived. The night sky was pitch black, no stars to light my path out. Even the clouds had respected the need to cover up the despicable act Covert had done.

We had the men to fight back. Minutes after I’d ordered the gate closed, the soldiers had rallied up the troops that remained within our walls. Briefing them had been quick, easy. The decision to not open up our gates and fight back was the hard part. I could tell by their eyes that they understood, disagreed with my decision, but they understood why we must keep it closed.

There was no one outside our walls to fight for. Not left alive anyway. We’d be fighting back, falling right into their hands for whatever plan they’d put in place. Our fight would be just that, a fight.

Revenge was a game with no winners.

It was important to stay in defense mode right now. Being on the offense would bring about unnecessary losses from our ranks, and that was something we couldn’t afford. The bigger picture was important if we wanted to do right by Prescott, by everyone here. All of Salem Territory was now counting on me to make the right move in every aspect.

Every one of our soldiers was important when it came to that final battle that inched closer by the day. There was no doubt in my mind that the attack today had intended to scatter us and weaken our troops, observe our weaknesses and strengths. If Seth had anything to do with it, which all the alarm bells in my head warned me of, it had also been done to see where we had changed defensively. He had the bare bones of our playbook, but he didn’t have it all.

A weeping willow had been erected by an earth elemental three hundred feet away, aligning the center of North Gate. My eyes narrowed, trying to adjust to the darkness, only the lantern I carried and the ones of a few of my men surrounding me lighting the way. A lone figure lay propped up against the tree.

“Stay here,” I ordered.

My men hung back, their whispers reaching me as I strode forward. I knew what I would find there.WhoI would find. The screams Prescott had echoed throughout The Compound had been clear that his death had not been gentle. Soldiers lining the watchtowers along the wall had turned their heads, not wanting to watch the final moments of their leader being dragged away. Still, I needed to see what they’d done to my friend, my family, myself.

I froze mere steps away from the base of the tree. My bottom lip trembled. There wasn’t enough air in this wide-open field to satisfy my need for oxygen. As my world crumbled around me, I let out a cry of agony and despair that tore through my entire being. It was a sound I didn’t recognize, one I hadn’t known I wascapable of. A sound born from the depths of my soul, a raw and guttural wail that encapsulated all the pain, heartbreak, and, now, hopelessness that consumed me.

Prescott’s hands were pinned above his head, bolted into the stump of the tree. His eyes, those eyes of wisdom and reassurance, were gone. Black holes stared back at me, nothing in their place. His shirt was gone. Instead, he now wore his skin, flailed around his torso exposing the flesh and muscle beneath. Prescott’s knees were turned inward at an unnatural angle, his feet detached from his body placed below the opposite leg. The gun he’d used to cover me and Elie on our way back to the gate now shoved deep into his throat, only the handle hanging out of his broken jaw. There was a deep gash beneath the crevice of his neck, something sticking out of it in the dim light of my flame.

Slowly, my legs moved independent of my mind, and I found myself before him. My hands shook fiercely as I reached out to pull from his broken flesh. It was a folded up, bloody piece of paper. I peered up, morbid fascination wanting me to find some piece of my friend that resembled the man I knew.

My stomach churned uncontrollably. I doubled over, retching violently at the sight of him. The revulsion coursing through my veins was overwhelming, I couldn’t control the wave of nausea surging up.

When the contents of my stomach were free and I had nothing left, dry heaves overtook me and I fell to the ground, desperate to crawl away. Two hands grabbed my shoulders, hoisting me up and pulling me away. I heard my men try to comfort me, some moved to pull Prescott down from the tree. I stared into the darkness, watching as a now-blanketed figure lay at my side.

When I found the strength, I unfolded the note. Crumbling it before I finished reading the last word, I tossed it to the ground in a rage.

Two down, one to go.

“Seth!” I roared, “Come out, you sick fuck. I know you’re out there.”

The earth rattled beneath my feet. I took off into a sprint, racing for the erected forest not far off in the distance. Footsteps sounded in my stead, the soldiers accompanying me keeping pace but respecting the distance I wanted to keep between us.

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