Page 272 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
He let out a breath, gathered his strength, and slammed forward.
This time, the crack split wide. One final push, and the column gave way, crashing heavily into the snow.
“HIDE!”he roared, one of the few words he’d learned in their language.
It took a second, but then, dozens of men from the opposite side glanced at the collapsed trunk of rocks and threw themselves behind the barrier he’d just created. Seconds later, the rumble of the avalanche grew louder and louder, until there was a split second of haunting silence.
And then, all hell broke loose above their heads.
The avalanche didn’t come down as solid snow to bury them.
It slammed into them like a freezing wall of sleet and water. The force alone pinned them to the ground, the weight of it knocking the breath from their lungs. The jagged rock column shook, but it held, and the men braced themselves against the slick, frozen stone, gritting their teeth as the relentless downpour battered them.
The flood didn’t stop. It pounded over them in crashing waves, drenching them from head to toe, soaking through armorand cloth until the cold felt like it had seeped into their bones. Men coughed and sputtered, spitting out water, their hands gripping anything solid as the muddy, freezing current surged up to their waists, their chests, threatening to swallow them before, finally, it began to recede. The flood drained as fast as it had come, leaving behind knee-deep pools of slush and icy mud.
Kassein spat out water and pushed himself back, his boots sinking into the flooded ground. He glanced up, catching sight of his sister.
Kiera was standing, her arms raised, but her entire frame seemed arched with immeasurable effort, her body shaking violently as she held the massive, white, and terrifying frozen storm at bay. The avalanche hadn’t disappeared. It was right there, hovering dangerously just above Kiera, frozen mid-collapse, a massive wall of ice and snow ready to crash down at any second. It churned like a storm caught in place, twisting and writhing, fighting against the force that held it back, the invisible barrier Kiera’s hands held. Instead, it was falling slowly, controlled, inch by inch, turning into thick, steady streams of water that rushed past her ankles and knees, the same water that ran like a heavy downpour into the battlefield and drenched the men below.
Kiki had to be somewhere ahead of her, likely taking the brunt of it, shielding Kiera from the worst of the force, but it was clear this was Kiera’s doing. She stood at the center of the chaos, the avalanche roaring around her like a beast on the verge of collapse. But she wouldn’t let it.
A proud smirk appeared on Kassein’s lips as he witnessed his sister’s power.
All around him, the men clung to the barricade of jagged stone, shivering and coughing, still in tight bundles, but the worst of it was over. Farther down the rift, the soldiers in thecollapsed tunnels were in the same condition, half-drowned but alive.
Kassein looked up. The avalanche had broken apart, crashing at Kiera’s feet in heavy waves. It was a waterfall now, its crushing force spent. It wasn’t a perfect save, but it had been enough.
Kein swooped low overhead, skimming just above the battlefield now that the jagged stone barriers no longer threatened it. As the dragon passed, Kassein didn’t hesitate. He leapt, catching onto Kein’s extended paw and letting the dragon launch him toward the ridge, toward where Kiera had just stood, locked in the fight of her life.
He found her on her knees beside Kiki, both of them drenched and breathing hard.
“...You did it,” he said.
“Shut up,” Kiera hissed angrily. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it again. You are mad! That was a crazy idea!”
“But you did it.”
His sister rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, well... I’m not Cessilia, but Kiki’s still aWaterDragon, so... I figured it was easier to turn it all into water... Well, most of it. We did what we could.”
He walked over and offered a hand to help her up. She sighed but took it, getting up with visible exhaustion.
“How are things down there?”
“Hopefully over,” Kassein hissed.
Kiera nodded, and the two of them jumped back down into the rift, landing from a height that would have shattered a normal human’s knees.
The fighters on both sides were slowly recovering. Many were shivering, coughing up water, or helping by patting backs, while others were staying down on their knees, looking exhausted. Some were staring at Kassein with confusion writtenall over their faces. They all knew he didn’t have to save a single one of them, but he had nearly broken a shoulder to protect hundreds of them.
He and Kiera slowly walked back together to their army, checking on their men as everyone was getting back up and stepping away from the other collapsed columns or emerging from whichever hideouts they’d found. Those who weren’t moving were already being dragged or carried to the back. Someone brought Kiera’s blades to her, and two of the few men who’d followed Kassein handed him his weapon; it was nearly impossible for one of them to carry it alone.
Overall, it was clear their end of the rift had been mostly spared, as expected. The damages were mostly on the other side, and it would have been far worse if they hadn’t intervened.
Kassein realized the thunder had stopped. His dragon was no longer furiously growling and attacking mountains, either, causing an eerie calm in the rift. Everyone had stopped fighting, as the thwarted catastrophe had broken the armies apart, leaving them in a suspended interlude, an impossible pause in the chaos.
Heavy rain was quietly washing over the battleground in a strange, somber atmosphere, only broken by Ekata’s heartbreaking wails.
