Page 70 of Conflicted Fate
We stumbled over the ridgeline and down toward the tiered city of Nycitum, over a dozen women in various stages of undress, all clothing ripped and torn. Two of us carried a third who was limping, her leg covered in blood.
Behind us came a pack of naked, savage men, chasing us down toward the city. They were covered in dirt.
“Please!” Andi shouted toward the guards at the far distance gate. “Please help us!”
One of the women screamed and went down as a man grabbed her and tackled her, eagerly ripping the last of her clothing to shreds as he pinned her wrists to the ground behind her head, half-howling in triumph.
The other men came on, while we ran as fast as we could toward the gate. The soldiers had stirred, the sounds of our cries carrying easily to their ears.
On we ran, keeping together in a pack. The men closed the distance. Another woman went down screaming as she was hauled from her feet, a filthy male ready to claim possession of her body.
A full two-thirds of the guards were charging out to meet us now, swords drawn as they charged. Seeing safety ahead, we increased our pace, still crying out from time to time as the men harried us. But they, too, had “seen” the oncoming soldiers and were getting wary about it.
Just a little more, I urged mentally, impressed that our acting skills had gotten us that far. Even the women who’d been taken down by the so-called savages were doing a good job of pretending, which had to be hard when it was their mates who had grabbed them.
But the soldiers came on none-the-wiser.
“To the city, ladies!” the one in command hollered as they arrived. “We’ll take care of these brutes.”
They swept past us, charging after the men, who slowed, and then began to retreat back up the hill.
Half a dozen guards waited for us at the gate, waving us through.
“Oh,thank you,” I moaned as pitifully as possible. “Thank you so much. You have no idea what those … thosemonstersdid to us.”
“Of course, ma’am. That’s what we’re here for, to protect,” the nearest soldier said, dipping his head.
“Which is why I’m sorry,” I said as I decked him on the way by, absolutely leveling the man with a surprise blow.
The other women jumped on the guards, quickly rendering them unconscious and stripping them of swords. On we went, sweeping through the gates and into the stairwells to either side, racing to get to the gate controls.
Behind us, the “savages” had stopped retreating and were waiting for the soldiers to reach them. I saw the first line of wolves come over the hill, and then I charged inside after the rest of my team to secure the gates.
Bells were ringing by the time I reached the upper level of the gatehouse, where guards were holding back a line ofextremelyangry female shifters and trying to stop them long enough to get the thick metal doors closed.
We couldn’t let that happen.
With a shriek, I launched myself over the lines, curling up like a cannonball and landing hard on two shifters trying to spin the wheels that would close the doors. We fell to the ground in a heap. I got up first and grabbed the nearest by the ankle, tossing him into the backs of his comrades as they tried to stand.
The group stumbled forward and went down, and women swept over them as chaos reigned supreme. The guards had us outnumbered and were far more heavily armored, but our surprise was complete, and the fact that we were naked and screaming was delaying any reaction from new arrivals just long enough for us to gain an advantage.
From below, the rumble of many thousands of feet could be heard, along with the savage howls of warriors.
“The gates are breached!” someone shouted. “Retreat! The gates are breached!”
The guards attacking us fell back against the walls as more of our ragtag army came up the stairs, keeping the silver-armored foes on their heels.
“For Arcadia!” someone shouted, and a wordless roar erupted from ten thousand throats as we stormed the city.
Kiel and the rest of our leadership group found me near the base of the doors.
“It worked.”
“I told you it would,” I said, punching Kiel lightly on the shoulder. I didn’t smile. Too many bodies littered the ground nearby. Most of them wore silver armor, but plenty did not.
That would only get worse as we drove deeper into the city and the Wulfhere organized.
“We have to get going, though. If Lycaonus can get his men into some sort of cohesive formation, we’ll never hold. Surprise is our advantage. We must use it,” Kiel said.
