Page 235 of The Lands Defying
It isn’t long before it lays dead on the floor.
Not one person tried to intervene, they just all glanced and carried on walking like it was a normal occurrence.
“Why did it attack?” Taylor asks quietly.
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen one do that.”
“They are controlled,” Darius murmurs, “Maybe that’s causing confusion?”
“You could be right,” I mutter, looking over the other rogures.
Darius moves to a crouch, and then he begins to go down the hill, signaling to his men and conversing with them.
I stroke Runa within, not only to calm her since she hasn’t stopped snarling, but to calm myself.
We will rid these lands of them one by one for what they did to us, I tell her, and her growl is so terrifying that it causes goosebumps to pepper my skin.
“Ready?” Darius asks, and we all nod.
Yes, I’m ready.
I close my eyes and pray to Zahariss for our safety, and then they open when I hear Leo let loose his first arrow.
It flies through the air, its aim true as it lands at the back, straight into a rogure’s hind leg. It turns, snarling and another does the same. But it isn’t until a fire arrow comes next that the people notice.
The few in the back turn, eyes wide in alarm as they draw their swords and bellow that there is an attack. I watch as Patrick and Berthold turn, giving their instructions as guards form a defensive position around them for protection.
Cowards.
Jerrod and Damian port out to the trees with some others, and I raise my hand and draw Runa out.
She comes without question, Drax at her side in the next moment as they keep their bodies low.
Darius raises a hand, signaling to his men to get ready. As soon as Patrick and Berthold start moving to the back of their large group, he drops his fisted hand and the Elites move.
Some wolf, some men, they rush down the hill, readying to take anything and anyone out as we are now coming in at the back of them.
They don’t notice until the Elites have already begun tearing through the first layer of rogures and guards. Almost all of the men with them turn and see the attack, screams and shouts unleash, warning others that are still dealing with arrows being shot at them.
Some freeze in fear as they notice exactly who their enemy is, and I don’t blame them.
The Elites are renowned, well trained and so fucking deadly. Their fear is not uncalled for.
As they are all distracted, Jerrod and Damian come out of the treeline with some men, and then the two sided attack really begins.
Wolves take on Rogures and Elites take on men.
Patrick lands in the middle of the fray with Berthold, who has a barrier around them. They don’t attack, they just stay within their protection and bark orders.
“Let’s hunt,” I say to Runa, and like it is the most natural thing, I climb upon her back and we charge forward, rounding the enemies to come up from the side of them.
Darius is at my side on Drax’s back, his hand full of black shards. “Be ready for anything,”Darius says through our link.
“I know,”I growl, needing to get to Patrick and rip his head off for everything he has ever done to me.
“Good girl,”Darius purrs in response to my anger, as I hunker down on Runa’s back, running faster.
The Elites fight hard. The sound of metal clashing and the snarls of wolves tearing through the space, equally frightening as we near.
