Page 101 of Path of the Dark
34
Fire and Ash
IT TOOK RYANA a while to get up to the front.
The streets leading to the Great Square were packed with rows of Anthor soldiers. A few times she was told to get back and join her squad, but she pressed on with the excuse that she had a message for the king.
Speaking made her nervous; lowering her voice and affecting an Anthor accent wasn’t easy. If their attention hadn’t been elsewhere, she wasn’t sure how many men of Anthor she’d have fooled. She made sure to press on fast, lest any of them questioned her.
At the entrance to the Great Square, she found the way blocked by Reoul of Anthor’s guard. The rain swept in. It drenched the soldiers’ magnificent red cloaks and ran off their shiny black armor and helms, yet they didn’t appear to notice. The men’s gazes were riveted ahead.
Ryana sidled up, as close as she dared, and craned her head, trying to get a glimpse beyond.
Shouting from above drew her eye. A pitch battle was going on atop the walls. Men clashed with knives and swords. And as she watched, an Anthor soldier toppled off the edge and fell to the square below.
Ryana’s heart lurched into her throat. Elias would be in the midst of that chaos.
At that moment, a soldier in front of her shifted to one side. Suddenly, Ryana had a clear view of the square beyond.
Those massive iron gates were now a twisted, smoking wreck.
Ryana’s breathing caught. She’d never seen iron bent like that. She’d heard the explosion. Even from three blocks back, she’d seen the bright white light that had illuminated the stormy sky.
Ninia.The girl had harnessed the lightning that had forked down just moments earlier.
The Rithmar cavalry thundered in through the broken gates—toward the host of enchanters awaiting them in the center of the Great Square. The soldiers drove their destriers, huge warhorses bred for battle, forward.
Dread slithered down Ryana’s spine. She didn’t like how still the defending enchanters stood—how they let the horses come to them.
Her instincts flared. The Star of Darkness upon her right palm pulsed in warning.It’s a trap.
Gael stepped out to meet the riders, and Ryana stopped breathing.
There you are, you bastard.
He was thinner than Ryana remembered and had grown his dark hair longer, tying it back at his nape. But he was still roguishly handsome, with high cheekbones and a smoldering gaze. His sodden charcoal robe clung to him as he whipped the Dark up and hurled it at the approaching cavalry.
A great black wave slammed into them.
Horses squealed and men shouted—and then the Anthor soldier in front of Ryana moved, blocking her view once more.
Ryana drew back, heart hammering. She didn’t need a clear view to know that the enchanters following Gael had just engaged. The air around her shifted, as the fading daylight and the growing dusk responded. Fire and ash rained over the square, blocking out the sky.
Around her, Anthor soldiers shuffled forward, readying themselves to attack.
Ryana flexed the fingers of her right hand. She also needed to prepare herself.
The roar of battle was like nothing she’d ever experienced. The Great Square was a vast space, and yet it seemed confined, as enchantment ricocheted off the surrounding stone. Shouts, screams, and the clash of metal hammered against Ryana’s ears. Overhead, the thunderstorm still raged. If anything, it grew more intense now, as if responding to the power of the Light and Dark.
“Vadaras, Onoras, Leadalas!”
A few yards in front of Ryana a man stood up on his stirrups and raised a magnificent sword into the air. Its long steel blade shimmered in the rain. Clad in obsidian armor, golden epaulets gleaming at his shoulders, Reoul of Anthor was an imposing sight.
A roar rippled out around him as his men responded.
“For Anthor!”
“For glory!”
