Page 102 of Path of the Dark
And then they charged forward.
Ryana gasped and tried to shift out of the way.
It was too late. The tide carried her into the Great Square, thrusting her into the fighting.
The press of bodies around her made Ryana panic. She couldn’t see anything, for smoke now drifted across the square. The charred odor of burning flesh reached her, and a plume of fire shot into the air in front of her. Then, somewhere in the press, a man started screaming.
Bile stung the back of Ryana’s throat. She’d never actually fought in a battle before. She’d known it would be brutal, but there were some things in life you could never prepare yourself for. Her heart started to hammer against her breast bone as fear seized her.
Jostled by Anthor soldiers, she clumsily drew her sword. She had to look like she was here to fight.
The Great Square heaved with bodies now. Soldiers, horses, and enchanters surged into the wide space. A soldier slammed into Ryana. With a snarl, he shoved her out of the way. Ryana staggered and then tripped, hitting the cobbles. Booted feet slammed into her ribs, and panic spiked through her. If she didn’t get up, she risked being trampled.
Clawing her way to her feet, Ryana gathered the Dark and shunted the men nearest away from her.
Fire raged around her, while a huge twister of shadow clove a path through the fray, sucking its victims up into a vortex. The smoke was so thick, the crowd so dense, that it was nearly impossible to discern friend from foe.
Ryana glanced around her, frantic. Asher and Ninia would be in here somewhere, yet she couldn’t see them. Instead, through the smoke, she spied King Nathan’s banner. It was around twenty yards away and listing under the onslaught.
Ryana continued to elbow her way through the wall of muscled bodies. She couldn’t think about her friends, or her king. Frustration pulsed through her, as did a growing anxiety. It was like fighting a spring tide. The more men she elbowed aside, the more seemed to replace them.
She had to get to Gael—had to kill him.
Only, it was pandemonium inside the Great Square. She couldn’t see more than two feet in any direction.
The light was fading, and although the rain wasn’t driving in as before, dark clouds still roiled overhead. Smoking torches burned around the perimeter of the square and atop the walls, casting an eerie light over the fighting.
Panic welled once more within Ryana, making it hard to breathe. She was running out of time. But the press of bodies around her seemed even thicker than before.
Cold sweat ran down between her shoulder blades. Acrid smoke billowed around her. She struggled forward, using the Dark to cleave her way through the press.
And around ten feet away, she caught a flash of pale hair.
Asher.
If her friend was nearby, then so was Ninia.
Another soldier barreled into Ryana then, but instead of knocking her to the ground, he propelled her forward. She slammed into a wall of obsidian and leather before shoving the Dark ahead of her like a battering ram.
Grunts of pain followed, and then the barrier gave way.
Ryana stumbled out of the line of soldiers and into the midst of where enchanters dueled. Breathing hard, she looked around, searching for Gael.
The smoke cleared, and she caught sight of a large woman, swathed in blue, fighting alongside the Rithmar enchanters. A whip of fire curled from the woman’s fingers, slicing through an Anthor soldier’s breast plate.
Mysandra.
How had she managed to fight her way into the heart of the battle?
The smoke swirled back in, concealing Mysandra once more.
Heart pounding, Ryana ripped off her helm. She couldn’t see properly wearing it.
Moving forward, she readied herself to attack. She stepped over prone figures and tried not to look at their faces. The cobblestones underfoot were slippery with blood; the metallic stench filled her nostrils.
And then, through a haze of oily smoke, she spied Gael once more.
Elias groaned before shoving the dead weight of a Rithmar axe-man off him.
