Page 100 of Path of the Dark
Elias moved into position, hauling a heavy rock onto the catapult.
“Fire!”
Great chunks of stone hurtled through the air. One found its mark, crashing into a siege tower and bringing it down.
A roar of victory went up on the walls.
Elias didn’t join them. He was scanning the battlefield, noting that Rithmar foot soldiers followed close behind the siege towers. They were now raising ladders against the wall.
“Loose the oil!” the captain’s voice held an edge of panic. He’d seen them too.
Boiling oil gushed over the wall. Rithmar soldiers fell, their yells and screams ripping through the roar of battle. Meanwhile, the storm unleashed its fury overhead. Rain now lashed across the city, soaking defenders and besiegers alike.
None paid it any mind.
Long dark arrows slammed against the wall, unleashed by the enchanters of the Dark below. Elias ducked as a volley whistled past his head. However, one of the arrows slammed into the throat of the bald soldier next to him. With a strangled cry, the man fell back, grasping at his neck.
A deep roar thundered up from before the gates. Elias looked up to see a twister rise into the air, ink-black and terrifying. It hit the wall, tearing along it. Elias threw himself at the catapult, clinging to it as the twister ripped past, taking half a dozen soldiers with it.
And when the twister had passed, Elias lifted his head to see the outlines of dark shapes approaching through the rain.
More siege towers rumbled in.
A heartbeat later the first of them collided with the wall. Elias felt the impact shudder under his feet. Men clad in silver and green spilled from it, blades flashing.
Elias drew his own sword and stepped forward to meet them.
Above, lightning forked across a purple sky. An instant later an explosion rocked the walls of Veldoras. The impact threw Elias off his feet, slamming him onto his back. Some of the Rithmar soldiers who’d just leaped onto the wall lost their footing. They stumbled and lurched, one or two of them falling to their deaths.
The walls shuddered once more, and pure white light exploded into the sky. Elias twisted away, shielding his eyes. Screams rang out across the wall, and beyond.
Ears ringing, Elias clawed his way up the parapet and peered over it.
Ninia—it had to be her. She’d harnessed the power of that lightning bolt and wreaked havoc.
Smoke stung his eyes, but as it cleared, he saw what was happening below. The Rithmar cavalry surged into the city. The gates had been breached.
