Page 133 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
It’s Svenn.
The world slowly comes into focus once again as I look at the orc before me. This is not the end. I wake up from my despair and realize I do have a weapon…
I take the dagger from my baldric and angle it towards the orc’s chest. Cursed or not, I will it to obey my demand. With one unfaltering movement, I plunge the blade straight into my opponent’s heart.
Yes, bathe me with blood.The dagger cackles almost giddily. It slides out smoothly from the creature’s flesh, like any other dwarven made weapon.
Light fades from the orc’s eyes and he falls to the ground, unmoving. I don’t get a chance to recover when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Come on.” Shade urges me to move on. We keep running until the next holding line. My heart is hammering so violently that all I can hear is its thunderous beat.
“Chase those cowards!” the enemy leader shrieks. They do not give us the chance to recover. Orkan arrows soar above our head.
I underestimated the number of skilled orkan warriors in their ranks. They are all empowered by the Asterdust. We are vastly outnumbered and outmatched. For a heartbeat, I wonder if I have brought these elves to their doom.
“Call in reinforcement!” The leader signals to his brethren on the battlement behind them. The giant impenetrable gate creaks open. Despair brews in my gut once a stream of orcs flows through the gargantuan door.
Somewhere in their frontlines, an Orkan flag-bearer blows an ominous horn taken from an Auroch, akin to the ones the Fae used to summon their Wild Hunt. The high pitch bleating note is cut off when Rainer puts an arrow through his throat.
“Hold the line!” Lord Wesley barks another command to his knights. “More are coming. The second wave is here.”
“Push through!” I hear Rainer screaming through the chaos.
The field has become a blood-drenched mud pit. We keep weathering through the never-ending flow of enemies, swarming us like bees.
A spark of hope flickers when I see the support line manage to intercept the opened gates.
Finally… Thank the gods.
Baiting them to come out is the only way we can breach the fortress. This is what I had planned.
“They tricked us! Fall back!” one of the orcs screams a little too late.
Fear spears through my chest at the thought of my mate facing his enemies, but I have faith in him, just as he believed in me.
Smoke burns my eyes and I’m shaking with exhaustion. The battle rages all around me. I have no idea how everyone is still moving.
I take a deep breath and regret it instantly. The smell of blood and steel drown me. I can’t see a future past the raining arrows, past the sea of orcs surging towards us.
The green field from before is now coated in red and littered with corpses. Defend. Attack. Defend. I don’t let myself think anymore as I swing my blade. I’m merely reacting. I think I almost slip at the brain matter of someone bludgeoned with a club.
This is hell.
I want time to stop. I just want this to end.
Please, dear gods.
I thought I was prepared for war. I didn’t expect for it to be so brutal.
My pulse is thundering in my ear as I scan the battlefield to see how the others are faring.
I see Darstan out of the corner of my eye. His back is pierced with a heavy blade. Blood flows out of his wound in a steady stream and yet he rages towards another mounted orkan commander.
“Darstan!” I scream. Before I can get to him, panicked cries move through the infantry.
“Riders!” a soldier shouts hysterically. “Save yourselves! The Riders are coming!”
Pure horror washes over me at the dire warning. Then I see them in their black robes. Orkan Mages riding on their chimera steed. The world quiets into submission at the thunderous charge of their beastly mount.
