Page 58 of The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom 1)

And she’d bet that retreat was into the bridge. But gaining that information wasn’t worth the cost of Aren’s life.

Her heartbeat was no longer steady, but a wild and chaotic beast. “Don’t let it go badly,” she whispered. “I need you to win this.”

But Aren was already shouting orders. “Bring down those longboats. The rest of you, to the beach!”

The boats flanked the enormous ship, the air thick with arrows shot from both sides. Aren knelt in the boat next to her, emptying a quiver into the backs of the Amaridians climbing into longboats, their corpses falling into the water below. Lara’s fingers itched to snatch up a weapon, to fight, but she forced herself to cower low in the boat, flinching every time an arrow thudded into the thick wood.

Then they were past the ship.

Four of the Ithicanian vessels veered away from the pack, skipping over the surf to slam into the longboats full of soldiers heading to shore. Wood splintered and cracked, men toppling into the water. The Ithicanians boarded the longboats with lethal grace, blades flashing, the sun glinting off sprays of blood.

The rest of the boats drove toward the carnage on the beach. There were bodies everywhere, the sand more red than white. Maybe two dozen Ithicanians were holding the enemy to the waterline, using the narrow access and higher ground to their advantage, but they were falling back. Dying beneath the Amaridian onslaught.

They had to hurry, or the island would be lost.

The Midwatch boats dropped their sails, riding the waves as they were launched onto the shore. At the last second, Aren snatched up Lara’s hand. “Jump!” he shouted.

Lara leapt, her boots sinking into the sand, the momentum nearly sending her sprawling. Then they were running toward the Amaridians, who were now sandwiched between two forces.

Screams shattered the air, bodies and limbs hitting the sand, the stench of blood and opened guts oppressive. Lara held tight to her box of supplies, keeping behind Aren as he pushed up the hill, stepping over his victims as she went. The weapons of the fallen littered the sand, and every instinct demanded she pick one up. That she fight.

You mustn’t,she commanded herself.Not unless you have no choice.

But the warrior in her railed against the limitation, so when a soldier got past the Ithicanian line, she slammed her supply box into his face, watching with satisfaction as he toppled backward, the point of Aren’s blade appearing through his chest.

The King of Ithicana used one booted foot to shove the dead man off his weapon, the leather of his mask coated with gore. Catching her hand, he drew her at a run, dodging around the few remaining Amaridians who were on their knees begging for their lives.

“Show them no mercy!” he shouted, then pulled Lara behind a series of boulders. An older Ithicanian woman, her face drawn, clothes drenched with blood, was closing the lids of a young man, his body marked with several mortal wounds. Three other soldiers lay on the ground, wounds bandaged, their faces tight with pain.

The healer’s eyes widened at the sight of her king. “Explain to Lara what you need her to do,” Aren told her. Then he was back around the rock, shouting, “Taryn, get that shipbreaker working and sink that bitch!”

The Midwatch healers appeared, their escorts already having abandoned them. “What do you want me to do?” Lara asked.

“Wait for them to bring us the injured. What do you have for supplies? I’m short.”

Lara handed her the box, then scampered up the back of one of the boulders to watch the battle unfolding below. Her blood ran cold at the sight.

Aren stood on the beach with maybe a hundred Ithicanians, but beyond, the water was full of longboats. Dozens of them, all bursting with heavily armed soldiers, and more still waiting on the ship’s deck to be unloaded. There were hundreds of them. And no way to stop them.

The Ithicanians were firing arrows at the front-runners, but it wasn’t long until they were spent, leaving nothing for them to do but wait.

The old healer had climbed up next to her, expression grim as she took in the scene.

Lara dug her nails into the rock. “We can’t win this. Not against these odds.”

“We’ve won against worse. Though this one will cost us.”

Was it still a victory if everyone was dead?Lara thought.

It must’ve shown on her face, because the older woman sighed. “Have you ever seen a battle before, Your Majesty?”

Lara swallowed hard. “Not like this.”

“I’d tell you to prepare yourself, but you can’t.” The old woman rested her hand on Lara’s. “This moment will change you.” Then she climbed down the rocks to join the Midwatch healers.

The scene was eerily silent, the only sound the roar of the surf and the occasional cry of pain, the wounded left on the beach until the battle was won. So quiet. Too quiet.

Then the first of the longboats hit the shore, and everything turned to chaos.

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