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The Warswords moved like gods, tearing through the darkness, wielding their weapons as extensions of their own bodies.Winning.

What had seemed impossible only moments before was now unfolding before their very eyes. The Warswords of Thezmarr had taken on the masters of shadow and were emerging victorious.

No sooner had the thought fluttered into Thea’s mind, something changed.

The black ribbons leaking from therheguld reapersmultiplied and not only did they hit the frontlines of their forces in a punishing blow, but they struck out like vicious vipers, wrapping around the Warswords’ legs, coiling around their wrists —

‘No,’ Thea gasped.

Two of the creatures held the three warriors in their claws, toying with them cruelly as they fought off the lashings of darkness, while the third reaper sized up the force surrounding the ruins. In the overwhelming presence of a giant wraith, two hundred men seemed like no men at all.

With the Warswords occupied, the third creature paced the perimeter, drinking in the sight of the cavalry with huge, clouded blue eyes. Some of them were already disbanded, bleeding on the ground from the previous attacks. The rest trembled in its presence. Shadows seeped from its long body, coiling towards shieldbearers and warriors alike, while the monster emitted a strange hissing sound that made the hair on the back of Thea’s neck stand up.

Despite all their training, the horses panicked, pawing the ground with their hooves and whinnying in distress.

‘Hold the line!’ Esyllt yelled, holding a fist up as the creature approached their unit. ‘Don’t you bastards dare move, I said,hold!’

The reaper sniffed the air, as though it could smell their fear, as though it were savouring it like the aroma of a fine wine. It slinked towards them, shadows dancing.

Thea drew a trembling breath.

The creature’s head snapped straight to her, piercing her with its eerie gaze.

‘Hold!’ Esyllt’s voice boomed again.

Was he waiting for the Warswords? Because they seemed to have their hands full —

The creature surged towards the unit.

Someone screamed and Esyllt went flying from his horse, his body hitting the ground with a hard thud.

In a panic, his horse bolted, as did a dozen others, their riders either falling from their saddles or barely hanging on as their mounts fled from the chaos.

The line broke.

The hissing sound was even closer this time.

The reaper towered before them, brandishing its claws with the promise of violence and death, black mist rippling from its being. It surveyed them with those unsettling eyes, its gaze seeming to search, landing again on Thea.

She gave a strangled cry as a current of something powerful shuddered through her, her body trembling.

‘Seb, no!’ someone screamed.

Sebastos Barlowe was on the ground, brandishing his sword at the monster, one of his lackeys at his side. The two young men advanced on the creature, wielding their blades but failing to land a hit.

Black energy struck out, throwing Seb’s friend across the ruins, battering his body into the stone rubble with a sickening crack. The reaper turned back to Seb, advancing with another hiss and another crack of its dark whips.

And Thea leapt through the air, landing in a crouch in front of Seb, dragging him down behind the wall of her shield.

The impact of the reaper’s magic nearly split her shield in two. It shuddered through the timber and into her bones, which came alive at the touch of power. Together, she and Seb braced themselves behind the barrier as the creature struck repeatedly.

‘Shield wall!’ she heard herself shout, as the dark sorcery recoiled, readying to attack again. ‘Shield wall!’ She didn’t know if anyone would hear or if anyone would listen. The calamity across the ruins was no longer contained to the creatures of power and the best of the Thezmarrians.

Heart in her throat, she readied herself for another blow, not sure the shield could withstand the continued assault.

But suddenly there were bodies around hers, shields thudding into place alongside hers.

A shriek in the distance told her the Warswords had overpowered their opponent.