Page 34 of A Curse of Breath and Blood (The Mind Breaker #1)

33 CAIDEN

Fires enveloped the entire forest. While the courts and kingdoms had been distracted by drinking and fornicating the night away, Gideon had been busy. How long had he been allied with the goblins? What had he promised them in return for their help?

Lucius waited with two horses. “Quickly,” he said as the fires consumed everything in sight. The smell of ash and burnt bodies hung heavy in the air. “I saved some of our items. The goblins came out of nowhere.”

Caiden choked on the heavy smoke as their horses’ hooves thundered on the charred earth, the fires ravaging the once-lush forest, burning through the freshly fallen snow.

“Where’s Aelia and Amolie?”Lucius asked.

“They’re in the palace. Tharan is protecting them. It’s safer there until we have this under control.” The heat seared the men’s skin as they rode. “And what of the scepter?” Caiden yelled over the sound of battle, coughing with each breath.

“I hid it,” Lucius said firmly as they approached the camp. The Stormlands army fought back the goblins, using their gifts of rain to help put out the fires where they could .

As they neared the battle, Caiden leapt from his horse, pulling his sword from its sheath, bringing it down on a goblin’s head. Green blood oozed from the gash.

Known for their brutality, mountain goblins were no ordinary foes. Tall with thick, leathery skin and heat-seeking red eyes, their ears could sense their opponent a mile away.Luckily, the sound of the forest burning drowned out their ability to sense any incoming attacks.

Roderick used a battle ax and his whip to cut through throngs of goblins while sylphs from the Court of Wings flew on Pegasus, impaling Gideon’s men on golden spears.

A declaration of war. Gideon wanted to make a statement. He wanted them all to suffer.

The ground trembled as a wave of energy erupted from the Alder Palace.

“Hold on,” Roderick called as they braced for impact.

Caiden created a dome of electricity around them, letting the wave crash over it.

A groan came from the earth itself.

“What’s happening?” Lucius yelled from across the camp.

Caiden pulled his sword from the gut of a goblin, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I don’t know. The forest is… angry.”

Roots sprung from the ground, wrapping themselves around the fallen goblins. The creatures screamed, digging their nails into the earth. Their eyes pleaded for help, but there was none to be had, for they had angered the ancient forest, and now it would take its revenge. Dragging the creatures beneath their gnarled trunks, the trees silenced the screeching creatures.

Caiden fought to catch his breath. They needed more men.

Gideon’s army moved in on the camps, using the goblins as lambs to slaughter before they came to finish who remained.

Not one kingdom had been foolish enough to bring their entire army, but they had all brought their best soldiers as a sign of strength. Gideon wanted this—he wanted to wipe out the strongest.

A pack of centaurs appeared at the edge of our camp. Their mighty spears glowed with the Light of Illya, a sacred stone for concentrating magic.

“Join us,” the head centaur said, his face carved by the winds of time. “If we band together, we can beat them.”

“Form a line,” Roderick shouted, raising his battle ax high in the air. The remaining soldiers joined with the centaurs and other courts.

Gideon’s men wore their traditional red armor with the black hawk crest. Winged helmets adorned their heads. The size of Gideon’s army seemed to have tripled, no doubt hidden with a cloaking spell until they were needed.

The men stood stoically in perfect formation, banging their fists against their iron armor. A human army had not taken on a sylph hoard in the history of Moriana. The crows would feast on their corpses in the morning.

“They’re glamoured,” a centaur said.

Oblivious to their impending deaths, the men stared fearlessly into the oncoming armies.

“Ready!” the centaur called. The flapping of wings overhead filled the air as the forest burned around them, gilding the battlefield in a golden hue. Caiden took a deep breath, steadying his racing heart. Illya guides my sword .

Gideon’s men did not move, did not flinch at the threat of imminent death.

Brutus Strong, Gideon’s chief commander, rode a gray stallion through the rows of men, his face cracked from years of harsh terrain on countless battlefields. Behind him, two thick draft horses pulled a siege crossbow on a wagon. Four men sat atop the structure, loading a bolt into the bow .

Arrows rained down from the trees where the halflings had taken up residence, killing the men closest to the trees but missing the crossbow.

“Forward!” the centaur commanded. The armies of the sylph moved together in formation. Still, the Highland army stood firm.

The Court of Wings blasted the siege crossbow with their spears, killing one soldier, but that could not stop the inevitable.

The crossbow fired a heavy bolt of solid adamant into the air, skewering a Pegasus. The creature cried out in a deafening scream, falling from the sky. Its body slammed into the earth, killing two sylphs.

Gideon came prepared for war.

Lightning flickered at Caiden’s fingertips.

“Forward!” Brutus called to the men. Gideon’s army marched on. Their rhythmic footsteps shook the ground beneath their feet.

Caiden’s heart beat wildly in his chest.

The soldiers outnumbered them ten to one. He had to think fast.

Scanning the sylph forces, he spotted a centaur carrying a shield polished to a mirrored shine.

“Hold up your shield,” Caiden yelled over the sound of marching feet. The centaur nodded in understanding, tilting the shield toward the oncoming legion. Caiden sent a blast of lightning that ricocheted off the mirrored surface, splaying out like an electric scythe, taking off the heads of an entire row of soldiers.

Unfazed, Gideon’s men marched forward.

The clash of weapons echoed across the burning forest as creatures fought to maintain control of the Woodland Realm. Without the aid of the Wild Hunt, they would soon be slaughtered.

Cries of pain rang out as the fighting continued. Death hung in the air. Caiden had been to battle before, but this was a slaughter. There would be no honorable cease here. Gideon wanted them on their knees. And they would not go without a fight.

The three men fought side by side, revealing the blood coating their skin. Each kill, a notch on their belt.

“Hell of a solstice party? Am I right?” Caiden said through ragged breaths, as he stuck his sword through a Highland soldier. The boy’s youthful face stared up at him with empty eyes. Caiden swallowed the guilt in his chest. Gideon had sent his greenest men to be fodder.

“I always like it when they keep it interesting,” Lucius said, taking down a fat goblin with an arrow through the head. The creature toppled over like a sack of potatoes.

Roderick snapped his whip of light at two Highland soldiers, ripping them from head to pelvis. Three goblins jumped him from behind, but they were no match for the mammoth man. Pulling them off, one by one, he buried his ax in their thick skulls.

“Follow me! This is what we were born for,” he yelled to his men. Chaos danced in his eyes. His men would follow him anywhere, even into the bowels of hell if he asked.

Caiden did not know how long they could hold them.As if Illya had heard his prayers, a blinding light shot out from the Alder Palace, reaching into the heavens. The fighting ceased as soldiers from both sides stared, mouths agape, at the blinding light.

“The Alder King is dead,” said a voice from the crowd.

At the heart of the battlefield grew a twisted tree. Ripping through its gnarled bark, Tharan appeared, the crown of antlers resting on his head.

Caiden’s heart leapt into his throat at the sight of him. A fearsome king replaced the playboy prince. His green eyes shone with rage, and his scar glowed silver.

Tharan towered over the soldiers. Where once he had nails, now thick claws emerged from his fingers. He tilted his head back and howled a deep guttural sound, sending a shiver down Caiden’s spine. A call to the Wild Hunt.

“Enough,” he said in a deep and ancient voice. “This is my kingdom. My domain. You will not tread where you are not welcome.”

No one moved, for no one had seen an original’s power in a millennium. A growling sound came from the trees. The Hunt emerged with their golden bows knocked, waiting for Tharan’s signal. The hackles on their wolves’ backs raised.

Gideon’s men did not move.

“Hold steady,” Brutus yelled from atop his horse. “The Lady Erissa protects us!”

Tharan turned his head to face Brutus, eyes rolled white, his red hair gleamed in the firelight. “Your mage has fled, and so should you.”

His words shook Caiden to his core.

Power radiated from him.

“We will die before we bow to you, sylph scum,” Brutus said in his graveled voice.

“Have it your way.” Tharan signaled to the Hunt.

Arrows flew, striking their targets. Gideon’s men fell in waves. The Hunt moved in, killing any Highlander in their path. The screams burst Caiden’s eardrums.

Tharan sent a wave of energy blasting through the legions, knocking men to the ground, their bodies enveloped by feral roots.

“Retreat!” Brutus said, pulling his remaining men back.

Tharan fell to his knees. His eyes fluttered, no longer lit from within.

“Help him,” Caiden commanded.

Lucius and Roderick ran to his aid.

The Wild Hunt chased after Gideon’s men, tearing apart any they could catch .

The forest continued to burn, and Caiden dispatched any of his men who still possessed the power of rain to help put out the fires.

Roderick and Lucius pulled Tharan into one of their remaining tents. He clung to life, his breaths faint.

“His powers are new. They require a lot of life.” Lucius searched the tent for any healing potions.

“Watch over him. I need to find Aelia,” Caiden said, donning a thick wool cloak.

“I’m coming with you. Amolie is out there, too,” Roderick said, grabbing his whip.

As if sent by the Trinity, Arion waited for them outside the tent.

Fires still smoldered, but many had died down by the time they reached the great hall.

“Aelia! Amolie! We’re here!” The men ran through hallways and corridors, searching for any signs that the women were still alive. The once magnificent palace, now a tomb. Dead sylphs lay scattered about. Gideon’s Blood Riders stalked the hallways, looking for anyone still alive.

“Fuck,” Caiden muttered under his breath. “Let them still be alive.”

Keeping to the shadows, they desperately searched for any signs of life. A small scream came from behind. Caiden turned around to see Roderick with his dagger in a Blood Rider’s neck.

“Sleep now,” he said, laying the man on the polished floor as blood pooled around their feet.

“Thanks,” Caiden said, nodding to Roderick.

In the study, another Blood Rider lay dead on the floor. From his body, a trail of petite bloody footprints led to a grate under a bookcase. “Look at this.” Roderick pulled the grate from the wall, revealing a hidden passageway. “This is how they escaped.”

Caiden let out a sigh of relief. “Can you fit? ”

They both knew Roderick couldn’t.

“Go back to camp. Help Lucius and Tharan. I will find them and bring them back.”

Roderick nodded, replacing the grate after Caiden crawled into the dark tunnel.