Page 47 of A Rising Hope (The Freckled Fate #3)

47

ZORA

A bloodbath and carnage.

There was no resemblance of the previously strategic battle.

No, this was an execution. Brutal, cruel, ruthless, and merciless.

The wicked creatures tore through our army like a sharp knife through softened butter, their claws and mouths tearing us to pieces. Faces were no longer recognizable, bodies no longer counted. The air filled with eerie dread as the peaceful meadows turned into a cemetery of dismembered limbs and heads thrown in all directions.

“Aim for their bellies and their eye sockets!” I shouted another command. But it was no use. I moved just fast enough to escape the claws headed for my throat. My blade, like an asp, struck the creature just below its wings.

Fire and ash burned, but it was like the creatures were immune to it, only angered by the flames, draining our wells of magic bit by bit. We needed Gideon; we needed Finn. Their raw fire would stop this, give us a chance to survive. But there wouldn’t be one now.

They weren’t here.

And we were left alone.

Like shards of a broken mirror, the silver wings of the beautiful dragonflies were stained with tar-like blood, covering the fields, reflecting the disheveled bodies of our soldiers.

My ears deaf, ringing, disorienting me. I just wanted the loud screeching to stop.

But there were so many monsters. So, so many.

I watched as another dragonfly went down. Yanush jumped just in time, sending her last arrows flying, before grabbing her short sword as she charged towards the blackened death ahead. Cori and Tori, bloodied and almost unrecognizable except for a smudge of their bright color braids, rushed into the darkness. Ashe raced ahead, leading the group of young, scared soldiers towards the center. Motra swung her spiked mace in the air, not holding back the hatred coursing through her veins. I tried to find the rest of the Ten but couldn’t. My heart whispered their names in a silent prayer to whatever gods that listened.

The last dragonfly went down, plunging straight into a death spiral.

“The left flank is falling!” Gia shouted as she made her way to me through the battlefield, where we no longer fought Destroyers or humans, but true monsters instead. Gia’s brow was deeply sliced, and the wound was covered in the creatures’ black sticky blood. Her sleeve was torn to shreds; her right arm was broken, so she swung her sword with her left arm at the approaching creature, beheading it in one stroke.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” I yelled, no longer wasting energy to hide the frustration masquerading as panic. Her eyes met mine. Both of us acknowledged but refused to say our goodbye, even as imminent death loomed on the horizon.

Our strategies and plans had all disintegrated. Like a castle made out of dry sand, our armies slowly crumbled into the abyss drop by drop until the wind scattered our bones like dust.

I turned to find Orest, but before I could say another word, another messenger raced towards us.

“Lachlan’s armies are abandoning us! He is leaving. They are all retreating and running, some are surrendering to the enemy.”

“Right flank has fallen too,” Broderick shouted through his shields as he gutted another creature.

“Fucking bastard!” Orest snarled.

“Go!” I shouted at him. “I’ll handle the left; you handle the right,” I barked through the soul-scarring screeching.

“No.” Orest’s reply was harsh. It left no room for negotiation.

“Dammit, Orest, if Lachlan’s armies leave, we might as well all bury ourselves now,” I yelled.

I could see the hesitation on his face, torn with an impossible choice.

“Gia is with me, Orest. I’ll be fine,” I roared, fighting the devastation within me, knowing that for the first time, he wouldn’t be within range of sight of me. “Go!” I fought the desperation in my voice.

“Protect her with your life, Gia,” he ordered to my Second, before giving me another glare, assessing, contemplating.

Gia smiled, her ripped lip gushed blood at the gesture.

“With my life and honor, Orest,” she assured him.

“Go, Orest. Now!” I rushed him. He had to go now, before I’d break, before the hateful words of farewells and begging, of last wishes and regrets would treacherously spill from my mouth.

“Stay alive, Zora.” His powerful voice settled deep into my soul, his stark gaze linking my soul with his. He sprinted, jumping on a running mare, swinging his sword and fire in his wake as he burned his way through the darkness towards the fallen flank.

I sent a silent prayer in his direction, begging whatever gods that listened to keep him safe, to let him live. Not daring to look at his quickly departing figure as I turned towards the left line. Gia a step behind.

My muscles burned; a rib was broken as air wheezed out of me. I clenched my teeth tighter. I’d hold on. I’d fucking hold on longer.

I still had words, unspoken words I had to say.

He would live. And so would I.

I let my thoughts focus only on that single thought. Survival. My blades spun, making their marks again and again.

The left flank had fallen. Soldiers no longer held their ground. Their lines scattered and broken. Their round shields buried deep in the ground.

“Forward!” I shouted. The black, sticky blood of the creatures spattered on my face, stinging my eyes and leaving a bitter taste on my tongue. I pushed through the carnage of monsters, of the bodies buried underneath them.

“He is dead . . . ” A soldier kneeled with the beheaded body of his brother. “He is dead,” he cried. “He is dead!” His body shook, as tears covered his face and he sobbed, from shock, panic, fear. All of it coming together.

“You can’t bring him back from the dead, but you can live, and you can kill them for it! Make it to the forest and kill all the fuckers that did this.” I yanked him by his shoulders, shaking his face. “Understand me? Those trees. Go there!” I pointed to the side. “Make those bastards fucking pay!” I shoved his sword into his arms. “Go!” I barked. He nodded, swallowing his sobs.

I didn’t look to see if he got up, didn’t check if he lived. He was just one of the many, wounded, living and dead.

“Push forward!” Gia boomed near me.

“Keep moving forward!” I followed her. “The tree line. Push!” One by one, soldiers moved, coming together into a line as they fought for each step, each yard costing more life as we progressed towards the trees, approaching them closer and closer.

“Archers! Incoming!” Gia hollered. “Shields up!” The bleak heat shields went up and whoever couldn’t summon the heat shields raised metal ones. “Charge,” Gia commanded near me. “Shields up!” she shouted as another wave of arrows rained closer. We pushed towards the trees.

My eyes stayed on the tree line ahead, searching, looking for the one person I knew stood there.

I knew he was there.

He’d come to observe.

He’d be here to assess Gideon’s armies in the battle.

His armies weren’t here. But he would be.

I searched, scanning the riders on the white war horses near the familiar banners until I found the matching set of eyes to mine.

Father.

He met my hateful glare with his own. Always disappointed, always with that poisonous disdain on his face. He shook his head just so slightly, and I snarled, yanking the chains from the wings of a creature.

“Shields up!” Gia commanded as we held the line.

When I returned, he was gone. The white feathers of his helm flickering in between the trees as he rode away.

He left. I knew he did not care whether I, his only child, lived or died. I knew that. And yet, after so many years, I wished that the truth wouldn’t pierce my beating heart. I wished I could shrug it off and not care. But now, even after all these years, my soul ached and the wounds he left open bled.

In a way, I had already been dead to him for so many years. This was just a final confirmation.

When he wished for so long for my existence to never be, it was of no difference to him whether I lived or died now. Perhaps even a relieving validation.

“Fight!” I roared at the fumbling soldier near me. “Get up and fight! They are sending arrows because they know we are coming for their souls next. These creatures are passing us! Look!” I jerked his head up. The closer we moved to the tree line, the more creatures ignored us, flying towards the carnage beyond to feast on the bodies of the fallen. “They will die. We will fight through this!” I shouted to the soldiers.

I pushed to the very front. The first one to lead the armies.

The first one to reach those trees and begin killing them all.

Soon. The clash of metal would soon replace the claws and teeth and wings. And the rage, the anger I carried, would be worse than any death they’d face.

There wasn’t a single muscle in my body that wasn’t screaming at me in protest as I lassoed my blades again and again. I held my glare on the enemy’s soldiers rallying, readying to fight us.

“CHARGE!” I shouted the moment we were out of the archers’ reach. We ran. Blades, swords, teeth and nails, we’d fight with everything we had. “Die bastards! Die!” My knives found their first victim, then another.

“Killing them with kindness, are we?” Gia smirked near me as her own sword twisted, striking with killer precision. Her encouraging smile stoked the ember of hope that was dying within me.

I smirked back.

“Always!”

“Good, let’s teach them some manners.” She let out a wicked laugh, and we dove into the clash of metal and fire.

And I hoped. I prayed. I truly begged that we would last long enough for the rest of our armies to make it to the forest threshold before the enemy spears and swords would find our hearts.