Page 2 of Into the Dawn (The Arcadians #4)

While invaders were an obvious problem, they weren’t the only ones who wanted to visit the Western Forest. As news spread about the Dragon Warriors and their magical abilities, warriors, merchants, and other honorable males had also started to travel to neighboring kingdoms in search of their own fated mates.

With so many new people seeking entrance, it meant allowing any newcomers to stay within the Western Forest was even more dangerous.

But they couldn’t ban all outsiders without sparking even more curiosity and interest. Most rogues didn’t have the patience for subterfuge, but they had to be extra cautious.

Because of that, all new males were required to live in specified housing outside of the city, where they were carefully monitored.

Besides the magical wards around the forest, the Dracors had also created additional protection around the palace as well as the grove of fruit trees and the sacred lake. Magical wards were an excellent deterrent, and those added layers of protection were definitely effective.

Unfortunately, the rogues were still getting through somehow.

Ronan wasn’t sure how they had figured out a way past the wards, but he concluded they must have dug a secret tunnel in the ground or tunneled through the mountain.

Even with his magical friends’ help, they hadn’t been able to figure it out yet.

But they would. Then, they would put an end to the rogues once and for all.

Until then, the threats needed to be eradicated as they came.

The light breeze rustled the leaves, but the sound did nothing to mask the heavy treads of the invaders. Those unaccustomed to living in the forest didn’t understand how easy it was to detect unfamiliar sounds in the quiet.

“Do you see them yet?” his brother asked through their bond, a hint of irritation in his tone. Patience was not a virtue Dominic had much of, especially when it came to dealing with rogues.

“ Nay, but I can hear them. They are making more noise than a group of younglings on their first outing,” he explained. “They are close, but not within viewing range yet.”

“Stay where you are, and I will make my way toward you.”

Obeying his bossy brother’s command, Ronan crouched down near the trunk of a wide tree. The dark brown leather pants, vest, and boots he wore helped him blend into his surroundings, as did his long brown hair and bronzed skin.

Ronan listened for any signs of movement, keeping his glowing gold eyes trained on the ground, not wanting the dim light to give away his location.

Instead of reaching for the sword strapped to his hip, he slid two black daggers from their sheaths built into his vest and flipped them around so the blades were parallel to his forearms. The weight of the hilts against his palms was familiar and oddly comforting to him.

He could throw the weapons with deadly accuracy and knew just where to strike to cause maximum damage.

The wait seemed endless, even though only a few seconds had passed. When the sounds interrupting the natural rhythm of the forest drew closer, he crouched deeper into the shadows. The males were moving slowly, but their clumsy footsteps made it clear they were unfamiliar with the terrain.

Added to that, the stench of their body odor and sweat was an affront to his senses. It told him that they hadn’t bathed in days. That alone would have given their presence away if not for all the noise they were making.

When the rogues finally came into view, he barely held back a growl of anger. “I count over a dozen rogues over here,” he told his brother through their bond. “ Far too many to make it past the sentries unnoticed. Especially considering how inept they are.”

“They must have killed some of our warriors to make it this far,” Dominic said darkly.

“Or traitors are working with them,” Ronan pointed out. He went silent as one of the rogues began to speak.

“How are we supposed to find them out here?”

“Shh, keep your voice down. If those demon princes hear you, then our whole plan will be ruined. We have to avoid running into them before we can find their brothers.”

That made Ronan freeze in fear. He and Dominic weren’t the targets.

Their younger brothers were.

Sheer rage surged through him, almost making him shake with the need to lash out at the bastards stalking his brothers.

He immediately reached out to share the information with Dominic.

Once he was done, he started to contact the guards who were in charge of their younger brothers’ safety, but Dominic stopped him.

“Nay, we cannot trust anyone at this point. Only family.”

That stark reminder was enough to make him change tactics. Instead, he reached out to Axis, the most rational of his younger brothers. Although that distinction wasn’t exactly accurate, the eldest of the trio could rein in his brothers when necessary.

Axis, Bastion, and Keo were still in their teens, which meant they were mere younglings amongst their people.

While Ronan, Dominic, and Eron admittedly had a wild streak during their early years, their younger brothers were ten times worse.

The youngling princes were mischievous little beasts who loved getting into trouble.

Although the trio was young, they were well on their way to becoming warriors already.

After losing Eron, Ronan and Dominic made it a priority to train their younger brothers to make sure they could protect themselves.

Even though Axis, Bastion, and Keo complained a lot, they were eager to learn whatever their older brothers were willing to teach them.

“What are you doing right now?”

Axis immediately shot back a bratty response. “We are not available at the moment. Please try to contact us again when you have something fun to share.”

“This is serious,” he growled impatiently. “Now, where the fuck are you?”

“We are at the caverns south of the palace,” Axis replied quickly.

He felt relieved to hear they weren’t close by.

Usually, the trio tried to follow Ronan and Dominic whenever they were on patrol just to see how long they could hide what they were doing from their elder brothers.

They claimed it was good practice for them to learn how to shadow and stalk their prey.

Since Ronan agreed with them, he had never bothered to put a stop to their antics.

But knowing the rogues were searching for them meant they were in danger and needed to get back to the palace as soon as possible.

“I need you, Bastion, and Keo to stop whatever you are doing and head directly back to the palace, but do not make it obvious what you are doing. You might be under surveillance right now. Do not let anyone know what is going on. Even your guards.”

“Really?” There was a hint of surprise in his brother’s tone.

“Really,” Ronan stressed.

There was a brief pause, then Axis said, “Rion, Nyros, and Zorin were not feeling well today. They got sick along with a few others from the meal they ate this rising.”

Rion, Nyros, and Zorin Dalkis were several years older than Axis, Bastion, and Keo, and the six of them were best friends.

The Dalkis brothers had excelled in all of their training, earning elite status when it came to hunting, tracking, and combat.

Ronan was also fond of the guards. He had always been glad they were protecting his brothers, but the current situation seemed highly suspicious.

“Then, who is guarding you right now?” Dominic demanded, cutting in.

“Who?” Ronan growled again when his younger brother failed to respond.

Axis sighed as he finally admitted, “No one. We told Rion, Nyros, and Zorin that we would ask Brel to assign another team to us, but we snuck out of the palace before we spoke to him. We know it is wrong, but the caverns are not far from the palace. We thought we would make it back before anyone missed us.”

If Brel, Galron, and Timus Varko had known the younger trio had snuck out of the palace unguarded, at least one of them would have ended up guarding them.

As the Commanders of the Palace Guard, that was their duty.

But they were also the brothers of Ronan and Dominic’s former mate and their best friends, which made them family.

The commanders were known to be strict and would have definitely gotten in the way of whatever mischief the young trio had been up to today.

The Varko brothers had been the same back when their main duty was to guard Ronan, Dominic, and Eron.

Since Ronan had been guilty of ditching them a time or two, he couldn’t really be too angry with Axis.

However, fear and worry made it difficult to remain rational.

Ronan tried to keep calm as he said, “We will discuss your reckless behavior later.”

“You need to get back to the palace now,” Dominic commanded. “There are over a dozen intruders in the forest who are searching for you.”

“For us?” Axis shook off his surprise and soberly said, “It might be better if we just stay here. We have a great place where we can hide, and no one knows where we are.”

Ronan took a few seconds to consider that. It was a risk since the intruders obviously knew they were outside the palace walls. Still, if the trio were in a location that was relatively safe, that was better than being caught out in the open.

“Do that. Stay hidden until we come for you.”

“Do not worry about us. We know what to do,” Axis said. “Stay safe, brothers.”

Ronan didn’t bother to reply before he cut their connection.

“They will be fine,” Dominic assured. “Our brothers might mess around, but they listen whenever you use that tone.”

“What tone?”

“The do-not-fuck-with-me tone.”

Amused despite the situation, he smiled. “I was not aware I had that specific tone.”

“You do. I would know since I hear it all the time,” Dominic said dryly.

“Aye, coming from your own mouth,” Ronan scoffed. “I trust those little beasts have secret hiding spots all over the forest just like we did. Hellfire, they are probably using one of our old spots in the caverns. I find it highly suspicious that their guards were suddenly sick today, though.”

“I agree. We should contact our fathers to check that out and have them send out more guards to—” Dominic’s words cut off as he cursed viciously.

“ There is another group of rogues here. Eight of them. They seem more skilled than the ones near you since I barely heard them and made it to cover before I caught a glimpse of them.”

Ronan understood what his brother wasn’t saying. Dominic was in a perilous predicament. He couldn’t move, or they would see him.

“Stay where you are. These two groups of invaders are proof enough that it is a coordinated attack. It seems likely that the squad near me was merely a distraction, making noise to purposely draw us out. We should—”

Before he could finish what he was saying, the hiss of an arrow being released reached him, and he moved just in time to miss getting skewered. Still, the arrow left a streak of fire on his arm before burying itself into the tree trunk next to him.

Fucking hellfire, he had been discovered.

Rising to his feet, Ronan sprinted out of the shadows toward the closest intruders.

Surprise and speed were the key. He needed to cut down their numbers before they had a chance to defend themselves.

Using the blades, he cut the throats of two of the rogues before they even realized he was there.

As their bodies fell to the ground, shouts of alarm rang out.

That warning had the rest of the rogues descending upon him like a pack of wild beasts.

Shouts and cries of pain clashed with the clang of steel as he attacked with deadly precision.

His movements were graceful as he dodged and weaved around his opponents, blocking sword strikes while using his own blades to inflict as much damage as he could.

It was a macabre dance of death that had been honed by years of rigorous training and hard-fought battles.

He stabbed, slashed, and sliced, but it never seemed like enough.

They just kept coming.

He moved over the uneven terrain like a shadow, slipping between them so that his blades were nothing but a blur in the dim light.

A larger male charged at him with a furious roar, his sword slicing through the air in deadly arcs.

Ronan evaded the attack, then turned and flung one of his knives.

The blade sliced through the air and buried itself deep in the brute’s chest. The rogue tumbled to the ground like a felled tree, but there was no time to savor that victory.

Another assailant was already upon him, and he had to spin away to avoid the incoming strike. When he blocked another sword from a different attacker, the force of the blow reverberated up his arm. He had killed half of the males, but the ones remaining were far more skilled than the fallen.

The rogues attacked with a barrage of blows that almost made him stumble over the bodies scattered on the ground. He managed to stay upright, but it was a close call that almost cost him his head. Turning at the last second, he avoided the lethal strike, and the sword sliced across his arm instead.

White-hot pain seared through him, but he pushed it aside. Throwing his other blade, he managed to injure another rogue, but it didn’t bring him down. Pulling his sword out, he gripped the hilt with both hands and braced himself for the next attack.

He had clearly underestimated his opponents.

And that was turning out to be a fatal mistake.