Page 223 of Rebellious Royals

"Go!" Ms. Rhodes snapped. "Fifty yards at a quick step!"

Yep, I had no clue what that meant, but Keir did. He caught my arm and spun me around. Together, the entire line of our defense ran, racing back towards the school, but when we got far enough, Bracken called out, "Brace!"

We spun to find three hunters charging at us on their horses. Lightning flared overhead, making everything in my vision stark black or white for a moment. I knew this would hurt, but I didn't get the option of caring. I could stand and fight, or I could run and hate myself.

The first horse slammed into the end of the line. I heard people yelling, but a glance showed the horse racing away on theother side, riderless. Sadly, I didn't have time to check more than that because the next rider - a woman this time - was coming straight at me.

"I dressed up for this!" I screamed even as I pushed in, hacking at the rider's leg at the last second.

She screamed, but there was no sound with it besides the crashing of the storm. Still, the steel blade I was using left its mark. Grey blood pooled from her leg as she crashed to the ground, shoved by a burst of bright green magic. To make sure she stayed there, I ran my sword through her chest.

The last one hit the far edge on the other side. I saw Hawke jump, flapping once, and then sling something to the ground. Immediately, Tag smashed her massive broadsword into it.

"Iron," she explained when the hunter didn't move again.

"We need to get back to the school," Ms. Rhodes snapped.

But Torian paused. "Go!" he said, turning to catch my eye. "They're in. We just have to hold this mess off long enough to get our side inside. You're with me, Morrigan."

"Always, Prince," I replied with a smirk.

So Torian turned, making a sweeping gesture at a pair of trees and sending magic toward them. "Jack, we're going to need some help inside!"

The cawing that came back was clearly some version of avian orders, but Ms. Rhodes saw the gate for what it was.

"Where does it go?" she demanded.

And he grinned. "The door to your office, heading out. That'll keep you from getting stuck. Aspen says the school's panicking. They need you, General."

"Go!" Ms. Rhodes ordered. "Everyone through the gate." But she paused beside Torian. "And you had better not be wrong about his list."

"I'm not," Torian said. "But move quickly - I think we have more coming."

"Run!" Ms. Rhodes yelled, and most even obeyed.

The sentinels tried to stay with us, but Bracken ordered them to go. My zez paused, giving me one last look while he waved for the other students to move, and then he followed. In the end, that left only four of us.

"You too, Keir," Torian said.

"Nope," Keir replied. "I stand with my Morrigan."

"Move closer to the gate then," Torian suggested, angling us all back and to the side while the rest were quickly vanishing through the green glow - including quite a few crows.

"Can the Hunt use that?" I asked.

"Dunno," Torian said. "Really don't want to find out."

"Gotcha."

A flash of lightning splashed across the sky like an exclamation point to my words, but it lit up thethingsmoving across the grounds. Not all of them were human-shaped either. Animals, horses, and an entire wave of shambling things was out there.

"What the fuck?" I breathed.

"That," Hawke said, pulling his wings in close, "is the Wild Hunt, Rain."

"It's bigger than it used to be," Keir breathed. "We broke it apart, but that's more than I've seen together at one time."

"Let's just hope we don't have to face them," Torian said.