Page 260 of Scorched Earth

It’s not them!

The fingers of water disappeared, and the ships settled onto the wet sand. Before her nerve could fail her, Teriana screamed, “Now!”

With a roar, her crew, and the crews of the other ships, threw ropes over the rails and slid down to the beach. Teriana went with them, not looking back as she broke into a run toward the fortress. Bait would hold the tide back. He had to.

The legionnaires who’d been in the upper level of the fortress were already moving, the familiar bark of a centurion giving orders promising that she wasn’t going to get to the stem without a fight.

“Don’t let them form lines!” she screamed. “We’ll never get past them!”

The Maarin around her put on a burst of speed, the front-runners slamming into the legionnaires beginning to form up at the entranceto the fortress, the heavy gate that had once barred the entrance dangling from its hinges.

Screams filled the air as her people were impaled on spears and blades. But they did not stop coming. Did not stop fighting, and the legion line began to fracture as legionnaires fell to Maarin blades. Then the lines broke entirely, the legionnaires fleeing into the fortress.

But with terrible cost.

“Go!” Baird shouted, batting at legionnaires with his enormous staff. “Run!”

Teriana screamed as she leapt over the bodies of the fallen and through the broken gates, the towering walls of heavy stone rising to either side of her. Her people ran with her, meeting the legionnaires blow for blow as the Cel attempted to reform their lines. As they attempted to prevent the Maarin from reaching the xenthier that they’d been tasked with defending.

The stone beneath her feet was slippery with seaweed and sand, the water still up to her knees where it hadn’t drained. Shouts from the fortress warned her more reinforcements were coming, but Teriana splashed onward down the wide path that led to a courtyard.

The space was empty, except for one thing.

The xenthier stem jutted out of raw earth, the crystal glittering in the dim light. Rain struck it only to disappear in an instant, and Teriana could only imagine the chaos in Emrant right now from the seawater that had come through it.

More casualties.

More collateral damage.

Her heart bled for the destruction she’d leave in her wake, yet Teriana didn’t hesitate. She raced toward the stem, Polin and Yedda flanking her.

Only for a centurion to step into their path.

His helmet was gone, revealing short red hair and a deep cut on his face. Teriana instantly recognized him as the man who’d terrorized the Sibernese village she and Marcus had stayed in. The one who’d brought his men to impose the Empire’s might upon a celebration.

He backhanded her aunt, sending Yedda staggering to the ground. The lantern she’d held smashed and put out by water.

No.

“I don’t think so, you little bitch,” the centurion hissed, lifting his blade. “I won’t make the same mistake as the Thirty-Seventh.”

“Auntie, get it lit!” Teriana lifted her weapon and moved betweenthe centurion and her aunt. Then she gave him a feral grin. “Which mistake would that be? Teaching me how to fight?”

Teriana attacked, blades colliding as she drove him away from her aunt. The centurion was stronger. More skilled. But she had rage burning in her heart and desperation fueling her every swing, and that gave Teriana the edge she needed to drive him back. “Get it lit!”

Yedda was on her knees, striking a knife against a flint, sparks flying.

“Hurry!”

The centurion feinted, then punched Teriana in the face. She staggered backward, barely managing to get her blade up to keep him from running her through.

“Got it!” Yedda shouted. “It’s lit!”

Teriana smashed her blade against the centurion’s, and then lunged. His fist struck her cheek, but then his eyes widened and he looked down to find her blade embedded in his throat. As the centurion dropped, she saw Polin light the cask’s fuse. She needed to get to him. Needed to take it out of his hands—

Except Polin was already striding toward the xenthier, the fuse on the cask burning bright.

She’d meant to do this part.