Chapter 48

Azran

With labyrinthine canals dividing isles and narrow sloping bridges our only passage between isolated plots of land, it takes us crucial hours to reach the battlefield.

The cavalry crashes through the last shallow river separating us from Daenia in a spray of silver droplets, their thunderous pace never slowing as they power through mud and water alike.

We reach the western edges of the city with the first rays of sun and storm through the open main gate.

My heart pounds in my chest as I guide our column down an avenue. Citizens fleeing Daenia fill the paved streets, some carrying bundles on their backs and children in their trembling arms. Their faces light up when their gaze falls on us, though no warmth lingers in my heart. My people need me. They have suffered enough, and I won’t let Airdan’s madness destroy what I’ve spent centuries fighting for.

Ela’s rage stokes mine and I spur the sides of my horse, focusing my wrath on the coming battle.

Smoke rises above the elegant buildings lining the street, confirming the battle is still raging. Airdan progressed deeper into the city through the night.

Power floods my veins, instilling strength to my body and mind as bloodlust calls.

Airdan’s debts will be paid in blood. I will avenge every stolen soul with red-handed fury until his crushed body feeds the worms. His screams will echo into eternity as his line ends by my hand.

Hooves strike the paving stones as we near the center, greeted by more horror-torn faces and destruction.

We cross paths with bloodied soldiers running through side streets, and a chill courses my spine. The city is on the brink of collapse, and so is Ker’s army.

Leading our troops across an elegant bridge, the distant song of steel and slaughter sets my soul alight with hunger. The promise of havoc beckons, kindling my bones with the purpose I was forged to fulfill.

As Ela and I lock eyes, her gaze betrays the same fierce anticipation I feel curling down my spine. Her irises cloud with darkness, mirroring my own with their gnawing thirst for violence. I glimpse our twinned reflections—warriors bonded by oaths sworn in venom to a revenge long in the making.

“I’ll stay by your side,”she says down the bond, her voice drained of all warmth.

“This madness ends today,”I answer. “With you and I.”

“Airdan won’t see another sunrise.”

Though Ela’s chilling oath resonates through me, it is the merciless tongue of Death herself I hear.

I spur my horse and raise Dagrassaeb high above my head when Daenia’s battalions appear in the forum at the end of the street.

“To me,” I bellow when we reach the mass of soldiers fighting and my two-bladed sword sings, slicing through flesh and bone.

Blood splashes my armor, and I dig my heels into my mount’s sides to push forward.

“To the High Lord!”

Shouts echo my call and I scan the chaos to find the commander.

Impaling a fighter before making an arc with my sword, I jump from my horse and join the soldiers already on the ground.

“To me,” I thunder, in an attempt to bring back order to our ranks.

I hammer my sword down an enemy’s neck and spin to parry an attack. Vesta joins the fight with the High Guard, Eren’s units not far behind.

Before long, my roars fill the air as I deal blow after blow, letting my wrath rain down on our opponents. My blade twists in a soldier’s middle and I redecorate the street with his bowels.

Ela engages two soldiers at once, parrying and shielding their attacks before returning fatal strikes.

A Fae emerges from the bloodshed, limping, her short purple hair standing out amidst the madness. Crimson covers her chest plate and a nasty wound mars her thigh.

“Lieutenant Safrin, High Lord.” Her eyes dart around for signs of danger. “Airdan’s forces caught us by surprise on the docks. We’ve been pushed back to the Merchants’ Quarters.”

“Where is Lord Keryth?” I ask, slaying another fighter.

Safrin lunges to the side, escaping death by an inch before spinning and slamming her sword into her attacker.

When the Fae lies dead at her feet, she meets my gaze before shaking her head in defeat.

“Last I heard, he took several units to Endya.”

My heart sinks at the mention of Daenia’s central plaza. Resting in a perfect circle in the heart of the city with four access points, it was designed to bewilder and enthrall. While a prowess of architectural feats, the tall buildings offer little cover and no strategic advantage.

However breathtaking Endya may be, it remains undefendable without an army. Ker knows this better than anyone.

“What madness led him there?”

“Reports claim the Lady of the Water Fae was there when Airdan attacked, but we haven’t been able to reach them.”

I screw my eyes shut and let out a growl.

In an attempt to save the Fae he loves, Keryth trapped himself and sealed all of our fates.

Shouts echo ahead and the forum floods with soldiers wearing the emerald color of Airdan’s house.

“Vesta,” I call, and the Captain of the High Guard reaches me seconds later.

“Split up and go around. We make for the central plaza.”

With a nod, she calls several units back before leading them through a side street. I jump back into the raging battle, with Ela right behind me.

Bloodlust sings in my veins as I seek my next target and crimson splatters the grey stones.

Cries of fury rise around me as soldiers lunge forward, only to be slain by Dagrassaeb.

My blades cleave through armor, flesh, bone. Two soldiers fall, their mouths open in wordless screams. A fetid smell mingles with spilled entrails as I wrench my sword free to parry a hatchet.

I drive my weapon through the next attacker, splitting them from collar to sternum. Fluids jet from the screaming gash and I push on, ignoring their attempts to stanch the lethal wound.

Lungs heaving in the stinking air, my very soul cries out for more slaughter.

Once the forum is cleared, we go from bottleneck to bottleneck in narrow streets as Airdan’s explosive powder blasts around us, wreaking havoc through the city.

My boot lands in a gore-slick puddle and blood splashes when I strike another enemy in a debris-filled avenue. Bodies litter the canals around us as collapsed roofs rest on fallen walls.

Ela stays by my side, slicing through any approaching threat. Our bond floods with darkness and wrath as Death and her monster fight in deadly harmony.

I lunge forward, digging my blade into a Fae’s side and cutting the throat of another in one move. No more ruse. No more political games. No more dancing around devils who call themselves King.

Eren’s growls meet mine, though sheer madness and grief shine in his eyes at the sight of his bloodied homeland.

He attacks another soldier, recklessly exposing his right side. Closing the distance in a jump, I land at his back and deflect a blow coming at him.

He spins, but my blade is already sunk deep in the emerald armor of the enemy.

“Focus, Captain,” I say through gritted teeth.

Eren’s mouth falls agape, eyes sweeping frantically across the dreadful sight, lingering on the dead civilians sprawled across the cobblestones, before he manages a faint nod.

Deflecting a cut aimed for my ribs, Dagrassaeb digs into a soldier’s neck, claiming yet another life.

Averion’s captain is still frozen in place, his lips parted in an anguished gasp as his wide eyes track the streets where innocents lie slaughtered.

“Ela,“ I call down the bond.

Her name conveys my command more deeply than language could, and we pivot as one. She moves to cover our rear while I turn to face the Water Fae.

“Eren.”

His youthful eyes clash with my battle-hardened ones in a look I’ve seen far too many times on a battlefield. No mortal mind was built to withstand the permanent imprint of these horrors.

“We will avenge every last one of them.” My hand lands on the back of his neck. “Our people need you.”

Snapping out of his petrified daze, Eren tips his chin.

“Airdan needs to be stopped.”

The captain clenches his jaw and I nod back.

“Can I count on you?”

“Yes, High Lord.”

Letting go of him, I dive back into the butchery, my faithful mantra echoing in my mind.

I shall rest when I’m dead.

I shall rest when my enemies lay dead at my feet.

I shall rest when Ela is in my arms.