Chapter 86

My jaw flexed as I watched the battle unfold, those wretched Vegas now clear among my army. Where they had been until now, I didn't know, but it left me with an unsettling feeling.

Where was Clydinius? He was meant to join the battle as surely as every other of my weapons had been made to. But here I was with uncertainties stacking up in my palm, and as I tried to calculate the swing of the battle, it was starting to become less clear.

Once my Bonded Dragons had joined the fight and the beautiful machines of destruction had been unveiled, all had been secure. Yet now, my machines were falling, and my Dragons were dropping from the sky in plumes of blazing Phoenix fire. I winced at the loss of my Guardians, feeling their bonds to me shatter along with their bones.

My butler Horace poured me another cup of dandelion tea and I supped upon it with a slight tremor to my hand, wondering if I might prefer something stiffer to steel myself. I clenched my jaw at the weak thought, driving it out like the rogue it was. There was no need for such things; I was not going to lose a fight against a handful of rebel lessers.

I straightened my spine and raised my chin. The blows I'd suffered were of no consequence. I had many tricks up my sleeve yet. This was simply the first wave. The second would secure my win.

My gaze fixed on Lavinia among a sea of Nymphs, her shadows wicked and purely destructive, killing with brutal efficiency. Then my eyes travelled across my overall mass of warriors, my gleaming advantage. Of course there was no need to be concerned, it was simply time for my next move, and Clydinius would likely be here soon to play his ruthless part in my victory too.

"Vard," I clipped.

"Yes, Sire?" he asked.

"Prepare to release your newest creations," I instructed, and I could almost feel the glee pouring from my Seer.

"Indeed, I shall. With much satisfaction, my King." The sound of his scurrying footfalls carried out of the room, and I was left with Horace and my advisors to enjoy my view.

Madam Monita was working with her scrying bowl to try and determine the swing of fate this day, but she had little to offer except mutterings beneath her breath about how nothing was set in stone. That was the way of such things. War was an unpredictable beast.

A pit of anger was stirring in me at the lines of Phoenix Fire tearing through my ranks, but they would not get much further. Even as another Dragon fell from the sky and a slicing sensation ripped through my chest, I did not falter.

Death was coming for the Savage King's daughters at long last, and I would be here to watch as they fell screaming into the afterlife to meet with the parents I had placed there.