Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,123

than would be considered a good idea if intending to fight people who had the high ground, but the griffins distracted the Horsemen, diving at them and dragging their talons across the red armor.

By the time Mordred’s team reached them, the Horsemen were already engaged and had killed two of the griffins by dragging them to the ground and ripping off their wings.

Mordred carved through two of the Horsemen with Excalibur, drove the tip of the sword into the helmet of one enemy, and left it there as the dead Horseman toppled back, leaving Mordred to use his magic. Ice exploded all across the top of the stairs, impaling several of the Horsemen and encasing two in ice.

Hel threw one Horseman down the steps, and Olivia froze it in place before Hel tossed a small amount of pure necromancy at it, ripping it in half.

The battle was short and bloody, and more than one of Mordred’s soldiers succumbed to wounds, but when it was over and the ground ran slick with the blood of the Horsemen, Mordred and his people were victorious.

Mordred pushed a dead Horseman down the stairs and looked out across the burning city. His city. There were still tens of thousands of the creatures down there, and he’d seen more of his people dead than he ever wanted to see again, but they would continue to fight until their last breath, and even from the distance between them, Mordred saw the steady stream of new people coming through the mouth of the realm gate temple.

Mordred looked away and headed into the palace. Something felt wrong. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he’d expected more of the creatures and Horsemen than he’d actually seen. Certainly more of the Horsemen. But apart from those who were dead on the floor, there’d been little in the way of actual resistance from them.

“You okay?” Hel asked.

Mordred nodded, and while he wanted to give voice to his concerns, he needed to be ready for Arthur. He had Excalibur; he was ready. Or as ready as he’d ever be.

Before they reached the throne room, a large part of the doorway and corridor beyond it was torn apart in a blast of light. A Horseman was thrown into the hallway as everyone readied their weapons, and Judgement walked out, brushing herself down.

“It’s empty,” she said, looking back into the room. “Well, it’s a bit of a mess.”

“How’d you get here so fast?” Hel asked.

“Griffin dropped me on the roof,” Judgement said. “There are no way near enough creatures here to destroy Shadow Falls.”

“We’ve been set up,” Hel said. “Arthur lied. He never sent half of his forces here, but he knew we’d divide our forces if we thought that he had, just to stop those we care about from being killed.”

Mordred ran back through the palace to the front entrance and looked out over the battle of Shadow Falls. “We need to get to Washington, DC. Now.”

“Hey,” Hel said, coming to stand beside Mordred as the realm gate temple exploded in a ball of flame.

There were screams throughout the city, and Mordred ran toward the sound of the explosion just as a second one rang out. Mordred looked across the city to see the realm gate temple collapsing down the hill as thousands of the creatures ascended it, all of them standing between the destroyed temple and the city.

“What the fuck?” Judgement shouted.

“He wanted to keep us here,” Mordred said. “That’s why he wanted us to come. If trapping us in Atlantis failed, then he’d trap us here. He told my dad that he was sending people here, but he didn’t tell him everything. Arthur doesn’t trust anyone. I should have known that.”

Diana, Medusa, and the soldiers all ran past, down into the fighting in the city. Olivia arrived. “I need to help,” she said.

“We need to get the temples open and operating,” Mordred said. “We need to get to DC now.”

“He can’t possibly think that this is a long-term way to stop us,” Hel said.

“It’s not,” Mordred said. “But it’s a short-term way for him to get to Earth and get however many Avalon people are there to rise up and kill those opposing them. By the time we get to the Earth realm, a lot of humans will be dead. He knows there’s going to be a bigger battle—a lot of them; he just wants a head start.”

No one else said anything, and Mordred took off at a sprint,