Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,47

honor, and you spit in my face. I will have your head for this. You have made your bed—die in it.”

He flung balls of air at the two closest walls and tore huge chunks of them down as Layla grabbed a handful of metal and sprinted across the roof to the edge closest to the mass of attackers below, opposite where Chloe stood, her rifle aimed at Sir Lamorak.

“Do it,” Layla shouted.

Chloe took the shot, and once again Sir Lamorak stopped the attack with a shield of air. He whipped the shield up at the roof of the apartment and smashed it into the brick and concrete just below where Chloe stood, forcing her to throw herself back as part of the roof collapsed.

Layla threw the metal out in front of her, forcing it down with incredible speed onto the exposed horde, causing screams of pain as it found targets, but a moment later she heard a whir and tore metal from the roof to wrap around herself as a missile smashed into the edge closest to her. The shock wave threw her back; she collided with the wall of the entrance to the stairwell and all but obliterated it, leaving a hole in the roof.

“What the fuck was that?” Piper asked.

“They have a rocket launcher,” Layla said, coughing and spitting blood onto the floor. “Of course they do. It’s turning into one of those days.” Metal wrapped around her or not, that had hurt.

“Do you understand now?” Sir Lamorak asked. “We have more firepower, more magical power, more determination, and we will not be stopped. Enjoy your deaths.”

Layla crawled back over to the edge of the roof in time to watch the multitude below scramble up the brick and concrete that had once been the outer walls of two of the buildings and were now a ramp giving easy access to everyone inside.

Gunfire sounded soon after.

“Get everyone back to the center building,” Layla yelled. “Do it now.”

She rolled onto her back as Piper appeared beside her. She wordlessly helped Layla to her feet, and together they ran across the building to where Layla had hoped they would never have to defend from.

Layla looked back as gunfire and shouting broke out in the two buildings closest to them.

“The bastards are piling in like wasps to a beehive,” one of the police officers said as Piper and Layla reached the top floor of the apartment block.

Layla looked around and saw a lot of frightened faces of civilians as they looked out of doorways before closing and locking them.

“You think that’ll help?” Piper asked.

Layla shook her head. “Chloe, Judgement, how’s it going?”

“I collapsed a pretty big part of the floor above me,” Chloe said. “Should slow them down. They can’t get to the hole we made in the wall unless they have a few dwarves with them.”

“We could use some dwarves right about now,” Judgement said. “There’s a big group of assholes coming toward our position. I’ve killed a few of them and am heading back to the building. I’ll kill anything that moves, but I can see several dead police outside. These thugs do not behave like humans.”

“How so?” Layla asked, looking out of the window at Sir Lamorak, who hadn’t moved. She spotted the man and woman sitting on the street behind him.

“There are empaths in the group. I suspect they’re controlling the emotions of this group,” Judgement said, sounding out of breath for the first time. “They’re surrounded by guards, so I doubt we can get to them easily. I could kill one, maybe both, but I’d be swarmed pretty soon.”

“Get back to the apartment building,” Layla told Judgement. “We’ll figure out a way.”

“Already ahead of you,” Judgement said, and a nearby window shattered, Judgement jumping through a moment later. “That was a bitch of a climb up.”

“Glad you’re okay,” Layla told her.

“It’s hard to scare people who don’t feel anything,” Judgement said.

“These humans aren’t going to feel fear or pain, guilt or remorse,” Piper said. “They’re just going to keep coming until either we’re dead or they are.”

“Well, let’s give them what they want,” Layla said.

Judgement picked up a rifle from one of several positions manned by the police and civilians, aiming down it and measuring the shot. A few hundred meters. “Chloe, you got a shot on these empaths?”

Chloe arrived on the floor a few seconds later, looking out of breath. She said nothing but winked at Piper and stood beside Layla, peering through her riflescope at