Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,76

apparently the realm gate won’t even accept Asgard as a destination. Valhalla is still somewhere we can live, but a lot needs to be done first.”

“You could move to another realm,” Mordred said.

“It’s something we’re going to need to look into once this is all done,” Brynhildr said. “For now, we will be satisfied with doing our jobs and trying to help.”

“Have you noticed there aren’t any Faceless here?” Mordred asked. The Faceless were the masked bodyguards of the most powerful members of Avalon society. They were completely loyal and would do whatever they were commanded to do, which in Mordred’s opinion usually involved something unpleasant.

“Now that you mention it, it’s pretty weird,” Hel said. “We haven’t seen any in years. Maybe they got rid of them.”

“I hope so,” Mordred said.

They hadn’t gone far when they heard the shouts of several soldiers as they ordered someone to stop.

“We should check this out,” Mordred said and was already making his way toward the group before anyone could tell him otherwise.

A rider had pulled their horse up by half a dozen soldiers and gotten down before Mordred reached them.

“I need to come in,” Athena demanded. Blood drenched her arm, where there were several nasty cuts.

“Athena?” Mordred asked, and everyone stopped shouting at once and moved aside. “What are you doing here?”

“Arthur kept me as a prisoner here,” Athena stammered. “I escaped, got to the mountain, but there’s something there. Something attacked those you sent. Sky sent me back here. I was already hurt; I couldn’t keep fighting. Never seen anything like it. It attacked us, killed several guards. They’re fighting it off right now, but they need help. Piper was hurt. Badly.”

“You need healing,” Mordred said, stepping forward.

“No,” Athena snapped. “Sorry, you’re going to need your power to help those at the mountain. I’ll heal soon enough; I’ve had worse. But they need help. Fast.”

“Get people ready to ride,” Mordred said to Brynhildr and Hel. “I’ll take this horse and head out there now.” Mordred climbed up onto the large black stallion. “Athena, please go and rest.”

Athena nodded. “These cuts are already healing. The creature there, it did something to the minds of the soldiers, made them attack one another. My sister is there; she needs help.”

“You stay,” Brynhildr said. “Once you’re healed, head back, but right now, you’re just going to get yourself more injured.”

Athena didn’t look happy about the advice, but she nodded solemnly anyway and walked away to take a seat against the wall of the palace.

“Everyone else, get ready to follow,” Mordred said.

Mordred was soon on his way, riding the stallion as hard as he dared across the plains toward the mountain—and a threat so dangerous it could make Athena unnerved.

The ride took longer than Mordred would have liked, but he reached the mountain to find pandemonium. Half a dozen guards all brandished weapons at him. There were multiple dead horses on the ground, and several more had seemingly run away and were busy eating the grass in the distance.

“It’s me,” Mordred said and then remembered he was a king. “Put those fucking things away unless you want me to see how good you are at dodging blades of ice.”

“Mordred,” Layla shouted from a nearby carriage. “It’s Piper. It’s bad.”

“Athena told me,” Mordred said, swinging down from the horse. “She said there was some kind of monster who attacked you all.”

“What?” Chloe asked, her head snapping around to Mordred. Her arms were covered in blood, and her eyes were bloodshot and teary. Mordred’s gaze settled on Piper, who was pale and looked weak as she lay up against a carriage wheel. She was drenched in blood, and there was a cut on her neck that looked deep and dangerous.

“What the fuck happened?” Mordred asked, his light magic igniting as he knelt beside Piper and placed his hands on her neck.

“Athena happened,” Chloe said, barely keeping the rage and hate from her voice.

“Wait, what?” Mordred asked, removing his hands from the wound. “What the hell caused this?”

“We don’t know,” Judgement said. “The runes are keeping her alive, but we’re fighting a losing battle. I don’t understand why my sister would do this.”

“You say that Athena did this?” Mordred asked.

“She attacked me,” Medusa said. A cut on her cheek hadn’t healed. “We arrived here to ensure no Avalon sympathizers were hiding out here; we found Athena. She looked injured. She wanted to show us something, a creature, she said. Something dangerous. She killed three of the soldiers with me and