Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,85
us.”
“If you’re not back here by the time we get that drawbridge down, we’re coming to find you,” Diana said.
We all went our separate ways into the city. All the buildings were made with the same black stone that I saw in the citadel, and the buildings themselves came in two forms: lanky buildings that stretched high above and low, squat buildings that were single story but three or four times as long as normal houses. I didn’t know what the purpose of either building type was, but there didn’t appear to be any actual houses.
The streets were set out in straight lines, with alleys between each building. Unfortunately, the gap between them could be several hundred meters, and a lot of the time moving through the city required me to use my shadow magic to conceal us from the dozens of guards who patrolled. Their red-and-gold armor was similar to what the paladins wore.
It took us twenty minutes to get through the city to where I’d seen a squat building that had been built into the hills that sat along one side of the city. We waited in the shadow of a large building and watched as several nonarmored personnel left the guardhouse and walked down the steps to our level before entering another structure nearby.
“I can sense dozens of people in there,” Irkalla said. “I’m guessing it’s a barracks of some kind.”
“What is Arthur doing here?” I asked, almost talking to myself. “These buildings are just weird. And we haven’t seen a single person coming or going from them.”
Irkalla looked around. “I noticed that. It feels very sterile.”
The last of the guards entered the barracks, and Irkalla and I sprinted across the open road and took the steps two at a time. I burst through the door at the top with a blade of flame in one hand, and Irkalla stood beside me with her sword in hand.
“There’s no one here,” Irkalla said.
The room was completely empty. I looked out of the windows and saw no one coming to find us.
“Why would guards be coming in and out of this place?” Irkalla asked. She walked to the end of the one large room and pushed open the door. “Nate,” she called out.
I looked beyond the door, which was built into the cliff, and the tunnel that led down underground.
“Do they all have this?” I asked.
“That would explain why we haven’t seen anyone aboveground,” Irkalla said. “They’re all beneath us.”
“This is getting weirder,” I said.
The front door burst open, and Mordred, Remy, Diana, and Lucifer ran into the building. “We have a problem,” Mordred said, closing the door before looking around. “This is creepy.”
“How’d you know where we were?” Irkalla asked.
“I have your scent,” Diana said.
“Could you try to not make that sound terrifying?” Mordred asked.
“I thought I was,” Diana said with a shrug.
“The problem, Mordred?” I asked.
“The drawbridge is manned by dwarf slaves,” Lucifer said.
“They’re wearing shock collars and rune-scribed tunics,” Zamek said angrily. “There are similar runes on the drawbridge. I think if we blow the drawbridge, the links sever, and the runes on their chests burn through their bodies.”
“We’ll find another way,” Irkalla said.
“Yes, we will,” Zamek said, looking down the tunnel.
“You found a hole,” Mordred said.
“This whole place is off,” Lucifer said.
“I think there are a lot of these,” I said, explaining my theory about why we hadn’t seen anyone. I walked to one side of the cabin and looked down over the edge of the city wall and the forest beyond. It was a sixty-foot drop from where I stood. A rune came to life on the wall, blazing blue.
“That’s bad,” Remy said. “I assume, anyway.”
“I may have just set off a magical trip wire,” I said.
“This is now the most terrible of all our terrible choices,” Lucifer said.
“Ummm . . . you should see this,” Diana said from beside the door of the cabin.
I looked over at the hundreds of identical red-and-gold-armored soldiers marching toward us, Merlin in front of them.
Chapter Twenty
NATE GARRETT
Realm of Atlantis
“So I’m guessing that Arthur knows exactly where we are,” Remy said as Merlin and his forces got closer.
“This building will not be able to sustain huge damage,” Irkalla said.
“It would appear our choices are to fight or run down that tunnel,” Lucifer said. “Neither is particularly pleasant.”
“No,” I said. “No, it’s not.”
“I’ll stay and fight them,” Mordred said. “Merlin is my father, and maybe I can keep him busy.”