Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,87
blade of fire, but it detonated the magical blade, and I had to throw myself aside into the path of a kick from the large soldier. It caught me squarely in the ribs, sending me flying across the ramparts into the wall next to the door.
I dropped to the floor and lashed out with a torrent of lightning, but the smaller of the two soldiers wrapped them both in a shield of lava, which exploded a second later, only my own shield of air stopping me from taking the blast full on.
“What are you?” I asked.
“Horsemen,” the smaller soldier said, its voice sounding rough and full of venom, even through the mask.
“You’re the Faceless,” I said. “You’re what Arthur did to the bodyguards of the powerful.” It wasn’t a question, but there was a chuckle from beneath the mask of the soldier.
I felt sick.
“Not quite,” the soldier said with a laugh, drawing a black-bladed dagger from its back.
There was a huge explosion in the distance, and blue and red flames leaped up into the sky. Taking the opportunity while they were distracted, I jumped over the ramparts to the forest below and sprinted through the shallow river into the dense underbrush as the shouts swept over me from Arthur’s soldiers. His Horsemen. What the hell had he done? What the hell were those things?
My body hurt, but the thought of what was happening to my friends shot to the front of my mind. Some trapped in a tunnel, and others who knew where now. I hoped that everyone there had managed to get through before whatever Arthur’s people had done to the realm gate and that those who’d come through were far enough away to be safe. My last thought as I got to my feet was the hope that the realm gate wasn’t completely destroyed.
I looked up at the ramparts above me. There was no way I was going back up that way only to fight Merlin, Arthur, and several hundred psychotic superpowered soldiers. I looked behind me at the forest and wondered if I could follow it back around to where Hades and everyone were going to go. At least then I’d have some idea of what our options were.
I ran into the forest and stayed behind a large tree as more of the giant soldiers appeared on top of the ramparts. That way was out. Irritatingly.
As I ran through the heavy woods, the sky darkened, and it began to rain. I took shelter under a large tree with a thick canopy of leaves that meant I was at least moderately dry. I used my fire magic to keep warm and listened to the sounds of the forest. Or rather the lack thereof. There were no birds, no insects—it was just silence, except for the winds as they howled through the night. I ignited my night vision and continued moving, managing a few minutes before there was the howl of a creature.
I stopped dead in my tracks, looking around, trying to pick up anything that might tell me where it was coming from and what it belonged to. It happened again, and then a third time, although it was now from a completely different part of the forest. Or maybe it wasn’t; it was hard to tell where sound came from during the night in the woods.
I turned in a complete circle and saw nothing in the distance. No heat print, no movement. Nothing. I had the unnerving feeling I was being watched. There was another howl, further away than before, or at least I hoped it was. Maybe Hades had sent out a pack of werewolves to track for anything useful, or maybe Arthur had sent a pack to start hunting people on the run.
There was movement a few feet in front of me as something darted past my field of vision and disappeared into the thick bushes that were all around me. The howl happened again. The werewolf was massive as it stepped out from behind a tree. It looked at me and roared. There was nothing that had belonged to the human inside of it; it was all animal. The beast set free. It wore a collar around its massive muscular neck, and I could see the little spines on the inside of it as it dug into the fur and flesh of the werewolf.
“Tommy,” I said softly. “Oh God, Tommy.”
Tommy let out an almighty howl, which changed into a low, menacing growl.