Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,97
from the trees, and I threw a ball of flame into the air, letting Mordred know where we were. He saw us and started running. It was a long run, and it took him a few minutes, but he reached us, dirty, exhausted, and looking less than happy.
“Where’s everyone else?” Judgement asked.
“Long story,” Mordred said and proceeded to explain what had happened since we’d last seen him.
“So everyone else is still in the city?” Loki asked.
Mordred nodded. “I think so. I’m going to go back and find out. I just wanted to make sure we had a way in.”
“Yes, it was very subtle of you,” Hel said with a smile.
“That’s me,” Mordred said, looking back as hundreds of soldiers, their red armor standing out against the black stone walls, stood amid the remains of the drawbridge.
“I think we might have to fight our way back in,” Loki said.
“Good,” I said. “They know we’re here; we know they’re here. Tommy is no longer a factor in that he’s not a prisoner, so they can’t use him as leverage. I say we go give them a fight.”
“There are thousands of dwarven prisoners in there,” Mordred said. “If we can set them free, we can hopefully make sure these assholes have two fronts to fight. I’m not sure how prepared centuries of imprisonment is going to make these dwarves, but we need everyone we can get.”
“We have people in the city,” I said. “We do whatever it takes.”
The realm gate hummed and activated, and Orfeda, her dwarves, and several others started to move through it. By the time they were done, there were thousands of very angry-looking people who had come through the realm gate and were standing beside it. Nanshe stood at the front, saw me, and raised her sword and shield in greeting. I nodded a hello and turned back to the oncoming army.
“Hades, get everyone ready to fight,” I shouted as the Horsemen continued to march slowly toward us, more and more of them flooding out of the city until there were thousands of them, although I was pretty sure our numbers were greater.
Hades looked my way and gave me a thumbs-up.
Hades, Olivia, Persephone, Loki, and my mother quickly arranged the thousands of troops into platoons, each one a set distance away from the others. The dwarves were at the front; their ability to use alchemy was going to be necessary once we were inside the city. The sorcerers were at the back with the elementals and anyone else who could throw magic around at distance. Griffons flew above our heads, as well as several dozen Valkyries on any of the flying horses that had still been alive after the battle in Asgard.
“We go in and end this,” I said.
“How are you all getting in?” Hades asked.
“We’re going to get in the same way I got out,” I said. “But this time, I’m not too concerned about making noise.”
“Good luck, my friend,” Hades said, and we grasped forearms.
“I will see you inside,” I said.
My team set off at a run through the forest. It was still dark, and it was a fair distance, but it was going to take the army we’d brought together some time to make their way down toward the partially ruined front wall.
“I never did say well done on the drawbridge,” I told Mordred.
“Yeah, I may have lost my temper a bit,” he said. “I saw my dad. I sort of dropped him off a building.”
“Is he dead?” Orfeda asked.
“I doubt it,” Judgement, Mordred, and I said at the same time.
“You three are weird,” Tarron said. “Not bad weird, just . . . odd.”
“That’s fair,” Mordred said.
“So you know where this prison is?” Orfeda asked Mordred.
“Under the city,” he said. “There’s a lift that takes you down there. Not sure where the stasis part is, but I assume the dwarves know.”
There were several huge explosions of power from the city, and we all stopped for a second as the sky was momentarily filled with jets of fire.
“It’s begun,” Mordred said. “I was never sure we were going to make it this far.”
“Whatever happens now, we’ll make sure Arthur remembers it,” Tarron said.
“No,” Judgement said. “He won’t remember anything. It’s hard to remember something when your head is no longer attached to the rest of you.”
The dwarves banged their axes and swords against their shields in agreement, and we continued on toward the ramparts I’d fallen from. To bring war to