locked in the kitchen.”
His brows drew down. “There is so much in that statement I don’t understand, but I trust you to go.”
She nodded. “I will. Right now.” Lilah headed to the tunnel then stopped when she heard the roar. Ferrus had shifted into his scary-ass dragon. She rushed back to the entrance, staying against the wall to see what happened. If the fae won, then there was no reason for her to hide.
The dragon was in the thickest part of the enemy. His tail whipped around, throwing off dozens of Kappies at one time down the side. More and more of the ants came after him, swiping their claws, but against his metal skin, they were useless. Several had climbed his back and were creeping toward his head. His nose and eyes were still vulnerable.
The dragon shook them off only for another bunch to climb on. The men weren’t doing much better. The enemy was too fast to catch with heavy metal weapons. The army was going to be defeated.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ferrus rubbed his eyes, not believing what they showed him. His army of the strongest warriors on the planet was losing to the weakest of creatures. What were those scratches doing? He was sure there was more to it than the simple breaking of the skin.
Standing in the middle of the Kappies in his dragon form, he could see a black haze surrounding all the Kappies. The haze wasn’t dark, more smoky, but he had no doubt what it meant; the enemy had dark magic on their side.
His men were falling—no, more like collapsing— everywhere, but the enemy was now losing a great many. After the men analyzed the opponent’s fighting style, just like he had taught them, the warriors shifted to a different means of offense. Instead of swinging to take off a head like usual, they thrust the blades forward right into the chest of the Kappie.
The blue of their blood was beginning to paint a picture along the light-colored stone. A horrid image of life lost. And for what reason? Bangar shit, he didn’t even know why the Kappies were attacking. He swept his tail around again and launched many of the little ones into the air to smash against the rocks below.
The numbers of the enemy were increasing as fresh troops ran out of the forest. So many of his men were already down. He could only do so much on his own. He wasn’t made for this type of battle. This was warfare he never expected. Seemed he was wrong when he said his men were undefeatable.
A male on his knees tried to pull himself up while he shouted to the others. “They are after the females. They want our mates.”
Then the most fantastic thing he had ever seen happened before his eyes.
The males began pulling themselves off the ground, blood dripping from every arm and leg, to fight for the ones they loved. Half dead, too weak to lift a sword, his men snared one Kappie after another and snapped their necks.
His father ruled by fear, using death as a consequence of disobeying. Ferrus thought fear made the warriors strong. But seeing this, he realized he and his father had been wrong. Fear was not the strongest force in existence. Love was.
The Kappies noticed many of their brethren on the ground, their heads at an unnatural angle or body parts bashed on the rock below. They began to back down. They were retreating. The soldiers cheered as they crumpled. He shifted back to his fae form and was about to aid his downed warriors when he heard crunching from the trees.
That was the sound of twigs snapping and leaves crushing under the feet of the second wave of Kappies starting up the mountainside.
He and his men had no chance.
Lilah watched in horror as man after man began to fall. Without Ferrus in his dragon form, the main cave would’ve been filled with the enemy by now. There were so many of the damn little things. Ferrus needed more men. But they were all down there fighting. They had to have more manpower. Oh shit. Not manpower. Woman power!
The woman had their slings and rock throwers. With how one of those simple weapons blew up a melon in the village, she had no doubt this would work.
Running through the entrance, then up the tunnel to where the women were locked up, she wondered if the ladies could get out from the rock. What was