The woman stumbled back with a shout and a snarl, bright red blood already oozing around the razored head of the arrow.\u00a0 Thom and Thordin still weren\u2019t moving\u2014they still stood stock-still in the gap, weapons drawn, staring in blank shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cGates!\u201d I roared as Kellin gave one final hard yank on Phelan\u2019s prone form to bring him safely within the boundaries of our wards.<\/p>\n
Thom jerked at the sound of my voice and started to move, shaking his head hard as if coming out of a daze.\u00a0 He started to move again, eyes lighting on Phelan for only half a moment before he single-handedly slammed the gates closed.\u00a0 Carolyn helped him wrestle the bar into place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell<\/i> is happening?\u201d she yelled up to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHell just broke loose,\u201d I yelled back, then dropped from the wall on the inside of the wardings.\u00a0 Beyond, the screams were starting as the camazotzi<\/i> hit their effective range and began to feel the effects of the power we\u2019d dumped into our defenses.<\/p>\n
Damned glad we buried that copper a few feet out rather than right under the wall foundations.<\/i>\u00a0 I crouched next to Phelan, relieved to find him still breathing.<\/p>\n
Then I kicked Thordin in the ankle until he jumped and swore at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat in the nine\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell is wrong with you?\u201d\u00a0 I demanded. \u201cYou just stood<\/i> there.\u201d\u00a0 I shifted my gaze so my glare included Thom.\u00a0 \u201cYou too.\u00a0 What the hell?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thordin looked shaken and Thom was maybe a little frightened.\u00a0 Thordin glanced toward the sound of screams beyond our walls and swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was out there?\u201d he asked, lips barely moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cMenhit,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what Cariocecus called her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thordin swore softly.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s why.\u201d\u00a0 His nostrils flared as he sucked in a deep breath, then another.\u00a0 \u201cMen touched by true love are powerless in the face of\u2026of\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf her power,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cUntil someone snaps them out of it\u2014usually a woman\u2014they\u2019re powerless.\u00a0 Can\u2019t move.\u00a0 Can\u2019t do anything.\u00a0 One of her monsters could have walked right up and carved my heart out and I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do anything about it as long as they were in her power\u2014and so was I.\u201d<\/p>\n
That<\/i> sent shivers down my spine, my eyes meeting Thom\u2019s.\u00a0 A muscle in his jaw twitched.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Jacqueline?\u201d he finally asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight here.\u201d\u00a0 She crashed to her knees next to Phelan and started to have a closer look at him, at the bloody, oozing rents on his cheeks and jaw, at his shallow, painful breathing.\u00a0 \u201cI went to get his kit, too, when you guys went out to treat with the enemy,\u201d she muttered.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarin!\u201d\u00a0 Davon shouted from above us.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re starting to pile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dammit.<\/i>\u00a0 I looked away from Phelan, gaze sweeping up and down the walls.\u00a0 Most eyes were on me, or looking down at the ground beyond the walls, beyond safety.\u00a0 \u201cOpen fire!\u201d<\/p>\n
The report of shotguns spawned more screams below.\u00a0 Above it all, I could still hear our latest enemy laughing.<\/p>\n
My teeth ground, my jaw starting to hurt from how tightly I\u2019d clenched it.\u00a0 I\u2019d seen her once and already, I hated her.<\/p>\n
Or have you only seen her once?<\/i>\u00a0 I brushed the errant, nagging thought aside and glanced at Jacqueline as I headed back to the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake care of him,\u201d I snapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuh,\u201d she responded, giving me a flat look before she got back to work, Kellin there for an able assist.<\/p>\n
I turned to go back to the wall.\u00a0 Thom grabbed my arm, looking between me and Thordin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about women?\u201d\u00a0 he asked.<\/p>\n
Thordin snorted.\u00a0 \u201cLast I checked, she only had that effect on men.\u00a0 We should be safe enough now.\u00a0 Touched once and broken free, it doesn\u2019t usually happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNice for a one-shot, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thordin smiled grimly.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s usually all it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFantastic,\u201d I said sarcastically.\u00a0 \u201cGet yourselves ranged weapons and get your asses on the wall.\u00a0 The sooner we turn this tide, the sooner we\u2019ll actually have time to figure out what the hell just happened out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled my arm from Thom\u2019s grip and scrambled back up the wall to my perch beside the gates to get a good look at what we were dealing with.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019d initially taken for only a couple dozen camazotzi<\/i> turned out to be at least double that number, enough to leave me more than a little shaken.\u00a0 Where were they all coming<\/i> from?<\/p>\n
Hell.\u00a0 Where did they all hide so we couldn\u2019t find them?<\/i><\/p>\n
Now there<\/i> was an unsettling thought.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s at least fifty, if not more.\u00a0 Where are they coming from?<\/i><\/p>\n
I was afraid we\u2019d find out\u2014too late to stem the tide from coming in.<\/p>\n
If that was the case, we\u2019d be well and truly screwed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The woman stumbled back with a shout and a snarl, bright red blood already oozing around the razored head of the arrow.\u00a0 Thom and Thordin still weren\u2019t moving\u2014they still stood stock-still in the gap, weapons drawn, staring in blank shock. … Continue reading