A Crumble of Walls (The Kin of Kings Book 4) (39 page)

“Move,” Tauwin commanded.

“He’s not going to,” Ulric said.

Tauwin gasped and stumbled backward. “That voice…it’s you! No, you died.”

“That wasn’t me.”

It was the distraction Sanya needed to take cover around the side of the castle.

“Move your enormous idiot!” Tauwin yelled. “I don’t care right now how you’re alive. I’m under attack.”

“By who? Look around. I see no one.”

“There was someone who can control swords without touching them. I think he came from the sky.”

Ulric let out a harsh laugh. “That’s absurd. You will stand here and have a conversation with me. You owe that to me after what you did.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You asked me when we met why I wear a mask. Now you know. The greed of your family was not lost on me when I decided to assist your father. You both come from a long line of men who care about nothing but power.”

“Ulric, what the bastial hell are you saying? Do you think I had something to do with your supposed assassination?”

Sanya noticed a small crowd gathering on the streets branching out from this one. She was too conspicuous here, so she moved around the buildings to blend in among the spectators. She was confident Ulric would keep Tauwin and his guards busy, but what she didn’t know was what Ulric would do next. Their plan had fallen apart thanks to the surprise atop the castle.
Does Ulric expect me to kill Tauwin here, while he’s protected?
That’s impossible.

Perhaps Ulric was buying time to change the plan. She used psyche to urge the crowd closer until she was in range of Tauwin’s energy.

“I know it was you,” Ulric said. “I’m just surprised it took you this long.”

“Ulric, I had nothing to do with the assassination. I’m telling you the truth!”

Sanya was shocked to find Tauwin was being honest. But if he hadn’t tried to kill Ulric, who had?

Sanya noticed movement from a nearby hill. There were three people at its peak, one with a spyglass, but they were too far away to be a threat. Tauwin’s attacker was one of them, while the spyglass blocked the middle one’s face. The third was older. She didn’t recognize him, though he did look familiar.

The one in the middle let down the spyglass, and Sanya clearly saw Basen’s face. No doubt they were here to kill Tauwin. They must know that if he got on horseback, even these crowded streets wouldn’t impede him enough and he could escape to his army just outside the city. The three men quickly made their way down the hill. Sanya figured the blond had told the other two about her by now, but she couldn’t be as much of a priority as Tauwin, could she?

“I’m getting one of my horses,” the king announced. “You can have one as well and come with me, Ulric. Question me in front of one of your psychics, and you’ll see the truth.” Tauwin stepped toward one of the horses, but Rockbreak’s movements had Tauwin retreating.

“You will not.” Ulric untied the lead from one of the horses and boosted himself onto its back. “You will stay here and die for your crimes. Go, Rockbreak.”

“With pleasure.” The giant drew his enormous bastial steel sword, its multitude of oranges and reds giving it the appearance of a living flame. He beheaded two of Tauwin’s men before anyone else had a chance to move.

Tauwin fell backward and screamed, “Kill him!”

Rockbreak slashed his sword across the chests of two more soldiers, then spun and slashed three more. Swordsmen swarmed him, but his plated breastplate and pauldrons deflected the attacks his sword didn’t.

“Make room!” shouted one of the few archers.

Rockbreak lifted his massive plated arm to protect his head as arrows glanced off him. One struck a horse but did not stick. It was still enough to frighten the animal into rearing up and trying to break free. The other horses became just as scared and the entire stables began to shake, the power of these frantic beasts matching Rockbreak’s.

At the back, Tauwin and his psychic hopped around frantically with their hands up as if hoping to do something yet having no idea what.

“No more arrows!” Tauwin yelled. “Just kill him with your swords!”

The horses began to break free.

“Get one.” Tauwin pushed his psychic toward the escaping animals.

The psychic lifted his hand, and one horse careened over.

“No!” Rockbreak yelled. “You fight me and die!”

He tried to reach Tauwin before the king could jump up onto an unsaddled horse, but the horde of swordsmen got in Rockbreak’s way. They batted at his armor, one getting through to the giant’s side. He backhanded the swordsman and seemed to gain power in his fury as he swept two full-sized men out of the way with his other arm.

Sanya couldn’t let Tauwin escape. She broke out from the crowd just as he leaned down to pull his mother onto the horse.

That gave Sanya time to get there and pain the animal. Its legs buckled as it shrieked, then it reared up, sending Tauwin and his mother sliding off.

“Get it under control or I’ll have you killed!” Tauwin yelled at his psychic.

“Sire, it’s
her
!” The psychic pointed at Sanya in disbelief.

“Kill her! Kill her!” Tauwin’s face was dangerously red.

The psychic took out his dagger and ran toward Sanya. She struck him down with pain before he had a chance to do the same to her. He screamed and coiled on the ground, but what she didn’t expect was his strength even through his agony. The spell hit her suddenly as if she’d run into an invisible wall.

She somehow managed to frighten the horse while keeping the psychic on the ground. Tauwin and his mother chased after the beast, quickly reaching the edge of Sanya’s range. She didn’t have time for this damn psychic. She broke the bastial energy in the air and rose up.

The psychic jumped up as well and shook his arm as he clawed in her direction. “What?” he muttered to himself. Sanya sprinted toward Tauwin and his mother.

“Stop her!” Tauwin yelled to his men.

Five of them blocked Sanya’s path. Had there still been bastial energy to work with, she could’ve pained them all, but the energy wouldn’t be available to her for some time.

She was forced to back away from them as she tried to figure out what to do. She turned and ran her blade through the psychic before he could stab her in the back. She barely pulled it out in time to deflect the first attack of the five swordsmen. They circled her, forcing her even farther from Tauwin. He’d gotten on the horse by then. His mother was holding onto his leg.

“Let go,” he told her as he shook her off. “They’re coming for me, not you!”

Sanya had only a moment to look over her shoulder in the direction Tauwin was pointing to find Basen and the two others rushing toward the king. The blond one took flight to sail over the guards in his way.

Tauwin kicked the horse and rode north. The galloping beast was quick, faster than the flying man. Kithala ran after them but had no chance of catching up.

“Help her, Abith!” Basen yelled, pointing at Sanya. He leapt higher than Sanya thought possible, landing on the shoulders of a guard and soaring even higher. He came down on the other side of them and bolted down the street like an arrow.

“Who are you?” Abith asked as he took to Sanya’s side and made quick work of the first guard to challenge him.

“A friend,” she answered.

They’d never formally met, but Sanya remembered him now. He was the mage instructor of the most skilled casters, like Basen. What he was doing with a sword—a bastial steel sword at that—she had no idea. But god’s mercy, was he skilled. He took on the first four guards as more began to swarm from behind, kicking the dead psychic’s body out of their way.

Rockbreak, covered in sweat, showed no signs of fatigue as he fought at least a dozen others. His armor was dented and breaking apart, blood streaming down one of his legs. But a sea of bodies lay around him.

Every attacker seemed to underestimate Sanya, making reckless moves to get at her and leaving themselves open. But she couldn’t take advantage for long as more veered away from Rockbreak to surround her and Abith.

Soon there were too many. She took a cut along her leg and rolled forward to avoid being sliced in half but lost her sword in the process. Someone grabbed her in a hold too strong for her to free herself.

“Cut her open,” the gruff voice said from behind as two men closed in and pulled out daggers.

The man’s tight grip on her loosened as his head rolled down her face. She fell backward to avoid the daggers, then popped up and jumped away as Abith moved to defend her. But there were so many more still behind her. She ducked and weaved, barely jumping out of the way of an enemy sword that impaled his comrade’s shoulder.

Shooting pain in her leg slowed her. Sanya couldn’t move fast enough and soon took another cut, this one to her arm. She needed to make it through the next few moments. The bastial energy was forming back together.

Rockbreak screamed aggressively from somewhere beside her, and Abith yelped in pain. Both of the skilled fighters were being cut down as she, too, was overwhelmed.

Finally, the familiar feeling of the energy returned. She let out a roar as she pained everyone around her. Unable to pick out Abith’s energy, she felled him as well.

Rockbreak was completely unaffected. But to Sanya’s horror, he stopped killing their enemies.

“No.” He pointed at her. “Let them fight.”

“Idiot,” Abith grunted as he surprisingly fought off her spell to regain his feet. He groaned as he stabbed one man, and another, then a third. “Kill them.”

“Let them fight!” Rockbreak roared. “Or I kill you instead!”

Abith killed five more as the giant started toward Sanya.

She couldn’t keep up the spell any longer even if she dared to challenge him. Tiring, she fell to her knees.

Her attackers rose up, but many began to flee. At seeing some run, the others gave up as well.

“No. No!” Rockbreak yelled, bloody and sweaty, his massive chest heaving with each quick breath. “Fight me!”

“Are you safe here?” Abith asked Sanya as he helped her up.

“Yes. Go.”

He sprinted north. Rockbreak stomped over and pushed her back to the ground. “I want to
kill
you!” he roared. “I told you not to stop them from fighting. You’re lucky Ulric wants you to live.” He started south, in the direction Ulric had gone. “Come on.”

She limped after him, the frightened crowds parting to make more than enough room.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Fueled by adrenaline and bastial energy, Basen felt completely uninhibited by fatigue. The speed of his sprint was one he’d never been able to sustain for more than a minute, but now he felt as if nothing could stop him from getting to Tauwin.

Once they reached the open land of Kyrro, Basen would have no hope of catching up to Tauwin and his horse. But here, with the streets crowded with curious people, Basen had the advantage. It didn’t take long before Neeko descended to run beside him.

“I can’t catch him,” Neeko huffed, instantly lagging behind.

“I will,” Basen called back.

The wall around the capital was fast approaching.

“Move out of the way of your king!” Tauwin yelled at a group of people in front of him.

They obliged, but some threw stones at him. None hit its mark. Tauwin stuck out his foot and kicked a young man who tried to grab him. A woman threw a handful of sand into his face. He yelled out but didn’t fall.

“Move!” Tauwin screamed at the next group, learning his lesson not to state who he was. But these people must’ve heard him from before or recognized him, because they threw even more rocks at him.

One boy had good enough aim to strike Tauwin in the arm.

“I will have you killed!” he screamed at the child. “I will remember you!”

The boy turned and ran, while many sprinted after Tauwin. But the moment Basen stormed past them at a speed they’d surely never seen before, they stopped. Some yelled out in surprise while others cheered. It caused Tauwin to turn for a look.

“Bastial hell!” Tauwin kicked his horse harder, and the animal sped up.

Soon, he reached the wall. “Open the door!” he yelled, then cursed. Basen saw why as he came closer. There was no one there.

Tauwin slowed his horse and then jumped off. He hurried toward the plank of wood keeping the door shut, holding the reins of his horse in one hand.

Basen’s chest was burning from the strain he put on his body. But he would unleash an agony ten times worse on Tauwin. Basen pulled out his wand and slowed to concentrate.

As Tauwin finally pulled the door open, Basen shot a fireball toward him without taking time to aim. It exploded against the wall and scared the horse. The animal shook free from Tauwin’s grasp and darted off. Tauwin started after it as he yelled out another curse but soon gave up and ran out the door.

Basen almost stopped when he went through after the king, horrified by the sight. Tauwin’s cheering army was returning and damn close already! The battle had to be over, as the Academy’s army was retreating. What had to be hundreds of bodies lay between the two armies.