Bastial Frenzy (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 4) (20 page)

“Hundreds, I’m sure, and nearly all of them escaped.”

Sneaky bastards.
Zoke found himself thinking in common tongue at times. It was an eerie sensation, one he didn’t like. He had the same feeling when he looked at the Krepps on the opposing side. He was the only one fighting for Kyrro. He knew what they must think. They certainly didn’t understand. To them, he was nothing but a traitor. But it was Zeti’s opinion that mattered most.

Vithos put his hand on Zoke’s shoulder. “If she here, we find and move her safe place.”

“If she’ll allow it,” Zoke replied.

Most of their army was out of the forest by then. Men in armor pushed through to the front. The half-bearded man bumped Zoke’s shoulder with his mallet as he passed by.

“Watch it,” Zoke warned.

The man turned and seemed to notice Zoke for the first time. “You haven’t fled yet. I suppose you must be an ally after all. But let the real men take the front. I have revenge to deal for my nephew.” He screamed and slammed his hammer down into the dirt. The force of the blow throbbed halfway up Zoke’s legs. “They will pay!”

Others nearly the same size as the half-bearded man flanked his left and right sides, although these men wielded swords. Zoke thought it was idiotic to bring a mallet, but he kept that opinion to himself.

Now that their whole army was there, Zoke dug the claws on his toes into the dirt and pushed his heels off the ground to gain some height. He wanted to see what their army looked like in its entirety compared to Tenred’s. Humans stretched in each direction, wider and deeper than the enemy.

We have at least twice as many.
Zoke grinned.
They’re stupid to face us outside their wall.

Zoke wore the blue leather tunic that Warrior Sneary ordered for him. He hadn’t seen the instructor marching with them. However, Zoke had seen Terren several times at the front of their advancing army. He noticed the Human’s blond hair once again among the officers conferring with Hem. But then a shout turned Zoke forward.

“They’re coming!”

The rhythmic chanting had been replaced with the drum of Tenred’s boots as they charged. But Zoke still hadn’t received his orders. Someone screamed to the officers, and they spun to witness it for themselves.

Frantically, they separated, hustling to get to their spots. Zoke felt a smile curl his lipless mouth when Terren stopped in front of them.

“All those with shields, rally to me,” the Academy headmaster announced. He held a shield that was light blue with a gold crown outlined in silver.

The warriors separated. Half-Beard grumbled while he let the other men by.

“Archers, mages, psychics, do as we’ve discussed in case of a charge,” Terren said.

Reela, Vithos, and the others without swords hurried to get into place. They were running out of time. The stampede of steel and flesh was close, the shouts of their enemies booming.

“Other warriors, be ready!”

Zoke remembered the plan. He pushed through to ensure he was directly behind Vithos.

“Brace yourself!” Terren screamed. The warriors in front lowered their bodies behind their shields. “Range, go!”

But all their enemies halted, except a few male Krepps who seemed just as confused as Zoke when they realized their comrades had stopped short. Arrows were exchanged, then fireballs…until the air was clouded by both. The few Krepps who didn’t stop were first to fall, and not many followed. The massive shields held by the men at the front of both lines absorbed nearly all projectiles. Only when the force of a fireball or an arrow was too much would someone fall backward, leaving those behind him unprotected.

Zoke was confused. Why would Tenred charge all this way just to stop short and let the archers and mages do all the fighting? Even the psychics were too far away to be of use.

“Chemists!” Terren screamed. “Shoot the chemists!”

Zoke saw them then, men and women hurling glass vials as far as they could. The vials spun through the air and crashed ten to twenty yards in front of Zoke. He and the others twisted away, unsure of what the substances would do.

Mutterings of confusion spread through the ranks when nothing but smoke arose from the liquid. But Zoke recognized it as the same smoke he’d seen twice before, once atop the Fjallejon Mountains and again within the Academy, which had led to Brady’s escape.

Many of the archers and mages were still firing until Terren shouted at them to stop wasting arrows and energy. The smoke rose high enough to block all but the top of Tenred’s stone wall. But then even that was consumed as it became too dense to see through.

All went quiet. Half-Beard’s heavy breaths were the loudest noise in that moment.

“Stay and be ready,” Terren said.

No one else said a word. A few who’d been caught by arrows or fireballs already were dead. Zoke saw one man trade his two-handed sword for the shield and short sword of the fallen man in front of him. He crouched over the dead body and prepared for combat.

“The cowards have fled!” Half-Beard complained. “They wouldn’t even face us.”

Terren ignored him. “Psychics, do you sense anyone ahead of us?”

“No,” Reela answered.

“No people,” Vithos added.

By then, the smoke made it impossible to see more than one whole person at a time even though they were crowded together.

“What is this?” Terren whispered to himself. “What could Tegry Hiller be planning?”

“Terren! Terren! Where are you?” It sounded like Hem.

“Here.”

“It’s a trap. Move your people back!”

“Get back!” Terren began to shout.

There was a crash somewhere to Zoke’s right. He heard people screaming. By the force of it against the ground, his first thought was it had to be a fireball cast by Doe or Haemon.

No, that can’t be. I would’ve seen them if either was near.

Another crash—this time on his other side. People nearby started bumping into him.

Panic had turned everyone around. They ran blindly back toward the forest, tripping over each other in the smoke. There were more crashes behind Zoke, in front of him, and to each side. Every time, he heard screams.

“They’re launching boulders!” someone yelled.

“Back, back, back!” Terren shouted. “They’ve brought out their siege weapons.”

Suddenly, everything made sense to Zoke. All of it had been a distraction, starting from when they were still in the forest. Tenred’s fighters had killed as many from Kyrro as they could before escaping, but they’d wanted to be chased. Then they’d charged before Zoke’s commanders could devise a new plan, taking them by surprise.

During the charge they’d opened the gate and wheeled out their siege weapons along with the boulders. They’d never meant to hope for victory in armed combat out on the field. The Krepps who didn’t stop had misunderstood the plan.

How many had they killed, and what other trickery did Tegry Hiller have ready? Zoke was beginning to feel anger toward the sneaky bastard Humans. They had no honor to fight in such a way. Haemon and the Krepps had marched right up to the Academy and then attacked. They’d brought nothing but a battering ram and ropes.

But these Humans were irritating. There was no way to know what else they would put in his way. He hadn’t even had a chance to swing his sword and already so many had been killed.

The boulders continued to crash down behind Zoke, though he and the others were deep into Corin Forest again.

“We’ll wait for the smoke to clear,” Terren said. “I must speak with the commander. Don’t leave these woods.”

“Damn,” Alex muttered. Staring back toward the smoke, he was completely still as boulders made the ground rumble. “Damn them.”

Chapter 16:

ZOKE

When the smoke dissipated, Zoke followed Terren toward the edge of the forest for a glimpse. Reela, Alex, and Vithos went the other way, going with Hem to search the rest of the forest around them for traps and enemies.

“I’d expect Hiller to have moved his men back behind the wall,” Terren said.

“What kind of weapon do they have that can throw boulders so far?” Zoke wondered. He’d read nothing of siege weapons, and the Krepps certainly had no experience building them. He’d only heard about them when he’d arrived at the Academy.

“A catapult. Do you know this word?”

“I don’t.”

“I would explain, but I’m sure you’ll see them in the near future.”

“Aren’t catapults what Effie destroyed when she set fire to the fort that Tenred built in these woods?”

Terren carefully continued forward without pause, looking to his sides as he spoke. “Quessa reported that none of you had time to see the siege weapons being destroyed by the fire. Isn’t this accurate?”

“Yes, but I can’t imagine how they would’ve gotten them out of there.”

“Perhaps they rebuilt them or were able to repair them.”

Another question came to Zoke, this one discouraging. “Why don’t we have catapults?”

“We do, and we’re building more. They’re in Kyrro City.”

“Then why not bring them with us?”

“We can’t push them through the Fjallejon Pathway. It’s too narrow in some places and the ground is uneven. We didn’t have enough time to go around the mountains. Our only opportunity to engage Tenred is while the Krepps are retreating. Soon they’ll be ready to attack again. We don’t need catapults to win this battle. We have the numbers as well as the ability to destroy their wall through corrosive potions and battering rams.”

Do we still have the numbers?
Zoke decided not to ask, for he knew Terren wouldn’t have the answer. Their dead hadn’t been counted yet. Many of the bodies would be crushed and hard to distinguish.

They reached the end of the forest. Zoke had pictured the boulders incorrectly. Some were round, as he’d imagined, but most were jagged pieces of rock that looked to have been ripped straight from a mountain. Many were clearly fragmented chunks of Tenred’s wall.

Behind each chunk of stone was a trail of bodies soaking in pools of red and brown. Ahead was an open field. Not one Human or Krepp could be seen, at least not alive. The whole Tenred Army had hidden behind the wall.

Terren sighed and turned to start back into the forest. “The King of Tenred is a vicious man,” he said. “I heard a few things about him from Hem that couldn’t be revealed while we were at peace.”

I’m sure it’s nothing compared to Doe.

“He has the temper of a child, sometimes injuring his warriors during his fits. He’s lied to his own people to persuade them to share his opinions, such as the need to conquer Kyrro. His rivalry with Welson Kimard is the most frightening thing. He’s sworn on many occasions that he won’t stop until Welson is dead, convincing those under him that our king is evil. I can’t fathom how he even came to that belief himself.”

“How would Hem know all this?”

“Many of our spies have overheard what goes on in Tenred’s castle, just as I’m sure many of their spies have been within ours. It’s unavoidable, given our history. But only recently have our psychics become strong enough to sense loyalty. I wish I knew why Hiller feels such malice toward our king.”

Zoke didn’t find himself wondering. “Why are you curious about this? If he won’t stop, then he must die.”

Terren shook his head. “Curiosity is in our nature.”

“Curiosity will bring you nothing but torment and injury. This is taught to Krepps when we’re young.”

“That’s a crime against imagination and creativity. No wonder you Krepps are so serious and dull.”

Zoke nearly spat on Terren’s boots. “We have jokes. Better ones than you Humans.”

“I was teasing you. But now I want to hear.” He paused. “Go ahead. Give me your best joke, Krepp.”

“Now?”

“It’ll be hours before we’re ready to fight again. I have time for one joke before I set my mind on battle strategy.”

Zoke was in no mood for jokes. “You Humans are strange.”

“I’m not ready to laugh with death fresh on my mind. But I’m curious as to what kind of jokes you Krepps think are funny.”

“Your curiosity is annoying. In the wrong setting, a joke is just a riddle with an idiotic answer. I’ll tell you one after we win.”

Terren nodded. After a brief silence, he asked, “Have you spoken with my nephew, Cleve Polken?”

“Yes, but only briefly.”

“You reminded me of him just now, though I can’t say exactly why. It’s something about the way you speak. Not the sound of your voice—yours is unlike any man’s—but the tone, the certainty in your words.”

“You’re not the first to say that.”

“And you’re both stubborn in your virtue, like you can’t be bothered by the mundane.”

“Most Krepps are like this. Perhaps your nephew isn’t like me, but he resembles Krepps in general.”

“He certainly wouldn’t want to hear that.” Terren smiled.

Zoke hadn’t heard Terren talk like this before, and it made him uncomfortable. Terren was the headmaster of the Academy, an officer in this army. It was so different from how he’d spoken when they’d climbed through the secret passage to the top of the Fjallejon Mountains, when they’d prepared for an unexpected battle. It was as though Zoke were back in the tribe, performing his duty of gathering Krepps for punishment and then Doe had asked how his day was going.