The Gift of Battle (28 page)

Erec saw the
thrilled look on Gwendolyn’s face, on the faces of all her men, Kendrick,
Brandt, Atme, all his Silver brothers. He could hear the shouts of joy from
their men at their having broken through and joined the battle just in time.

Yet they had no
time to celebrate. The Empire fleet was regrouping quickly, and bearing down
again. Erec turned and saw hundreds more ships filtering into the bay.

“What now,
Queen?” he asked Gwendolyn, knowing her next decision would decide the outcome
of this battle—and trusting her, as he would her father, to decide well. To pay
her respect, after all, was like paying respect to King MacGil, a man whom Erec
had dearly loved.

All the
commanders looked to Gwendolyn and as she looked back and forth from the Empire
fleet to the shores of the Ring, Erec could see she had come to a decision.

“Bring all of
our ships close together,” she announced, “and set them on fire.”

Erec was, at
first, shocked at her command; but as he watched the Empire ships filling the
harbor, he realized it was brilliant. A great conflagration would create a
bottleneck, stop up the harbor for a while and keep the Empire forces at bay;
it would give them enough time to disembark and swim for shore, and gain them
some time, even, to enter into the Ring. They could not possibly win this
battle on land, either; but on foot, at least, in the homeland they knew, they
could put up the fight of their lives.

Burning the
ships was a bold act. It was the bold decision of a fine leader.

“My Queen,”
Koldo said, “if we burn our ships, we have nothing left. We have only the Ring,
and no other choice.”

Gwendolyn
nodded.

“And that is exactly
why we should,” she replied. “The Ring is our home now. For life or for death.
There can be no other option.”

Erec heard the
horns, saw the Empire regrouping, and watched them positioning the cannons on
their ships; he knew it would only be a matter of time until they fired.

Gwen nodded, and
Erec gestured to his men, as did all the other commanders, and they quickly lit
and passed out torches. They all touched them to the sails, to the deck, to any
surface they could find. And soon, the ships were all aflame.

A massive wall
of flame spread their way, and Gwen joined the others as they all leapt from
the ship, jumping out into the sea, thousands of their people entering the
waters, swimming for shore, for their new and final home.

Now, they had no
choice.

*

Reece cut and
hacked his way through the Wilds, elated to be back in the Ring, his heart
pumping as he ran alongside his brothers, all of them making their way as fast
as they could from the shore. Not far behind, in the Shallow Bay, the Empire,
he knew, was regrouping, pursuing, and making its way closer with each passing
moment. Reece and the others did not have a second to lose.

As Reece ran
alongside his Legion brothers and Stara, Gwendolyn, Kendrick, and all the
others, he hacked at the brush and was amazed at how overgrown the Ring had
become since they had left. Huge branches blocked the path, scratching them
every which way, and as he went, he held onto Stara’s hand with his free hand;
she still weak from her journey.

It was surreal
to be back in the Ring again, and it was surreal, after all this time, to be
back at his sister’s side, to be reunited with his brothers, Kendrick and
Godfrey, with the Silver members, Erec, Brandt, and Atme. He was anxious to
spend time with them—but now, there was no time. They were all too busy running
for their lives, trying to distance themselves from the Empire and reach the
Canyon.

He knew they
were in a desperate situation; as he checked back over his shoulder, he saw
great plumes of black smoke rising on the horizon, what remained of their
burning fleet. He could already hear the shouts and horns in the distance, and
he suspected the Empire had already gotten around the burning ships and reached
the shore. He suspected that soon enough they would reach them, and that it
would only be a matter of time until they were vastly outnumbered on land.

Reece looked
ahead, already running for what felt like hours, covered in sweat, and he knew
that soon they would arrive at the Canyon. But then what? The Shield was no more;
they had nothing to protect them from the hoards of the Empire. Even if they
managed to cross the Canyon, they would all be killed inside the Ring, or
forced to flee it again. He wondered what Gwendolyn had in store.

As he ran, Reece
sensed motion out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly he spotted a beast,
tall, the size of a gorilla, with smooth, green skin, long claws, and glowing
red eyes, leap out of the woods. It leapt right for Stara, and Reece reacted. He
approached, swung his sword, and sliced it in half before its claws tore her
apart. It had been the tenth such beast he had killed in the last hour, the
road littered with the carcasses of these things. As if their people didn’t
have enough to worry about, they now also had to consider the thousands of
beasts that roamed the Wilds.

Through the
thick trees, Reece caught glimpses of the sky, and he searched it, hoping for a
sign of Thor, of Lycoples. He missed his best friend dearly.

But he was
nowhere to be found. Reece missed his friend, but he was resigned they would have
to fight this final battle on their own.

They turned a
corner, and as they broke through the dark woods, Reece looked out and was
awestruck at the vista before them: the Canyon. The sight left him breathless,
as it had always done. Looking at it now, it was like the first time he’d ever
laid eyes upon it—a huge chasm in the earth, stretching nearly as far as the
eye could see, mist swirling inside it. It made him feel tiny in the scope of
the universe.

They ran for the
Eastern Crossing, an endless bridge spanning the Canyon. In the past, the idea
of crossing to the other side would have made him feel safe and secure, knowing
that when they crossed, they would be protected by the Shield. But now, with
the Shield down, it was like any other bridge, leaving them as vulnerable to
attack as anywhere else.

They all came to
a stop, congregating at the base of the bridge, Gwendolyn out front as they all
looked to her. It was a huge group of people, comprising Kendrick and the
former Silver; Erec and the men of the Southern Isles; Gwendolyn and Koldo and
the exiles of the Ridge; and, of course, Reece himself and his Legion brothers.
It was an entire nation ready to start life again, bent on re-entering the
Ring.

“Women and
children first!” Gwendolyn called out. “The elderly, the young, and all
citizens who cannot fight—all of you cross now, enter the Ring. The rest of us,
all those who can fight, will stay here and guard your way until you have
crossed.”

“You must not!”
a citizen yelled out. “Come with us! The Empire advances with a million men,
while there are but hundreds of you. How can we cross and leave you here, to
your death?”

Gwendolyn shook
her head firmly.

“Cross!” she
commanded. “Go deep into the Ring, find refuge. We will kill as many of them as
we can. Perhaps they will stop with us.”

“And if you do
not succeed?” asked another citizen.

Gwen looked
back, somber, serious in the silent day, the only sound that of the howling
wind. Reece could see the resolve in his sister’s face.

“Then we shall
die together in one last act of valor,” she replied. “Now go.” Gwen gave a
command to her men, and they stepped forward and prodded the people onto the
bridge; but the people stood there, clearly not wanting to leave Gwen’s side,
devoted to her as a leader.

Koldo stepped
forward and faced them.

“By the
authority of my father,” he boomed, “King of the Ridge, I command my people to
go! Cross that bridge!”

Yet his people
stood there too, unmoving.

“And all of you
of the Southern Isles,” Ere called out. “Go!”

Yet his people
stood there, too, none willing to budge.

“If you die
here, then we shall die here with you!” someone yelled back, and there came a
shout of approval amongst the people.

Yet suddenly
Reece heard a noise behind him, one that raised the hair on the back of his
neck, and he turned to see, breaking out of the woods, into the clearing, the
Empire army. It was an awe-inspiring sight—thousands of them broke through the
Wilds, letting out a great battle cry, swords raised high, and closing in on
them. Behind them, there emerged thousands more; it seemed as if the entire
forest were filled with them, row after of soldiers marching ahead, looking
like death itself had appeared for them.

With their backs
to the Canyon, the exiles of the Ring, the Ridge, and the Southern Isles—all of
them—were trapped. They had nowhere left to run.

“GO!” Gwen
shrieked, facing her people.

This time, her
voice carried a great authority, and this time, they listened. The women and
children, the elderly, the crippled, all those citizens unable to fight,
finally turned and began to run across the bridge, heading for the mainland of
the Ring.

“Close
positions!” Gwendolyn yelled out to her soldiers who remained behind.

Kendrick and his
knights, Erec and his warriors, Alistair, Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden and their
knights, Reece and his Legion, her brother Godfrey and his friends, Darius,
Steffen—and all the warriors who could fight—all of them came in close,
hardening in a tight wall around Gwendolyn, all of them blocking the entrance
to the bridge, bracing for an attack.

Reece, standing
beside his sister, turned to Stara and Angel, who still remained by his side.

“Go,” he urged
Angel. “Go with the others!”

But she stood
there and shook her head.

“Never!” she
said.

Reece turned to
Stara.

“Go,” he said.
“I beg you.”

But she looked
at him as if he were crazy—and with a distinctive ring, she drew her sword.

“You forget who
I am,” she said. “My father was a warrior; my brothers were warriors. I was
reared on the Upper Isles, a nation of warriors. I am a greater warrior than
you. You can run if you wish—but I am staying here.”

Reece grinned
back, remembering why he liked her.

As the Empire
thundered closer, all of them stood there, all of them united, all of them
prepared to make one last stand together. They all knew they wouldn’t make
it—and yet none of them cared, and none of them lost resolve. Just being able
to stand here on this battlefield today, Reece knew, was a gift. Win or lose,
they had been granted the gift of battle.

Only one person,
Reece realized, was missing; only one other person would make this all
complete. It was the man his heart ached for dearly, his best friend, his
partner in battle: Thorgrin. Reece glance up at the skies, hoping, wishing—and
yet still, there was nothing.

The Empire
shouts grew louder, their running shaking the ground, as they came closer,
closer… Soon they were but feet away, charging at full speed, so close that
Reece could see the whites of their eyes. He braced himself, anticipating a
terrific blow to come as several Empire raised their sword and zeroed in on
him.

Stara stepped
forward, drew her bow, took aim, and fired—killing a soldier but a few feet
away, the first to draw blood in the battle.

The first Empire
blows came like a wall, like an avalanche. Reece raised sword and shield,
blocking multiple blows at once from all sides. He spun around with his shield
and smashed one in the head, then continued spinning and stabbed one in the
gut. But that left his flank exposed, and another soldier smashed him in the
ribcage with his shield, sending him down to the ground, his head already
ringing from the blow.

The battlefield
filled with the clang of armor, of swords, the cacophony of two walls of metal
smashing into each other, as men fought men up and down the ranks, brutal,
bloody, hand to hand, neither giving in an inch. The air was quickly filled
with the sound of men’s shrieks, as bodies fell and blood stained the ground.

Under Koldo,
Ludvig, and Kaden’s command, the brilliant soldiers of the Ridge did not wait
for the Empire, but charged themselves, leading with swords and axes, felling a
dozen men before the Empire could regroup. As Empire soldiers reached them,
swinging for their heads, they ducked and let them fly right by—then spun around
and slashed, letting their momentum send them falling face-first in the mud.
Kaden was especially impressive, blocking a soldier’s blow before it killed his
brother Ludvig, then stabbing the man in the gut. Ludvig looked at his younger
brother with surprise and gratitude.

“You saved me,”
Kaden said. “You didn’t forget me in the desert. Did you think I really would
not pay you back?”

Erec led his men
of the Southern Isles with a different strategy, all of them lined up in their
golden armor, perfectly disciplined, one fine-tuned unit as they stepped
forward and, on Erec’s command, all hurled spears together. A wall of spears
sailed through the air, felling dozens of approaching Empire—and causing the
Empire soldiers behind them to trip and fall on their corpses.