[THIS STORY WILL BE TAKEN DOWN ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2024]
He had hunted me, captured me, and locked me in a tower.
Season 3 'Of Crows and Thorns'
***
While in RISING, Tabitha discovers something peculiar that may assist Nelle in her plan to escape the...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A makeshift battering ram, crudely fashioned from rock had been gouged from the cavern floor. Its pointed end fizzed and crackled with powerful magic, ready to tear apart our stronghold.
The Children of the Harbinger burst into motion.
They charged fast. The battering ram ripped through the darkness, burning a bright glow in a straight line, arrowing not for the dead center of the shield wall, nor aiming at a random spot on the shield wall either, they were aiming right at me.
"BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!" Jiao bellowed.
The battering ram hit—
A thunderous boom exploded in my ears.
The wall jolted inward. Shuddered. Warped with the strike.
The warriors pulled back and thrust forward. Their power and speed were amplified by the dark magic charging in the air, in the battering ram itself.
It slammed in viciously—
The battering ram took to the shield like a monstrous hammer.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The magical barricade started shuddering and shivering and creaking like a siege engine was pounding at the door of the Keep in the old days.
The attack came quicker.
The battering ram pistoned faster and faster and faster.
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
All the wounded, anyone who could stand on their own two feet rushed in behind Petra, Mela, and myself. They shoved themselves behind us in rows, arms slung around their colleague, tucking their heads down and digging their feet in, powering forward like rugby players in a scrum. Bracing up the shield wall. Trying to keep it strong and solid.
"What are we going to do?" Mela cried as we were heaved back.
The wall faltered.
My heart stuttered.
A terrible noise made my blood run cold. I glanced up, my eyes rounding as a deep fissure cracked a winding path through the magical barricade.
I watched in horror as the shield of magic ruptured, fracturing into spider webbing, like shattered glass on a windshield. The battering ram struck once more and the shield wall exploded inward—
Its force blasted right through our ranks, knocking us all from our feet. We scattered like bowling pins. The air-hardened shields unlocked and were flung wide.
I was sent flying backward—
My skull cracked upon rock. The bones in my shoulders and hips throbbed in agony.
I shook my head, my eyes watering as I got to my feet, swaying dizzily as the world seemed to swirl, the sounds of war and pain muted and distant, blurred and distorted. Searing pain burned across my skull and a trickle of blood dribbled down my forehead, over an eyebrow to splash upon a dirt-stained cheek.
