Rose was knee-deep in a sea of blood, surrounded by shark-fin blades. Kallians confused their own with the enemy and struck down friends and brothers. Their side was no different as blasts of elfin magic struck down enemies and allies alike and knives and arrows thrown by Teris assassins found the hearts of rebels half as often as they reached Medea's men. Only the valkyries, who were carefully trained for this situation, seemed somewhat immune. But even some of those realised they faced against friends as those friends took last breaths.
Unlike the last war, there was no clash of armies on plains. This was nothing but an endless slaughter in labyrinthine streets, blood lying like heavy rain sometimes up to the knees. Abandoned weapons lay on the ground near their dead wielders, but never for long. There was little honour in war like this.
They had tried to be organised. Rose had attempted to stay by Myra's side and defend her as heirs were bound to, but they were soon separated. They was neither order or honour in something like this. Only survival. Only kill or be killed. An endless shower of blood. Her enemies' blood covered her armour like a badge of pride, mixing and intermingling with her friends'. Even her own stained the metal where she had been hit. Her breath was ragged. Her exhaustion ripped into her, a hand constantly reaching for her, trying to pull her into an endless and deadly sea of sleep. Hunger gnawed and roared in her stomach. Pain, dulled by adrenaline and powered by wounds, was an endless backdrop growing stronger by the second. Memories of friends' screams waited in the dark corners of her mind, held back by adrenaline and fear. Soon they would unleash and haunt her. Once the battle ended. If the battle ended. It seemed impossible that it could. Just like the blood, it was an endless sea that she could never escape, an eternity of steel and blood and screams.
She was barely keeping her head above water. So many times, she had almost submerged. A centimetre's different, a moment of weakness, one careless misstep...that would be all it took for everything to end.
A loud crash rang through the air and Rose whirled to see a blast of wind shake an already falling-apart building to the ground. Screams echoed through the air as though foolish enough to stay in the taller towers died first, plummeting to the earth. Her sword-fight with a Kallian officer was abandoned as both rushed, mere ants in front of the falling tower. Endless masses, once divided, rushed together to avoid doom. A gash on her leg made walking painful but she gritted her teeth and sprinted through endless streets, fending off enemies who were stupid enough to be running themselves as she went. The tower hit the ground with the crash and she resisted the urge to close her eyes—
Its landing revealed a ruined wasteland of streets and bodies. Rose were mere inches from the impact zone. The Kallian officer—who had been neck-in-neck with her the whole desperate sprint—lay at her feet, his legs completely crushed under the brick. That could have been her. A mere wrong step, a trip on a random stone, a second's concession to roaring pain...then it would have been her.
Rose dragged his bleeding body out from under brick and brought her sword down on his heart with a single swift, hard blow. He didn't even get to scream. But with his legs crushed like that, all bent and twisted ...it had been a mercy killing. A less painful path to the same dark destination. His blood joined the rest on her amour, glimmering and still bright red in the sun.
It was seconds before the survivors began fighting amongst themselves again. Again, Rose lost herself to the terrible screech of blades, a deadly, aggressive dance of swords. She wielded her curved weapon with everything she had. This wasn't like the sparring and duels of her training. Fancy moves and elegance meant nothing in war. Clever, nimble feet reached out to bring opponents to their knees, metal poles replaced weapons and nails and teeth replaced those. Few hostages were taken and those that were often ended up on the blade of a knife minutes later for trying to run.
YOU ARE READING
Queens & Liars-Sequel to Three Broken Kingdoms (Completed)
Fantasy'She was a blade, forged in the flames that had burned her kingdom.' Book 2 of the Lost Continent Asriel and Miras have fallen. Their legendary armies are gone, their cities burnt to their ground, their people enslaved or murdered. The Empress now r...
