Wylde Magic | Book 3

Thirty Six: Evacuate

For every fae creature we passed in the streets running toward the wall where the Summer court crept behind our enemies, three more were running the other way towards the designated point for evacuees. 

My boots were slick against cobbled stones still damp from last night's rain. Wet leaves stuck to walls, signs, rooftops, and everything else in the city on fire with autumn colors, though now with far more brown than I'd ever seen it before. 

Thanantholl was falling in more ways than one. The very trees mourned Baeleon's passing to the extent that I now spotted barren branches where there had been none before. And now the walls were under assault by the Winter court and Bara Khalja's horrid army of abominations. And the sad truth was that there was likely little we could do now but remove the most vulnerable civilians and watch the rest of it fall. 

Our footfalls were loud and rushed as we raced to the spot where we would push through to Aithne. I glanced at Schula, hoping she was right in her trust for the Summer court to help us. Technically they were cutting down our enemies from outside the city as surely as we were from within, but after our encounter at the outpost I wasn't so sure where Aithne's motivations might come from. 

So I clenched my jaw, squared my shoulders, and faced forward by Schula's side, ready to tear open a hole in the enemy.

And by the Mother and Stars, there was a lot of the enemy.

We hadn't reached the low cliff yet. Hadn't even come close, when we could see clear as day where the unnatural movements of the dead as they clamored over each other to reach the heights above my beloved Thanantholl, my home, and descend into the streets below.

"Fire!" A fae soldier yelled from in front of the oncoming enemy, and a line of bows released their arrows into the dead. Most hit, few stopped the bodies from their path. Without completely capacitating them, injuries didn't appear to stop them. 

I watched one particular arrow fly, piercing the eye socket of one such body. My stomach twisted violently when I saw that it wore a dirty, tattered Autumn court tabard. Ours. It was one of ours, from the battle in the valley.

"Don't look at them," Schula said, taking my hand. "Just... just look at the big picture. Don't try to look at the details."

I nodded, numb, and we rushed to the line of able fighters awaiting the enemy descent. 

"Lady Schula, and the Wyde Witch," one of the warriors announced, causing more heads to turn our way. 

"We need to punch through to the outside," Schula said. 

"Are you mad?" Snapped the one who had called for open fire on the enemy. "We need to repel them, not open the wall for them!"

I gestured to the wall they continued to clamor over, pulling down the earth and stone as they tore their desperate way into Thanantholl. 

"If we don't act soon there won't be a wall to defend anyway," I argued. "We just came from Varthas, we are to find an out for the evacuation, and we choose here."

The sirens still sounded in the background, adding a panic to the chilled air. The fae creatures standing here, firing arrow after arrow, and tending to the injured all heard. And none argued.

"Can I ask why here?" The warrior asked, less sharpness to his tone this time.

I gestured to the wall. "On the other side of the enemy from this point is a group of Summer court, fighting their way in."

Recognition crossed his features. "And the enemy of our enemy could be an ally."

"We need to get the ones who can't fight to safety before anything else," Schula said. "Let our warriors rise up without worry for the civilians."