Chapter 467 (2/2)

A Striker closed in on usting barrier of windmana into fiery bolts fixedwith his bare fist, the lightning orbsers as I looked past the Striker to the rest of his battle group

The twin daggers flew, curving out around either side of the Striker, one arcing toward the Caster while the other flew farther, ai the Striker pulled away in a cyclone of dust, flying even faster than ed forward, pushi+ng a burst of air-attribute mana in front ofballs of lightning cast about in the wind like fireflies, and I flitted between them to drive a rapped fist into his solar plexus

My daggers, which had been hurled off course by the wind shi+eld’s spell, flew right back into le quick slash across his exposed back finished thebolts pelted at ht, two battle groups broke and fled into the town There weren’t enough defenders to stop thelance off my shoulders, and then dove between three htme into a full backflip As I landed, I flicked out with the right-hand dagger The barrier ju between me and the shi+eld, but the er launched froust of air-attributeto move back into place to protect the Caster, but too late, and the man choked in pain and surprise as the blade punctured his chest, shearing straight through hi itself in the shi+eld’s side The cyclone of protective avered, and I ran through it, ju hier opened his unprotected throat

The Wall trembled above me as the Lance and Scythe slaain The flow of h the Wall's physical structure pulsed rapidly, and hail-sized bits of stone rained down on the interior town, clacking off rooftops and bouncing across the street A few bodies tu with a wet crunch

As I searched fortheroups had broken away, running into houses or along the base of the Wall instead of continuing forward into the line of defenders Dozens of adventurers had advanced behind me, and the street was slick with the blood of both Alacryans and Dicathians, bodies strewn about like felled trees after a hurricane

“Pen the s “We can’t let thees whose efforts had been feeding ic “And send extra es were no longer fit to fight, too wounded from previous battles but still able to channelfroh the Wall’s interior I pointed out the direction of enemy troops and shouted orders where it seemed appropriate Most knew me, and those that did were quick to comply

This wasn’t my first battle in the Wall, after all I didn’t like to think of my time here just after the first war, and I enjoyed ainst the army of corrupted mana beasts even less—the battle where Reynolds had died—but I knew the fortifications, and I’d seen the Alacryans’ strategy before

This was different They didn’t have the h the narrow gates and then scattering, a strategy that would get them into the fortification but never allow thereat, even with the Scythe present to punch a hole in the Wall for thelers,” I told several adventurers froed down the street toward us “They’re searching for where he’s hidden Don’t let the back into the fray, I cut down a Striker standing over a fallen adventurer, a youngthe boy to stand, I indicated that he follow ate! We have to close it off”

Men and woed into the press of Alacryans forcing their way through the rubble of the gate and the collapsing arch that had once held it Behind us, a three-story inn collapsed as a wave of force radiated out froh the air over the town

I focused on headhunting their shi+elds, flowing past the fighters like wind over rocks to bring down the men and women that kept the themselves in protective mana, my adventurers made short work of them without their shi+elds As weup the tunnel, stuck there, unable to progress forward against the backs of the soldiers in front of them

A few of the adventurers threw spells into the tunnel, trying to take advantage of having theether, but the density of shi+elds h town, I could hear the sounds of battle as our people hunted down those who had slipped past us Their assault was flagging, the intensity of it diled to force their way through the gates and with each body that piled up, only adding to the barrier

There was a lull, and I realized with so out the cacophony of crashes and explosions that were issuing fro up, I saw her wrapped in a er rappled each other bare-handed She had one of his arht around his wrist, while her legs wrapped around his other ar his neck around viciously

For his part, the Scythe’s body was tre of his pulse could be felt aves ofin my chest with more force than my own heartbeat His lips curled back in a sneer, and his arms closed inch by inch I suddenly feared that he would tear the Lance in half

Then, with a sound like thunder, his horn snapped The burst of round and struck the side of the Wall with such force that it collapsed in on itself, the reinforcingentirely

I watched with horror as a crack ran froate tunnel all the way to the top of the Wall Stone shi+fted with a noise like an earthquake, then collapsed doard, a fifteen-foot-wide section of the Wall falling into the void of the tunnel Distantly, barely visible through the ensuing cloud of dust, bodies were tu doith the stone

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“Move,away as boulders bounced over the rubble and out into the street, deroups of Alacryans

Above it all, the Lance had released the Scythe I could feel the wall ofout from her as she atte it fro half our forces

The one-horned Scythe reeled back, nearly tuony His right ar limply, badly broken, and he wept dark blood fro Wall, a horn suddenly sounded It was a deep reverberation that came behind round before he spun and shot off into the air, flying up and over the Wall and vanishi+ng fro Alacryans on this side of the Wall, and there would be little left of those who’d been inside the tunnel when it collapsed Although I couldn’t see thenatures to know that those outside the fortifications were turning and fleeing back to the Beast Glades

My mind reeled The attack had come on like a suaze drifted to the bullish horn still clutched in the struggling Lance’s hand, but it hadn’t been the Scythe who had signaled the retreat

Cheers went up around me as people started to realize that on and they’d survived I could hear them all the way from the top of the Wall Closest to me, the cheers became shouts for the Lance, her name repeated over and over

I could tell with a simple look that no answers to my questions would come from her, however The ar plates of the black crystal spell that had been shattered earlier, was in ruins, blood covering as nature was fading and spiking dangerously, and her one eye stared around as if she were in a daze, only half hearing the cheers

My feet began carrying ates toward a nondescript door in the base of the Wall, one of es and other essential operations housed within the broad Wall itself As the cheers faded behind ht that they were somehow unearned

The door was open, and several soldiers—Alacryan and Dicathien both—lay dead in the plain stone roo a tunnel into a series of identical labyrinthine passageways, Iup speed as I went until I was practically ju, I found what should have been a secret door hanging off its hinges, smashed inward, the stone face shattered Beyond the door, a narrow, hidden stairs went down in a different direction

Conjuring a gusting barrier of wind that ran just over htly and proceeded down the hidden stairway, circling around and around as it took me into the bedrock on which the Wall had been built Below, I could only sense onea deep breath, I ju to face whoever aiting below, but was brought up short with a gasp

The guard chamber beyond the vault, itself locked and barred, both physically and ically, lay open The room beyond was slick with blood and littered with the corpses of those who had been set here as a last line of defense

“Durden?” I asked, ht My knuckles hite around the hilts of ers

Durden looked up at me from where he sat in the blood His face was smeared with scarlet, as was his arhly into his lap It took a moment to see the features beneath all the blood, and I felt aze up and away froht, I looked past the outer chahtly ajar, and a silvery pink light was spilling out to reflect off the cri aze atteive it, not in that moment—I approached the vault door carefully,wind that spiraled around the blades

“Arthur?” I asked, feeling foolish I knew better than to hope Still, I nudged open the vault door, which protested, its hinges twisted

Inside was the same plain room I had watched Arthur step into a day earlier Solowed from atop the metal pedestal that Senyir had placed at the center of the rooated orb filled the bowl that capped the pedestal, and itself seelowed out through the pure e

Arthur wasn’t there A cold realization spread frouard roo in the lifeblood of those who’d watched over this eht, rushed steps on the stairs drewto ht, just as I had, and she too gasped at what she saw, though the noise she

Now, though, I kneeled beside Durden and carefully wiped away the blood that shrouded Angela Rose’s features Her eyes stared lifelessly, and it was that h the hard shell I was trying toa hand, I pulled down the lids, telling h I kneasn’t true

Durden opened his mouth to speak, but only a raw moan of pure, condensed lamentation bled from his lips

“Arthur?” Helen asked, her voice strained as she took a faltering step forward

I sed heavily, standing suddenly and striding away from the rest of the Twin Horns…both of them that remained “Hopefully fine, wherever he is Because he’s not here, and he never was”

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