Page 205 of War Queen
He swept his eyes over the screams and sound of steel, but the battle raged around him, blocking his view. What direction had they taken her in? He couldn’t see her through the fighting. He couldn’t find her. Defeat washed over him.
He’d lost her. The one person he was supposed to protect, the one person he was supposed to keep. He’d lost her.
“Soren!” Her cry rang above the sound of battle, and he spun. Through the fighting, Salara rode toward him on his own horse.Kal. Phillip rode beside her.
He almost wept.
She reined his destrier up beside him, kicking her foot out of the stirrup so he could swing up behind her. “We have to find Mikael!”
He noticed her left hand dripping with blood, and he pulled it to look. Across her palm were two cuts. Deep.
“They’re not healing,” she said. “I think he’s lost his healer.”
A terrifying thought.
“It’s fine,” she said. “My right’s fine. I don’t know why, but he hasn’t cut it.”
Soren knew why—if he’d lost his healer, he wouldn’t cut his sword hand.
Together they charged back through the Horsemen to where the Kharavian army was locked with Rael. The fortress was overrun, with all armies both inside and outside its walls.
Rael’s numbers seemed less now. He looked across the Raelean forces and noticed some of them fleeing. Despite that, Rael still held strong, although the Horseman joining had turned the tide, and they started losing ground.
“There!” Salara cried.
And then he saw him.
Mikael fought from atop his horse surrounded by his Kharavian soldiers. They battled against a thick ring of the Raelean army around them. Soren was still too far to help him, and he drove his horse toward him.
His destrier plowed through, catching the enemy under his heavy hooves and driving forward. Salara fought as they went. She leaned far to reach as many heads as she could, even one handed, and Soren struggled to keep hold of her. The wind caught her winter mane, and it whipped him in the face. He cursed. Just what he needed—to be blinded by bloodandhair.
And then they were falling.
Soren hit the ground with a force that tore his left shoulder from the socket. As if it didn’t hurt enough. He staggered up. Salara slowly rose beside him. The wind had been knocked out of her, but she was seemingly unhurt. He looked back in horror to see his destrier felled with a spear to the chest.
Phillip rushed to beat back the enemy that swarmed them. Another horse leapt forward, and Soren’s eye caught sight of his farm girl.
Calla loosed arrows at men as they rushed toward them, taking them down before they reached him and Salara. Not a single miss. Soren gritted his teeth and jerked his shoulder back into place. He looked back at Mikael, who was still battling.
“Soren!” Salara cried, and he snapped to see the Blood King bearing down on Mikael on a horse of night. But Soren was still too far to do anything.
“I’m out of arrows!” Calla cried.
Soren sliced through another Raelean soldier, and they raced toward Mikael on foot. Fear rippled through him. They weren’t going to make it in time. They were too far.
Suddenly, an arrow wisped through the air and hit Mikael in the side.
“No!” Soren bellowed, and Salara screamed from behind him.
Mikael stayed for a moment, wavering in his saddle, then slowly dropped from his horse.
Soren barreled forward with a snarl, swinging his sword wide and laying a path of blood and destruction as he tried to bridge the eternity of space between them. He jerked up a spear from a fallen man as he went.
The Blood King stopped just short of reaching Mikael and slid down from his horse, sword in his right hand. Mikael dragged himself back. He didn’t try to stand. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t fight Cyrus, just like the vision.
“Soren!” Salara cried from behind him.
Soren stopped and coiled back with the spear in his hand. The Blood King was within range. He could hit him. He could kill him.
