“TURN ABOUT!” Gwen yelled, “AND ATTACK!”
Her men glanced back with stunned expressions—but none hesitated to execute her command. All of her ships slowly turned around and sailed headlong, straight for the Empire fleet.
The Empire commanders of the dozen or so ships before her stared back, baffled, clearly not expecting this; they immediately scrambled to man their cannons.
And that was exactly what Gwen wanted them to do. She knew that if she came close enough, it would render their cannons useless, the angle too steep to maneuver for firing. It would give Gwen and her people the advantage, forcing their ships to battle each other one on one, cause a backlog, and allow her men to fight hand-to-hand. They could board the Empire ships and kill them in close range—and once they boarded Empire ships, the greater fleet would be stymied, as Empire could not fire upon Empire.
Gwen saw the looks of wonder and consternation on the Empire faces as her fleet approached theirs. They turned their cannons frantically, and she could see their look of dismay as they realized the angle was too tight.
“FIRE!” she yelled.
Her rows of archers fired volley after volley, killing the stunned Empire at close range, while Kendrick and the others hurled spear after spear.
Moments later her ships reached theirs, bumping into them roughly with a jolt—and the second they did, dozens of her men threw their ropes and hooks and tied the ships together, while dozens more, swords drawn, let out a great battle cry and followed Kendrick, Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden, Ruth, Darius—and even, Gwen was surprised to see, Godfrey—as they all threw caution to the wind and leapt overboard onto the Empire ships, Dray following Darius.
At the same time, Reece’s ship reached theirs, and Reece and the Legion joined in, leaping onto Empire ships from the side.
The stunned Empire soldiers barely knew how to react—and it was clear that the last thing in the world they were prepared for was a direct attack.
Gwen’s men sprinted all throughout the Empire ship, up and down the decks, each zeroing in on another Empire soldier, and fighting them one on one. They slashed and stabbed as they ran, spreading through the unprepared ship like a storm. Darius shouted and tackled two soldiers, knocking them to the ground and punching them before wresting their swords away and stabbing them. Gwen could see the vendetta against the taskmasters in his eyes. He was a one-man killing machine as he gained his feet and tore through the ship, killing Empire left and right, Dray at his heels, killing all those that dared come too close.
The men of the Ridge were no slouches either. Led by Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden and Ruth, they landed on the Empire decks with a great battle cry and never slowed, stabbing the stunned Empire left and right, darting through their ranks and meeting soldiers as they charged for them. Kendrick, Brandt, and Atme led the remainder of the Silver, along with more soldiers from the Ridge, and Godfrey, Gwen was proud to see, joined them as they fought brilliantly, wielding swords, axes, flails, and spears, catching Empire soldiers by surprise and hunting them down. The soldiers outnumbered them and fought back intensely—but they were no match for the superior fighting skills of the Silver.
Even Godfrey managed to do well, ducking beneath a sword slash and raising his shield and bashing an Empire soldier in the head. He then grabbed the disoriented soldier from behind and threw him overboard.
Reece and the Legion attacked the Empire ships from the other side, fighting to meet up with Kendrick in the middle. Reece fought like a man on fire, like a man fighting for his homeland, as he ducked and rolled from several slashes, and wielded his halberd brilliantly, it flashing beneath the sun as the stabbed several men. Indra threw her spear, killing two soldiers at once, then ran and extracted it and threw it again. Elden swung his battle-ax sideways and, with a great blow, knocked two Empire soldiers over the rail and into the sea. Matus swung his flail, knocking swords from hands before they could do damage, and then impaling soldiers in their chest. And O’Connor wielded his bow as if it were alive, firing up and down the ship and saving his brothers before they were struck.
Gwendolyn joined in, leaping onto the ship with the others and leading the remnants of her men, Krohn at her side, snarling and killing several soldiers as they approached. Whomever Krohn did not kill, Steffen did, the clanging of swords all around her as he blocked blows on all sides. Gwen ran before her people, raising her bow and firing three arrows, killing three Empire soldiers who charged her from three sides.
Now that Gwen’s men had boarded the Empire ship, she figured they would be safe from the sea of Empire arrows firing down from the fleet. But she was shocked as she heard their distinctive whistling, and as another volley landed on the ship all around her.
Shrieks rang out as soldiers all around her were shot—not only hers, but Empire soldiers, too, killed by their own people, their own arrows, shot in the back. Gwen ducked, barely missing an arrow as it sailed past her and found a target in a soldier’s throat. Another volley came, and Gwen could not believe that the Empire would keep firing on their own people, killing as many of their own men as hers. They were ruthless; they didn’t care about their own men, as long as they killed her.
More volleys came, more shrieks rose out, with nowhere to hide; the Empire ranks began to thin out, and so did hers. Even with her men fighting brilliantly, all of them hand-to-hand, all of them taking the battle to the Empire, even with her having taken control of several Empire ships, still, with all of these arrows, the tide was turning against them. More and more Empire ships were entering the harbor, and as more arrows sailed down, Gwen realized they had taken this fight as far as they could. They had gotten farther, had done more than anyone could have expected of them, but now it seemed, there were no moves left to make.
Gwen cried out as an arrow pierced her arm, grazing it, and she reached over and felt the blood trickling down—and as she let down her guard, two Empire soldiers came charging for her, raising their swords and bringing them down before she had time to react.
The sound of metal rang out and she was showered with sparks as Steffen stepped forward and blocked the blow of one soldier, then wheeled around and stabbed him in the gut. At the same time, Krohn, beside her, snarled and leapt and sank his teeth into the other soldier’s throat, forcing him to drop his sword and pinning him to the ground.
Gwen, her arm bleeding and in terrific pain, many of her men dead or wounded, looked out at the harbor, filled with more and more black, and knew this was a lost cause. They had come so close—and yet they remained so far. They would die here, in this harbor; she knew that for sure.
She looked up and searched the skies, saw no sign of Thorgrin, of the dragon, and her heart sank. She searched everywhere for Argon, but saw no sign of him.
It was all over now.
Then suddenly, scanning the horizon one last time, Gwen saw something that filled her with hope, with possibility. There, gleaming on the horizon, came a fleet of golden ships, approaching the Empire from behind. There must have been hundreds of them, and their banner, she was elated to see, was one that she recognized: the Southern Isles.
She knew instantly that there could be only one person leading this fleet, and as she looked, she saw that he was, indeed, standing at the bow of the lead ship.
There, shining beneath the sun in his golden armor, was Erec.
And he had brought an army with him.
*
Erec rushed forward on the deck of his ship, his veins pumping with adrenaline, flanked by Strom and his men as he led the fleet from the Southern Isles, dozens of ships, thousands of the finest warriors in the world, all ready to lay down their lives to take back the Ring. All ready to leave the Southern Isles behind and make the Ring their new home—or die trying in the process.
As Erec sailed into the Shallow Bay, he expected conflict—yet he had not expected her to be in such dire straits. His heart fell to see her trapped, surrounded, to see thousands of Empire ships blocking their way. He had hoped to reach her
sooner.
His fleet moved quickly now as they hoisted the sails to full mast, his men rowing for their lives, rowing to save Gwendolyn. The one advantage they had was that the Empire did not expect an attack from behind; Erec hoped they wouldn’t spot them coming until was too late.
Erec sailed his fleet into the bay, attacking the rear of the Empire fleet like a sudden storm, and as they bore down on them, he shouted out his first command.
“FIRE!”
Up and down his ships, his men fired arrows and hurled spears, turning the sky black with their weapons as they whistled through the air.
They landed with a deadly precision, and hundreds of Empire soldiers fell. So preoccupied were they with attacking Gwendolyn before them, they were woefully unprepared to handle an attack from behind.
Erec did not give them a chance to collect themselves. He put his ships into full battering mode, directing them all to follow him single file, and to ram a path through the Empire blockade. He led the way, and with his iron-tipped hull, he smashed into the first Empire ship, creating a hole in its side and sending dozens of its men overboard with the collision.
The Empire ship listed and bobbed out of the way, and as Erec’s ship sailed past, all of his men fired arrows and hurled spears, killing all of its soldiers at close range before they could mount a defense.
With an opening created in the Empire fleet, Erec continued to smash through the blockade, his ships falling in behind him, until finally he burst through the other side, into the Shallow Bay. As they passed, Empire soldiers, their ships in close proximity, fired back; some tried to leap onto Erec’s ship, but Erec and Strom led their men in a defense, stepping forward and stabbing and slashing the attackers, kicking them backwards over the rail, back into the sea. The soldiers of the Southern Isles were too hardened, had seen too much battle, for them to be deterred by any foe, and to ever back down. Days like this, battles like this, were what they lived for, what they dreamt about as small children. Erec’s men fought like men with their lives to lose, and soon the Empire soldiers realized what a mistake they made in trying to board. The waters were filled with flailing and wounded Empire soldiers, their ubiquitous splashes filling the air.
Alistair stood on the deck, near Erec, and as more than one Empire soldier broke through the ranks and charged for her, assuming he had found low-hanging fruit, she, standing there poised, calmly raised a palm and aimed it at the men. As she did, the soldiers stopped in their tracks, falling backwards and landing flat on their backs, dead.
Erec glanced over in the thick of battle, and he had no worry for her; he could see her power had been restored, and that she was stronger than ever. The Empire men could not get within ten feet of her.
As Erec’s fleet progressed further into the Shallow Bay, he directed ships to the Empire ships that were surrounding Gwendolyn and her men. He rammed these, breaking through the blockade and finally freeing her and closing the gap, so that he and his ships now joined up with hers, all of them one unified force, facing the Empire together.
Erec saw the thrilled look on Gwendolyn’s face, on the faces of all her men, Kendrick, Brandt, Atme, all his Silver brothers. He could hear the shouts of joy from their men at their having broken through and joined the battle just in time.
Yet they had no time to celebrate. The Empire fleet was regrouping quickly, and bearing down again. Erec turned and saw hundreds more ships filtering into the bay.
“What now, Queen?” he asked Gwendolyn, knowing her next decision would decide the outcome of this battle—and trusting her, as he would her father, to decide well. To pay her respect, after all, was like paying respect to King MacGil, a man whom Erec had dearly loved.
All the commanders looked to Gwendolyn and as she looked back and forth from the Empire fleet to the shores of the Ring, Erec could see she had come to a decision.
“Bring all of our ships close together,” she announced, “and set them on fire.”
Erec was, at first, shocked at her command; but as he watched the Empire ships filling the harbor, he realized it was brilliant. A great conflagration would create a bottleneck, stop up the harbor for a while and keep the Empire forces at bay; it would give them enough time to disembark and swim for shore, and gain them some time, even, to enter into the Ring. They could not possibly win this battle on land, either; but on foot, at least, in the homeland they knew, they could put up the fight of their lives.
Burning the ships was a bold act. It was the bold decision of a fine leader.
“My Queen,” Koldo said, “if we burn our ships, we have nothing left. We have only the Ring, and no other choice.”
Gwendolyn nodded.
“And that is exactly why we should,” she replied. “The Ring is our home now. For life or for death. There can be no other option.”
Erec heard the horns, saw the Empire regrouping, and watched them positioning the cannons on their ships; he knew it would only be a matter of time until they fired.
Gwen nodded, and Erec gestured to his men, as did all the other commanders, and they quickly lit and passed out torches. They all touched them to the sails, to the deck, to any surface they could find. And soon, the ships were all aflame.
A massive wall of flame spread their way, and Gwen joined the others as they all leapt from the ship, jumping out into the sea, thousands of their people entering the waters, swimming for shore, for their new and final home.
Now, they had no choice.
*
Reece cut and hacked his way through the Wilds, elated to be back in the Ring, his heart pumping as he ran alongside his brothers, all of them making their way as fast as they could from the shore. Not far behind, in the Shallow Bay, the Empire, he knew, was regrouping, pursuing, and making its way closer with each passing moment. Reece and the others did not have a second to lose.
As Reece ran alongside his Legion brothers and Stara, Gwendolyn, Kendrick, and all the others, he hacked at the brush and was amazed at how overgrown the Ring had become since they had left. Huge branches blocked the path, scratching them every which way, and as he went, he held onto Stara’s hand with his free hand; she still weak from her journey.
It was surreal to be back in the Ring again, and it was surreal, after all this time, to be back at his sister’s side, to be reunited with his brothers, Kendrick and Godfrey, with the Silver members, Erec, Brandt, and Atme. He was anxious to spend time with them—but now, there was no time. They were all too busy running for their lives, trying to distance themselves from the Empire and reach the Canyon.
He knew they were in a desperate situation; as he checked back over his shoulder, he saw great plumes of black smoke rising on the horizon, what remained of their burning fleet. He could already hear the shouts and horns in the distance, and he suspected the Empire had already gotten around the burning ships and reached the shore. He suspected that soon enough they would reach them, and that it would only be a matter of time until they were vastly outnumbered on land.
Reece looked ahead, already running for what felt like hours, covered in sweat, and he knew that soon they would arrive at the Canyon. But then what? The Shield was no more; they had nothing to protect them from the hoards of the Empire. Even if they managed to cross the Canyon, they would all be killed inside the Ring, or forced to flee it again. He wondered what Gwendolyn had in store.
As he ran, Reece sensed motion out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly he spotted a beast, tall, the size of a gorilla, with smooth, green skin, long claws, and glowing red eyes, leap out of the woods. It leapt right for Stara, and Reece reacted. He approached, swung his sword, and sliced it in half before its claws tore her apart. It had been the tenth such beast he had killed in the last hour, the road littered with the carcasses of these things. As if their people didn’t have enough to worry about, they now also had to consider the thousands of beasts that roamed the Wilds.
Through the thick trees, Reece caught glimpses of the sky, and he searched it, hoping for a si
gn of Thor, of Lycoples. He missed his best friend dearly.
But he was nowhere to be found. Reece missed his friend, but he was resigned they would have to fight this final battle on their own.
They turned a corner, and as they broke through the dark woods, Reece looked out and was awestruck at the vista before them: the Canyon. The sight left him breathless, as it had always done. Looking at it now, it was like the first time he’d ever laid eyes upon it—a huge chasm in the earth, stretching nearly as far as the eye could see, mist swirling inside it. It made him feel tiny in the scope of the universe.
They ran for the Eastern Crossing, an endless bridge spanning the Canyon. In the past, the idea of crossing to the other side would have made him feel safe and secure, knowing that when they crossed, they would be protected by the Shield. But now, with the Shield down, it was like any other bridge, leaving them as vulnerable to attack as anywhere else.
They all came to a stop, congregating at the base of the bridge, Gwendolyn out front as they all looked to her. It was a huge group of people, comprising Kendrick and the former Silver; Erec and the men of the Southern Isles; Gwendolyn and Koldo and the exiles of the Ridge; and, of course, Reece himself and his Legion brothers. It was an entire nation ready to start life again, bent on re-entering the Ring.
“Women and children first!” Gwendolyn called out. “The elderly, the young, and all citizens who cannot fight—all of you cross now, enter the Ring. The rest of us, all those who can fight, will stay here and guard your way until you have crossed.”
“You must not!” a citizen yelled out. “Come with us! The Empire advances with a million men, while there are but hundreds of you. How can we cross and leave you here, to your death?”
Gwendolyn shook her head firmly.
“Cross!” she commanded. “Go deep into the Ring, find refuge. We will kill as many of them as we can. Perhaps they will stop with us.”
“And if you do not succeed?” asked another citizen.
Gwen looked back, somber, serious in the silent day, the only sound that of the howling wind. Reece could see the resolve in his sister’s face.