Wrath of the Forgotten: Descendants of the Fall Book II by Hodges, Aaron (good english books to read .txt) 📗

he succeeded, only that he tried, just as Cara had tried to save their friends, back on the shores of the Illmoor.

Stones crunched beneath his boots but none of Yasin’s men noticed his approach above the roar of battle. He saw one of the defenders go down, then another, and pressed on. The Gemaho seemed to be gathered around a cluster of boulders, but there was no sign of Cara, or even Erika. Had something happened to them?

There was no turning back now. The remaining Gemaho were outnumbered, but where Yasin’s men attacked with cold fury, they met them with a cool proficiency. Even so, the thugs that had accompanied Romaine on the journey from Flumeer were taking a heavy toll. The Gemaho would not last much longer.

Then Romaine noticed something strange. As one of the Flumeeren warriors attacked, he staggered as though struck by something invisible. Before he could recover, a Gemaho sword took him in the throat. Narrowing his eyes, Romaine saw it happen again to another soldier. Realisation followed and he searched the thrashing bodies for a glimpse of Erika. There was still no sign of her amongst the defenders, but he was sure it had to be her magic. It gave him a flash of hope, though he couldn’t understand how she had tricked the queen. Had Nguyen given her an imitation gauntlet?

Romaine was growing close now, and as the bodies of Yasin’s fighters piled up, he finally caught a glimpse of the man himself. Yasin stood at the rear of his soldiers, crossbow in hand. As Romaine watched, he calmly fired over the heads of his men into the Gemaho ranks, taking a man in the shoulder. Drawing another bolt from the quiver at his side, he began to reload.

Rage touched Romaine and for a moment he longed to throw himself at the cursed warrior. But what would that achieve? He had already failed to defeat Yasin once. In his injured state, he wouldn’t stand a chance now. No, he had to find Cara, to protect her. She was all that mattered.

Where would she be? He had expected to see her somewhere below, but there was no sign of the winged Goddess. Could it be that she’d never been with the group in the first place? Romaine’s stride faltered and he almost crumpled at the thought. But no, Yasin’s spy had talked about the Goddess. So where was she?

Ahead, one of the Flumeerens glanced back and finally saw Romaine approaching. His eyes widened in shock and gritting his teeth, Romaine put on a burst of speed. Caught between the Gemaho soldiers and Romaine, the man hesitated. It was enough, and dropping his shoulder, Romaine slammed into the man’s chest, hurling him back into his fellows.

The Flumeerens staggered away from their comrade while on the hillside above Yasin himself cried out in rage. Ignoring them all, Romaine waved his sword and leapt past the Flumeerens, making for the Gemaho line. The yellow garbed soldiers drew together, weapons raised, but before they could strike a voice called out from somewhere behind them.

“Don’t!”

Erika appeared—not from the boulders but seemingly thin air. Romaine started, so shocked by her materialisation he almost forgot about the armed men around him. But instinct carried him forward and as the Gemaho responded to the Archivist’s orders and parted, he joined them in the line. Spinning, he raised sword and shield, prepared for the inevitable charge.

Steel shrieked on steel as a crossbow bolt struck his shield and embedded there. Thankfully, its razor tip missed the flesh of his arm. Romaine's eyes were drawn to the hillside where Yasin still stood, calmly reloading the weapon. Gritting his teeth, Romaine prayed for the ability to strike the man down, but already the Flumeerens he’d scattered were forming up again.

The Gemaho gathered to either side of Romaine, more than one flicking him bewildered glances, but he ignored them, his attention fixed on the Flumeeren, on Yasin above. Their eyes met and the man sneered, but then the Flumeer were upon him and Romaine had time only for the battle.

A shudder jarred his arm as his shield deflected a sword. Pain tore at his chest and Romaine’s knees buckled. Silently he reached within, drawing on his last reserve of strength, and surged forward, short sword stabbing low. Trapped between his fellow Flumeerens, his foe had no room to manoeuvre and Romaine’s blow took him in the stomach. Blood burst from the wound as Romaine tore back his blade and retreated to his position amongst the Gemaho.

Another of Yasin’s men stepped in to fill the gap and the battle raged on. Despite his early success, Romaine found the others who came against him far more wily, and slowed by his wounds, he struggled to fend them off. Luckily, blows that would have killed him were diverted as attackers stumbled—due to Erika’s magic no doubt, though the woman had vanished again.

Yet even with the Archivist’s magic, the Gemaho were being pressed back, their numbers whittled down by the relentless assault of Yasin’s warriors. Caught off-guard, the ground they defended offered no advantages, and too many had fallen in the first minutes. And Yasin’s arrows continued to do their damage, though he hadn’t managed to strike at Romaine again.

“Romaine!” Erika’s voice rose above the clash of weapons, drawing Romaine’s attention. “We need you.”

Unable to turn his back from the enemy, Romaine stepped back from the frontline, allowing the Gemaho to close ranks around him. Only then did he glance back, though he kept an eye out for more of Yasin’s arrows. There was no sign of the Archivist though, and puffing, he was about to return to the fight when something grasped him by the arm.

“Quickly!”

Romaine flinched as Erika’s voice spoke from empty air. The pressure on his arm tugged him towards the boulders, and still shocked by whatever new magic she was wielding, he allowed himself to be drawn away.

There was a flash of light, and then suddenly the