Watching them mesmerized Trynne until one of them was suddenly uncoiling in front of her. She ducked to the side, two swords in her hands, and blocked a blow that had already skewered one of the knights standing near her. Her magic rose to her defense and she blocked his next five attacks before striking him down with a single blow. Another volley of enemy soldiers came up the hill, some landing even higher up the slope. Trynne knew they were going to attack the king, so she began to run up the slope to intercept them. One of the strange leaf-armored soldiers landed directly in front of her, swinging his glaive around in a circle. She dodged to the side, trapped his weapon between both of hers, and kicked him hard in the stomach. He flew backward and then suddenly he was floating in the air above her, like a puppet suddenly snatched up by its strings.
He plummeted down just as quickly, trying to slice her in half.
Trynne had never experienced such an enemy before. The knights of Ceredigion were collapsing all around as the warriors of death scythed through their ranks. Trynne caught that attack with both swords again, then reversed her move and sliced him in the side and neck with her blades. A look of surprise was frozen on his face as he died.
Trynne continued to charge up the hill, her breath coming in gasps as she watched more of the warriors fling over and around her. Running uphill put her at a disadvantage, so she muttered a word of power and lurched up a ley line to the top. The action drained her, but it brought her to the crest, where she found the king surrounded by Espion and his guards. There was a whirlwind of commotion. The fighting hadn’t reached them yet, but it was imminent.
Archers were rushing up one of the hillsides to shoot at the flying warriors, but they dared not loose arrows uphill for risk of hitting their king. The battle raged across the hillside. Trynne stared in dread at the field below, exposed with the fog blasted apart. She saw tiny little specks in the distance, men leaping up to the walls of Guilme. Now it was apparent to all that the enemy didn’t need siege engines. Gahalatine’s army was attacking King Drew’s army and the besieged city simultaneously.
Suddenly more of the leaf-armored soldiers dropped from the sky and the Espion were in hand-to-hand combat with them. King Drew freed his sword Firebos and joined the fray, trying to hold the hilltop against the invaders who had bypassed his entire army to reach him.
And then she saw the flag of the White Boar charging up the hill. It was Severn Argentine’s sigil. He was leading about fifty men, all mounted, and they rode up through the ranks of fallen warriors.
They were heading straight for the king.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Lord Gahalatine
Trynne whipped around, slicing through another opponent while blocking his overhand attack with her second blade. The drain on her Fountain magic was palpable, but the leaching effect was tempered because she was acting in defense of the king. The soldiers of the White Boar were nearly at the hilltop when she heard Severn’s voice ring out.
“To the king! Form a circle! No one gets past. Show these knaves our will is made of iron! Come, lads! To the last man standing, save the king!”
Trynne felt the first flush of relief. Perhaps Severn wasn’t the enemy, but she still had to stay near the king to protect him. She ducked a glaive as it spun toward her head, then butted the warrior in the helm with the pommel of a sword and stabbed him through. The hillside was swarming with enemies, converging on the hill like fire sweeping through grass. The horsemen of Glosstyr barged in, the knights slashing and crowding their way to the hilltop. The leaf-armored warriors hoisted up into the air like poppet dolls on strings before slamming down on the knights and stabbing riders or steeds. The noise and commotion of the battle raged around Trynne as she closed up ranks.
“My lord, we’re surrounded,” Kevan Amrein said to the king in a tone of desperation. His sword was bloodied from the conflict. “Where is Morwenna? We need to get you out of here.”
“I will not abandon my people!” Drew said fiercely, holding the blade Firebos in front of him. Trynne could feel the ripples of Fountain magic coming from it. Since their enemies could leap around like grasshoppers, many continued to drop down from above, and the king was courageous in his own defense. With each stroke of his blade, he knocked back several men, as if the sword brought the force of a waterfall with it.
Severn brought up his steed, its lips lathered with foam.
“What happened down there, Lord Severn?” the king demanded, not looking over his shoulder.
“I know not,” Severn replied. “Owen suspected treachery and sent me back to guard you.” Another warrior plummeted from the sky and Severn kicked his stallion forward to engage. The glaive clanged off Severn’s shield before the old king took off the man’s head in a counterstroke. Trynne’s fears for her father bloomed. She hadn’t known his strategy, but she did know that he had planned to test Severn’s loyalty. Despite the strangeness of what had transpired between Fallon and Morwenna, it appeared the former king had passed the test.