Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Unity Forged In Fire
Rylan grinned, sharp and real this time. "I’ve got a few ideas involving fire and narrow passes."
Lila tugged my sleeve. "We fight together?"
I knelt so our eyes met. "Always. Our family stands as one. That’s the part they’ll never understand."
Thorne reached out and patted my cheek with a sticky hand, as if sealing the promise. Elara copied him from Rylan’s arms, both of them watching me with complete faith. That trust settled deep in my bones, stronger than fear, stronger than rage.
I rose and faced the north again. The horizon looked the same as yesterday, yet everything had changed. Columns of enemies marched toward us carrying ancient hatred and a ritual that demanded my babies’ blood. They believed the curse belonged to them by right.
They were wrong.
I placed one hand on the cold stone and spoke so the kings and my children could all hear. "Let them come. We’ve built something here worth every drop of blood we’ve spilled. When they reach our borders they will find steel, fire, and a pack that no longer bends."
The wind carried my words along the wall. Below, the bailey answered with the sound of weapons being readied and orders called out. The scout waited for direction. Garrick stood ready.
I gave the command that would set everything in motion. "Send word to every outpost. Pull in the outer families. We meet them at the Black River crossing. Make them regret every step south."
The children stayed with us on the wall a while longer as the keep came fully alive beneath us. Lila stood tall between her fathers. Thorne and Elara watched the activity with wide eyes, already part of this world we fought to keep safe.
The northern triad marched with death in their hearts and stolen power on their minds.
We would greet them with something far more dangerous.
Unity forged in fire and love that refused to break.
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We rode out before the next sunrise with every able fighter who could hold a blade. The column stretched long behind me, a living river of steel and fur and grim faces. I led from the front on a sturdy gray mare, cloak flapping against the wind. Darius rode at my right, Kane at my left. Rylan ranged ahead with scouts, his axe catching the early light whenever he crested a rise.
The children stayed safe inside Frostfang under Garrick’s iron watch and a full company of our best. Leaving them tore at me, but bringing them closer to the Black River would have been madness. Lila had hugged my neck so tight before I mounted that I still felt the pressure hours later.
"Come back with stories of how you broke them," she had whispered. Thorne and Elara had simply clutched my fingers with wide bright eyes staring into mine, too young to understand the scale but old enough to sense the departure.
The land grew wilder as we pushed south. Trees gave way to rocky slopes sliced by narrow valleys. By midday the river appeared in the distance, dark water churning between steep banks. Perfect ground for what we planned. Narrow crossing points. High ground on our side. Places where their numbers would choke them.
We made camp on the northern bank’s overlooking ridges. Fires stayed small and hidden. I walked the lines with the kings, checking positions, speaking to every group. The men and women watched me with steady eyes now. The assassin’s blood in the bailey had bought more than loyalty. It had bought belief.
Darius studied the far bank through a spyglass. "Their vanguard will arrive by tomorrow night. Main body a day after. We hit the first ones hard when they try to cross."
Kane tested the edge of his knife against his thumb. A thin line of red appeared. "They expect us to defend but no. We cross first under darkness and take them by surprise on their side of the water."
Rylan’s grin flashed quick and dangerous. "I like that better. Make them fight uphill while their boots fill with river mud. Wonderful."
I nodded. The plan had teeth and bones. We would bleed them at the crossing, then fall back to higher ground and bleed them again. Attrition until their witch-blood leader showed herself. Then we end it.
Night fell cold and clear. I sat on a flat rock away from the main fires with a strip of dried meat and a skin of water. The kings joined me one by one. We ate in silence for a while, the river’s constant roar filling the gaps.
"I keep seeing their faces," I said eventually. "Lila trying to look brave. Thorne’s little hand holding mine like he could keep me there. Elara pressing her cheek to my shoulder one last time regarding me as her safe place."
Darius set his portion aside. "They know you fight for them. That knowledge will keep them steady while we’re gone, my queen."
Kane stared into the dark. "My scars came from my father running from his mistakes. I won’t pass that burden to them. Whatever we do here, we do it clean."
Rylan leaned back on his elbows, staring at the stars. "I used to think love made a man soft. Then those three small wolves came along and proved me an idiot. I’d tear the moon out of the sky if they asked."
Their words settled over me like another layer of armor. The bond carried no fear between us tonight, only clear-eyed purpose. We had already decided the price we would pay. Now we simply needed to make it count.
I smiled and blushed for a moment despite the situation at hand.
We moved at the darkest hour. Two hundred of us crossed the Black River in small boats and on ropes, silent as owls. The water bit deep and icy. My teeth chattered by the time I reached the far bank, but I forced my body still. We took positions among the rocks and sparse trees, waiting.
The northern vanguard arrived sooner than expected. Their torches bobbed through the pre-dawn gloom like fireflies. I watched from cover as they approached the water, confident and loud. They thought Frostfang would cower behind its walls.
I raised my hand. Arrows flew first. Screams answered. Then we charged straight at them.
The fighting turned brutal and close. I met the first enemy in a clash of steel that jarred my bones. He was bigger, stronger, but I was faster and angrier. My blade found the gap under his arm and he dropped with a deadly slash. Another bastard took his place. I fought through a red haze, the kings always near, their presence feeding me strength through the bond.
Rylan roared as he cleaved through two men at once. Kane moved like death itself, knife work precise and merciless. Darius held a section of line with cold command, his sword never stopping.
We broke their vanguard before full light. Bodies littered the bank. We took what supplies we could carry and burned the rest. Then we fell back across the river, destroying the easiest crossing points as we went.
Back on our side, the pack let out a raw victory shout. Not celebration exactly. Relief mixed with hunger for more. I wiped blood from my face and looked at the kings. We had drawn first blood on our terms.
But the main northern force still marched. And their leader had not shown herself yet.
I climbed a small rise and stared across the water at the smoke rising from their ruined camp. The bond pulled tight with the kings as they joined me. Darius’s shoulder brushed mine. Kane’s hand found the small of my back. Rylan stood ready, axe dripping.
"They felt that," I said. "Now they know we bite back."
The river rushed between us and the enemy, carrying blood downstream. Our wounded groaned behind us. Healers moved among them. We had lost twelve good people. The north had lost nearly sixty in that single clash.
It wasn’t enough. Not yet.
I turned to the pack. "Rest while you can. Eat. Tend your blades. They will come harder next time."
As the sun climbed higher, I allowed myself one quiet moment away from the lines. I pulled a small carved wolf from my pocket, one Lila had pressed into my hand before we left. Its edges were already smooth from my thumb running over it.
The children waited behind strong walls. My kings stood with me in the mud and blood. The pack had finally unified under one purpose.
The northern witch-blood wanted to steal our future but we would make her choke on the attempt.
I slipped the little wolf back into my pocket and walked back toward the sound of steel being sharpened and orders being given. The next battle would be bloodier. The one after that worse still.
But every step we took forward narrowed the distance between us and the woman who dreamed of immortality bought with my children’s lives.
She would never reach them.
Not while this river ran red with her followers’ blood.
