Chapter 183: Chapter 183 A Tomb Of Earth
Phoebe’s POV
I knew about the explosive materials because Perry had mentioned them during his war lessons.
The strategy wasn’t even mine—Perry had given me the foundation, and I’d just tweaked it to fit our situation.
He’d walked me through every piece of terrain in the central city, explaining how to turn geography into a weapon against enemies.
The land could work for us if we played it smart.
Back then, Perry had only shared these details because I’d gotten so worked up about him leaving. He’d tried to calm me down by saying everything was handled, walking me through how the plan would unfold.
During his explanation, he’d covered the explosives and how to use them against terrain like ours.
What the king hadn’t counted on was me actually putting it to use in real combat—or that I’d been hanging on every word.
"Nothing’s happening," Austen muttered, watching the mountain tremble before going still again. No sign our plan was working.
Please break. Break.
I held my breath, watching the shock fade as enemies found their footing and charged forward again.
"SHIFT!" Austen’s roar cut through the chaos as he took command. "Get the queen to safety!" He barked orders at Samuel and Justin to guard me.
We were holding the second gate now.
Three gates stood between enemies and the capital. Warriors defended the first gate, citizens manned the second, and the third enclosed farmland where we grew grain.
The enemy had smashed through the first gate—the strongest one. After that, the second and third would crumble like paper.
Unless a miracle happened and the explosion triggered the landslide that would bury their entire shifter army.
But it wasn’t looking good. We’d have to defend this second gate, which was nowhere near as solid as the first.
Everyone knew if this plan failed, the second gate would buy us maybe minutes before we had nothing left to hide behind. They outnumbered us completely.
I pressed my hand to my chest, staring at the mountain. I’d used exactly the amount Perry had specified. Plus it had been raining for days—that should make my plan more likely to work, right?
"My queen, we need to go. Come with me," Justin said. I could see him reading the disappointment in my face—disappointment aimed squarely at myself. "My queen, we..."
The ground shook again. Enemies already at the gates stumbled, unable to keep their balance.
Justin yanked me down before I could fall. Samuel stayed close, protecting the two young healers.
"The mountain! The mountain!" A warrior’s shout made us all look up to see the mountain moving!
A massive landslide—bigger than anything I’d ever seen.
"We need to get further inside or we’ll be caught!" Austen ordered the other warriors to abandon the gates and retreat.
The enemies still outside the second gate were trapped—they couldn’t move fast enough.
Some managed to scale the gates, but most were stuck between the first and second gates, unable to run in any direction quickly enough. Too many bodies, too little space.
The sound was bone-chilling—panicked screams swallowed by the landslide’s rumble as it buried everything.
I watched in stunned silence with the other royal warriors as the landslide finally stopped. Everything lay buried under at least fifteen meters of earth and rock.
I could barely believe it. We’d barely survived ourselves—had to sprint deeper inside or we’d have been buried too.
The enemy warriors who’d made it over the second gate looked shell-shocked. Only six of them, while ten thousand of their fellow warriors lay beneath the ground.
Dead, without question.
Even if some had survived, they’d have to dig up through fifteen meters. Impossible.
"We did it..." Austen’s voice was filled with wonder. "How did you come up with this, my queen?"
He stared at the landslide that had swallowed our enemies.
We’d won because of this plan.
I couldn’t answer him—I’d lost my notes somewhere. I was still trying to process that we were actually safe. This was... incredible.
I wanted to tell Perry what I’d accomplished today. I wanted to share this victory with him.
But Perry wasn’t here.
"We did it!"
"The enemies are dead!"
"Dead! We won!"
Warriors erupted in celebration, their victorious cheers echoing as they laughed. The adrenaline rush after facing death was intoxicating.
"You’re amazing, my queen," Samuel said, helping me to my feet.
I wanted to explain that this was all thanks to the king who’d taught me the strategy, but I’d lost my notes and everyone was too busy celebrating.
Even the injured seemed to be healing faster.
But this wasn’t over yet.
