The Defiance of Vim (Catalyst Book 4) by C.J. Aaron (graded readers txt) 📕

cries had subsided. They stared at Ryl, their beady black eyes never blinking as he moved cautiously toward the wall.

Howls of excitement rose in the distance.

The thunder of heavy cavalry and thousands of boots on the cobblestone street rumbled from the east.

Fay’s animated gestures grew more frantic. Ryl turned, loping back to the wall. He monitored the area around him with his mindsight. The Horde stalled, holding the point where he had forced his assault. He hopped through the rubble of the buildings that had once formed the corners of the courtyard. Within a few long paces, he ascended the steps several at a time. Lord Eligar’s troops scrambled aside as Ryl vaulted across the gap.

Fay was beside him the moment his feet touched the stone walkway of the palisade.

“I have no words for what I just witnessed,” Fay gasped. The moment was uncomfortable. Ryl captured the awed stares of several of Lord Eligar’s troops.

“What did you call me for, Fay?” Ryl snapped, happy to change the subject. He witnessed the reverence wipe from the young lord’s face. His demeanor changed; his expression grew panicked. Fay put his hand on Ryl’s shoulder, turning him back toward Cadsae Proper, angled toward the Estates to the west.

Ryl scanned the city to the west. There was a disturbance amongst the sea of blackened bodies that dominated the terrain. It was as if a great wedge were being driven through the center of the mass. He strained his eyes into the distance.

He gasped as realization of what he witnessed took hold. The alexen in his blood rushed with anxious energy. The throbbing in his arm seemed to swell at the sight.

Churning its way through the densely packed mass of the Horde was a beast that defied explanation. The creature hewing its way through the ranks was massive, standing easily twice as tall as the demons that surrounded it. The Horde that failed to yield before its charges were crushed under its massive weight.

“What is that?” Fay gasped.

Ryl closed his eyes, focusing on the knowledge of the phrenics stored within. Few memories recalled Horde of this gargantuan size. Of the ill-recorded history of the Horde, there had been only one he could locate. In the historical references, the beast had been the ruler, which the millions of harriers and banes followed. Its death at the hands of Taben had sparked the ending to the war. The devastation of the Horde.

Ryl cringed at the sight that followed in the wake of the massive beast. The banes that have been absent up to this point surged to fill in the gap that opened behind it.

“Something not seen in over a millennium, my friend,” Ryl acknowledged. “The Horde favors strength. I’ve seen the harrier cede power to the massive bane. In the time of Taben, all acquiesced to one such as this.”

He watched the beast plod forward. Its lumbering pace was inhibited by none. As it reached the gates to the Estates, the massive beast swung its mighty arm, demolishing the minimal gate that stood in its way. The cracking of stone and timber was audible from the palisade. It crossed the stone square clogged with Horde, unsympathetically crushing any who failed to scramble out of its way in time. Its gargantuan frame disappeared behind the buildings that lined the Kingsway.

The excited vocalizations of its brethren swelled as it passed. They grew louder like a wave of chilling noise from the west.

To the east, the army of the king continued toward the city, unfazed by the demons massing in their midst. Their vanguards had crossed the border of the city already. There was no way that the troops had yet to see the Horde massing in the city before them. Still, with the Lei Guard at the head of the column, they marched into the city, more the victorious army than the defending troop.

“They march as if there is nothing there,” Fay said as he watched the troops move closer to the wall of the Horde.

“Aye, the loyalties of the kingdom have come to bear,” Ryl added. “The Lei Guard, the figurehead for the king’s rule, lead their forces to a meeting with an enemy of legend. What union has been formed, I cannot fathom.”

Ryl watched as the competing forces converged. The army behind the steady wall of Lei Guard faltered though their vanguard continued unabated. There was no way that the Blessing of the King, the life-giving elixir, had been given to all who followed the standard bearers. The uncertainty rippled through the ranks, though their masters kept up a steady facade.

Momentary respite was welcome, though the culmination of the delay was worrisome. The might of both the kingdom and the Outlands had been brought to bear on the doomed port city. Atop the wall of the southern palisade, and in the settlement beyond, a little more than one thousand remained. Even if the army from Cadsae Proper heeded the call of the signal fires and joined their cause, they’d still be outnumbered hundreds to one.

“Fay,” Ryl whispered, “this is not a battle we can win. You can survive this day. Flee now. Flee for the woods. Take as many as you can.”

Lord Eligar looked conflicted at the statement. He turned his head to the north, his gaze lingering on the wisp of dust that remained behind the fleeing citizens. He looked back to the city. The lost city, which now teemed with untold numbers of demons from legend.

Cadsae Proper was dead. He doubted that any who remained, those who ignored their call, survived. Into the devastation now marched the army of the kingdom, the protectors of the realm. They showed little remorse, little hesitance, no animosity as they approached the murderers of their kin.

“That I could, Ryl,” he muttered somberly. “It is unsurprising that the armies of the crown and likely the once noble houses will follow similar orders. Were I to abandon this wall, were I to flee home or anywhere else, where would I