Meta Gods War 3 by B. Miles (the ebook reader txt) 📕

Any one of them could finish him and doom the whole Mansion to ruin.

And yet he felt more alive and in charge of himself than he ever had before.

He only hoped that feeling could get them through the nightmares ahead.

17

The forest swayed around Cam. Trees shivered in the wind. He could smell fresh pine and dirt. His boots cracked over dead twigs as he walked at the head of his guard formation. Arter stood close to his shoulder and Janter stood on Cam’s other side.

Key led a formation of light infantry ahead of them. Five hundred men in leathers and shields marched through the forest. It sounded like a hive of bees buzzing in a winter cavern.

They moved down a slight slope toward the bottom of the valley.

The forest continued to rustle. Wind blew loose hair from Cam’s head. He tried to tuck it back but the wind pulled it loose a second time. His hand gripped his pommel and his nerves skittered along his arms and legs.

Key called a halt up ahead. The trees thinned into a rocky expanse that rolled toward a wide, shallow stream. Beyond the stream, arrayed in loose ranks, wolves stalked from between the stones and bushes. Cam halted his formation and kept the high ground as Key began her march again. She brought her men to within twenty yards of the stream and stopped.

“Will they fight?” Arter asked. His voice was tense and soft.

“I don’t know,” Cam said.

“How many do you reckon?” Janter asked.

“Shut up,” Vorn said. “You can’t just ask the General questions, you know.”

Janter bristled and bumped shoulders with his twin brother. “I can too. Dad just did it.”

“Dad’s the Captain,” Vorn said. “Shut your face up.”

“But it’s just Cam,” Janter said.

“Boys,” Arter barked. “Shut your damn mouths.”

Cam smiled a little. He felt like he was back in the Medlar village again. Janter and Vorn were inseparable back in those days. Cam couldn’t remember a time when he saw either one alone, even though they were constantly at each other’s throats.

“I’d guess six hundred,” Cam said. “Maybe more. I can’t be sure.”

“I think you’re right,” Arter said. “Even numbers.”

“But they’re on the other side of the stream,” Cam said. “And I know Key won’t cross it.”

“Just wait and see.”

The wolves stalked forward. They didn’t move like a Human army. Their numbers were jumbled and uneven, stalking in small groups of three or four. Cam guessed those were something like miniature packs, or little squads within the greater host of their army. The wolves had to have some way of organizing, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to fight effectively at all.

But Cam knew they could fight. He’d seen it himself.

The wolves continued to approach. Key’s men fell into a tight shield wall and waited. They looked like an iron and wood turtle halfway out of its shell. Cam felt his own hands tremble as he watched the wolves continue to come forward, not slowing down, not showing any sign of hesitating.

“They’re still coming,” Janter said.

“What are they gonna do?” Vorn asked. “That stream’s ten feet wide.”

“Maybe they don’t mind getting wet.”

“It’s cold,” Janter said. “They don’t want to fight soaked through.”

“Boys,” Arter said. “If I have to tell you again, I swear I’ll send you both down there.”

“Yes, Father,” the twins said in unison.

Cam tried to keep the smile from his face and failed.

Down on the field, Key’s men lowered their spears. He could hear Key shouting orders and saw her blond hair blow in the wind as she marched within the formation behind the third line. Her voice barely made it to his ears, and he couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was clear enough: steady, steady, steady.

The wolves kept coming.

“My god,” Arter whispered. “They’re not slowing.”

“They’re going faster,” Cam said. “They’re charging. But right into a stream?”

Key’s men braced themselves. Cam could see their uncertainty.

The lead wolves made it to the stream bank. Cam expected them to plunge into the water and stomp across, getting their legs and underbellies soaked in the process.

Instead, they jumped.

“Holy shit!” Janter said. Cam felt the men around him bristle.

The wolves flung themselves into the air. Their long, lean bodies hurtled over the stream, seeming to hang in the air before smashing back down to earth at the far bank.

Each wolf jumped. Some landed short and had to scramble up the far side, but the vast majority made it with ease. Cam watched Key’s men take a few steps back.

“Push forward!” Cam shouted. He took a few steps toward the host down below. “Push forward!” He saw Key running up and down the lines, screaming something indecipherable.

But her men continued to back off as the wolves landed and gained their footing.

If they rushed the wolves and charged as they tried to land, they’d be able to take the bank and slaughter the wolves. But instead, they hesitated.

The wolves roared forward.

“Fucking Urspirit help us,” Janter said.

“Shut up,” Arter barked.

Cam watched as the first wave of wolves smashed into Key’s men. The line buckled, but it didn’t break. The wolves jabbered and snapped their jaws over shields and spears. Screams echoed through the valley. Men impaled wolves, tossed limp bodies down to the ground. More came and the corpses began to pile up.

Some men fell. Cam watched them topple, get dragged out from the line, get torn to shreds. The men in the back stepped up to fill the gaps. More and more men were torn to pieces, and Cam watched in horror as the column began to move backwards.

More wolves threw themselves across the gap as their comrades won them space.

“They’re going to get overrun,” Cam said. “Her lines aren’t long enough. She didn’t expect them to jump.”

“What can we do?” Arter asked.

Key ran along her lines and Cam watched as the rear men began to push forward. The front lines fell, one after the other, and the reserves were forced into the fighting. Key stretched her wall out as wide as she could