Fireteam Delta by J. Halpin (ebook reader that looks like a book txt) 📕

Asle turned to find Synel in the hallway, a small crowd of traders behind her.

Synel gave Asle a slight bow. “It’s good to see that you are well.”

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Summers looked down from the wall to the forest outside. For the last week, they’d taken to marksmanship training on the actual walls they’d be defending. That had been Cortez’s suggestion, and it was a good one, if only to familiarize the recruits with the place in which they’d be fighting.

He saw Nowak wave from his station on the other side of the gate. Cortez and her squad were stationed in the gatehouse itself, making the most obvious target for the siege the most well-defended one.

Most of the refugees had realized that fact by the trenches and pits that peppered the way. So naturally, they’d massed their own defenses in front of the gate itself.

Summers caught movement from the tree line, and he saw a few of his recruits glance in its direction.

He held up a hand. “Hold fire. They might be civilians.”

Summers stepped forward to see a group of elves coming from the tree line. They were riding something that resembled a shaggy horse, and were riding adjacent to the walls.

Scouts?

“Take them out.”

Summers nearly winced as the cascade of gunfire washed over him.

The first shot saw the rider fall from his mount, scattering the others. They weren’t fast enough, as the next volley resounded. Most of the riders fell.

One, however, wasn’t heading back to the tree line. He was heading to a small group of refugees in the distance.

He was trying to use them as cover.

“Shit. Cease fire. Cease fire. Pat, gun, now.”

Pat looked up at Summers before handing him his rifle. Summers took aim, carefully, and fired.

The man fell, and the refugees in the distance gaped as the riderless horse came to a stop in front of them.

Summers looked through the scope of the rifle. The rest of the men were either dead or about to be mobbed by about ten refugees apiece.

He handed the gun back to the man beside him.

It looked like the war was starting.

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“Thank you, but I don’t want to leave.” Asle sat beside Synel in an empty bedroom. The woman had somehow bought her way through the inner walls of the city. Now, she was offering to spirit Asle out once the conflict began.

From the muttering around the castle, that would probably be soon.

Synel sighed, thinking over her words. “Asle, I don’t think Rhodes will keep his deal with your friends. He’s only interested in his own success. Men like that are not people you can make deals with.”

“I know.”

“Then let me help you.” Synel looked down her.

“Why?” Asle looked at the woman. “Why are you doing this for me?”

Synel considered that. “Because you’re a smart girl, and I’d hate to see that go to waste. I’d hate even more to see you killed because I convinced you and your friends to come here.”

That took her by surprise. Maybe she’d misjudged the woman.

“Thank you. Again.” Asle gave the woman a slight bow. “But I can’t leave them behind.” Asle stood. “I told them I’d stay, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Fine. But if you need anything while I’m here, just ask. I don’t have many strings to pull, but I can at least provide some measure of protection.”

“You don’t need to worry. I’m not the one in trouble.” Asle had to repress a smile. “He is.”

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“Look at you, solving problems for me!” Rhodes strode up to the wall Summers sat atop.

“Rhodes, we need to get down there.” Summers was taking cover behind a parapet, trying to eye the forest in front of them. It was getting dark, and soon it would be nearly impossible to see. For most people, anyway. Summers had the advantage of whatever weird shit was happening with his body.

So, he could see what was being assembled nearly four hundred meters away.

“And why’s that?”

As if on cue, a loud thwap resounded through the forest, and a cluster of rocks impacted against the wall. Summers winced, knowing that there were people on the ground below that wall. He just hoped they’d gotten clear.

“Because I think they have a trebuchet.”

Chapter 25: Contact

Summers felt the familiar weight of the rifle in his hands.

It felt comfortable.

“We should be going in force,” Summers suggested. “Nobody on the wall can cover for us if we’re in the way.”

“They have spears. We have guns,” Rhodes countered. “Once we hit the tree line, we’re a grenade away from solving our little problem.”

It wasn’t a surprise to Summers that Rhodes decided to take the matter into his own hands. After all, their guns were likely the only reason the city even stood a chance. If they died out there—or worse, if their weapons fell into the hands of an elf who had the brains to use them—it could spell the end of Rhodes’s little kingdom.

They’d each taken four men from their squads, so fifteen, including Rhodes himself, were now heading toward the gate.

Summers had decided to bring Pat, Orvar, and the twins. The four looked rightfully terrified, even as Rhodes regarded them. There was no bowing anymore. Likely, they’d realized that the man who had been their savior was throwing them into a fight they weren’t ready for.

Another stone hit the wall, followed almost immediately by a second that caused the brickwork near Summers’ head to bulge.

After the first attack, the enemy had only sent men past the tree line to probe their defenses. The trebuchets, however, were massed in front of the gate. And they were, by far, the biggest threat to the city.

“What about the refugees?” Nowak