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

roar continued, a howl so loud he felt it deep within his bones.

But down on the valley floor, something was happening.

Cam had to stare for a few seconds before his brain caught up with his eyes. The rocky ground looked like it was made from waves. It bubbled and frothed, clumps of dirt flying into the air. The ground shook and rolled toward his army and Cam watched as the men lost their footing beneath the ripples.

“She’s breaking the shield wall!” Cam yelled over the noise. “Arter, damn you, signal them! She’s breaking the wall!”

Arter roared at his men and managed to wave some flags, but it was inept and useless. The howl kept going, seemingly forever, and Cam stared in horror as the front line of men began to topple and stumble and break. Shields fell from position, and the wolves threw themselves forward in a mad surge.

“Felin!” Miuri’s shout drew Cam back to himself. Miuri ran toward Felin, grabbing at her arm as Felin tried to run forward. Felin’s eye were wide and unfocused, like she couldn’t control her actions at all. Miuri managed to grab her and wrestle her to the ground, pinning her there, but Felin continued to struggle.

Cam’s jaw tightened as he turned back to the army. The wolves broke through the front line in the center and spilled toward the second and third line. They hadn’t formed up, and he knew they were going to fall.

The roaring stopped and the land became stable again.

But it was too late. The shield wall shattered and the wolves spilled through.

36

“I have to go down there.” Cam pulled his father’s sword from its sheath.

“Cam, wait,” Miuri said.

Felin stopped struggling. She let out a wild groan as Miuri backed off. Cam hesitated then trotted to their side, his sword held off to the side as he knelt down beside them.

“Felin?” he asked.

She looked up, blinking slowly. “Cam,” she said.

“What happened?” he asked. “Are you okay?”

Miuri sat next to Felin, breathing hard. “She sure can fight,” Miuri said.

“I don’t know what happened,” Felin said. “I was just… something happened, and…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “It was the roar. It was Lycanica. I had to answer.”

Cam glanced at the guards behind them and saw more than a few giving them strange looks. He shrugged it off and reached out to touch Felin’s hair. She nuzzled against his hand and chewed on her cheek.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I think so,” she said.

“I’ll watch her,” Miuri said. “Go, do what you need to do.”

Cam stood and gripped his sword. “Arter,” he said. “Bring half the guard. The rest of you stay here. Signal when the Elves join the fight.”

Cam turned to descend the hill and join the fray. The center was getting pummeled as the wolves overran them. Cam saw them desperately trying to reform the shield wall in the center of their ranks, but every time they managed to get some semblance of order, the wolves would throw themselves in another wild charge.

The left and right flanks held, but just barely, bolstered by the heavy divisions. They wouldn’t matter though, not if the center couldn’t hold.

He began to stride forward. Arter and half the guard joined him. Wind billowed through his father’s leather armor and he silently sent a prayer to the Urspirit, begging for guidance and help.

When they were halfway down the hill, and the scream and commotion of the fight was almost deafening, a bright flash made Cam stumble to a halt.

At first, he wasn’t sure what it was. Cam turned and grabbed Arter, yanking him forward. “Did you see that?”

“I saw it,” Arter said. “But I don’t—”

Another flash of bright orange light.

“What was that?” Cam asked.

“Fire,” he said. “That was fire, just like yours.”

Cam felt his chest surge. “Are you sure?”

But another huge gust of fire screamed through the ranks of wolves. It stabilized this time, and instead of dissipating right away, it continued to grow.

The conflagration centered on the wolves driving their way into the middle of his army.

“Theus,” Cam said. “Urspirit helped us, it’s Theus down there.”

“Theus?” Arter sounded shocked. “I didn’t know…. I didn’t know your father taught him.”

“He didn’t,” Cam said, laughing wildly. “I did!”

The fire burned bright and hot. Cam could almost feel its heat. Smoke billowed into the sky in sheets as the wolves turned to cinders and ash beneath its intensity. Theus burned a hole in the wolves and forced them back enough for the rest of his army to reform a proper wall.

“Send a guard back,” Cam said. “Signal the left flank to send their third line to Theus.”

“Yes, sir.” Arter shoved one of the younger guards and sent him running. “What do we do?”

“We join the fighting,” Cam said. “Theus still might fall. I don’t know how long he can keep up that magic.”

Arter grunted and nodded.

Cam continued forward at a trot. They reached the bottom of the hill and came to the back lines of the center column. The men looked bloodied and broken but determined. Cam could feel the heat from Theus’s magic on his skin. He waded through the men, pulling and pushing them aside. They parted for him and a cry went up, Shaman! Shaman! The chant was barely loud enough to hear over the screams of wolves and the crackle of flames.

Cam found Theus standing at the front of the line with his staff outstretched. He poured fire forward, his eyes lit up with ecstasy and rage. Cam stepped forward with Arter and the guards at his back.

“Theus!” Cam yelled.

Theus didn’t respond. More fire rolled forward, thick orange and white columns that rolled forward in waves.

“Theus!” Cam yelled again. “You have to let it go!”

Theus half turned and recognition flickered in his eyes. His spear dropped, and the fire fell away.

A strange silence descended as smoke and ash blew in the wind.

“Cam?” he asked.

Then he doubled over in agony.

“Oh fuck,” Theus groaned.

Cam gestured. “Get him,” he said. “Bring him toward the back.”

Arter