Chapter 244 Siege Begins

Chapter 244 Siege Begins
The Ivory Spire stood three miles ahead of us. It was a massive, pristine needle of flawless white stone reaching up into the heavy clouds. It looked like a monument built by a god, untouched by the dirt and misery of the continent below. Surrounding the base of the tower was the capital city, protected by a massive, towering outer wall of smooth grey rock and heavy steel gates.

I stood at the edge of the dark pine forest, staring at the fortress that had been my silver cage.

The open space separating the tree line from the capital’s outer boundary was a flat expanse of dark mud and dead, flattened grass. There was no cover. There were no rocks to hide behind. It was a wide, barren killing field designed to offer the imperial archers a perfect line of sight.

Klaus stood to my right. His broadsword rested easily in his large hand. He stared at the flat mud, his bright sapphire eyes narrowing as he read the terrain.

"Draven cleared the brush," Klaus rumbled, his voice low and tight. "He wants us to walk in the open. He has the high ground and the heavy weapons."

"Can the heavy shields hold?" I asked, pulling my torn hide tunic tighter against the biting morning chill.

"They will have to," Klaus answered. He turned his head, looking back at the tense, silent army waiting in the shadows of the pines. "Riven. Cassian. Advance the line. Keep the shields locked overhead. Do not break formation for any reason. We march straight for the main steel gates."

The massive Outcast leader nodded, his yellow eye fixed entirely on the distant walls. He raised his stolen steel halberd. Beside him, Lord Cassian drew his pristine silver rapier, his aristocratic face pulled tight with grim focus.

The army stepped out of the woods.

The Outcast warriors took the front, hoisting massive, scavenged iron plates, thick wooden doors, and heavy planks overhead to create a crude, moving roof. The Vampires moved directly behind them, using the monstrous, broad bodies of the hybrids for cover.

I walked right behind Klaus. My heavy leather boots sank into the wet mud with a thick, sucking sound. The air smelled of wet earth and impending violence. The silence stretching across the open field was thick and heavy, pressing against my eardrums until they ached.

We made it fifty yards into the mud.

Then, the earth directly beneath the vanguard exploded.

A massive column of blinding white fire erupted from the dirt. The sheer concussive force of the blast hit my chest like a physical blow, throwing me backward. Klaus spun, his large hand snapping out to grab my upper arm, keeping me on my feet.

The noise was deafening. The smell of burning hair, roasted meat, and sharp ozone flooded the cold air.

I looked up, blinking the stinging dirt from my eyes. The Outcasts who had stepped on the hidden magical trap were completely gone. Only charred, smoking scraps of iron and blackened bone remained in the smoking crater.

"Mines!" Cassian yelled, his pristine coat speckled with dark mud and hot blood. "He buried the Emperor's elemental fire in the dirt!"

Before the ringing in my ears could fade, the high walls of the capital answered. A deep, heavy mechanical thud echoed from the stone battlements. Then another. And another.

A rain of massive, thick wooden bolts darkened the pale morning sky. They fell in a steep, terrifying arc, crashing directly into our ranks with the force of falling anvils.

A bolt tore straight through a heavy wooden shield held by a webbed Outcast warrior just ten feet to my left. The thick wood splintered violently. The projectile pierced the warrior’s chest, pinning his thrashing body directly to the mud. He cried out, a high, wet sound that was quickly swallowed by the chaos.

A vampire near the right flank tried to dive out of the way of a falling bolt. The projectile grazed her shoulder.

The moment the metal tip touched her pale skin, she let out a piercing, tearing shriek. Thick white smoke poured from the shallow cut. The metal was not plain steel. It was pure silver.

"Hold the line!" Klaus roared, his voice cutting through the panic. He raised his rusted broadsword, deflecting a falling bolt aimed directly at my head. The heavy impact jarred his shoulder, his boots sliding back in the mud, but he did not fall. "Keep moving! If you stop, you die!"

The bombardment did not stop. The mechanical thuds from the wall came in a steady, relentless rhythm. Draven was not aiming for specific targets. He was blanketing the entire field in a storm of silver and wood.

The Outcasts fell in droves. The heavy silver bolts shattered their crude shields, tearing through their scaled limbs and pinning them to the earth. The Vampires fared even worse. The silver poisoned their ancient blood upon contact, melting their flesh and turning their elegant grace into thrashing, smoking ruin.

The dark mud turned into a thick, slippery soup of red blood and rain.

I watched a young hybrid mother, the one who had carried a mutated child across the dead basin, take a bolt straight through the stomach. She dropped to her knees, her yellow eyes wide with shock as she stared down at the wood protruding from her body. She fell forward, her face hitting the bloody dirt with a soft splash.

My chest heaved. I tasted ash and raw, metallic blood on my tongue. The cold fire of the rot hummed violently in my veins, pressing against my ribs, demanding release.

"We cannot push forward!" Riven yelled over the deafening noise. The scaled leader was bleeding from a deep gash on his cheek, his heavy armor dented by falling debris. "The fire is too thick! We are dying in the mud, Siren!"

"Keep moving!" Klaus commanded.

He lunged forward, grabbing a heavy iron shield from a fallen Outcast warrior. He hoisted the massive metal plate over my head with his left arm, holding his sword in his right. Another silver bolt slammed into the iron shield, the sheer force driving Klaus to one knee. He grunted, the thick muscles in his jaw locking tight against the strain. The dark purple veins of his curse flared brightly across his neck.

"If we stop, he will bury us all!" Klaus snarled, pushing himself back up to his feet. He forced me forward, keeping his massive body positioned between me and the highest watchtower.

Cassian was frantic. The aristocratic lord had lost his cold composure entirely. His velvet coat was ruined, torn by shrapnel and soaked in the blood of his coven. "My court is burning! We have to retreat to the trees!"