The Siege Begins

The Siege Begins
Chapter 16

The Siege Begins

The trees stood stock still at dawn, the kind of quiet that was its own threat. I woke to the creak of wood, the smell of damp moss, and the residual warmth of Ronan's cloak tossed over me. Adrian sharpened his sword in the corner, his strokes rough and grumpy. Ronan, standing by the window, scanned the row of trees with the same intensity he'd shown every morning since my resuscitation.

I had thought it another day of hiding. I had thought we had time. I was wrong.

The initial snarl ripped the air like a rents-mouthed tear.

Ronan stiffened in a moment, his hand tightening towards the sword on his hip. Adrian dropped the whetstone, eyes flashing in the direction of the sound, his lips curling into a half-feral grin. "They've found us," he snarled.

The second snarl was nearer—louder. And then sounds of bodies hurtling through bushes, claws scraping bark, and animal growls echoing through the air. I went cold.

Rogues.

Ronan's voice was steady, but I picked up the tension beneath. "Selene, stay behind us."

But I'd already shifted closer, my heart thudding in my ears. I could feel the power thrumming beneath my skin, that wild, uncatchable rush that had nearly killed me once before.

The door burst open before I had time to breathe. The first renegade, enormous and barking, leapt into the cabin. His red-rimmed eyes glared at me, his fur etched with scars—Kael's doing. He dispatched his broken underlings to do his bidding.

Ronan moved first, quick as a razor. One smooth, precise blow, cutting the rogue's motion in half. Adrian second, no hesitation, no restraint. He launched himself on the beast with a roar, fists and claws tearing with wild abandon. Where Ronan was discipline, Adrian was chaos.

They battled alongside one another, and I saw, for the first time, the ways in which they differed. Ronan was by-the-book, a soldier. Adrian was flame—wild, mad, uncontainable.

The cabin rang with the crash of their fists. A third outlaw crashed through the window, glass shattering like diamonds in all directions. And then a fourth crashed through the back wall, wood splintering and dust flying through the air.

They did not come to kill. They came to destroy.

I struggled to hold back. I swear I did. But the power in me fought for release, seething like a storm against my veins. My fists trembled as the air around me began to crackle, invisible but dense, like electric breath before lightning.

"Selene—no!" Ronan's cry cut through the bedlam, slicing through with sharpness. He realized the danger of what I carried.

But Adrian—Adrian's eyes met mine, wild and unafraid. "Make her destroy them!" he roared, dodging a swooping slash of claws that almost eviscerated him.

I could not contain it. The power burst forth in a raw torrent.

The nearest rogue stiffened in mid-lunge, his body jerking as if ensnared in chains of the air. His eyes rolled back to white before he collapsed, pale wisps curling feebly from his flesh. But the shock didn't stop there. It lashed outward, a shockwave that rattled the cabin and flung Ronan and Adrian to the floor.

"Selene!" Ronan's voice was strained, but I could detect the fear beneath it—not of the rogues, but fear of me.

I gasped, clutching at my chest, burning hot tears prickling in my eyes. "I didn't mean to—I can't—"

An outlaw took the gap, attacking me. Adrian cut in with a snarl, slammed the monster so violently into the wall that wood splintered under the force. He tore through its throat with unbridled, merciless force, his face covered in blood.

"You can contain it," he growled at me, his voice low and guttural. "You just don't trust yourself yet."

The battle raged for what felt like hours but was actually minutes. My haven of a cabin shook with the assault. Walls cracked open. Beams crashed down. Smoke and dust filled my lungs with every gasp.

Ronan fought with deadly accuracy, every strike designed to kill with speed. But I saw him falter once—once only—as his eyes flicked towards me, making sure that I was still alive. That momentary weakness came at a cost. A rogue's claw ripped his shoulder, blood pouring instantly.

"Ronan!" I cried.

He stumbled but did not fall. He turned and slayed the creature in one swipe, his jaw ground hard into the pain.

Adrian, however, seemed to live for the kill. With every blow he grew more powerful, every killing fed the wild glint in his eye. But when the other rogue struck at me from behind, it wasn't Adrian who sprang into action. It was Ronan, the battered and bleeding fighter, who moved in the way of the blow without hesitation, taking the blow meant for me.

Something inside me broke.

The energy tore free again, a scream of flesh this time. The last wave crashed down harder, crazier—killing the remaining rogues in a whirlwind of invisible flame. Bodies hit the ground, smoldering, convulsing, dead. The cabin groaned under the impact, splintering wood collapsing as flames ran along broken beams.

There was quiet, but there was no peace.

The cabin—my father's cabin, the only thing that was left of him—roared with fire around us. Clouds of smoke poured out through gaps in the roof. The floor was slippery with blood. I fell to my knees in the wreckage, trembling.

Ronan rested against a broken beam, his chest heaving, blood trickling through his tunic. Adrian remained behind in the darkness, his bare chest, his eyes still burning with savage fires. Both of them alive. Both of them blemished.

And me? I was the storm that had devasted what little we had left.

I slammed my fists against my eyes, shudders of sobs pushing themselves out. "I'll never get the hang of it. I'll kill you both eventually—I'll kill everyone—"

Stop, Ronan grated, his voice harsh. "You are not the enemy, Selene."

Adrian knelt before me, his hands still stained with blood, but his face softer now. "Kael made you believe you're a weapon. But I've seen weapons. You're not one."

His words cut through me, fine and precarious.

And then—movement.

One of the rogues lingered, crawling across the shattered floor, blood flowing from his mouth. His body shuddered beneath the strain of each breath, but his eyes—glowing with vicious triumph—lit me up.

I froze. Ronan moved to put him out of his misery, but the rogue spat blood, his lips curling into a smile that chilled my blood.

"Kael knows…" he gasped, his voice gargling. "Kael knows you're alive."

My heart stopped.

"He's coming."

His form eased. There was stillness in the ruins.

We caught our breath for an instant. The forest outside was too still, as though even nature winced at the words.

Kael knew.

The world I wanted to run into no longer existed. The storm had begun.