Kegohr twisted around with wild fury in his eyes and lifted his mace high above his head, For a moment, I thought that he was going to crush Veltai along with the guards. But then, recognition dawned, and he smiled at her. Kegohr backhanded a half-stunned guard to his left with his mace and met her eye.
“Love your work, big guy!” I shouted out to him as I skewered a soldier.
Kegohr ignored me as he and Veltai stood across from each other with battle-lust grins. Sweat glistened on their skin as they covered each other’s backs to face a new pack of water Augmenters. A guard attacked me from the left with a vicious two-handed strike. I parried his blow with the Sundered Heart and rammed him with my armored shoulder. The guard sprawled toward Veltai and Kegohr as the pair moved in unison. They fought off Ice Spears and frozen whips, defended each other as attacks came from the sides, and created a single force of destruction from two bodies in harmony.
Vesma appeared at my side with a Flame Shield on her arm. She flicked blood from the head of her spear and thrust it behind me to claim another life.
“They’re keeping us boxed in too well” she panted.
An Ice Spear slammed into my shoulder, forced to me to steady my feet, and left a deep crack in my armor.
“Wish they’d taken the option to surrender,” I said. “We could’ve kicked back with a beer in the palace.”
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Vesma shot back. “You love a fight as much as I do.”
Another Ice Spear hissed down from the ramparts, and I shoved her clear of its path. “Yeah, I do.”
“So, what’s your plan?”
“Burst open Horix’s door and kick his teeth in. We need to push further into the building.” I pointed at the double doors leading to the guest quarters. “That’s a good place to start.”
A pack of heavily armored guards fought off Qihin soldiers and painted the pavestones with their blood as I kicked a screaming initiate out of my way toward the guest quarters. These new guards had silver streaks on their helmets and wielded ice-encrusted longswords and shields.
“Once someone’s inside, they’ll have to pull troops back to stop us running riot through the guild house!” I shouted to Vesma.”Gives everyone else their chance to get in.”
“Right behind you.”
“I’ll come with you,” Kumi said behind us. “I’ll do my best to keep your weariness at bay and heal your wounds. You need to be fresh until you reach Horix.”
We took up a triangular formation. Kumi and Vesma stood behind me while I took point. We advanced purposefully across the courtyard with flames flowing from our blades as we cut through the troops who stood in our path. Kumi channeled her water magic into me and Vesma, keeping our spirits and energy high.
Shields and spears blocked our path as we fought our way to the doors of the hall. Slithers of ice hurtled down at us from the balcony above. One caught Vesma in the shoulder but Kumi immediately healed the wound. I cut down a pair of guards with a ripple of Acidic Cloud and two mighty strikes.
Our comrades came behind us and covered our backs as we advanced. Faryn’s Strangling Roots and Plank Pillars covered one flank while the whirling death machine of Kegohr and Veltai scared back attackers on the other. But still the bulk of the guild forces kept formation in front of us. Their numbers were so much more than I’d expected.
A metal polearm lunged at my head with a tip coated in the frost of ice magic. I turned it aside with my blade and stabbed at my attacker. She brought the poleaxe around quickly to parry, and there was a clang as our blades met. I struck low to draw out her defense, and she flicked her weapon down. I stamped on the poleaxe as it came near the floor, and its head snapped off. I stabbed her in the side as she stared in shock at the broken stump of her weapon.
That bought us another two feet of ground and divided the enemy further.
There was a shout from behind us. I turned my head to see Qihin warriors stream through the gates and over the walls. The guild’s attempt to hold the tide at its outer defenses had finally collapsed and now, our reinforcements poured in with grim determination.
Beqai strode in among his warriors. He had a trident in his hand and moved with incredible speed as he slashed down one of the guild’s elite guards with a single strike. The king used the weapon to direct the flow of battle and emphasize his orders as he ripped through the forces of Horix. The king was a conductor in a symphony of destruction.
“Push the center!” he yelled. “Break down their doors. Find the trident!”
Though the battlements of the outer wall had fallen, Ice Spears and arrows continued to rain down from the windows and balconies.
Beqai raised his trident into the air and sang a slow, rising song. Mist coalesced in a thick layer above our heads. The rain of death faltered as the Augmenters and archers lost sight of their targets. Those who kept shooting hit their own side as often as ours. It was their only advantage in this fight, and they were desperate to keep it.
The mist swirled and eddied. It formed into strange and disconcerting shapes at Beqai’s gestures. Figures appeared and vanished to distract the guild warriors as they struggled to hold their ground.
“Beqai!” a cold voice echoed from above the mist.
There was a flash of fire that burned a hole in the swirling cloud. Guildmaster Horix stood on a balcony above us. Flames flickered from his right hand while ice crackled across his left.
Cadrin hadn’t lied. Horix was an elementalist. But there was no sign of the Depthless Dream. Beqai was right. The Guildmaster hadn’t yet managed to
