Chapter 43
FORTY-THREE
Sloan
Sloan ran up the Azra steps two at a time. The wall had been raised and now stood five stories above ground level. Sloan made the trip in under a minute. What greeted her eyes as she glanced over the stone battlements would have tested the resolve of the most stalwart warrior.
Out down the road that led to New Hope, the first signs of the New Hope army could be seen, a swirling mob of black uniforms in the lead.
To Sloan’s right and to the army’s left was the mage engine, a throbbing sound coming from the machine.
Purple smoke muddied the sky above the mage engine as it pumped from the smokestacks.
The face hammered into the front of the steel machine was still in the form of the wolf, but instead of yellow light, a purple illumination now shone out through the eyes.
An army of what Sloan guessed were slaves labored to lay track and rails in front of the massive machine as it chugged along. They were still too far away to tell for sure, but the workers used heavy pieces of machinery to complete in the space of seconds the task that should have taken hours.
The heavy breathing from the army of soldiers drifted on the wind as they moved forward at a trot—a deep, unified grunt like an ancient military unit from the times of Roman soldiers long past.
Sloan took all this in before looking for Croft. The witch wasn’t hard to find. She wore her own armor: silver metal pieces with a white flowing cloak emblazoned with the Azra symbol.
Her hair was tied in a tight braid that fell over her back like a line of fire.
“Archers and rifles first.” Croft looked to either side where soldiers lined the walls.
“Wait until they’re in range. Don’t waste your time trying to take down the mage engine that is beyond any of you.
Focus your fire on what you can hit. Strikes to the body will be useless.
These are vampire soldiers who will heal faster than you can reload.
Our best bet is to hit them in the head and hope that kills or at the very least stuns them. ”
A grunt of approval told Croft the men and women on the wall heard and understood her orders.
As soon as Croft was finished doling out commands, she turned to Sloan. “What do you think?”
“I think she’ll hit us now.” Sloan eyed the mage engine and the tiny ant-sized men and women scurrying in front of it to lay the track and allow it to make progress. “She didn’t march non-stop from New Hope to suddenly arrive and wait.”
“I agree.” Croft rested both hands on the stone wall that came level with her chest. “But there’s another angle to this we haven’t considered. She’ll use those slave workers as shields. She’s going to lay the track all the way to the Azra gates, betting on the fact we won’t kill her slaves.”
A hollow feeling twisted the pit of Sloan’s stomach.
As soon as Croft mentioned the tactic, she understood she was exactly right.
Not only that, but Sloan could also tell what Croft’s answer to this tactic would be.
She wouldn’t hesitate to kill the slaves laying the track if it meant protecting her city.
“You can’t.” Sloan looked over to Croft, trying to come up with a way for the leader of Azra to see the reason in her argument. “They’re being forced to lay the track. We can’t kill them.”
“We can and we will.” Croft turned to fix Sloan with a stare so menacing, Sloan almost looked away.
“I’ll watch the world burn before I let Leah take Azra.
We’re it, Sloan. If they take this city, the Outland will belong to her, and everything I’ve worked for over the last decade will be for nothing. ”
“If you kill those slaves being forced to work, then you’ve already lost.” Sloan’s mind raced overtime, trying to think of a way that would pacify Croft without slaughtering the slaves. “You have to see that. You can’t become the monster you’re fighting.”
Croft held her gaze for a moment longer.
She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to.
Her eyes said it all. Past the intensity was an internal struggle, one Sloan understood all too well.
It was the choice she had made many times as a soldier.
How far did you go? Where did you draw the line in war? Was there a line?
“Then give me an option—quickly.” Croft wrestled her gaze away from Sloan and set her jaw as she viewed the progress the mage engine had already made. “You have a good half hour before they will be in range.”
“In range for what?”
Kade’s voice interrupted the woman. Croft didn’t bother turning around.
Sloan turned to give the shifter her full attention. He was dressed in boots, heavy pants, and a white shirt, and he carried a massive backpack on his shoulders.
“The slave contingent laying the track has to be dealt with without killing them.” Sloan raised an eyebrow in Croft’s direction. “We’re coming up with a plan.”
“Count me in.” Kade shrugged off his backpack and it fell on the stone floor with a loud clang.
“What’s in the bag?” Sloan asked.
“Apparently, Edison and Elwood are on an armor-building spree. They’re giving out protection like candy.” Kade motioned to the bag on the ground beside him. “I’ll need some help getting into my armor when the time comes. So, we’re going to swoop in and kidnap the slaves?”
“What?” Sloan asked, shaking her head at the same time. Kade was more than a boyfriend—she was pretty sure she was in love with the shifter—but at times, his teasing nature popped up during less than appropriate times. “Kade, I need you to be serious. We have a narrow window of opportunity here.”
“I am being serious.” Kade scowled in mock indignation. “Let’s pull a massive kidnapping. We go in under the cover of Croft and her guards—in and out just like last night. The gargoyles can drop us in to wreak havoc while they pick up the slaves and carry them back over the wall.”
“That’s insane,” Croft said, finally speaking to the shifter for the first time. She turned to him shaking her head. “While the gargoyles bring back the slaves, you’ll be out there alone until they can get back. Alone, with an army of vampire soldiers.”
“That’s why you’ll be covering us with your men on the wall.” Kade pointed to the long line of archers and riflemen. “And you can use your magic wand to send yellow bolts at them and all that good stuff.”
The more Kade talked, the more Sloan was beginning to understand his plan. With such a short time and no other options on the table, she was beginning to wonder if she was going crazy for giving Kade’s plan actual thought.
“It’s the only plan we’ve got.” Croft shook her head as though the words left a bad taste in her mouth. “God help us, are we actually considering this suicide mission?”
“Aww, come on.” Kade leaned down to unzip his bag. He began taking out various pieces of armor. “Now come on, girls. I can’t put this on while in my shifter form. I’ll need an adult.”