Chapter 73 - The Attack Begins
The explosion came before the light.
Athena jolted awake to a violent tremor that shook the stone beneath her feet. The sound that followed wasn't a horn.
It was impact.
Mage fire slammed into the outer wall with a force that rattled the entire fortress.
Shouts erupted in the corridor.
Boots pounded past her door.
She was already moving before she was fully aware of what she was doing.
Silas was gone from the bed.
The hallway door stood open.
Smoke drifted faintly through the air.
Another blast hit - closer this time.
Athena stumbled into the corridor just as wolves began shifting mid-stride, bones cracking and reforming as they ran toward the gates in massive, fur-covered forms.
The sound was deafening.
Snarls.
Orders.
Stone cracking under magic.
"Athena!"
Kael's voice cut through the chaos.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the direction of the courtyard.
"This way!"
"I need to find Silas!" she shouted.
"He's already there!"
Another explosion rocked the wall. Dust fell from the ceiling in small showers.
Kael dragged her toward an inner stairwell meant for protection during breaches.
She fought him.
Not because she didn't understand.
Because she needed to see.
A massive crash sounded outside, followed by a chorus of snarls and battle cries.
Athena twisted in Kael's grip long enough to look through the open archway toward the courtyard.
And she saw him.
Silas.
Already in motion.
Already fighting.
Wolves surrounded him as mage fire streaked across the air like lightning, slamming into the ground and walls.
He moved through it like he had been born for this.
Commanding.
Dominating.
Unstoppable.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Then-
A blinding flash of white light exploded near him.
So bright she had to shield her eyes.
The ground shook violently.
Smoke and debris filled the courtyard.
Athena's heart stopped.
The smoke didn't clear fast enough.
Dust and ash drifted through the air, turning the courtyard into a blur of gray and orange light.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't think.
She could only stare at the place where Silas had been standing seconds ago.
He should have been there.
He should have still been moving.
Fighting.
Commanding.
But there was nothing.
Just a crater in the stone and wolves scrambling through the debris, snarling and coughing through the smoke.
Her heart began to pound so hard it hurt.
"Silas!" she screamed.
Kael's grip tightened painfully on her arm as she tried to run toward the courtyard.
"You can't go out there!"
She fought him.
Actually fought him.
Her nails digging into his arm as panic clawed up her throat.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
She couldn't see him.
She couldn't smell him.
She couldn't feel him.
And the sudden emptiness where he should have been felt like something tearing inside her chest.
Tears blurred her vision.
"Silas!" she screamed again, her voice breaking.
Kael pulled her back hard, forcing her against the wall as another blast shook the outer gate.
"Stop!" he barked.
But she didn't hear him.
She didn't hear anything except the roaring in her ears and the sickening thought repeating over and over in her mind.
He was right there.
I saw him.
He can't just be gone.
Her knees nearly buckled.
Her chest felt like it was collapsing inward.
She had just found him.
Just begun to feel safe.
Just started to understand what he meant to her.
And now-
Her voice dropped to a broken whisper.
"No... no, no, no..."
Kael's expression shifted from command to alarm as he saw the look on her face.
Not fear.
Something deeper.
Something primal.
Athena stared into the smoke, her whole body shaking.
"Find him," she whispered.
Then louder.
"Find him!"