Silence was impossible with the crust of snow covering everything. It wasn’t nearly as deep as what had fallen on the Omari property, but there was a good four to five inches to crunch through.
As they came in sight of the outer walls of the Hayashi property, Adrian was returning toward them. He wordlessly motioned for them to head to the east, redirecting them to the hole in the wall Haru had mentioned.
“More guards,” Adrian whispered and resumed the point position.
They didn’t get more than another dozen feet before an alarm was raised. They’d been spotted. A roar went up, sending a chill down Rayne’s spine. The fear that tightened in his stomach failed to ease when one of the Omari dragons on his left shifted and bellowed out an answering roar.
Three more of the Omari immediately shifted while two remained behind to protect Caelan. Rayne’s free hand strayed to the collection of throwing knives strapped to his chest. His fingers slid over the handles as his eyes scanned the area for approaching attackers.
“Rayne, move forward to cover Caelan. Drayce, cover the rear. Be prepared to shift,” Eno barked out.
Rayne soundlessly swapped places with Drayce, who was chuckling to himself.
“Why do I feel like you have more use for me now that you know I’m a dragon?” Drayce teased.
“Because a dragon makes a much better shield than your scrawny human butt,” Eno shot back. “Now move!”
Rayne and Caelan hurried through the snow together. The hole in the wall turned out to be a break large enough to fit a dragon, and quite possibly had been caused by a dragon considering the broken stones and rubble that still lay about the area. As they reached the entrance, a figure stepped into the hole and pointed in their direction with his sword. Rayne didn’t hesitate. He shoved Caelan behind him with the end of his staff and palmed a knife with the other. The flash of silver streaked unerringly through the air and embedded itself deep in the man’s throat.
“Shit, Rayne!” Caelan gasped.
“Your Majesty occasionally needs to be reminded that he has more uses for me than just my brain,” Rayne murmured. And maybe he needed to remind himself that the long months of muscle-aching, back-breaking work he’d done honing his meager fighting skills had paid off.
Rayne led the way through the wall and kneeled next to the man, retrieving the knife. His last breath was a sickening gurgle as blood and air bubbled up through the wound. A painful death, but also a relatively quiet one. He hadn’t alerted others to their presence over the noise the dragons were making.
Moving forward, they hurried to the edge of one of the buildings to peer around. Tall weeds were mostly bent under the newly fallen snow and a few leafless trees edged the property. The layout was similar to what they’d already seen at the Omari and Takahashi compounds. The only difference was the size. The three main buildings arranged outside a central courtyard were much smaller than what the other two clans enjoyed. Even in their dilapidated state, it was easy to see they weren’t nearly as ornate. Their simple design spoke of a smaller, more modest clan who’d fallen under the heel of the Takahashi.
“All the Takahashi dragons are fighting outside the wall,” Caelan observed. “I wonder if they are trying to protect the buildings.”
“They probably don’t know what they are protecting,” Rayne replied. “Masaru seems the type to simply order the place protected at all costs without explaining what they’re risking their lives for.”
Caelan grunted, but any additional comment was stopped as they were spotted by guards. Luckily, these men remained in human form as they rushed their group. Rayne’s knives flashed out one after another, cutting men down. Drayce’s guns barked and Rayne found himself smiling at the familiar sound. He hadn’t realized he’d been missing it in their infrequent fights until the noise returned his ears.
The fighting raged back and forth, with them retreating for cover and then pushing forward when they could steal the advantage. Rayne remained glued to Caelan’s side, careful to protect and support his king, while remembering to stay out of his way. Caelan was more than skilled enough with a sword to protect himself.
When the last fighter was taken out with one of Drayce’s bullets, Rayne hastily wiped the blood from the spearpoint of his staff on his pants and tucked the weapon away. The courtyard was littered with eight bodies of dead Takahashi fighters. Blood melted away the snow and splattered across the dull gray gravel.
Rayne tore his eyes away in time to see Caelan clutch his head and stagger a step. He grabbed the king’s elbow, supporting him. “What’s wrong?”
“Disgruntled gods,” he grumbled. He tipped up his blood-streaked sword. “I didn’t let them come out and play this time.”