The Forsaken King

She eventually looked away, dropping her eyes back to my chest, her fingertips tracing circles on my warm flesh.

Then I heard it.

The alarm.

The horns blared, almost carried away on the wind, not nearly as loud as they normally would have been.

Her eyes flicked up as her fingers stilled because she heard it too.

I was out of the bed in a flash, donning my clothes at lightning speed.

“What’s happening?” She was out of bed too, putting her clothes back on.

“We’re under attack.” I secured my armor in place, my black breastplate, my vambraces, my gloves.

“In a storm?” she asked incredulously, practically shrieking.

I grabbed my weapons, my swords, shield, and my ax. “It’s the perfect opportunity.”

“You can’t see more than five feet in front of your face.”

My boots were last, snug-tight.

She went for the sword I’d left behind and picked it up.

My eyes flashed. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“You said we’re under attack—”

“Stay. Here.”

“You know I’m good with a sword.”

I didn’t have time for this. “I said stay here.”

“I’m not going to run!”

I stormed out the door and yanked it shut behind me. Without looking back, I ran through the wind, knowing the exact location of where the horn had blared. Shouts sounded in the outpost, commands I couldn’t make out.

I made it to the stairs and ran to the top, snow and ice hitting me in the face. “What’s happening?”

Dylan was at the top, lighting the fires that were contained in towers of steel. “The Teeth. And they brought a yeti with them.”

Fuck.

I sprinted down the wall, calling out orders. “Boulders, now!”

Ian ran at me from the opposite direction. “There’s a yeti—”

“Yes, I heard.” I had to shout to fight against the speed of the wind. It was dawn, so light was limited, but it was better than sheer darkness. “You got eyes on him?”

“We did, but he disappeared.”

I clapped him on the shoulder. “You take the north. I take the south. Where’s Mother?”

“With the archers.”

“Let’s do this. And don’t fucking die.”

He nodded and ran past me.

Now that the alarm had sounded from all points of the outpost, the men manned the walls, prepared the boulder slingshots, and lit the beacons. Only half of the flames survived the wind, but it was better than having none at all.

The storm was too strong for arrows. Every time we fired, they were taken by the wind. That was exactly what they wanted. If we didn’t take them head on, they would storm the wall and make their way inside.

That would be fine—if we could see.

Rooooooaaaaaaarrrrrr

My head turned to the main gate.

Boom.

The gate wasn’t going to hold with another one of those strikes. I sprinted back the way I’d come, moving to the north where my brother was.

Boom.

The gate was open by the time I made it, Teeth pouring in, biting into anyone in their path. The blood was the only thing I could see.

Roooooaaaaaaarrrrrr.

One of the cabins was gone, ripped apart by the monster, a streak of white in the shadow.

Then I saw it—a splash of yellow.

It was a streak, like piss in the snow.

That’s when I realized what had happened. Someone had tossed their chamber pot onto the monster, and now he was visible.

I jumped down over the edge and landed hard in the mound of snow. My ax was in my hands, and I swung for the first Teeth I saw, striking him down with a quick blow of my ax. Three of them came for me at once, and I smacked one between the eyes with the hilt of my ax, knocking him out before I swung at the other. The last one got my fist right in the side of his skull.

Another streak of piss was thrown on the yeti, making him a yellow beacon in the sea of white. “Take him down!” I cut through a sea of Teeth as I made my way closer, eager to sink my blade into his foot so he would fall just like a tree.

And then I saw her.

Ivory.

With a chamber pot in her hands.

I didn’t have time to scold her. Didn’t have time to react. Didn’t have time for anything. I swung my ax into his foot, as deep and hard as I could go.

Rooooooaaaaaarrrrrr.

He spun toward me, bright blue eyes meeting mine through the snow.

Ivory emerged on the other side of the beast, stabbing him in the other foot.

He cried out again, and this time, he swung his entire body back to her, his hands reaching for her.

My ax swung again and again and again. I chopped into his ankle like a tree—until he toppled over.

“Ivory!” I called into the wind, unable to see her.

Teeth were on me again, and I knocked them out cold as I sprinted to the last place where she’d been.

The Teeth had her, arms pinned behind her back as they tried to drag her away.