Meta Gods War 3, B. Miles [best english books to read for beginners .txt] 📗

sent two guards out. Theus resisted at first then allowed himself to be led away. Cam put a hand on his friend’s shoulder as he passed, a little smile on his lips.

“You’ll be okay,” Cam said. “Trust me, it’ll pass.”

“I feel like there’s a hammer in my skull,” Theus said. “Oh, Urspirit, it’s horrible. I just want… if I can just use…”

“Don’t touch the priori again,” Cam said. “Trust me. I’ll be back to check on you soon.”

Theus grunted and was pulled back through the lines.

Leaving Cam standing a few feet in front of the shield wall. Ash and dirt and blood stained his boots as he turned toward the field. The smoke cleared as another wind swept forward.

And a host of wolves faced him.

Cam smiled and held his sword forward as the wolves began to charge.

He waited. They gained on him, fifty yards, thirty, ten. Cam could feel Arter and the guards back off toward the wall.

But when the wolves were close enough to pounce, Cam unleashed more fire than Theus could ever dream of.

The power swept through him and made him gasp with the sudden jolt of it. He let the fire roll down his sword then form a thick wall before him. He pushed the wall forward, sweeping away any wolf that came close, turning them into ash, vaporizing them in an instant. The wolves were swept away for fifty yards again, and Cam flicked his sword to the side, releasing the spell. He grimaced as the Need hit, but he weathered it and turned to the men behind him.

“Forward!” he shouted.

He had to get them back into position. They were behind the front lines of the left and the right flanks, and if they didn’t close the gap, the wolves would be able to flank the army’s wings.

The shield wall marched. Footing was bad and uneven, but the fire had turned most of the corpses into ash, which made it easier. They stomped through the cremated wolves until another wave of the creatures stormed forward.

Cam could tell they wouldn’t make it. The wolves closed too quickly and the wall was too clumsy to hurry. He could use magic again, but it would cripple him, and he thought he might need the power again at some point.

“Hold!” Cam shouted as he stepped back and joined the front line. His guards melted in behind him and joined the second ranks. Arter was right on his back, a hand on his belt. “Hold!” Cam yelled again.

But before the wolves reached them, a new shout rang through the valley.

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The charging wolves slowed to a trot. Some turned their heads back, staring out across the field toward the tree line.

“Forward!” Cam shouted and began to push and march. The rest of the column responded and surged ahead to close the gap.

More shouts came from across the field, back toward the trees, where the bulk of the wolf army was encamped. Screams reached him on the wind. Cam looked toward the flags and found them waving like mad, flashing green.

“The Elves,” Cam said, looking back at Arter. “That’s the signal.”

Arter looked up and a joyous laugh tore from his throat. “My god,” he said. “They’re really here.”

“Forward, come on!” Cam yelled. The line surged again, and although the wall lost some cohesion, they managed to reach the position equal with the wings once again.

They formed up and faced the wolves as the creatures stood seemingly frozen midway across the field, their snouts in the air, sniffing at the breeze.

Cam turned to Arter. “Send men,” he said. “Send them to Key and Stavar and Brice. I’m in command of the center now, and they need to push forward as hard and as fast as they can. The Elves just joined the fight.”

Arter nodded and grabbed more men, shoving them away, sending them sprinting off. Cam’s honor guard was dwindling, but it didn’t matter.

He had the whole army at his disposal.

For a long moment, he held position. The sounds of shouting, howling, and growling drifted over the field as the wolves lingered in the center of the open space. The ground was scorched black. Men beat spear against shield. Cam felt his heart hammer a steady rhythm. He pressed away the Need and focused on what he had to do.

Then the drums came from the ridge. And the whole army began to march forward.

The wolves ahead turned to fight, but it was too late.

Their lines met with a clash and a scream. Men shoved and stabbed and blood made the ground slick and sticky. Cam shouted at his men, urging them onward, as the wings surged under the pressure of the heavy divisions. Cam could just barely see the glinting armor off in the distance, and he felt his chest surge and swell with joy.

This was it. They were doing it. After so much planning, so much hard work and fear and anger, they were finally doing it. The wolves were trapped between him and Haesar’s forces, and there was nowhere for them to run.

He’d destroy them, every one of them, and kill a goddess if he had to.

His sword slashed out, sending waves of fire ahead of him. Not too much, but enough to drive the wolves back. The animals faltered, their charges weakened, and Cam could sense the confusion in their ranks. Foot by agonizing foot, the army rolled onward, taking the field and compressing the wolves, leaving a trail of corpses behind them.

Bodies piled up. His men shoved them over.

It was a slaughter and the drums kept booming.

They pressed hard for an hour. Inch by inch, foot by foot, wolf by wolf, until the tree line was in view. The cacophony of the battle was deafening. The wolves got desperate and threw themselves at Cam and his men, but they were cut down, the inevitable march pushing onward.

The wings began to contract toward them, sweeping in over the field. The heavy infantry slaughtered and looked unstoppable as the wolves thinned