“Terrified and ready at the same time,” I said. “The waiting is killing me.”
Edgar reached The Red. His arms flailed around him as he spoke.
The sound of boots on the packed dirt, marching up the hill caused Jaran and me to turn. I recognized the people right off. The men and women were from Tearmann. A few looked to be my age. I spotted Buach and made a beeline for him.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Buach, his back straight and chest out, side-glanced me. “I be here to fight. What else would I be doing?”
“No, you’re not.” I pulled him away from the others. “You’re too young. Galach wouldn’t like this at all.”
“He isn’t me father.” He inspected my gear. “You’re my age, and you’re in the fight.”
“That’s different.”
“How so?”
“Okay, if you’re going to be in the battle, then you’re going to be with me.” I grabbed his arm and stormed off.
Buach kept up with me. “What are you up to? Don’t be embarrassing me.”
I ignored him and stopped in front of a man who looked in charge of the rebels. His hair was longish with gray streaking it. I released Buach’s arm.
“Sir,” I said. “Can I have a word?”
The man held his nose up in the air and rested his hand on his not so flat belly. “You may.”
“I need this…um, what are you called? A soldier?”
“That would work,” the man said.
“Well, I need him to aid my group.”
“And you are?” He looked down at me.
“Gianna Bianchi.”
He lifted his helmet. “That you be. You be much younger than your likeness painted in our tunnel. A little scrawny to be the Assassin of Truths as mentioned in your article in the Mystik Observer.”
Scrawny? How rude.
I didn’t know what to say to that, but I guessed a response wasn’t needed. The man’s hand dropped from his belly. “It is an honor to meet you. We are here to aid you.” His eyes went to Buach. “Do as she wishes.”
Buach gave the man a slight nod.
I headed back to Arik and the others, with Buach not so anxious to follow me. The field looked like a living thing, with the Mystiks all shifting their positions. Birds took off from the cliffs and flew over the lake. The purplish-blue sky was clear of clouds.
Buach stomped up to my side. “What will you have me do?”
I stopped in front of Deidre, Emily, and Uncle Philip. “You stick with them. Our gang is bringing down the Tetrad.”
Leaving him there, I returned to my spot beside Royston.
Cadby’s wings twitched. He looked ready to take off. “This wait is agonizing.”
“Tell me about it,” I murmured.
The Couve’s Sentinels and guards were evenly spaced around our formation.
Edgar was still working on getting The Red’s army to move back. The Tearmann rebels continued down the hill to join Barmhilde. Dust rose, kicked up by the many feet pounding against the ground.
At first, I thought Tearmann’s army had shaken the ground, but it was an explosion at the entrance to the tunnel. Clumps of earth and dirt sprayed into the air. The boulder covering the tunnel shot out and dropped onto two Mystiks by the opening, crushing them underneath it. The Red’s army scrambled back.
The Red and Edgar shouted orders, trying to get the people back into formation. They’d just about gotten everyone under control when the Tetrad came out of the hole. Screams and shouts rushed up the hill.
I glanced back. Buach was viewing the field with a gadget that looked like old-fashioned binoculars.
“Can I see those?” I asked.
He nodded, shuffled over, and handed them to me. I peered through the lens at the field.
The creature of my dreams was alive. It stomped toward the army. The lead beast had a lion-like face. A dirty-yellow mane framed his scarred face, his nose was flat, and he had a cleft upper lip. Claw-like nails twitched at his sides as his fierce eyes glared at the Mystiks readying to fire a cannon.
Three other beasts followed him. One had two large ram horns coming out of his forehead. He was human, except for his forearms and legs, which were more beast-like. Another one had a boar’s head with sharp tusks and bristly black hair covering most of his body. The final beast had scales coating his arms and legs, which bent like a lizard’s limbs. His forked tongue tasted the air; drool dripped from his rows of razor-sharp teeth. The only human parts to him were his muscled chest, neck, and abdomen. All four looked as if someone had cut them up and haphazardly sewed them back together.
The beasts moved together on the field. It was as if something invisible tethered them together in a diamond formation as they descended on the army. The Lion Man led them like a puppet master pulling invisible strings. Whatever move he made, the others made with him.
Conemar came out of the tunnel with Nick by his side. His army then poured out onto the field. He climbed onto the boulder and yelled a command to the Tetrad, and it stopped. His army lined up behind the creature.
He motioned to someone in the tunnel, and several Esteril guards brought up eight people with sacks covering their heads and hands tied behind their backs. A dozen or so Writhes flowed out of the cavity in the ground. And I almost crumpled to the ground when a guard pulled Bastien onto the field.
Arik glanced back at me. “Stay strong, Gia.”
I took a deep breath. If I panicked, I’d fail Bastien. I’d fail them all.
Conemar raised his hand, and a blue light shaped like a cone formed. He put his lips to one end of it and spoke. “Surrender or lose your lives.” The cone was a speaker, making his voice boom over the valley. “We are embarking on a new era. One where wizards rule both the human and Mystik realms. You will be treated well. Your families fed. Everyone will be equal. If one has a slice of bread, all have a slice of bread. I am not the enemy.”
Murmurs rose from the Mystik army.
“Don’t listen to him,” The Red shouted. “You will all be slaves to him and his council. Ready your weapons.”
“Fools!” Conemar’s voice rang over the field. “He will lead you to your deaths.”
Arik gave me another look. “Are you ready? We have to move. Stop him before he turns the Mystiks against us.”
“I’m ready.”
“Lei?” Arik sought her approval.
“All right,” Lei commanded. “Tighten our formation. Keep close to Gia and Royston.”
Five werehounds surrounded us. One pushed her head against my leg. It was her way of telling me they were with us.
Arik motioned for us to follow him.
“Should I drink the potion?” Royston asked.
My gaze went to the Tetrad. “No. It might not last long. We have to get closer.”
“My creature can kill you in one quick, swift blow,” Conemar continued.
Nick looked like a zombie as he stood just to the right of his father.
In front of us, Arik’s and Demos’s paces picked up. They led us behind the bushes on the hill.
“Stay low,” Arik said.
I crouched. “We must find a way to stall him.”
“I’ll distract him.” Buach broke formation and headed down the hill.
“No, Buach,” I hissed. “Buach. Come back here.”