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I shake off the thought with a snarl, refusing to give it form, substance. She is Lily Thornwood, the Red Blade, mightiest warrior of her kind. And more than that, she is mine, my mate, under my protection. I will keep her safe, whatever the cost.
Together, we venture out into the pale, shifting mists. The shrill whistle sounds again, closer, more urgent, and I angle towards it unerringly. Within moments, dark shapes loom out of the fog—hulking, horned, unmistakably ogre.
"My chief!" Sharak strides forward, relief and worry warring on his craggy face. "Thank the ancestors you're safe. When you and the Red Blade didn't rejoin us, I feared..."
"I'm well," I cut him off brusquely, not wanting to dwell on might-have-beens. "We both are. Now, what's the trouble?"
Sharak grimaces, jerking his chin southward. "Outriders, my lord. Varkos's dogs, and in force. They'll be on us in minutes, judging by their pace."
Lily curses softly, eyes flashing to mine. I read the knowledge there, grim and resigned. This is the reckoning we both knew was coming. Varkos will never let my mate go, never concede defeat, while he still draws breath.
One way or another, this ends today. Here and now, on this gods-forsaken stretch of borderland.
"How many?" I demand, mind already racing, calculating. Strategizing how best to meet this threat, to cut it out at the root once and for all.
"Twenty riders at least," Sharak reports tersely. "All heavy horse, all armed and armored to the teeth."
I feel more than hear Lily's sharp inhale. Even with my warriors at our side, those are grim odds. Mounted combat has never been the ogre way, not with our bulk and build. We fight best on our own two feet, up close and personal, where strength and savagery win.
But I'll be damned to the deepest hells before I let Varkos and his butchers within blade's reach of my mate.
"Then we don't let them close," I rumble grimly. "We choose our ground, set our trap, and hit them hard and fast before they can bring their numbers to bear."
I sweep my gaze over my warriors, seeing the resolve, the readiness, in every scarred, tusked face. These are my shield-brothers, my clan, bound to me by ties of blood and battle. They will fight and die at my word, my whim...but I'll rot in the pit before I spend their lives carelessly.
Lily's small, callused hand slips into mine and I clutch it like an anchor, a talisman against the icy dread knotting in my guts. When I glance down at her, her eyes are hard and bright as chips of emerald, her jaw set in that stubborn line I know so well.
"I'm with you," she says, quiet but fierce. A vow, an affirmation. "To whatever end, my heart. My place is at your side, now and always."
Emotion clogs my throat, stings my eyes. Stooping, I press my brow to hers, breathing in the scent of her, the truth of her. "My brave Lily," I rasp. "My fierce, clever mate. Together, then. To whatever end."
She smiles at me, tremulous but true. Then, squaring her shoulders, she turns to face my warriors, every inch the leader, the legend. "Let's hunt some dogs, boys."
They roar their approval, a blood-hungry bellow that shakes the mist and sets the birds bursting from the trees in chittering panic. I feel an answering surge of vicious eagerness, the old familiar fury rising to choke out fear.
I am Grok Bloodclaw, and this is what I was made for. The crunch of bone, the spray of blood. The savage song of steel and slaughter.
And with Lily at my side...I am invincible. Unbreakable.
Axe in hand, mate at my side, I plunge into the mists, towards the thunder of approaching hoofbeats. Towards fate, towards fury.
The forest thins as we near the borders of Emberhal, the trees giving way to rolling hills and rocky outcroppings. My chest heaves with exertion, lungs burning, muscles screaming protest at the relentless pace. But I don't slow, can't slow, driven by the bone-deep knowledge that our pursuers are closing in, that every second is precious.
Ahead, the ground falls away sharply, a jagged gash in the earth. I skid to a halt at the edge, Lily and my warriors gathering around me as we stare down into a narrow, winding ravine, its steep walls rising like the jaws of some great stone beast.
"There," I grunt, pointing to where the ravine narrows to a bottleneck, then widens into a broad, boulder-strewn basin. "That's where we make our stand."
Lily frowns, her keen gaze assessing. "It's good ground," she allows. "Defensible, with limited approaches. But Grok...we'll be trapped in there ourselves if things go badly. There's no way out except back the way we came."
I meet her eyes, reading the fear, the doubt she's too proud to voice. Reaching out, I cup her cheek in one massive palm, thumb rasping over the delicate arch of bone. "It won't come to that," I rumble with a conviction I wish I felt. "We'll end this here, today. One way or another."
Sharak clears his throat pointedly, eyeing the horizon where dust clouds betray our enemy's approach. "Not to rush this tender moment," he says dryly, "but if we're going to do this, it needs to be now. They'll be on us in minutes."
I step back from Lily reluctantly, already missing her warmth, her scent. The absence of her grates like an ache in my bones, a splinter beneath my skin. Ancestors, was it only this morning that I held her in my arms, lost myself in her sweetness? It feels like a lifetime ago, a stolen dream shattered by the cruel light of day.
Forcibly, I wrench my thoughts back to the present, to the grim necessity before us. "Sharak's right," I say briskly. "We need to move, get into position. Sharak, take your best climbers, set up on the cliffs to either side of the bottleneck. Wait for my signal, then come down on them like an avalanche. The rest of you, with me. We'll lure them in, let them think they have us on the run. Then, when I give the word...we hit them with everything we've got."
A rumble of assent, a clatter of weapons as my warriors ready themselves. I turn to Lily, drinking in the fierce, defiant set of her jaw, the fire in her eyes. "Stay close to me," I urge quietly. "We'll take the brunt of the charge, keep them focused on us while the others get into position."
