Columns of Ecean legionnaires, marching in tight formation with their shields interlocked, advance through the mud toward the outer curtain wall of Kellheim. Behind and between them come siege towers rolling on wagon wheels, battering rams, ranks of archers taking up the rear. Already they’re closing into the reach of Ragna’s archers, who rain arrows down upon them to little effect.

We planned for this. We knew what they’d be forced to do. But still, facing down five thousand legionnaires with a force a tenth that size is enough to send a shiver down my spine. I don’t show it though. We don’t show fear to our enemies. Or allies, for that matter. They count on me. Especially the very special lady I have under my arm.

Arcadia doesn’t have that sort of training though. She’s gazing down at the Ecean forces, wide eyed, fear plain in her expression. I give her a kiss on the temple, and when she looks up at me I greet her with a gamely smile.

“We’ll be alright!” I shout, over the noise of the flying machine. “Just stick to the plan!”

Arcadia's body presses against mine as the wind whips her hair about. She looks up at me, some of the fear fading from her eyes when she sees my smile. She gives me a grin and a squeeze. "I know you'll protect me no matter what."

I grin, and put another kiss on her. “That’s right.”

Irvin slows us gradually, guides the chariot down until it’s hovering above the place on the outer wall where Jarl Ragna awaits me. She and her warriors are already at work, firing arrows as fast as they can into the wall of shields below.

Arcadia and I part with a kiss, and I hop down from the chariot to join the fight on the ground. I have just enough time to take up my warhammer, which Ragna was kind enough to keep safe for me, before one of the Ecean siege towers closes in on our section of the wall. Irvin and Arcadia take flight behind me, and as I run for the tower I see them circling around it out of the corner of my eye.

It resembles a tall house, with a peaked roof and a drawbridge in front. The tower butts against our wall, making it shake a little before that drawbridge clunks down, becoming a ramp for the soldiers poised to pour out of it.

And they have me for a welcoming committee. Bad luck for them.

The first fool to come barreling out takes the head of my hammer in his gut, sending hurtling back into his comrades. I could advance, but I’m content to stand my ground and let them try to get past me.

But they don’t have much time. Irvin’s chariot hovers behind and above them, Arcadia holding out a hand toward the tower as she chants loudly. They don’t see this. Nor do they see clouds twisting together over their heads unnaturally, forming a thin funnel that reaches for the ground like a dark, twisted finger. The wind flaps my cloak outward, makes me step back with a grin on my face as I watch Arcadia’s spell take shape. Within moments, the twister is strong enough to rip planks off the side of the siege tower, make it groan as it tips away from the irresistible force of the wind.

It’s well on its way to being ripped apart when it falls, making the startled soldiers beneath it run for safety. Not all of them make it.

The chariot veers off toward the next closest siege tower, and Arcadia’s twister follows right along behind it like a loyal hound. It wreaks a good bit of havoc on its way, sending soldiers flying through the air in every direction, making some slam against the walls of Kellheim at speed, others sailing backward, arms and legs flailing, to crash into their own rear ranks.

I follow along as best I can, running across the battlements, putting my warhammer to work against the assailants Arcadia missed. She’s doing fine work up there, but we’d need four more of her to match the sheer numbers of the Eceans we’re up against. I don’t understand the limits of her power, so I’m uncertain as to whether or not she can keep this up all night. Probably not. Damn it, where are those reinforcements?

The wall shakes violently under my feet, making me wheel around to see the nearest gatehouse under attack. I’m just in time to see the battering ram strike the gate again, arrows pelting down on the legionnaires protecting it. But they’re undeterred. The Centurion in charge wears a white cloak over his armor, as do the men sheltering the battering ram from the assault of Ragna’s archers.

First Legion. I wonder if they remember me.

The Centurion bellows an order at his men, making them roll back the mighty wheels of the ram for another strike on the gate. This time it begins to buckle. It’s only a matter of moments before they breach it. I break into a sprint, vault over the wall, and the Centurion raises his shield against me at the last second. I fall upon him, my warhammer shattering shield and arm alike, sprawling him out on the ground beneath me.

I’m better prepared to fight the First Legion this time, now that I’ve had a taste of their tactics. And my weapon suits the task as well. With my strength behind it, the spiked head of my warhammer smashes armor, splinters shields, crumbles their formation so that the archers on the battlements can strike at the men pushing the battering ram.

Together we make short work of them all, but before I leave this scene behind I heave a good swing at one of the wheels of the battering ram. It knocks clean off, splintering under the impact. I get rid of another one, just for good measure, before I sprint through the battlefield toward the next gatehouse, bashing aside anyone foolish enough to get in my way.

I know the stakes are high, but gods, this is fun. This is what I was made for.

In the distance I see Arcadia and her twister continuing to wreak havoc in the Ecean ranks, while Irvin keeps the chariot safely above the range of their archers. At the moment she’s knocking over another siege tower, but there are more where that came from. As much as I’d like to run to her aid, there’s an ocean of Ecean legionnaires between her and I at the moment. So I continue on to the gatehouse, in the hope I can get there before it’s breached.

I’m not so lucky. By the time I’ve fought my way there, their battering ram has struck the final blow, splintering the gates of Kellheim inward so its invaders can flood into the town. I have to fall back, just to avoid being swept into a tide of steel even I wouldn’t survive. I cast my gaze about frantically, trying to find another way in. There. A siege tower Arcadia’s toppled over already, lying broken against the wall. I run as fast as I can, bound up onto it, then leap again to send me into a hard landing on the battlements.

A handful of Ragna’s warriors have to jump away as I land, and I get a few curses yelled at me for doing so, but I don’t have it in me to apologize. I don’t speak the language anyway. A few steps take me to the other side of the wall, where I look down to see the Eceans pouring through the breached gate to engage with a desperately rallied defense.

The Norgardians are already backpedaling, pressed against an advancing wall of shields, doing everything they can to hold together. They’re retreating up the hill, in the direction of the keep, but I don’t think they’ll make it that far before the Eceans rout them.

So I leap off the wall, for the second time in the span of a few minutes.

The first blow of my hammer splits an Ecean shield, knocks its bearer into his neighbor. The second takes a man off his feet. The third, fourth and fifth break apart their front line entirely. It gives the retreating Norgardians a moment to rally around me, lets us fall back at a pace slow enough to give the rest of the warriors time to join us.

Back on the wall, I see Ragna and a band of her men fighting their way down the stone steps to retreat as well. It doesn’t look good. They’re surrounded and vastly outnumbered. But just as I think I need to leap to their defense, Irvin’s chariot swoops down from the sky, and Arcadia hurls a gust of wind that scatters the Eceans in their way. I get a glimpse at her afterward, and a bolt of worry shoots through me when I see her leaning on the rail of the chariot, visibly exhausted.

With the path cleared, Ragna’s group is able to connect with mine, and together we beat back the never ending tide of Eceans on our way up the hill. We make it through the gatehouse of the keep’s inner wall, slam it shut, and immediately begin to brace it with planks and logs and whatever else is on hand.

Behind me I hear the sound of Irvin’s machine coming to a landing in the courtyard, and I turn and run over to meet them. I’m in time to watch Arcadia stepping off the chariot, reaching into her bodice to produce a small brass keyring which she slaps into Irvin’s hand.

He raises an eyebrow, confusion on his face, and Arcadia gives him a weary smile.

“Go get Cadie, and get her out of here!” she shouts, over the sound of the machine. “You’ve done enough! This isn’t your fight!”

Irvin’s eyes widen with shock. But he squeezes Arcadia’s hand, nods grimly and pulls back on his controls, sending his chariot up into the sky before it twists around and takes off in the direction of the harbor. That may not have been the best move. But it’s done. All I can hope for is that they don’t come gunning for us again anytime soon. If those fucking reinforcements don’t show up in double quick time, it won’t matter anyway.

I turn to Arcadia, anxiety washing over me when I get a good look at how tired she is. “Get inside the keep,” I say. “Try to reach Sigrun.”

Arcadia stumbles into me and her arms squeeze around my waist. Her face buries against me as she catches her breath. "Please, be safe. I'll figure something out," she says, and though I can tell she’s trying not to let her voice shake, it does anyway.

Separating myself from her is more painful than I want it to be, but I wait and watch her disappear into the keep regardless. Once she’s out of sight I turn and cross the courtyard to join what’s left of Ranga’s band up on the battlements of the inner wall. I know they won’t lay a finger on Arcadia. I know Metellus wasn’t bluffing. She’s far, far more valuable to them than some tiny keep in the south of Norgard. To the Empress, she’s priceless.

But she’s priceless to me too. For her, I’ll fight to the last drop of blood.

Ragna’s warriors make way for me when I reach the top of the stairs, but when I get a good look at the force coming our way, my heart sinks into my boots. Kellheim is overrun. All the streets are packed with legionnaires marching for us. Near the outer wall I see another battering ram headed up the hill in our direction. They’ll be here soon, and when they breach this gate it’s as good as over.

I take up a bow, as do all the warriors left around me, and wait for the ram and its protectors to advance into range. The instant they’re in our reach we let loose with everything we have, knowing full well that we can’t stop them. We can only slow them down. It’s all any of us can hope for at this point. If I die tonight, at least I die in fine company, protecting the woman I love.

Eceans fall as our arrows find the gaps between their shields, only to be replaced by more rushing in to take up the burden of the battering ram. Under a deluge of arrows they inch forward, until, at last, they pass under my post on the wall to deliver their first strike against the gate. A cry goes out to reinforce it, and I turn to see warriors rushing in to brace it with anything they can find.

And then a tawny owl lands on the parapet, right next to me.

I blink, and recoil from it. As I do so it rotates its head around to face me, regarding me with its huge, dark eyes. Then it winks. I’m no expert, but this seems like distinctly un-owl-like behavior.

Evidently the owl doesn’t think much of the battle taking place around it, or of me, for that matter, because it turns its head back around to survey the town of Kellheim for a moment. Then it calls out, a shrill, piercing kind of cry, and there’s something odd about the sound. Like it’s more than a sound, somehow. I feel the faintest sense of energy rippling through the air along with that call.

The night seems to grow darker all of a sudden, the air closing in. I realize it’s a fog, like the one Arcadia conjured to conceal The Dove back when we fetched her book from Demeus. It sinks past me, floating down the walls to blanket the gatehouse, obscuring everything for several yards in all directions. I can hear the startled muttering of the Eceans below me. Nevertheless, the wheels of their battering ram rumble as they draw it backward for another blow, but then the sound suddenly ceases.

And it’s replaced by a scream. Then another. Something roars, long and loud, and the sound of flesh tearing and steel clattering to the ground follows right after it. More screaming ensues, and it’s joined by the snarling of other animal voices. Something like a bear. A wolf. A lion. A dragon. All of the above, perhaps. The gatehouse shakes, but not from the impact of the ram.

Those terrible sounds cease quite abruptly, as does the screaming, leaving us in deathly silence. The unnatural fog around me dissipates, the tawny owl next to me takes flight, and as I watch it stretch out its wings to coast toward the harbor, I see dozens of Norgardian longships floating in. Off in the distant waters behind them, I see the angry glow of Ecean warships aflame.

Several of the Norgardian ships have already made port, disgorging an uncountable number of mail-clad warriors with weapons drawn, running pell-mell onto the streets of Kellheim to engage with the rearguard of the Eceans.

It’s about. Fucking. Time.