Allied (Ruined #3)(92)

“Em,” she said.

Em jumped, relief crossing her face when she turned to see Iria standing there. Iria wrapped an arm around Em’s waist, letting Em lean against her for support.

“Was that you? With the rock?” Em asked.

“Yes. It was all I could do.” She gestured to her clothes. “I don’t have Weakling armor. She would have killed me on sight.” Iria followed Em’s gaze to where Olivia was headed to the front lawn of the castle. Hundreds of soldiers stretched out in front of the castle, swords, battle-axes, and other weapons flying. A few arrows whizzed over their heads.

The Olso and Vallos armies had clearly taken significant casualties—bodies were strewn about—but they showed no signs of retreating. She spotted several warriors swinging their swords at Lera soldiers.

Olivia was approaching from the east side, running toward the back of oblivious Lera soldiers. A body flew straight up in the air. Screams rippled through the crowd.

Em grabbed Iria around the waist, trying to hobble forward.

“We need to get you inside,” Iria said. “You’re injured.”

“We need to get to Olivia.” Em let out a cry as she tried to walk too fast, pain shooting up her leg.

Iria grasped the material of Em’s shirt, bringing her to a stop. She knelt down. “Get on my back. It’ll be faster.”

There was a brief silence, like Em was thinking of protesting, then Iria felt her arms loop around her neck. Iria stood, grabbing underneath Em’s thighs to keep her steady.

She’d lost some strength in the last few weeks, but not all of it, and she was able to break into a run with Em on her back. Olivia had disappeared into the mess of soldiers, screams rising up from the crowd. Iria followed them.

An arrow whizzed by, narrowly missing Iria’s ear. She felt Em jerk to dodge it.

Iria ran straight into the crush of bodies. She was surrounded by Lera soldiers shouting orders to each other.

“Olivia!” Em yelled at the soldiers. “Did you see Olivia?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Iria saw the glint of a sword, and she darted to the side, clutching Em’s legs. An Olso warrior was charging at them, battle-ax lifted above his head. A Lera soldier leaped in front of Iria, slicing his blade across the warrior’s chest. He crumpled to the ground.

“She went that way,” the Lera soldier said, breathing heavily as he pointed behind Iria.

She whirled around and ran farther into the crowd, ducking around a group of guards protecting a Ruined so exhausted she could barely stand.

To her right, a Lera soldier was fighting off a warrior with a sword, and Iria tried to edge around them. She felt Em take in a sharp breath, her fingers digging into Iria’s shoulder.

August appeared out of the crowd. He pulled his blade from the chest of a Lera soldier and pushed him to the ground. His eyes were wild, blood splattered across his uniform, as he searched the faces around him.

He spotted Em first. When he looked at Iria, his eyes went round, his lips parting in shock. Clearly news of her escape hadn’t reached him yet.

Em slid off Iria’s back. Iria grabbed for her, not wanting to lose Em while she was injured, but she scurried out of sight. August broke into a run. He jumped over a dead soldier, his gaze fixed on Iria.

She drew her sword from her belt, trying to remember how good August was with one. She didn’t think she’d ever had the opportunity to spar with him.

His blade came for her, and she blocked it, bumping into someone behind her as she stepped back. August’s sword crashed down again, a snarl on his face. She ducked and weaved, blocking his attacks and barely keeping her balance as the crowd pressed into them.

“Olivia!” Em’s voice cut through the noise, and August froze. His gaze snapped to the right, where the yell had come from.

Iria took advantage of his distraction to duck behind some soldiers. She ran in the direction of Em’s voice, which was still calling Olivia’s name.

Several Lera guards turned and bolted, almost knocking her over as they passed by. A hole had opened up in the crowd around her, and she suddenly saw why—Olivia stood a few paces away.

Blood poured down her face from where Iria had hit her with a rock, and she was gasping for breath. She turned in a circle, like she was looking for something.

“Olivia!” It was Em’s voice again, though Iria still couldn’t see her. Soldiers began running from all directions—headed for Olivia this time. Shields went up. Iria could smell the Weakling as soldiers closed in with their armor and shields on all sides.

Iria realized suddenly that Em hadn’t been calling Olivia’s name because she was searching for her sister, or trying to get her to stop. She’d been warning the Lera soldiers so they could get in position.

Olivia spun in a circle as the soldiers closed in. She flung her arms and sent a couple of soldiers flying, but most stood their ground, hidden behind their shields. She lowered her arms, her eyebrows furrowing as she turned. Her anger gave way to pure confusion for a moment.

A hand closed around Iria’s arm, and she turned to see Em next to her.

“The shields are working,” Iria said. Her eyes darted to where Em was clutching her sword. She was shaking.

None of the soldiers were making a move toward Olivia, Iria realized. A few glanced at Em, obviously waiting for her to charge her sister.

Rage took over Olivia’s features as her gaze caught on something. Aren. He was standing a bit above the crowd, elevated by something Iria couldn’t see. He was facing away from Olivia, taking care of Olso warriors who had suddenly charged him.