Warrior Rising (Goddess Summoning #6)(98)

“Close them! Fool! No one has ordered the gates open until midday!” came the command from a powerful voice below her.

Kat shut them all out of her mind and counted slowly to ten: “One—Mississippi, two—Mississippi, three—Mississippi, four—Mississippi…” When she finally got to ten—Mississippi, men were pounding on the door to the catwalk.

Kat glanced down at the gates. Myrmidons, led by a shining Odysseus, were plunging into the city. Satisfied, Kat lifted the sword over her head with both hands, and then she brought it down with all her force, smashing it into the system of gears and chains and balances that the city had so meticulously refined over several hundred years. With a scream that sounded like a mad woman, the chain locked into place, and the wide open gates came to a groaning halt.

Now all that was left was Achilles and the final battle for his soul.

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The door to the catwalk burst open. Kat had positioned herself between the bodies of the two sleeping warriors. At the first sight of the men, she drew a tremendous breath and let loose the most ear-shattering girl scream she could conjure. Then she rolled her eyeballs up in her head and fell down in a faint worthy of Scarlett O’Hara.

She continued to play possum as a warrior lifted her and carried her from the room amid much discussion of what could have possibly happened—the general consensus of which was that there must be divine mischief afoot. Kat slitted her eyes and peeked over the warrior’s shoulder to see the other men milling impotently around the broken gears.

Halfway to her chamber Kat roused. “What has happened?” she asked faintly. Then she gasped and began to struggle. “Put me down! Where are you taking me?”

The warrior put her down as if she’d caught on fire. “Princess, you were found in the gate room. You and the warriors were unconscious.”

“The gate room?” Kat looked hysterically around, letting her eyes fill with tears. “What are you talking about?” Noise from the battle that was raging in the city drifted up to them. Kat clutched at her throat, looking like she was going to faint again. “What is that sound?”

“Princess, the gate was opened. The city has been breeched.”

Kat let out a shriek and swayed dramatically.

“Princess, let me take you—”

“No! You have to go help them keep the Greeks from the palace! Go! I’ll find my father.” When he hesitated she added, “Hurry!” turned and whirled away down the hall. Thankfully he didn’t follow her.

Kat’s heart hurt as she made her way, playing the hysterical princess, from the palace. It was easier than she imagined it would be. Chaos ruled. There was mass panic. Women screamed, darting hysterically into and then out of the streets when they glimpsed Greek warriors. The women needn’t have worried, at least not at that moment. The Greeks were too busy engaging in bloody pockets of fighting with desperate Trojans to bother with the raping part of raping and pillaging. The stones of the city streets were slick with blood. Fire colored the dawn, turning the world scarlet.

The great front gates were wide open, belching Greek warriors. Kat pressed herself against the wall of the city, searching desperately for a familiar face. Finally she noticed a knot of Myrmidons fighting not far from her and she pushed herself through the seething mass of warriors, swallowing down debilitating fear as she dodged bloody swords and dismembered bodies.

“Myrmidons! Help me!” she cried as she struggled to get closer to them.

First one helmeted head lifted, and then another. She saw eyes widened as they recognized her.

“It’s Achilles’ princess!” Diomedes shouted. As one, the Myrmidons moved to her and surrounded her in a protective circle.

“Get me to Achilles. I have to try to reach him again.”

Diomedes’ incredulous look was mirrored in the other men. “Princess, Achilles is gone. No one has been able to reach him.”

“I can,” she said firmly. Kat grabbed the young warrior’s bloody forearm. “You have to let me try, and we have to hurry.”

“Princess, let us get you safely from this place. You can return to Phthia with us, and be honored there for the love our lord had for you.”

“Diomedes! Don’t give up on him!”

“Take her to Achilles,” said one of the warriors whose name Kat couldn’t remember.

Automedon stepped forward, nodding briefly to her. “I say take her to Achilles, too.”

“Aye,” said another man.

“Aye,” chorused several others.

“Very well,” Diomedes said. “Let’s get her to Achilles. Form up!”

Moving inside the phalanx of men was an eerily familiar sensation. With the Myrmidons surrounding her, Kat pushed easily through the gates, glad that the broad shoulders and protective shields of the men shielded her view of the mayhem. Caused by me, her mind berated her. But I’m ending the war! she shouted back at herself. At what cost? her guilt whispered.

The berserker’s roar shattered her internal struggle.

Kat pushed on Automedon’s shoulder. “Let me though—let me see him.”

The men parted enough for Kat to see that Achilles was still dragging Hector’s deteriorating body behind his chariot, but he was also engaging in the battle by picking off any unfortunate Trojan who had managed to fight his way through the city gates.