Chapter 168- The Counter-Snare
Adrian
The first pale smear of dawn stretched across the sky, and with it came the sound I’d been dreading — a horn, low and steady, drifting from the northern slope. Three notes.
Reinforcements.
I ground my teeth. For hours, I’d kept Lexy and her wolves circling but unsatisfied, snapping at the edges of my defenses without ever breaking through. Every feint, every probe had bought me time, but time had betrayed me.
Kael had promised he would come, but promises on a battlefield were smoke unless carried by steel.
Now the ridge is filled with silhouettes, warriors pouring down the slope in organized lines, their armor catching the rising light. My last escape was gone.
Beside me, Kael’s name-sake lieutenant cursed under his breath. “That’s it. We’re boxed.”
“Not yet,” I said, though the words tasted like ash.
And then Lexy stepped forward. The sight of her, backlit by dawn, sent a chill through even my hardened men. She was steady, blade in hand, her gaze burning across the distance between us.
“Adrian,” she called, her voice carrying over the battlefield. “This is your last chance. Lay down your weapons.”
For a moment, I let the silence sit. Let her believe I was considering.
Then I stepped into the open, meeting her eyes, letting her see that even cornered, I was unbroken. “Then come take me,” I said.
Her answer came like a blade to the gut: “Gladly.”
The line surged forward.
Chaos erupted. My men braced, steel and fang colliding with the wall of warriors that pressed down on us. I moved with purpose, not panic — every step deliberate, every retreat calculated. Lexy was locked on me; I could feel it. I let her close, then slipped away, weaving through the clash, forcing her to cut down others before reaching me.
She wanted me to be isolated. I wanted her impatient.
But damn if she wasn’t holding her discipline tighter than any leader I’d faced before. Every time I thought I saw her flinch, she steadied. Every time I tried to bait her out of line, she adjusted instead.
CJ was at her side, cutting a path with brutal efficiency. Together, they pressed harder than I’d anticipated.
By the time the sun broke clear over the horizon, we were being driven toward the marsh. My men fought like demons, but we were outnumbered and pressed on all sides.
This was it. The trap had sprung.
I felt it closing in, the noose tightening, and I knew Kael had only minutes left to prove himself a liar or a savior.
Then it came.
The horn. Not from the ridge — from the western forest.
A deep, rolling call that tore through the clash like thunder.
CJ stiffened at the sound. I saw Lexy’s head snap toward it, just for a heartbeat, but that was all I needed to know.
She hadn’t expected this.
“Now,” I hissed to the men nearest me.
The undergrowth behind us exploded. Dozens of warriors surged out, banners snapping, their formation sharp and aggressive. And at the head of them, grinning like the devil himself, was Kael.
Relief hit me like a second wind. He’d come. Against all odds, he’d timed it perfectly.
Kael’s forces slammed into Lexy’s flank, scattering her warriors. The clean, organized press of her line fractured under the sudden pressure. She barked orders, trying to pivot, but Kael had driven the wedge deep before she could even adjust.
I could feel the balance shift.
“Push!” I ordered my own men, and they surged with renewed strength. The desperation that had weighed them down burned away, replaced by fury and hope.
Lexy came for me again, her blade cutting a brutal arc through one of my lieutenants. For a moment, it was just her and me again, her eyes locked on mine, that same unyielding fire threatening to devour.
But Kael’s warriors swept between us, their shields locking, their blades flashing. I slipped through the chaos toward the gap Kael had torn open, my men moving with me.
For the first time all night, I wasn’t retreating. I was advancing.
“Hold them!” Kael roared, his voice booming above the din. He fought like a storm at the center of his line, carving space for me to break free. When he saw me pushing through, his grin widened. “About damn time you stopped running!”
“About damn time you showed up,” I shot back, though my chest heaved with exhaustion.
He laughed, even as he gutted one of Lexy’s warriors and shoved another aside. “Had to make an entrance.”
Behind us, Lexy’s voice rang like steel. “Don’t let them link up!”
Her people surged, desperate to wedge themselves between us, but they were seconds too slow. Kael’s line crashed against mine, the two forces knitting together, shields locking, weapons rising.
We had been cornered, caged like animals — but now we had teeth again.
I stood shoulder to shoulder with Kael, and for the first time that night, the battlefield didn’t feel like a noose. It felt like a knife in my hand.
“Nice trap,” Kael called across to Lexy, his grin stretching wider when he caught her glare. “Shame about the hole in the side.”
Lexy’s answer was venom; her voice was steady even through the chaos. “You won’t leave this field alive.”
I believed her — or rather, I believed she would try until her last breath to make it so. But I also knew this was no longer her game. She had spent the night weaving her net, tightening her snare around me. Now the snare had reversed, and she was inside it too.
Kael shifted closer, his tone dropping for me alone. “We can hold this position. Marsh to the back, forest on the flank. They’ll break themselves trying to get in.”
“Not enough,” I said, scanning the field. “She won’t stop. Not until I’m dead. We need more than defense.”
He raised a brow. “Got a plan?”
“Always,” I said, though my bones ached and blood dripped from a cut on my arm. Plans were the only thing that kept me standing.
We tightened our formation, pulling every surviving man into the line. What had been chaos moments ago was now structure — a wall with Kael and me at its center. The marsh protected our back; the trees shielded our side. Every direction Lexy attacked from would cost her twice as much blood as it would cost me.
I saw her regrouping, CJ at her shoulder, her warriors rallying to her commands. She wasn’t broken, not yet. But she wasn’t in control anymore either.
That was the difference.
For hours she had dictated the game. Now, with Kael beside me and the sun climbing higher into the sky, the board had shifted.
I raised my blade, letting her see the defiance in my eyes. “Come on, Lexy,” I whispered under my breath. “Let’s see if you can hunt when the prey bites back.”
Kael’s grin widened as if he’d heard me. “This is going to be fun.”
The battlefield roared to life again, and for the first time all night, I wasn’t the one trapped. I was the one waiting.
Waiting to strike.
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