Chapter 184- The Calm Before the Inferno
Lexy
The air was thick with anticipation, heavy enough to press against my chest. Every step we took toward Adrian’s encampment seemed to amplify the pounding of my heart. The warriors fanned out silently around me, cloaked in shadow, their breaths controlled, their weapons primed.
The moon above was only a sliver, a thin blade of light that barely kissed the treetops. Perfect for what we needed—concealment. The earth was damp beneath our boots, muffling sound, though even the forest seemed to hold its breath tonight. No owls called, no insects hummed. Nature itself was waiting.
I raised a hand, halting the front line. My senses stretched outward like fire flickering against the wind. The faintest glow of Adrian’s fires licked the horizon ahead, distant but undeniable. The encampment was close.
Tarria crouched beside me, her eyes scanning with sharp precision. “The reports were true. They haven’t moved. Overconfident.”
CJ leaned in on my other side, his voice low, calm but edged with steel. “That’s what we’re counting on. He thinks he has time.” His gaze shifted to me. “We’re about to show him he doesn’t.”
I nodded once, forcing the adrenaline coursing through me into focus. Adrian’s men would not know what struck them until it was too late. But still, part of me bristled with unease. Adrian was cunning. He always had contingencies, always had another card hidden up his sleeve.
I whispered to the line, “Hold formation. Stay in pairs. Do not reveal yourselves until the signal.” My phoenix fire pulsed faintly beneath my skin, aching to be released, but I forced it down. Not yet. If I lit the night too soon, they’d have a chance to rally.
We began the crawl forward. The forest thinned, opening into a slope that overlooked their camp. From here, I could see it all: the cluster of tents, the haphazard rings of men patrolling lazily, and the central fire where shadows moved—Adrian’s lieutenants, no doubt. The scent of roasted meat and unwashed bodies wafted up, sharp and pungent.
They were too at ease. Too careless.
Good.
The alliance warriors shifted around me, eyes wide, breaths shallow. Each of them had lost something—family, friends, homes—to Adrian’s tyranny. Their grief sharpened into resolve, an unspoken unity thrumming in the silence. They would not falter tonight.
Tarria touched my arm lightly. “Do you feel it?” she asked, her whisper nearly lost to the rustle of the trees.
I did. A strange stillness, as though the very air was trembling. My instincts screamed, warning me not to underestimate him. Adrian’s darkness was like a pulse I could sense beneath the earth, sluggish but there, waiting.
“Stay sharp,” I murmured back.
Minutes crawled by, each one an eternity as we watched. Adrian’s men moved without urgency, some even laughing near the fire, oblivious to the storm waiting in the shadows. I tightened my grip on my blade.
Finally, the moment came. I caught CJ’s eye. He gave the smallest nod. This was it.
I raised my hand slowly, the signal they had all been waiting for. Hearts thundered, breaths hitched, muscles tensed like coiled springs.
But before I could lower it—before we struck—I saw movement at the center of the camp.
Adrian.
He strode from his tent like a predator surveying his domain, Kael at his side, their presence instantly commanding the men around them. My blood burned hot at the sight of him. He carried himself with that same arrogance, that same unshakable belief that the world bent to his will.
Memories of his betrayal, his endless destruction, flashed through my mind. For a heartbeat, I longed to unleash my fire now, to burn him from the earth before he could breathe another command.
But I held. Timing was everything.
The camp quieted as Adrian began to speak, though we couldn’t hear the words from this distance. His men leaned in, drawn by his charisma, blind to the danger closing in.
CJ’s hand brushed mine briefly, grounding me. “Steady,” he breathed. His presence steadied the fire inside me, kept it from erupting too soon. Together. That was how we would win.
Once Adrian and Kael finished speaking to the men they made their way back to their tent with 2 of his men. I gave them time to settle into their tent and not notice or move.
I remembered my meditation training and took a deep breath as I closed my eyes for a moment. The moment I opened it I knew what had to be done.
No more waiting.
I dropped my hand.
The alliance surged forward like shadows given form, swift and silent. Arrows loosed from hidden bows, finding their marks in the first line of guards before they even registered the attack. Bodies dropped without a sound.
Panic rippled through the camp. Shouts rang out, confusion spreading as Adrian’s men scrambled for weapons. Fires were knocked over, tents torn open. Still, most had no idea where the attack had come from.
I led the charge, my blade gleaming faintly in the moonlight, every movement precise, measured. The phoenix inside me begged to be freed, but I restrained it, striking with cold steel instead of flame. Surprise was our greatest weapon now.
CJ was at my side, cutting down two men before they even raised their swords. His movements were efficient, deadly—he was a storm contained, waiting for the moment to unleash.
Across the chaos, I caught sight of Adrian. His expression had shifted from confusion to fury, his dark power already coiling around him. He barked orders, his voice rising above the din, and his men rallied clumsily toward him.
Then his eyes found mine. Even across the battlefield, the connection was electric. His lips curved into a twisted smile, daring me to come closer.
I surged forward, cutting through the resistance between us. My warriors pressed hard, giving no quarter, driving his men back step by step. Every clash of steel brought me closer to him, closer to the confrontation that had been inevitable since the first betrayal.
But before I could reach him, CJ broke forward. His eyes locked on Adrian, his stance coiled and ready.
Adrian stepped out from the chaos, his weapon drawn, his power crackling in the air. Kael hovered just behind him, watchful, dangerous.
The world seemed to still. The noise of the battle faded, just for a heartbeat, as the two men faced each other.
CJ and Adrian—king against traitor, storm against shadow—were about to collide.
And in that suspended breath of time, I knew the true battle was only just beginning.
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