Three Broken Kingdoms-Book 1 of the Lost Continent (Completed)

Chapter Thirty-Four: An Apocalypse of a Minute

Fire descended upon the human army again, and arrows skewered hearts as the army tried to regroup and face the threat of the valkyries swarming down on them, like vultures on a corpse.

The calvary and foot soldiers ran towards the makeshift front line, and their opposition fell back completely. What had once been endless rows now merged together into something smaller, uniting against their threat. From then, the battle turned completely.

The valkyries had them almost on the run, constantly losing inch after inch. Their whole army, spirits revived with the victory of the elves, pushed back harder and harder against the shocked human army, gaining ground faster than the Kallians ever had.

Myra felt sudden pride in her warriors: for two weeks, they had held the enemy back as long as they could, and now they still pushed through exhaustion to take the opportunity that could win the war for them.

And as the day wore on and at last Myra left to speak to the generals, they kept pushing them back.

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Myra was worn by the time she and Viktoria reached the general's tent, but she had never felt more triumphant in her life. The Kallian army had been pushed back so far that the desert was in sight. Within days, they might reach it and get all the closer to Crimsith, Medea's capital. From there, with the Empress dead, taking her empire and building a new, better country from its ruins would be easy.

The last time she had been in the war tent, reluctant hope had been in the air, weak and flickering. Now that the elves had returned triumphant, hope had blossomed into victory, which they were now so close to. Finish the war, make allies of the new human government, and strengthen bonds with the elves. Return to their families with a hero's welcome. Those were the prospects ahead of the valkyrie warriors, bright and glorious.

But Sarai abandon them if Myra was being so incautious. The valkyries were not taking the victory for granted as the elves would. They were fighting, hard and strong and swift, and remembering that things might still all go wrong. Though how exactly, they were uncertain.

That aside, in the war tent meeting with the other generals, Myra let herself glory a little in this great victory.

Viktoria certainly was.

"The humans now outnumber us four to one," Viktoria scoffed. "Hard odds...for them." 

Diaz snickered. "Yes, yes. Let us send four humans into an arena and see how they fare against one of us!"

"Yeah right." Jasper muttered, and Diaz gave him a piercing look. Myra shivered a little at the ferocity in it, the promise of violence.  The general took a step towards him, but Myra shot her a harsh look. Diaz held her stare but backed down-after a moment's consideration.

"I would enjoy seeing that, sister." Ruby agreed, seemingly not hearing Jasper and for once at peace with Diaz.

"They might invent a new word for slaughter. A whole new brand of complete and utter annihilation." Viktoria mused.

"Or they'd be dead before they could." Diaz argued. "Us valkyries would have to christen it, then."

"Ah yes...the Ruby!" Ruby cried. "That would be the word for it."

"Nonsense. The Diaz!"

"The Calais!"

"The Viktoria!"

"Idiots,"  Talia muttered under her breath.

Viktoria and the other valkyrie generals turned to the arriving elves and nodded their heads.