"That's impossible—"
"How could they know—"
"There's no way they could get here that fast—"
Myra drowned out the endless panicking voices focusing in on the armada.
"Spies." The single word split through the endless chorus. Silence fell. "That's the only way they would know. Silvera isn't that obvious a choice." The whispers and murmurs began again. She drowned them out, staring out at the coming navy. There had to be a three hundred ships, all armed to the teeth. Maybe two hundred thousand soldiers on them. All of Asriel's defenders were now pitted against them-along with some additions from the army in Kallias. Two hundred fifty in total, if you counted those in Silvera. And they would certainly make all the difference.
They had lost thirty thousand of the original two hundred thousand Kallians, leaving them at one hundred seventy. Where there had once been an additional ten thousand in valkyries, elves and Tarua Teris there were only seven and a half thousand: half of those were lost in the Hawk Mountains, the other half in Topaz, Citrine, Zerena or Azul. In terms of recruits, there were only ten thousand she had deemed good enough to fight, and most were defending the Miras cities.
In short, there wasn't enough to face the Kallians even if this was the last battle and this was all Medea could throw at them. But now...even if by some blessed miracle they won Silvera, they wouldn't be able to afford the death tolls it would bring. Myra drew a shuddering breath. There was no way out of this. No brilliant strategy, no secret tunnels, no perfectly placed geography to save them from the clutches of defeat.
"Retreat." Just like last time, the world seemed to stop and listen. Zara whirled to her, familiar anger flashing in her eyes.
"We can't just retreat!" She protested. "We've lost so many here already. There's no way we can afford to just throw that away."
"There's no winning this battle," Myra said, shaking her head. "We need to return to Miras and regroup. This has been an expensive mistake, but if we stay any longer, it will be more than expensive. It will destroy us. If we don't leave now not just this will have been for nothing. Everything we've done will have been worthless. We have to cut our losses and leave."
"Um, it's a bit too late for that," Nala interrupted, looking out to the horizon. Myra followed her eye-line to the ships as they spread out and circled their own makeshift armada.
"We have to break through. Now. Before they can organise properly. Give the order now. Send the wyverns and gryphons out first. See if we can set fire to the ships."
"Too late for that either," Maia said. Myra sighed and glanced back out at the circling armada. A wall of black flame sprouted out from behind them. If the ships weren't enough to keep them trapped, then Medea's shadow flame would make sure they could never escape from the Empress' grip.
Dread gripped her. There was no way of escape. No path to victory. They were well and truly trapped, completely surrounded. Her mind reached endlessly for strategies and ways out and quirks of geography, but there was nothing. Nala, Maia and Talia looked to her hopefully. Even Zara seemed to expect her to come up with some brilliant idea to save them all. But there was nothing. No way out. No stroke of genius. Myra held her hands out. Hopeless, defeated. The Dragon at last cornered.
"So not only do we have a spy in our midst, we're also trapped and outnumbered with no plan whatsoever?" Nala groaned. "If we can get into Silvera, then maybe we can defend from there."
YOU ARE READING
Queens & Liars-Sequel to Three Broken Kingdoms (Completed)
Fantasy'She was a blade, forged in the flames that had burned her kingdom.' Book 2 of the Lost Continent Asriel and Miras have fallen. Their legendary armies are gone, their cities burnt to their ground, their people enslaved or murdered. The Empress now r...
