The final corridor had become a graveyard.
The las few of Count Aweq's remaining soldiers stood behind the barricade, shoulder to shoulder, while the Dawn warriors pressed toward them through the narrow passage.
The defenders knew they could not win anymore, but there was nowhere to run. Atleast they thought so.
From inside the empty throne room, Aweq listened to their screams while fastening a traveling cloak around his shoulders.
"Keep holding them!" he shouted through the doors. "Reinforcements are coming!"
No reinforcements were coming.
He had already abandoned the men outside.
Mirella stood beside the entrance to the hidden passage, one hand resting against the stone wall. Her face was pale, but her posture remained elegant. Despite the expensive dress beneath her cloak, she looked less like the count's wife and more like the earth mage she had once trained to become.
Their daughter, Kaelene, stood beside her.
