“The firelances are done,” Rolfe said.Darkness fell over Orynth, so thick even the
flames of the castle shriveled.
On the castle battlements, Darrow silent at
her side, Evangeline watched the trudging
lines of soldiers come in from the walls, from
the skies.
Bone drums began to beat.
A heartbeat, as if the enemy army on the
plain were one massive, rising beast now
readying to devour them.
Most days, they only beat from sunup to
sundown, the noise blocked out by the din of
battle. That they had started it anew as the sun
vanished ... Her stomach churned.
“Tomorrow,” Lord Sloane murmured from
where he stood beside Darrow. “Or the day
after. It will be done then.”
Not victory. Evangeline knew that now.