Kingdom of Ash

But he couldn’t fly with a shredded wing,
as he’d surely have if he shifted now. Block
after block, through the city that would have
been his home, he ran for the southern gate.
He had to get to her.
A warning shout from the battlements had
him throwing up a shield on instinct. Just as a
siege ladder collided with the wall above him.
Morath’s footsoldiers spilled over it, into
the awaiting blades of both khagan soldier and
Bane warrior. Too many.
Ironteeth clashed with Crochans above
them—Ironteeth bearing several Morath
footsoldiers apiece. They deposited them on
the battlements, on the streets.
People screamed. Further into the city,
people were screaming. Fleeing.
Only a few blocks to the southern gate—to
Aelin.
And yet ... those screams of terror and pain