Kingdom of Ash

Aedion looked away first. This would be
bad enough without knowing she was here.
That Lysandra would undoubtedly stay until
she, too, fell.
He prayed he went first. So he wouldn’t
witness it.
Morath drew close enough that Ren’s order
to the archers rang out.
Arrows flew, fading into the snows.
Morath sent an answering volley that
blotted out the watery light.
Aedion angled his shield, crouching low.
Every impact reverberated through his bones.
Grunts and screams filled their side of the
battlefield. When the volley stopped, when
they straightened again, many men did not
rise with them.
It was not arrows alone that had been fired,
and now peppered the snow.
But heads. Human heads, many still in