The wait was over, and the fight for our lives was about to begin. I took one final look at the grand hall of our home, knowing that it would never be the same again.
My mother had already seen fit to redecorate the hall in any way she could, starting with long scarlet red curtains and matching table cloths. All of which she'd purchased from a master tailor in the village nearby; it wasn't much, but it was something. If they happened to survive what was to come, it would be a miracle.
I kicked the stone wall next to me, instantly regretting it. 'How the hell are we supposed to defend this place? I didn't design it to withstand a siege.'
Violet looked thoughtful. 'I know of a barrier spell which might be of use. We need only perform the magic somewhere high up. Preferably a place that'll allow the magic to envelop as much of the castle grounds as possible.'
'The four towers?'
'Works for me.' Violet agreed.
I nodded, smiling. 'So, how do we do this?'
Violet waved us all over to the centre of the room. 'As look would have it, there are four of us; one for each tower, right Jake?'
'That's right.'
My mother appeared uncertain. 'I don't know much about magic; I'm afraid, other than it exists.'
Violet grinned. 'It's like I reminded your son Mrs Goodwin; there's magic inside all of us. Tapping into that energy is the hardest part, though.'
'I do like the sound of that; what are we waiting for?'
'Thought you might, after that we'll-'
'So one person per tower, and then what?' Asher interrupted. He'd been quiet up until now, no doubt trying to remember everything that Violet had just said.
'Do you want to hear this or not?'
'Yes.' Asher replied sheepishly.
'Then listen.'
The byplay gave me the time to think, and I couldn't help but feel as though she'd been holding something back. There was always a catch when following through with one of her plans, and it turned out I was right again.
'You'll have to stand still,' Violet admitted reluctantly. 'Just imagine yourselves as lightning rods; if you move, then so does the lightning, or in our case, the barrier.'
Asher looked horrified. 'How do we fight back if we can't move?'
Violet sighed. 'We don't. We can attack, or we can defend, but not both, not with the numbers that we're facing out there.'
There was an awkward silence; we were about to stare death in the face, and no one knew what to say.
I set off sprinting towards the north-west corner tower while glancing back over my shoulder. 'We'd better get moving; Anya isn't just going to sit back and let up prepare.'
I found myself leaping two steps at a time without realising, so it didn't take long to get there. I'd end up back at the bottom of the winding staircase with my head stuck up my ass if I wasn't careful, though. Nobody needed to see that.
I was standing at the top of the round tower, now, listening to the wolves howling below. Then I looked up to see a spire, one that pointed higher still. The view was breathtaking; it was an experience that I would have loved to be sharing with Anya, though, I guess strangely, I was. She was here, after all.
I could see Asher, Violet, and my mother waving from the other towers; my mother was standing with her arms crossed, just as she always did. I felt just as frustrated; doing nothing turned out to be much harder than I'd thought.
Where is Avrae? It's so unlike him not being here, trying to sink his teeth into anything that moves.
I was jarred back to reality when purple beams of magic started shooting out of our palms into the sky before crashing together in the middle to form a glowing prism of light.
At the sight of this, Anya chose to unleash hell upon us. 'Get them!' She roared, ordering her minions to charge. And I could already hear the patter of paw prints echoing louder like the beating of a war drum.
'Violet, what do we do?'
'Violet!' My voice still wouldn't carry across the prevailing wind.
She did see the rapidly approaching hordes, though, and clapping her hands once, I felt a strong wave of energy flow right through me. When I eventually looked up, I noticed a broad transparent sphere surrounding us. The barrier was up, and Violet was all too accurate in how she'd described it.
The spell took the enemy by surprise, decimating the front ranks and instantly severing furry limbs and torsos. The next waves of reinforcements tumbled helplessly into the energy field as it stopped them all in their tracks. And behind them, wolves stood, trampling in place over the red-stained soil while barking and clawing away at an enemy that seemed forever out of reach.
A distant beating of wings was fast approaching, but before I could turn, Avrae dumped several sheep carcasses in front of me.
'Look what I found, Jayk!' The dragon bore a lopsided grin; he was eager to show me what he'd found, like a child demanding their parent's attention.
The smell was revolting, and I was already starting to choke on the sickening fumes. 'You do see what's happening out there, right?'
'Of course, but breakfast is the most important meal of the day.'
'Well, you're not wrong.'
'You, dragon, why not come and fight us, you coward!'
I could see the steam billowing out of his nostrils; Avrae was falling for the wolf's bait. 'You little...' He lept into the air before plummeting back to the ground. 'You call me a coward? me?'
'Avrae, don't!'
We needed the dragon to be in this fight, so I was baffled by Violet's outburst. A moment later, I realised why she'd said it.
Avrae dove through the barrier, smashing it with ease, like a stone hitting a glass window. And I looked down in terror as hundreds of wolves started to drag the remains of their dead brethren across the surface, piling them all up at the shield wall's edge. They were forming a steep slope, and it wouldn't be long before the enemy seized their opportunity and began the climb.
Damn it. Come on, Violet, what do we do? Attack or defend. Attack or defend.
I'd only turned away for a second, but when I looked back across at the other towers, I saw that Violet was no longer at her post. Instead, she was sliding down the loose tiling of the castle rooftop, charging towards the breach. So much for standing still.
I guess we're attacking then.