Guardian Last (Lords of Syon Saga Book 2) Read Online Free

area where the archers had
fallen, and another body of archers moved in from the other side.
    “Fie,” the Guardian hissed, squinting through the rain at
them, watching order replace chaos in their ranks seemingly from nowhere. 
“Someone has to be giving orders!  Someone has to be in charge!  Show
yourself!”
    “Guardian, ballistae!”
    “Surely not.  They would not bring…”
    But no, the girl was right. The Guardian could make out two
ballista crews settling their weapons into position.  He immediately threw
explosive force into the joints of the wood that held them together, and they
erupted in a shower of splinters that shredded through the men attending them. 
Two more beyond the ones he had destroyed erupted in white-hot flames, and in
that light, he could see six more turning to target the hillside.
    Ten ballistae…  But why?
    “Split the line on me, and get yourselves to cover north and
south!  Go!” called the Guardian.  The mages complied with his order, but as he
watched them, the ballistae did not change their alignment to follow.  As he
suspected, they were set to aim only at the broad hillside, in the general
direction from whence they were attacked.  Even if they stood in the open, the
mages were effectively invisible in the dusky light until they attacked.  “Watch
the attack and get yourselves clear of it.  Attack only after their bolts hit,
then move directly back to cover!”
    The oversized bolts coming from the ballistae had been
dipped in pitch and set ablaze, no doubt with the same intention as the
firestorm he had set among them, more to illuminate targets and cause panic
than to cause damage.  The rain and sleet saw the bolts doused before they
could quite catch the trees, but still, the bolts found several of the mages in
cover.
    The other mages came forward and threw their power over the
enemy below while a few saw to the wounded.  To their credit, only those mages nearest
the ballistae targeted them, pulverizing them instantly, while the rest focused
their attention where they could do the most harm.  Elsewhere, horses shrieked
and threw their riders in the swarms of snakes around their hooves, and soldiers
went mad with an unseen terror attacking those nearest them.  Some of the mages,
whom the Guardian imagined them to be more subtly minded, merely extended the
energy of a simple touch into the mass of horses, which sent a circle of them
bucking furiously, throwing and trampling their riders to death and spreading
outward in panicked ripples through the ranks.
    But still the enemy came on, more and more and more of
them.  What manner of army would come undaunted into that kind of attack?
    The Guardian frowned and sent a crackle of sheet lightning
rippling through them, as much to attack as to illuminate the field and show
him what was coming.  The silvery light sparkled over the ground below as it
traveled, killing the riders nearest him outright and disabling many ranks
behind.  But beyond those ranks, the power faded, leaving only light,
reflecting back a seemingly endless field of weapons, shields, siege machinery. 
    Tens of thousands of soldiers and knights on horse, perhaps
a hundred thousand just within view, were bearing down on their position. 
North, south…the army seemed bounded only by the sea on both sides and extended
back as far as he could see.  At the backs of their ranks came more ballistae,
catapults, siege towers… This was no army of mage hunters.  This was an invasion
force. 
    Cragen was invading Syon.
    This was not possible.  The Guardian had seen the remnants
of the Byrandian army whipped back to Byrandia like a pack of mangy graetnas
during the Battle of the Liberation.  Cragen could not possibly have raised a new
force of this magnitude since then.  Yet he had.  But how? 
    A ripple of genuine fear shuddered through his body. 
    No.  He would have time to speculate on these things if they
managed to survive.  Until then, these