The war drums didn't stop.
They rolled through the ruins like a second heartbeat, deep and uneven, bouncing off collapsed walls and broken archways until it was impossible to tell where the sound was coming from. It was everywhere. Inside the stone. Inside my teeth.
Around me, the camp had exploded into motion. Men who had been sleeping were now on their feet, strapping armor, pulling blades, shoving bread into their mouths. The routine of it was sickening. They'd done this before. They'd done this enough that there was a rhythm to it.
Sergeant Kael's voice cut through the noise.
"All units, form on the eastern barricade. Night Guard takes the inner perimeter. Mercenaries forward."
Meat shields to the front. That was what Cressida had said, wasn't it?
'And I still don't know where the hell she is.'
That thought stuck in my ribs like a splinter I couldn't pull. But then I tried not to worry too much at the same time, Cressida was a sniper, maybe she was assigned differently.
