The Alpha King Marked Me. I Still Haven't Told Him I'm A Girl novel Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Twenty One

We ride two days without stopping, no fire, no camp, no rest. And when we arrive at the front, what greets us isn’t a battlefield. It’s the end of the world.

"Gods above..." Thadius whispers, the words barely more than a breath. His face is pale as bone.

My horse shies beneath me, hooves shifting restlessly, and I tighten the reins. But I can’t take my eyes off the horizon.

Too many.

Our army numbers in thousands, and yet the Dark King’s forces stretch beyond sight, a black tide consuming the plains. A scourge upon the earth. They bring no supplies. No ballistae. No trebuchets. No siege towers.

They don’t even need them.

A creeping silence settles over our men, the kind that chokes. Even the Elite falter, their eyes hollow with despair. We all know it. This is a battle we cannot win. When we fall, Silvermoor will burn. Nothing will remain.

"What are they waiting for?" someone mutters hoarsely, as if even speaking might shatter what fragile courage we have left. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

For hours, they’ve stood still. Waiting. Watching. Not advancing a single step.

Prince Rafe’s voice cracks across the lines like a whiplash. "North flank! Prepare the cannons!"

The men move, though their hands tremble. Even I know it is useless. Cannons may buy us moments, but the inevitable looms upon us. Death.

I glance down at my fingers, slick with sweat where they grip the reins and my father’s sword. His armor hangs heavy on me, his helmet scraping against my ears.

Did he feel this same cold before his last battle? Did he pee himself like the men holding the front line have begun to? Or did he raise his chin and forged ahead, regardless?

I’d wager the latter. My father was a lion. He never cowered from anything a single day in his life--

The ground shudders beneath us.

A ripple of darkness races across the sky, swallowing the light. The enemy army stirs, and gasps ripple through our ranks as vision dims, as if the world itself retreats from what comes.

Lightning tears across the heavens. Thunder cracks like the snapping of the earth’s spine.

"Something’s coming!" a soldier screams.

The horses panic, rearing and whinnying, foam flecking their mouths. The world holds its breath as the sound of hoofbeats breaks through the storm.

The Dark King’s army parts in precise, terrible symmetry. From its center, a lone rider emerges. He is covered in head-to-toe black. The only thing that stands out is the striking hair of silver that flows out from under his black helmet.

A man. A beast. Both, and neither.

He rides forward, calm as death, until he reaches the space between our armies.

The aura rolling off him is suffocating, a black tide pressing against my skin, sinking into my lungs. I can’t see his face, yet I feel his gaze in every corner of me, hollowing me out. His voice crashes over us, not merely sound but presence, vibrating in the marrow of my bones.

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