A Court of Blood and Glory

War

Rhysand

The army reached the base of the hill we awaited them on, but there was no sign of the King and his court. Or the Cauldron. Varian had managed to secure fifty ships from the Summer Court, and they sailed towards us from the west, traveling along the coast to reach us, each boat carrying a hundred soldiers, who were to kill as many of Hybern's allies as possible. It was a suicide mission, and I saw Varian leading them from the front of the armada.
I looked to my mate as another blast of power rippled through the world, originating from the back of the army, where I assumed the King was safely stationed. To get to him, to get to the Cauldron, we would have to kill every one of the soldiers in front of us, and we had nowhere near enough troops to kill them. Not without the monsters.
I looked to Amren, but she only nodded to me, and I winnowed away to the neutral land where the Weaver lived, to find her standing outside her cottage, a feral grin on her face as she scented me.
"Have you come to trade with me, High Lord? Have you come to take me to the feast?" She said, and I prayed to the Mother that she couldn't smell the fear rippling off me.
"I have." And I winnowed us to the front lines, where the Weaver roared at the advancing army, and threw dark power out at them. A chill down my spine alerted me to the presence of the Bone Carver, Feyre nodding at me as he walked forward. He wore dark armour that leached shadows into the world, and carried a huge sword, which felled soldiers in groups where he swung it. The Weaver bore no weapons, similar to Amren, but where she breathed, Hybern's soldiers, both cauldron made and fae, fell to the floor, their bodies no more than soulless husks, and the Weaver grew younger with each death.
A horn sounded in the distance, and a combined group of Peregryn and Illyrian soldiers took to the skies, Cassian and Thesan's partner leading them to do battle from the skies. I looked behind me, to where my mate stood with Mor, Azriel and Amren, and I kissed her one last time, her fingers brushing over the bargain I'd sworn, and she pulled away, winnowing behind the Illyrian lines as each of the High Lords readied their power, myself included, and they walked down the hill, our forces running forward, clashing with fae and beast as I prepared to fire into the opposing lines.
I love you, more than anything, Feyre darling.
I didn't give her a chance to reply as I blocked out the bond, beating my wings, and releasing the damper on my power as I threw myself into Hybern's forces, killing all that came into my line of power, darkness tearing through them, and where magic didn't kill, steel did. I was soaked with blood within minutes, and following the path that the Bone Carver was cutting through the enemy lines, making his way towards the King and his Court, to where I would slaughter the King, his Court, and Tamlin.
I fought with everything I had, and I didn't stop once to think about what I was doing. All I wanted was to kill, and I would kill anyone in my path.

Feyre

It was a bloodbath, a horrific, terrifying bloodbath. I watched Rhys fly into the battle, but the male I'd loved, the male that was kind and caring, was not the one that I saw. I saw the most powerful High Lord in all of Prythian's history kill without mercy, without a conscience, as if he had forgotten what made him him.
But he wasn't the only one to do so. Thesan, the quiet High Lord that healed my mate, was drenched in the blood of his enemies, and he slaughtered his way across the land, Helion nearby, using his light to blind his enemies as he killed them, and Tarquin sucked the water from their bodies, crippling those he could, and drowning the monsters from the Cauldron, leaving them dead at his feet.
"Let's go." Mor said, and we winnowed to the edge of the fighting, Amren and Azriel joining us. The shadowsinger looked to the battle, and he gave us one last look over before his siphons gleamed and wings beat, leaving us when he deemed our path as safe as possible, and joining Cassian in the skies, a shield of blue joining one of red, and Azriel joined the battle in the sky, pieces of attor and Illyrian, Peregryn and beast showering the battle below.
But the troops came too fast, only our side showing any sign of weakening, and I soon lost sight of the general and the shadowsinger as the blood flowed faster. The only thing that told me they we alive were the flashes of red and blue every so often, blasting the troops down when steel failed. Varian's ships were sailing towards a hundred of Hybern's, throwing magic and steel at each other until the ships were sunk beneath the wave. If those ships managed to reach land, we would lose all chances we had of winning.
The males' job was to fight, but ours was to save them all. I only hoped it would work.