Barbarians At The Gate Novels & Stories

Hadassah declared, though at least she had the sense to keep her voice low "Silence," said Moriah. "Remember where you are. They were heading to the Garde Hundreds had come to the battle gates to bear witness to the burning of the Battle of Blood. The smell in the air was ugly. Even for soldiers, it was hard not to feel uneasy at such an affront to the gods most had worshiped all their live

The little one in Limah's arms cried in fits and starts at the trumpet high-pitched sound which cut through the travellers in their numbers. The travellers were suddenly brought to a halt seeing as the trumpet sound from the city's gate commanded attention. A wave of murmurs spread across the crowd in reaction while everyone of the travellers looked back at the city's gate of Athena only to discover a small troop approaching on their horses. The troop, however, had the inclusion of an arrogant-looking horse--typical of royalty--spearheading them. Of course, it was none but General Bastian.

He got up with a sudden charge, and headed out the door. Sighted from afar, Williams matched like a horse mounting forward with daunting speed, charging toward an enemy. Arriving at the entrance of the King's chamber, he came to a halt. The three men who were positioned outside the door by each edge, bowed gently to him, then let him in.

Then: "There he is." Then: "The slow one." Honestly? Fair. Very fair. Reasonable honestly. Then Thomas looked around. Then: "What happened here?" Nobody answered immediately. Then Darius pointed forward. Then Thomas saw it. A giant gate. Black. Massive. Covered in blue runes. The Fifth Key floated behind it. Visible. Yet unreachable. Then Eryx sighed. Then: "The gate won't open." Silence. Then: "We've tried everything." Then Rowan nodded.

I realized that it wasn't me so I moved aside. "Asher Blake Cañoza, Dandara De Verra, Maria Inez Gomez and Cassian Blue Guevarra." I heard a voice of a boy answered her. Once I finished filling up the form, I gave it to the girl. I noticed someone staring at me that made me look around. "We have a special guest for today! It's Ms. Olivia Z. Bautista, everyone!" I heard someone said loudly that made me look to the front which I regretted right away.

“I’m not starting, Ghost. Just… clarifying. I’d hate for you to make a mistake.” A commotion at the back of the room drew their attention. A group of brothers burst through the doorway, dusted in grime, eyes wide with panic. Ghost recognized them immediately—two had been on a run that had gone sideways, the result of misinformation, of faulty intel. They skidded to a stop, chests heaving, voices trembling. “It’s bad,” one of them panted. “We walked into a trap. Several of the guys, they didn’t make it.”

But if I had to, I would, for Beros. Before I could confirm what Lioren had said, one of the faes burst in, a wild and feral look in his eyes. "Your highness" his breath came out in short pants as he hunched over "they have attacked, the hounds, at the third gate".

What if someone recognized her? Larice was left to wonder more as she glanced up to the high walls where the huge banners of Sunvar hung down—a crimson flag with a golden symbol of a sunburst depicted. Several men of the Sunvar Watch gathered above the high walls, with their leather mails, helms, and velvet capes. Behind the crenellations, above the walls and towers, the loaded scorpions appeared to be bigger than the ones Larice had seen from the three bastions. They stopped at one of the four gates of the city from the north—the Hunter’s Gate.

It was a scar on the face of the dead world, but a scar that was healing, turning into something new. The main gate of Birkin Shelter was a formidable structure, a reinforced wall of shipping containers and scrap metal, topped with barbed wire and punctuated by two guarded watchtowers. As the blue sedan approached, a figure waved from the left tower, and the heavy, makeshift gate, mounted on shrieking metal rollers, began to grind open just wide enough for the vehicle to pass through.

“It’s coming through.” Cael turned to the others. “We’re not ready for another.” “No,” Mara agreed. “But it won’t care.” The gate’s bars began to melt outward, like wax under a flame. Something massive pressed against it from the other side. Lucian gave a grim smile. “Guess round two starts now.”