The line broke like glass under a hammer. One instant the mercenaries were shoulder to shoulder, battered but together; the next, the shield wall splintered, collapsing into a tangle of bodies and screams.
Kaelen was swept in the crush, stumbling backward as comrades shoved past him, some throwing down their weapons, others clawing wildly at the enemy pressing in. The world became a blur of steel and mud, of shouts swallowed by the roar of triumph from Malrik’s soldiers.
The rout had begun.
“Scatter!” Roran’s voice bellowed somewhere behind, ragged but still commanding. “Find the trees! Don’t let them pen you in!”
Kaelen spun, searching for him, but the captain was already swallowed in the tide. All Kaelen could see were mercenaries sprinting in every direction, their banner trampled i
