The crack of wood rose in the distance, from far across the fields below. It was followed by a loud, rushing sound. Something bad was happening, she was certain of it. “Form up!” Tythus said to the guards. They fell into ranks and Phalue couldn’t help but notice there were fewer of them than they’d started with. “What do you suppose that is?” he said to Phalue.

“I wish I knew,” she said.

The head of an enormous sea serpent rose from the slopes near the switchbacks. Its length coiled down the hill, disappearing into the darkness. Luminescent blue-green spots on its side flickered to life, lighting up the battlefield around it. Phalue had never had the cause to feel the sort of bone-deep, abiding fear that the prey animals feel before the predator. She’d always been one of the taller and broader people she knew. But now she felt the sort of terror a rabbit must feel when the talons of an eagle close around its midsection.

The serpent lunged, snapping at the people below. It half-ran, half-slithered up the slope, its short webbed legs finding purchase in the mud, heaving more and more of its body up onto the plateau. Everywhere, it knocked people to the side or trampled them, claws ripping torsos in two. Screams rose above the sound of clashing blades. The creature didn’t even seem aware of most of the people it killed.

“Did you just shit yourself?” Tythus said. “Because I think I just shit myself.”

Phalue struggled to find words, to find some way to make this less daunting. “A sea serpent wouldn’t come out of the ocean to fight on behalf of the constructs. Which means it is a construct. We just need to give the Emperor enough time to change it to our side.”

“If she can get close enough,” Tythus muttered.

“We have to give her that time,” Phalue said. “It’s either that or lie down and let ourselves be eaten.”

“The second one sounds like a tempting option, but I imagine my wife and children would have something to say about that.” He turned his head slightly. “It’s heading to the gates,” he told the men and women behind them. He gestured as he spoke. “It won’t break them on first impact. We split into two groups and step to the sides. If it gets past the soldiers and hits the gates, we converge. We box it in. Phalue and I will take point.”

“We will, huh?” Phalue said. She was talking just to feel better. Her voice sounded so much calmer than she felt.