Praetorian Rising, стр. 82
The pang of loss struck him across the chest as another soldier swung wildly at his head, missing by more than a foot. Vesyon scanned the mountain line where Camille and Theo were to exit for the millionth time, but they were nowhere to be seen. He knew that if she had appeared on the battlefield, she would have been noticed by now—a red beacon in the center of chaos.
A black stallion covered in blood charged toward him, his owner no longer seated across the top but draped to one side, his head gushing blood over its front flank. Sharp black eyes peered manically at Vesyon as the beast reared up, dislodging its owner to the ground in squelching splat.
"You!" Phillip bellowed to a soldier just right of Vesyon. "Take that stallion and ride to White Wall. Langhorn isn't prepared for this. Not if we are to follow. Send word to Sierra Village as soon as you get there. We're going to need back up."
"General, the frontline is broken," the soldier replied in a sharp bark. "I'm needed there to hold the line."
Phillip shook his head vehemently. "No soldier, I need you to warn White Wall. Langhorn needs to be prepared if the fight moves his direction and I have a feeling this won't be the end of it."
The young soldier gripped his sword with grim acceptance, grabbing the blood-slicked reigns from Phillip's hand before hoisting himself up into the saddle. Vesyon watched the soldier's back as he rode past the line of fire and straight out of the battle as though nothing could touch him. Perhaps one of them would live, Vesyon thought optimistically, but as the swarm of Chimera closed in on his location, his thoughts returned to Camille.
"Where is she?!" Vesyon asked himself as his blade cut a wide arc, severing multiple limbs from screaming Equestrians. His rising kill number was starting to weigh on his conscience much more than it usually did. It was one thing to decimate a herd of Chimera, but far different when they were weak, ill-experienced Asperians.
"Camille or Charlie? I haven't seen either of them," Phillip grunted, sinking his sword into an unusually large Equestrian’s throat.
It was impossible to keep the mention of Camille from sending Vesyon's stomach into knots. There was no not thinking about her—she was everywhere. He should trust that Theo would keep her safe, but it felt like he'd released a child into a burning forest hoping they'd survive intact.
Vesyon turned as another Equestrian charged toward him. His fist connected with the soldier's nose, sending a shiver of impact through his arm as he smashed the bone up into the man's skull. The soldier went rigid and continued forward, falling straight onto his shattered face in the mud.
Beyond the trees just behind their battleground, Vesyon's gaze was pulled toward a glint of light. He saw Charlie charging toward a pack of Chimera, unconcerned about the sharpness of their fangs and claws as she raised her twin handguns high, firing with everything she had. "I see Charlie!" he shouted at Phillip, pointing with the tip of his sword. He was becoming increasingly worried about the sheer number of beasts surrounding them—never in all his years of fighting had he seen so many.
A thunderous explosion rent through the air just behind them as cannon fire struck one of the main buildings of the village. Red and orange flames billowed into the sky, a blast of heat and smoke so acrid it made Vesyon's eyes water. He felt the reverberation through the ground at his feet, a terrifying shake warning him of what was to come. Most of the buildings in the village square that weren't made of stone or brick had caught fire, sending billowing black smoke trails up to the thick grey clouds that hung low and bloated, belching a constant mist of frigid water on their heads.
"We can't wait for her any longer, Captain. We need to evacuate!"
As the moon shifted behind the layers of clouds, dipping below the horizon, the lights of Romeo Village flickered on full blast. The last beacon of hope surrounded by catastrophe.
Glancing around at the remaining troops on hand, he couldn't argue with Phillip's logic, despite the heavy weight of terror careening through his insides like a hungry eel. "The warning alarm hasn't gone off yet Phillip, we can't abandon our hold yet!" He knew Phillip understood his true meaning: he couldn't leave until he saw Camille. Having kept a close eye on the path down the mountainside, and in proximity to where Theo would lead her away from the line of fight, Vesyon was ready to go the second he saw her. His plan had worked as well as it was going to and Phillip was right, they needed to leave.
"We don't have a choice," Phillip replied, taking on two Equestrians that charged his direction. Vesyon grabbed one of the soldiers by the back of his head before plunging his sword straight through his back, low enough to plow past the ribs and straight up through the kidney. The Equestrian slumped in a heap at his feet, face slackened and dead on impact.
The lights of the village flickered again in a zip of color—orange, red, and yellow—before dying out completely. It was too late. Their count down and fuse would never go off without electricity to send the final message to detonate.
"We'll have to set it by hand," Vesyon barked loud enough for Phillip to hear.
The General’s eyes flicked to the compound and back to Vesyon, his face a ragged mask of confidence. That facade shattered as