Chapter 19 - Thunder at Red Pass
The wind howled bitterly through the jagged stone walls of Red Pass. Below, the dark, churning mass of the Kadorian cavalry surged forward like a tidal wave of steel and fur, their war horns echoing menacingly off the cliffs.
Atop the western ridge, hidden behind thick clumps of pine and stone, Queen Valeria knelt alongside Captain Marcus and her vanguard units. Her breath plumed white in the freezing morning air. The ancient crown upon her head pulsed with a deep, rhythmic blue glow, harmonizing with the rising tension in her veins.
"They're entering the kill zone," Marcus whispered, his hand tightening around the grip of his bow.
Valeria raised her hand, watching intently as the vanguard of the Kadorian army flooded deep into the narrowest part of the gorge below, completely unaware of the trap waiting above.
"Now," Valeria whispered.
Along the ridge, royal engineers ignited the long fuse lines leading into the ancient mining shafts.
A fraction of a second later, a deafening BOOM shook the earth. Tons of rock, snow, and shattered stone cascaded down both sides of the cliff walls, crashing directly onto the center of the Kadorian column, burying hundreds of horsemen in an avalanche of rubble and instantly cutting the invading army in two.
Before the bewildered survivors could recover from the shock, Valeria stood up, drawing her father's broadsword.
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"For the kingdom!" she roared, her voice amplified by the ancient magic of the crown, carrying across the entire pass like thunder. "Charge!"
With a unified war cry, the royal army poured down the slopes, overwhelming the trapped and disorganized enemy in a decisive, crushing sweep.
