Blood and Ash, #2
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Contents
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Overview
After Duchess Teerman’s provocation, open battle engulfs Spessa’s End. Casteel leaps into the fray as Guardians ignite flaming blades and wolven charge. Poppy abandons the wall to fight, saving Casteel and targeting the Duchess’s carriage. A sudden barrage of flaming arrows from the west strikes both sides, plunging the field into chaos.
Summary
Poppy orders the counterattack as Casteel, enraged by the Duchess’s gruesome display, leaps from the Rise to face the Royal Army. The Guardians ignite their swords and descend, while wolven surge from the shadows. From the battlements, Poppy and Quentyn target knights and soldiers until enemy archers force them under cover.
Seeing Solis troops breach the gate, Poppy abandons the wall. Channeling Vikter’s training, she shuts down fear and wades into the yard, killing efficiently with a fallen sword and her bloodstone dagger. On the field, she balances instinct to heal with the brutal necessity to fight, using Quentyn’s covering fire.
Poppy aids wounded wolven, felling a knight with a thrown dagger, and witnesses Delano and a massive silver wolven tear through enemy ranks. She spots Casteel bloodied but relentless behind the catapults. When a knight ambushes him, Poppy kills the attacker, and she and Casteel exchange brief, heated banter before fixing on the Duchess’s carriage as their next target.
As they advance, sparks flare along the western road—arrows alight. A devastating volley of flaming shafts rains down, striking Solis forces and Atlantian allies alike. Casteel tackles Poppy beneath a catapult as fire and screams erupt around them, engulfing the battlefield in indiscriminate chaos and halting their push toward the Duchess.
Who Appears
- Poppy (Penellaphe Balfour)Protagonist; leaves the battlements to fight, kills soldiers and a knight, saves Casteel, and targets the Duchess’s carriage.
- Casteel Da’NeerLeaps from the Rise to lead the counterattack, cuts through enemies, is wounded, and is saved by Poppy as they aim for the Duchess.
- QuentynProvides shield cover and accurate archery support for Poppy from the battlements.
- Duchess TeermanAntagonist presumed in the carriage; her earlier provocation triggers the battle, making her Poppy and Casteel’s target.
- DelanoSnow-colored wolven; tears through enemy ranks, aiding Casteel on the field.
- Fawn-colored wolven (possibly Vonetta)Wounded in the hind leg; Poppy drops a knight to protect her.
- Massive silver wolvenEnters the fight and brutally dismembers a knight, turning the melee in allies’ favor.