Soul Blade, page 13
part #3 of Sword of Light Series
“Enala?” Gabriel stood and moved around the table to sit beside her. He pulled her into his arms, smiling as he felt her head nestle beneath his chin. “What is it?”
“I may have to use it again, the Soul Blade,” she shuddered in his arms. “Last time… Last time it destroyed me, Gabriel. If not for Eric…”
“Why?” he could not believe anyone would ask such a sacrifice of this girl, not after everything she had been through. “Why you?”
“Because I have already used it. We know it will not kill me, that my magic is powerful enough for that at least. The Magickers in Kalgan thought that it was only my inexperience that allowed the God magic to possess me. Now… now I might at least stand a chance of controlling it.”
“What if they’re wrong?” Gabriel whispered, terrified for the girl in his arms.
Enala stiffened and push away from him. Fire flashed in her eyes. “Do not say that, Gabriel,” she growled. “I don’t need any more doubt, I have enough of my own. Don’t you see, I’m terrified,” tears sprang to her eyes. “But I don’t have a choice; I have to do this. I can’t let Eric face him alone!”
“Surely another Magicker –”
“No,” Enala snapped. “If it comes to it, I won’t let someone else risk death because I was scared. I can do this; I will do this.”
“Okay, I understand,” Gabriel held up his hands in surrender. “But what about the other one, the Soul Blade with Jurrien’s magic?”
Take it! The whispers in his mind suddenly turned into a roar. Take it and embrace your destiny!
Gabriel shuddered as shadows danced just beyond his vision. The voice was stronger than he’d ever felt it before, drilling its way deep into his mind. Groaning, he slumped on the bench, his hands clutching at his face.
“No!” he ground out through clenched teeth.
“Gabriel?” panic rose in Enala’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
But her words were a whisper now, carrying to him from some great distance. He could hardly hear her over the screeching in his ears.
Take it! Take it and you will have more power than you could ever have dreamed.
He pressed his hands to his ears and shook his head, but it made no difference. The voice came from within, seeping through his conscious, reaching down to the darkness within him. A shadow stirred in his soul, claws reaching up, desperate to be free.
“Gabriel!” Enala shook him. “Gabriel, what’s happening?”
Gabriel tasted blood as his teeth clenched on the inside of his cheek. Slowly, he pulled back from the edge of the abyss and the voice retreated to a whisper.
He looked up into Enala’s sapphire eyes, saw the concern there, the fear.
“It’s back.”
*************
“You’re looking bright this morning, Commander May,” Caelin grinned as the woman moved through the dining hall and sat across the table from him.
“Yes, well I’m enjoying my good mood while it lasts,” she waved to a server, who nodded and raced to bring her food. He caught her eyes on his plate and pulled it out of reach. May raised an eyebrow. “You know, it would be polite to offer your food to your superior.”
Caelin laughed and scooped a spoonful of beans into his mouth. “Not on your life,” he swallowed. “Flying on a dragon’s back may look like fun, but it gets uncomfortable after a few days. And we didn’t exactly stop long enough for hot meals along the way.”
May waved a hand, grinning as the servant placed a plate of food in front of her. “Just in the nick of time,” the plate was heaped with beans, bacon and eggs.
Grinning, Caelin shook his head. “I’m glad you’re the one in charge here, May,” the woman had been a legend even when he’d been training to join the army. He doubted there was anyone he would trust more with the defence of the fortress. “How are the defences looking?”
May finished chewing her mouthful before answering. “Better than a few days ago, that’s for sure. The Lonian army arrived not long after your somewhat eventful entrance. That gives us another five thousand swords. The Trolans are still a few days out, but their birds say they have another ten thousand. And we now have the Sword and forty dragons.”
“But you don’t wish to use them?” he was still confused by May’s decision.
“Not yet,” she shook her head. “Archon’s army may outnumber us, but his human forces alone are not likely to take even the outer wall. Now that we’ve been reinforced, they will not break us. But his beasts are another matter. I don’t want to lose a single dragon before they are needed, and make no mistake, we will need them if we are to hold back Archon’s creatures. The last time Archon came, those beasts swept us from the outer wall like our soldiers were little more than children.”
“And what about the Magickers?”
“I have them stationed on the walls in case they are needed, but they are under strict instruction not to use their magic unless they absolutely must.”
Caelin nodded and suppressed a yawn. He had spent much of the night surveying the fortress’ defences for himself, and couldn’t help but agree with May’s plan.
Looking around the dining room, he spotted Eric and Inken moving towards them. He smiled, warmed by the sight of their reunion. Joy radiated from their faces as they joined them at the table. Gabriel and Enala appeared next, but Caelin was disappointed to see the haunted look still darkened Gabriel’s face. If anything, he seemed to have lost more colour.
Looking around the table, he took stock of their reunited company. He smiled, though a sadness stirred in his heart as he remembered those they’d lost. The gap left by Michael and Alastair was plain, but they would never be forgotten. Their sacrifice spurred them on, giving them the strength they needed to face the challenges still to come.
“It’s good to see you two again,” Caelin nodded at Enala and Eric. “You seem to have gotten yourselves into quite a bit of trouble since you left us.”
Eric grinned. “I heard you got yourself thrown in prison, Caelin, and had to be rescued.”
“It was all part of the plan,” Caelin laughed. “But what’s this I hear about you two being siblings now?”
“Believe me, it was just as much of a surprise to us,” Eric looked around the room. “I’m glad to see you too, all of you,” his eyes lingered on Gabriel.
Gabriel looked away and his face darkened. Caelin raised an eyebrow. He’d thought Gabriel might have finally forgiven Eric, though he understood the young man’s pain. To Eric’s credit, he let the slight pass.
Enala did not. She reached out and squeezed Gabriel’s wrist, then turned to the room. “He’s glad to see you too, Eric. But there is more here, something Gabriel has kept from the rest of you.”
Gabriel shuddered and Caelin glimpsed the gleam of tears in his eyes. “It won’t leave me alone,” he hissed. “It won’t stop.”
A shiver raised the hairs on the back of Caelin’s neck. “What won’t leave you alone?”
“The demon,” Gabriel hissed. “The thing that came to me in the forests of Oaksville all that time ago.”
“Demon?” May half-rose from her seat, her hand going to her sword.
Gabriel nodded. “That’s what I’ve always thought it to be. It… it came to me after my men were slaughtered by the Baronians outside Oaksville, when I’d come so close… to killing you, Eric.”
Eric swallowed, clearly uncomfortable with the memory, but Gabriel continued.
“I knew it was evil. It appeared as a shadow in the forest, cloaked in the spirits of the dead. Somehow, somehow, it convinced me to listen to it, to take its gift. It offered me resistance to magic, though I never tested it. Not until Ardath,” quietly he explained how the dark magic cast by the false king had slid from him like butter.
“But its gift came with a price. It stole my thoughts, my memories, my very soul, until I had nothing left but hatred. Only my encounter with Enala broke the spell, when it told me to kill her.”
“I thought I had rid myself of it then, but in the cell it returned. It has been with me ever since, whispering in my mind, driving me towards the darkness,” Gabriel hung his head as he finished.
Caelin stared, mouth open in shock. He’d thought it had been madness haunting Gabriel, but now he shuddered at the memory of the darkness in their cell. An evil presence had hovered over them, drawing away their strength. Could it have been Gabriel’s demon all along?
“What –?” the ring of trumpets cut May off before she could finish the question.
A shadow swept over the dining hall. Caelin’s heart sank as he glanced down at his half-finished plate. Then he stood, lifting his sword belt from his chair and strapping it around his waist.
His eyes found Gabriel’s. “We will speak of this after the battle, Gabriel. For now though, I think it’s best if you sit out this fight. Afterwards, we will find a way to help you,” he reached down and squeezed Gabriel’s shoulder. “I swear it.”
Gabriel nodded back, the despair in his eyes unmistakable. But there was no time to offer the young man further comfort now.
The evil at their gates would not wait.
Thirteen
Adrenaline swept through Inken as she picked up her bow and followed the others from the hall. This was why she’d first become a bounty hunter: the thrill of combat, the exhilaration as she tested her skill against another’s. Her strength had returned over the last few days and she was eager to prove she had lost nothing to the darkness of her imprisonment.
She had already decided she would not back down from the battle. Every sword and bow was needed now, and if Fort Fall was lost, the Three Nations would soon follow. There would be nowhere for her to run, no place left to keep a child safe. No, it was all or nothing, and if she had to give her life so others could raise their children in peace, so be it.
Their boots cracked against the brick path as they raced for the outer wall. The mess hall where they had been eating adjoined to the outermost barracks between the middle and outer wall, so it did not take long for them to reach the staircase leading up to the front line. Behind them others were rushing to their respective stations, ensuring the other two walls were manned in case the first fell.
But that would not be today, not if she had anything to say about it.
May led the way, striding up the stairs while keeping her pace in check. Inken smiled at the woman’s self-control. It would not do for the defenders to see their commander panicked, but May seemed to have little difficulty maintaining an outward calm.
At the top May moved off along the wall, her voice bellowing out as she gave orders for the archers to form up. Inken slid her bow off her shoulder and strung it, then stepped into the front line. She sensed the presence of her comrades as they moved in behind her, but she only had eyes for the enemy now. Looking down, she searched for her first target.
Below, a wave of men surged towards the wall, weapons raised in defiance. The snow had cleared during the night but the ground remained frozen white, slowly giving way to the incoming tide of black. The screams of the enemy and the banging of shields carried up to the defenders, breaking on the steel of their courage.
Inken smiled, proud to stand amidst the best of the Three Nations. But as the sunlight glinted off the weapons of the enemy, Inken felt a trickle of fear slide through her chest. Her hand drifted to her stomach and she found herself retreating a step before she caught herself. She bit her tongue, struggling to find the nerve to step back to the edge. Within, a voice was screaming for her to flee.
“There’s more of em today,” an old warrior stepped up beside her, his amber eyes looking down at the oncoming enemy. He held a massive war hammer casually in one hand.
“Seems that way,” Inken swallowed.
“Won’t matter much, so long as they stay down there,” the giant commented.
Inken found herself grinning, her fear falling away. Reaching up she drew an arrow from her quiver.
“That’s what you said yesterday, Alan,” Eric muttered from behind her. “And my arms are still hurting.”
Inken jumped as Alan’s laughter boomed out across the wall. “You’ll get used to it, sonny. I expect they’ll be throwing the anvil at us now, after yesterday. And whatever else they can get their hands on.”
Caelin nodded. “Ay, they’ll want a win after yesterday’s slaughter.”
“Well, sonny, they won’t have any luck while I still stand,” Alan grinned. “Kanker here and I have never lost a fight, and I don’t intend to start today,” he hefted the great hammer in both hands.
“Is that so?” Caelin grinned at the older man. “Well, just see if you can keep up with me then, old man.”
Inken chuckled as Alan replied with a toothy grin. She eyed the older warrior with a professional eye, and guessed Caelin might find himself outmatched on this occasion. Despite the greying hair and lines on his face, Alan held the war hammer seemingly without effort and he moved with the natural grace of a fighter.
“Here they come,” Enala commented.
Turning back, Inken swore and nocked her bow.
From down the line she heard the call from May. “Archers: draw, loose!”
Sighting down the arrow shaft, Inken found a man at the forefront of the charge and fired. Along the wall the other archers did the same and a volley of arrows swept out to meet the incoming tide. The enemy ranks faltered as it struck, the front line disappearing beneath the deadly rain.
Screams carried up to the wall, but despite the devastation at the front, the men behind came on.
“Archers, nock, draw, loose!” May’s voice rang out again.
Inken drew a breath and released it, losing herself in the rhythm of the bow. With each volley she reached for her next arrow before the last had even found its target. They managed a dozen volleys before the first of the enemy reached the base of the wall.
“Fire at will! Fighters, at the ladders!”
Then the enemy were firing back and Inken hardly heard May’s words as she ducked beneath the crenulations. The hiss of an arrow’s passage raised the hairs on her neck and she swore, rolling sideways to come up in a new position. Leaping to her feet, she quickly sighted on an enemy archer, loosed, and ducked back out of view.
Glancing around, she saw the first of the enemy had reached the battlements and were leaping from their ladders to engage with the defenders. Their shaggy coats and black leather armour stood out in stark contrast to the red, blue and green of the defenders. So far, none had managed to gain a foothold on the walkway.
Yet there was no stopping the flood of men racing up the ladders.
A crash came from nearby and she looked up in time to see a man climb into view. Without thinking she drew back her bowstring and loosed her arrow. The bolt struck the man in the chest and flung him backwards. He toppled out of view.
Inken reached for another arrow and found her quiver empty. Cursing, she realised they had spilt from the quiver as she rolled. Tossing aside her bow, she drew her sabre. The next man to clamber onto the parapets was met with steel, his skull shattered by her first swing. As he fell, Inken took up position to the side of the ladder and waited for the next attacker.
A roar came from her left and she looked up in time to see Alan charge into a cluster of three black-garbed enemies. She turned to help him, but quickly realised there was no need. The war hammer caught the first man mid-charge, smashing him from his feet, even as the giant’s fist crashed into the face of a second man. The man’s head bounced backwards into the stone with an audible crack. Panic swept across the face of the last man and he turned to run.
Dropping his hammer, Alan leapt after the man. Grabbing him by the neck, Alan hoisted the man over his head and tossed him at two enemy warriors who had just gained the battlements. The man screamed as he flew into his comrades, knocking them backwards off the wall.
Alan swept up his hammer and turned to see her staring. “Watch yourself, missy,” he nodded to another enemy who had just appeared.
Inken grinned back, pleased her assessment of the old warrior had proven true. She doubted even Caelin could keep up with such a man. His strength was prodigious and with that war hammer he appeared to be all but unstoppable.
The enemy approaching her had no such skill and in two breaths she had speared him through the heart. Stepping back, she swung to check on Eric. A tingle of fear went through her as she saw him facing two men.
Before she could move to his aid, Enala leapt in from the side, her short sword stabbing out to catch one of the men in the stomach. As the other turned towards her, Eric surged forward and the Sword of Light crunched through bone. The man crumpled beside his comrade.
“Well done,” Inken commented as she joined them.
“Thanks,” Eric panted, flashing a weary smile.
As the next wave of enemies swept over the battlements they leapt together to meet them, swords flashing in the morning sun. Inken’s heart thudded hard in her chest, strength warming her arms as another enemy fell to her blade and she ducked beneath a swinging axe.
Yet even as she fought, regret touched her. This had been her life as a bounty hunter, an existence filled with excitement and danger. But that life seemed a thousand years ago, and it felt now as though she were reaching back to a past long gone. Sadness stirred in her stomach as she realised how empty that existence had been.
She had been drifting through life before, living each week for the thrill of the hunt, but now she had finally found her purpose. Not for the first time, she thanked the Gods she’d made the right decision all that time ago, when she had sided with the company and joined their quest, when she had joined the fight to save their world from Archon.
And as she slashed past another enemy, she realised with a smile that this war would be her last fight. Not because of the life growing within her, but because she knew she could not return to her old life. After this, she could find no joy in such an existence.
