by B. T. Narro
Mavrim turned to Dasfis. “He will not be harmed?”
“Not unless he attacks us himself.”
“He wouldn’t.”
“Then he will live through it.”
Leo stepped forward, unable to hold in his question any longer. He shouted to Jarrel, “What did you do with the mages in training like Edward Fola? They would never betray us by coming here to fight against us.”
“None of my soldiers are betraying any human,” Gavval answered. “It’s the opposite. We need all the coin and soldiers we can gather to protect our people and then rebuild. Edward and the other mages in training are headed west to fight the barbarians.”
“You speak of betraying my people as if our lives mean nothing to you,” Dasfis shouted in anger.
“You did the same thing,” Jarrel yelled back. “You betrayed thousands of humans you had allied with to save your own people.”
“I had to because no humans would come to our aid! Analytes would’ve helped destroy the rift had it been in your territory. We would’ve put an end to it years ago. I’m not proud of the decision I made, but it was forced upon me.”
“None of this matters anymore,” Jarrel concluded. “The time to gather your riches is running out. When we finish rebuilding and fortifying our army, we will come back to destroy the rift with you.”
“I wouldn’t agree to that even if it was true.”
“Then everyone behind you will die.”
A flash of movement among Leo’s own army turned his head toward his father. It happened so fast that Leo couldn’t figure out what he’d seen until it was too late. His father screamed in such agony that it tore Leo’s heart. The blunt end of a dagger stuck out from his leg as he collapsed to the ground. The man who’d stabbed him ran toward Jarrel with a quick look back to ensure he wasn’t followed. It seemed that Leo was not the only one too shocked by the incident to give chase.
Leo and Andar crouched over their father as he gritted his teeth through the pain.
“Sarding bastard!” Leo yelled at the betrayer, ensuring he had a good look at the man’s face. Leo had seen him around the camp many times. He had a short beard and high cheekbones. He caught Leo’s eyes with fear.
But there was another man fleeing to Jarrel, this one an Analyte. He looked back with the same terror. A few gave chase, but they stopped when they realized it was too late. Jarrel’s army started to advance, quickly absorbing the traitors.
Leo found KRenn on the ground with a dagger stuck in his leg, just like Leo’s father.
“Help me get him up,” Andar told Leo.
With the help of the others around them, they quickly got their father to his feet.
“Medics are in the back,” Leo remembered. His father seemed to be in too much pain to speak. Or perhaps it was anger that twisted his face so severely.
“Darren!” Lane called as she came to his aid.
“I will be fine. Let me stand.”
They steadied him. Many bumped into Leo as he and Andar shielded his father from the allies trying to get past him and into the fray. He watched in horror as his father tried to put weight on his injured leg, only to scream out in agony.
“We’re taking you to the medics,” Leo demanded.
He was glad when his father didn’t argue.
“Darren,” Lane said. “The Analyte who betrayed us is Leis.”
Darren spoke the worst curse in common tongue.
“What does it mean that it was him?” Andar asked.
“Leis was close with Dasfis,” Darren said through gritted teeth. “He probably knows where in the palace the coin is hidden.”
There was nothing any of them could do about that until they dragged Darren to the rear of the army, where a team of medics awaited. They wouldn’t be able to heal him in such a way that would allow him to fight, but they would keep him from bleeding out. KRenn was brought over by a group of Analytes just after Leo and Andar set their father on the ground.
Leo started to circle around. He wanted a better look at the combat he could hear.
“Wait!” his father called to him.
“What?”
“Everything’s changed now. Jarrel will push our men back until he can storm the palace.”
“What do we do?” Leo asked.
“Lane, send a group of our best men with my boys to ensure they get to the palace before Jarrel.”
“I will go with them myself,” Lane said.
“No, someone needs to command our troops. Watch for flanks, and keep watch for Owen Harell.”
“All right. Follow me, boys.”
“Andar,” Darren said, then waited until Andar leaned down. Darren put his hand on the back of Andar’s neck. “If you encounter too much trouble, let them by. You and Leo will not sacrifice your life for anything here. Understand?”
“We do,” Andar said.
The weak voice of KRenn called out as they started to leave, “Take Joker with you.”
A rift was already open beside KRenn as he lay on the bloodstained grass. Out galloped a four-legged creature as tall as a horse, but this beast was agile and fierce, with a jagged horn as thick as an arm. It bent its front leg as if it might swipe its claws at the many men around it.
KRenn called out, “These are your friends.” He pointed at Leo and Andar. “Protect them as you would protect me. Go, Lane!” KRenn told them. “Follow her, boys.”
“Remember!” Darren yelled after.
“We will,” Andar yelled back.
Lane rushed through the rear ranks, Leo and Andar almost losing her because of her lesser height. Joker galloped behind them. A white mane ran down its gray body and tail, but its legs and body were thinner than that of a horse. Leo wondered just how much it understood about what was happening, though it did seem to know to follow him and Andar, staying close behind.
By the time they caught up to Lane again, she had gathered a few dozen men in a circle.
“You will take the Quims to the palace and defend the doors. Ensure they get inside and up to the second floor, where they can use Artistry from the balcony.”
A few of the men seemed startled by the creature huffing behind them.
“We’re moving now,” Andar said. “Jarrel’s leading a group up the hill.”
Andar took the lead as they separated from the rest of their army and charged up the hill toward the palace. Ahead of them, their ally archers loosed arrow after arrow, taking down many of Jarrel’s men charging up the other side of the hill with him. There were so sarding many. And even more stormed toward Leo’s allies on the field, he saw, as he was now halfway up the hill. The carnage had begun, the front lines of allies and enemies cutting through one another. He knew if his father was there, there was a good chance that his enemies would be pushed back. But it was the opposite at the moment, Leo’s allies falling quickly.
He couldn’t do anything to help them right now. Jarrel was his target, along with the few hundred men with him.
KRenn’s creature, Joker, was first to the palace, with Andar and Leo close behind. The entranceway was around the side, however, behind the archers and their makeshift wall of thin wood. It was only meant to stop arrows, and it had done a fine job so far as many enemy arrows lay at the base of it.
Shield bearers had taken to the front of Jarrel’s charge. The archers smartly ignored them and shot down at the main group of the opposing army instead. But even the men down there seemed prepared, many taking the shields strapped to their backs and holding them overhead as they pushed toward the fray.
Jarrel lifted his arm when he was in range to make a link between all the bows of Leo’s allies. Leo easily broke the spell as he ran through the ranks of archers, making it to the doorway behind his brother and KRenn’s creature. But Jarrel and the hundreds with him were just a few moments away.
Leo felt his brother join him as they wrapped Artistry around the armor of their enemies, but it was disrupted by Jarrel before a link could be made. It was too
easy for one mage to destroy the link of another. It seemed that they would cancel each other’s abilities until one fell.
Leo spotted another mage lifting his arm at the archers. From his father’s description, he recognized the long hair of Owen Harell.
Leo’s boots suddenly became solid. It felt as if he wore thick rocks and was now incapable of moving them. He wasn’t the only one to be frozen by the link. A small group of comrades as well as all the archers suddenly could not move. Only Joker turned around and faced the charging enemies.
Leo tried to break Owen’s spell, but it felt as if he were trying to bend solid metal. He saw Jarrel had stopped to aim his hands at their feet as well. Fear gripped Leo’s heart. These two mages were stronger than him and his brother. In fact, it wasn’t even a close competition.
The archers screamed in fright as swordsmen closed in on them. Joker stayed around Leo and Andar, so Leo yelled at it, “Kill the swordsmen!”
The creature didn’t seem to understand, though it could tell that aggression was needed as it stomped toward many different people, clearly wondering who was an enemy.
With Leo unable to break this link no matter how hard he tried, he thought of something else instead. He bonded Owen’s boots to a couple pairs of shoes belonging to the charging men. With Owen and Jarrel focused on their own link, they didn’t have time to break Leo’s Artistry before it formed. Owen and a small group of soldiers fell. The steep hill sent them rolling as Leo’s link held true. They tripped about a dozen men charging up behind them before they were helped up and Owen finally broke the link.
It had given Leo and Andar enough time to counter by breaking Owen and Jarrel’s link as well. Some of the ally archers fled down the hill and toward the rest of their allies.
“Into the palace,” Andar called out as he got the door open. Leo took a spot between his allies and his enemies, his brother to his side. The rest of their comrades, many archers included, flooded into the palace. Leo made sure to disrupt any Artistry he felt circling around him, stopping any link that might keep them exposed.
He met eyes with Jarrel as the commander slowed to catch his breath. He had just made it to the top of the hill with many of his men behind him. Jarrel still had some distance to cover before reaching the palace, but the last of Leo’s allies had run inside. All except Andar, who turned around to stare at Jarrel.
“Close that door,” Jarrel warned, “and I will kill you myself after I get through.”
“I look forward to seeing you try,” Andar answered.
The last Leo heard was Jarrel cursing at Andar as he stepped into the palace and shut the door. They barred it with heavy planks of wood. The plan here had been to leave the palace open for archers to use as a sanctuary in case they needed to retreat. Leo had no idea he might be trapped in here as well, or he might’ve gone over the in-palace plan in more detail with his father.
One man spoke for the group. “Some of us will guard the door,” he announced. “Archers and mages to the balconies.”
Leo was running up the stairs when he heard Rygen’s voice from the top. “What’s going on?”
“Rygen, go back to our room.”
She didn’t move, except to step aside at the top of the stairs for Leo and Andar to get through. “Leo, what is going on? Is that confused creature KRenn’s?”
Leo saw it in the entrance room, regarding their allies with aggression in its eyes.
“Yes, it’s KRenn’s. Before you leave, can you tell it not to attack our own men?”
“I’ll try.”
Andar went past them as Leo stayed to explain, “Two people betrayed us. One of them is an Analyte who told Jarrel where Dasfis keeps his treasure. Jarrel has led a few hundred men here to take it.”
There was a crash against the door that startled Rygen.
Leo took her hands. “Before they make it inside, you must go to our room and lock the door.”
She looked at him with wide eyes. Leo didn’t have time to stand here.
“Rygen?”
“I will,” she finally said. “As soon as I speak with KRenn’s creature.”
Leo ran and joined his brother on the nearest balcony. An arrow nearly took Leo’s ear off. He backed off a bit as Andar ducked below the short protection of the balcony.
“We need to keep them from shooting,” Andar said. “So our archers can shoot freely without worrying about them.”
Many of their archers had positioned themselves strategically near windows and balconies. Arrows were already being exchanged.
Leo tried to look down at the enemy archers, but two arrows flew toward him and forced him down below the barrier of the balcony with his brother.
“We can’t unless we can see them,” Leo said as he tried to think of something else.
“That’s not true.” Andar closed his eyes. “We have to help our Artistry figure out what bows are. Then it can find our enemies’ weapons even when we cannot see them.”
Andar had told Leo about this, using it to find the heartbeat of a fish in order to catch one with Siki in the river. Leo had experimented in the brief time they had before battle but hadn’t made any progress. He would stick to his usual powerful links that required sight.
But Leo could not poke his head up as arrows beat against the walls around them. There was another crash against the door—no doubt a battering ram that would break through eventually.
Andar certainly took his time as he closed his eyes and made no sounds or movements. Leo refrained from interrupting his brother as he looked around for ideas. There were too many enemy archers. Leo’s allies could not get a shot down at them. One man tried, only to become impaled with two arrows, falling below the wall of the balcony.
“Someone’s messing with the Artistry,” Andar grumbled with frustration.
“Andar,” Leo said as he grabbed his brother’s shoulder and took out his sword. “There’s only one way to stop them.”
“Damn, you’re right.”
They made their way back to the large entrance room, finding their ally archers coming back to join them. The wooden beams had begun to crack. There was a long tear across the door, its edged bending each time the battering ram slammed into it from the other side.
Leo was horrified to see that Rygen was still at the top of the stairs. He ran to her. “Rygen, you have to—”
There was a loud crack. Leo turned to clearly see Jarrel through a wide hole in the shattered door.
“Put down your weapons!” Jarrel shouted. “There is no need for you all to die.”
“We’ll drop them if you turn around,” Andar countered. “Take your army west and help the people who need it.”
“I am trying to help them, Andar. More reports of the barbarian army have come in. We do not have the forces to stop them all. Our cities will be lost if we do not take the coin of the Analyte people. We need a larger army.”
“No one believes you.”
“I’m not the evil man you make me out to be. I did have the intention to destroy the rift when I brought my men here originally. But everything changed when the barbarians attacked. Gavval and I determined that we need more coin to pay our soldiers and to rebuild our cities once we take them back. I’m just trying to do right for humankind. Why do you think KRenn and your father were stabbed in their legs? It was so they couldn’t fight today only. We still count on them to destroy the rift and assist us with the barbarians. The last thing we want is to kill all of you, but we will do it because you stand in the way.”
“We stand in the way of you destroying the Analyte race,” Andar countered. “Because that’s what will happen if you weaken our army enough. We won’t be able to destroy the rift, and the Analytes won’t be able to rebuild if you take everything valuable to them, as you have come here to do. You say you are not an evil man. Well, prove it. Show us your legs.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The man who murdered the last commander, Rolan Kipper, was cut do
wn his leg. There would still be a scar on that man’s leg today. Show us your legs. If there is no scar, then we will step aside.”
“Andar—” Leo said.
“Trust me,” his brother interrupted.
Leo fell silent.
Jarrel stared at Andar for quite some time. Eventually, he fell back.
“I knew it!” Andar yelled as the battering ram came back into place. “You murdered a good commander! If you really cared about humankind, you would’ve wanted Rolan to stay in power. All you care about is yourself!”
The battering ram struck again, opening the hole wider. Jarrel stepped through first. He kicked away the last remnants of the door and bars in his path.
“You have been nothing but a bother since I first came here,” Jarrel told Andar with a vicious look in his eyes. “You turned Dasfis against me. You and Siki were gone when we took the palace. And now you try to stop us from taking what we’ve come all the way back here to take.”
He drew his sword and spun it around deftly. “I will enjoy killing you, Andar.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Andar charged at Jarrel. The commander’s men were still pouring in, giving Andar only a few moments to kill Jarrel before Andar would be overwhelmed. Jarrel reached out toward Andar, but Andar disrupted the Artistry gathering around him with a wave of his hand.
With Leo at his side, Andar stabbed at Jarrel’s head. The bastard didn’t even lift his weapon to block but leaned back to avoid it, frighteningly confident in his ability. Jarrel stabbed in response at Andar, but Andar slammed down the hilt of his sword to smack the tip of Jarrel’s sword away. Leo took a swing at Jarrel at the same time, forcing the commander to duck. Leo’s blade missed the commander but connected with the moving sword of an enemy coming to Jarrel’s aid.
The two swords clashed with a loud ring. Everyone stepped back as they waited for an attack. Andar motioned that he would strike at Jarrel, but he saw two men to his sides readying to stab him as soon as he made himself vulnerable, so he waited instead. Someone slashed at Andar from the side, and Andar lifted his sword to block it. Another man was about to swing at him, so Andar drove the pommel of his sword into the soldier’s arm. He cursed in pain as he stepped back.
