by Ryan Wieser
“We’ve spent all our lives fighting,” she whispered. They had been silent for so long her voice sounded much louder than it truly was.
“Don’t grow weary of it just yet,” Falco laughed.
“They have more soldiers than we do?”
“We have more skilled fighters. But yes, I believe they have more.”
“Are you afraid?”
“I’m afraid of what I will have to do to get Jeco back.”
She knew what he meant. She had hesitated to harm her brothers. For no reason other than the belief that they were kin. Falco would not hesitate. She took his hand in hers. For her son, it didn’t matter. “Do what you must.”
He squeezed her hand tightly. “Are you afraid?”
She thought of Kohl. His face appeared in her mind and she felt the strain on her heart.
Falco nodded, knowing her thoughts. “I’ll do what I can to keep him safe.”
She crawled into his lap and her hands wrapped around his face with affection. “People we love will die tomorrow. But not our son and not you.”
He wrapped his arms around her tightly. “There’s not going to be a person out there capable of killing me. We both know it. Except maybe you…”
She laughed, but he didn’t, and she knew he was not speaking in jest. She remembered his voice in childhood—what had first come across as arrogance she had learned was loneliness, isolated by his skill with the sword.
“They had Hanson take Jeco because they knew they couldn’t fight me for the Blade.”
“I know.”
“If I had left you to burn that day, they would have realized you were a Fire-Wielder. You would have been taken to Bakoran. Does it make you wish that you’d never met me?”
She leaned forward and rested fully in his arms. “Not for a single second.”
* * * *
When Trax woke them it was still dark out, but Jessop knew dawn was swiftly approaching. All around them, the men readied for battle. Korend’a and Hode Avay had returned. They had a Voyager with them, someone Korend’a knew from Aranthol. “He’s a good man. He came without question.”
“His services might not be needed after all.” She explained as briefly as she could all that had happened.
“We have no time then,” he whispered, his gaze falling to Hode Avay. She felt as though she understood his fear, but said nothing. Her gaze fell to Dezane DeHawn, who was sitting with Teck Fay, speaking in hushed voices. They had seemed inseparable for days and she wondered what the two natural enemies could have possibly discussed for so long. “Falco and I must speak further,” she whispered, the darkness somehow cueing her to remain silent, though few slept.
“Let them come to us,” Urdo said, his voice loud and carrying over them all. Jessop turned to face him. He was standing on a large crate, with drink in hand. “Let them come. They wish to fight us—let them come. They wish to challenge our Lord Protector? Let them come.” His voice was loud and rousing. The soldiers were standing. Kuroi warriors gathered nearer to them in the dark. Trax stood, clapping Urdo on the shoulder.
“Kasei vande te os, kasei vos far’a harana, kasei vande te os!” He repeated Urdo’s words, his own voice just as stirring. The warriors clapped and banged their shields, chanting after Urdo and Trax.
Urdo took a step forward. “The Golden Death Valley saw the last great battle—it shall see this one too!”
“Haren’dul Daku had’away ha dei far’a harana, had’away ha hes far’a harana!”
Falco’s soldiers slammed their fists into their chest plates, raising their swords, cheering as they listened. The Kuroi began their battle cries. Urdo moved through the men slowly, approaching Falco. Jessop saw Kohl in the crowd, in the darkness. He kept his eyes on her.
Urdo reached over his shoulder and pulled loose a covered sword. Jessop knew instantly it was the Blade of Light. Urdo had been watching it for them. All of the men, Falco’s soldiers and Dezane’s warriors, gathered around, forming a large circle. Urdo fell to his knee, bowing his head low as he offered the weapon to Falco. Many had never seen the famed weapon. Jessop was amazed by the energy she felt in their camp. She had never led like Urdo, she had never been in a war like the one they prepared to face. She might have been one of the greatest fighters there, but they had known of this warrior camaraderie much longer than she had.
Falco stepped forward and grabbed the white-stone hilt. With a lavish spin, he freed the blade from its cover, turning it about his body and taking on an attacking stance. The blade emitted a brilliant light that shone over all of their faces for as far back as twenty men watching. “Let them come!” He shouted, his voice eliciting a wild praise from his men.
“Kasei vande te os!” Jessop yelled, stepping beside him. The Kuroi clapped and cheered. Light was breaking, the last of the stars still visible in the sky. Battle was before them.
Jessop felt a hand against her shoulder. She turned and found it was Dezane DeHawn. He fixed his glowing eyes on her. “I must speak with you.”
Chapter 20
Haren’dul Daku
Present Day
The sky was a milky gray, ready for the dawn to fully break. Jessop stood beside Dezane DeHawn and couldn’t deny the sense of power she felt emanating from him. She had feared many times that Dezane had lived too many long years and fought too many battles to truly be fit for another, but standing beside him she felt nothing but his strength. He held a spear, his shield on his back and sword on his hip, and his age did nothing to diminish his imposing presence.
“I never thought it would have come to this. Had we talked on it years ago, I wouldn’t have seen this future,” she spoke.
“This has been a long time coming. So long, perhaps none of us truly foresaw it.”
The sky began to lighten, shades of gold and rose warming the desert terrain. She ran her hand over her vest, resting it on her hilt. She wished she could see Falco. She darted her gaze to the side and found Kohl standing, watching her. They all had their places. They all knew the plan. Jessop licked her dried lips. She did not fear battle. She readjusted her hold on her hilt. She did not fear battle.
I’m with you. Falco’s voice suddenly filled her mind. Her heart slowed and her body calmed. She took a deep breath. They had a plan—they had a plan, and they had more power than any army in any territory. She and Falco were unstoppable. Urdo, Trax, and Kohl were some of the greatest warriors in Daharia. Dezane and Teck had more power between the two of them than any other pairing in Daharia. Falco’s army was as vicious as they were triumphant on the field. The Kuroi were born ready for war, training from the moment they could walk. Jessop knew all this ...and yet, she knew the Bakoran army would have Fire.
What could Urdo do in the face of a Fire-Wielder? What could Korend’a do against Sentio, if he came up against Hanson or Hydo? She looked back to Kohl. She trusted him. She trusted him to maintain his focus at the sight of his former mentor. Nonetheless, if he could not do it, she would kill Hanson Knell. Before the battle was over, she would end his life.
It hadn’t been very long ago that Falco had been the one insisting Hanson die and Jessop had felt contrary. She could still close her eyes and see his face, that day on the terrace, when he learned that she had betrayed him. He had been devastated. As Kohl had been. As they all, in some way or another, had been. She had felt little for the older man, but she had wronged him once. And in doing so, she realized that she had perhaps become someone she didn’t altogether admire, someone who would harm others for her own gain. She knew, more than ever, that her vendetta against Hydo had not been worth the harm she had caused—especially to Kohl. But Hanson’s act of revenge against her was too great to ever forgive. If one thing was certain, it was that Hanson Knell would die on the battlefield of Haren’dul Daku.
Dezane shifted just slightly beside her. “It’s time.”
Jessop
took a deep breath and raised her gaze to the giant portal wall before them. The desert was silent, save for the breeze pulling at the finest top layer of sand. She longed to have Falco at her side, but if she couldn’t have him, she was honored to have Dezane. “You’re sure about this?”
Dezane nodded. He was sure. Her heart began to race once more. She longed to free her blade but knew that she, more than anyone, needed to follow the plan. Suddenly, the great, rippling wall began to violently undulate. She tightened her fingers around her hilt. The blade that Kohl had designed for her had been made for a battle such as the one they faced.
The portal wall contorted violently, as if a giant object were trying to pierce it from the dark void. Suddenly, a wild roar of angry yells and chants broke through the air, deafening them all. A gust of wind spun about them, driving sand into the sky, forcing Jessop to turn her gaze away.
When she looked back, there they were. Jessop and Dezane were several hundred paces back from the wall, between the two great Soar-Crafts, but the Bakoran army had filled that space with ease. Her gaze rolled over them all, with their golden shields and spears, their white tunics tucked under gilded armor, their angry expressions and ready stances. There were more men than she had anticipated. Falco had not been wrong about the size of their army—it was immense. She took a deep breath, reminding herself of Dezane’s words as she looked out on the army. An army ready to die for a throne they had no right to, for an Empress they had likely never spoken with, for Jessop’s brother.
She found the Oredan family with ease—they stood front and center, proud and ready. They wore their golden garb, their Fire-Wielding whips at the ready, and their swords tucked in their gilded sheaths. Hydo dressed in their likeness, though he had his Hunter’s blade on him. His sword-wielding arm was bandaged tightly and tucked firmly against his chest in a gilded, armored sling. He scanned the desert before them, clearly confused by the setting. Jessop moved her gaze past him. Her eyes locked on Calis.
“Return my son to me, brother, and I will ensure my Oredan brothers always have a home in the Blade.” Her voice silenced the Bakoran army.
He took a small step towards her. “Give us Falco and you, sister, will always have a place in the Blade and the Oredan palace.”
Jessop ignored his response. It doesn’t have to be this way, she pushed into her brothers’ minds with ease. She saw the look on all of their faces, the pain that came with a forceful intrusion into the mind. They had Sentio, but they could not stop her from entering their minds and they could not enter hers.
Calis shook his head as though trying to force her voice out, but it was no use—Jessop remained with ease. How well do you even know Hydo? He has been ruling Daharia all your lives—he didn’t raise you.
“Stop!” Axis yelled, his hand grabbing his head at her words. She retracted, immediately wishing to end his pain. She had lived a life set on showing no mercy, and yet, faced with men who claimed to be her brothers, she resisted harming them.
She suddenly felt a strong push, forcing her to take a step back. It had been Hydo, stepping forward as if to shield his sons from her. “Where’s Falco, Jessop?”
“Give me my son, and I’ll let yours live.”
He laughed at her. Using his free hand, he stretched it out before them, gesturing to the open desert. “What’s your plan—you and Dezane DeHawn against the entire Bakoran army?”
“Not quite.”
She turned to Kohl, who walked out from behind the Soar-Craft, his sword drawn. He was not alone though—with every step he took, he was using his body to shield Teck Fay. Teck seemed to glide over the desert floor and Jessop could just make out his inky blue eyes from underneath the hood of his cloak. She turned her gaze back to Hydo, who shifted uneasily, unsure what their plan was still.
Jessop fixed her stare on Hydo’s dark eyes. Their time had come.
Surrender.
He answered her with a slight shake of his head. Never.
Jessop nodded as Kohl stood beside her. “Dezane, Teck—you’re really sure about this?”
Teck looked at her with dark eyes from under the hood of his cloak. “I owe you this, Jessop Bane.”
“What do you mean?”
But he did not respond, turning his gaze instead to Dezane. Dezane spoke with a deep, calm voice. “Begin, Jessop.”
She nodded and pulled one of her short blades free from the sheath on her back. She turned to Kohl, knowing what they needed to do from Dezane’s instruction that morning.
Kohl offered her his arm and she could see clearly the scar from where the tracking device they had once shared had been. She quickly carved the blade against his flesh, careful to not cut deeply. He turned his arm over and let it bleed into the sand at their feet. Jessop was quick to inflict a matching wound on her own forearm, hissing as she placed the blade back in its holster. They were all silent, the eyes of an entire legion watching them. Hydo stared with suspicion. He was whispering something to his sons.
She drew her sword. She could sense Hydo would not wait long. “Dezane,” she urged the elder. Teck had started chanting in a language Jessop did not understand, his palms hovering over the bloodied sand, his body swaying rhythmically. Dezane began to whisper quick, tight Kuroi words, speaking to the ground. She could feel the sand moving about them. She could hear the Bakoran army drawing their weapons, archers readying their bows.
“Dezane,” she whispered again, spiraling her blade about her, readying her body for war.
Teck circled them, his voice getting faster and faster as he spoke the invocation. Dezane knelt to the ground, then picked the bloodied sand up and spoke his words into the earth. Hydo yelled an order and Jessop heard the tension in one thousand bows. The singing of burning arrows soared through the air. With perfect synchronicity, she and Kohl threw their hands up, using their Sentio to form a shield around themselves, Dezane, and Teck. The flaming arrows diverted all around them, piercing the sand a mere stride away.
Hydo called to the Bakora army and the first line of soldiers ignited into flames, their entire bodies, their armor and swords burning menacingly. She spun her blade about once more, knowing they were running out of time. “Dezane.”
The line of Fire-Wielders began to march forward. Jessop was quick to note that her brothers stayed in place, not leading their army. Kohl twisted his sword about him quickly, loosening his muscles up. “I’d rather not be burned alive.”
Jessop shot him an angry look. The Fire-Wielders picked up their pace. They were running across the desert floor, closing the space between their army and Jessop, Kohl, Teck, and Dezane. Jessop shot her gaze between Dezane and Teck, who wouldn’t look at her. She turned to Kohl. “We just need to buy them time!”
Jessop took a deep breath and threw her arm out. A wave of Fire-Wielders flew through the air, their flames extinguishing as they collided into one another. Kohl followed her lead. They kept as many at bay as they could through Sentio alone. But one by one, the first row of Fire-Wielders began to break through their Sentio. Jessop’s sword clashed angrily with that of a Bakora—his fire posed no threat to her as she kicked and hit her way through the melee. Kohl kept throwing them back with his Sentio, forcing them back—but they just kept coming.
“Dezane!”
Jessop spun, thrusting her blade back past her, piercing through the flaming abdomen of a warrior. Dezane yelled loudly as he punched his hand into the sand, Teck had one hand resting on the elder’s shoulder, his other pointing up at the sky. Thunder suddenly filled the air, startling the Bakora, but not stopping them. Jessop swung her arm and sent another wave of Bakora men back, but she could not keep it up, and neither could Kohl—they would be drained if they had to carry on relying on their abilities.
Blood trailed down Teck’s scarred forearm. Jessop didn’t know what to expect, though she knew what they had told her would happen. Suddenly, lighting struck
the mage. Jessop raised her arm to shield her eyes from the light. The brilliant beam traveled through Teck, through Dezane, into the sand beneath their feet. “Dezane!” She screamed, knowing the power of a storm could kill a man.
But none could hear her as the thunder roared. The ground began to tremble beneath her feet. She stumbled as the sand quaked beneath her. She recovered her footing, just in time to block the assault of another Fire-Wielder. She kicked him once, spun, and back kicked him, forcing him to the ground. She threw her arm out and pushed another group back. She regrouped, standing beside Kohl to ready for the next attack. But it didn’t come. The Bakora froze as the rumbling ground continued to alarm them all.
“Jessop.” Kohl clasped her shoulder.
She looked to him, and then back, following his gaze. The desert behind them had raised up into a giant wave of sand. She looked and saw Teck and Dezane, both with their heads low, both chanting. The wave began to move, shifting in the air, raising and lowering—it was taking on new shapes. Jessop grabbed Kohl’s arm as she watched the sand twist and turn. It was breaking into smaller parts and forming familiar shapes.
Kohl took a step forward. “They did it. They’ve actually done it.”
Jessop was unable to turn back and face the Bakoran army, unable to tear her eyes away from Dezane and Teck’s creation. Standing before them was an army of soldiers, half of them resembling a version of Kohl, the other half shaped after Jessop—made entirely of sand and stone, hardened by the heat of lightning, powered by the abilities of the desert masters.
“They made us an army,” she whispered, her eyes trailing over the hundreds and hundreds of sand creations.
She turned to Kohl, finding a look of amazement on his face. He shook his head slowly as his eyes fell on her.
