by Terah Edun
Sara could have screamed in delight. Instead, she saved her voice for more important matters and swung with abandon. All of the shield mages were still dazed and vulnerable on the ground from the residual effect of the blast. Others were even unconscious, which meant none challenged her.
She danced across the field, cutting each shield string with awesome force before jumping to the next and the next and the next.
It had always been their goal to bring down the Kades wherever they could, to give their forces some advantage, and failing that—reinforcements where necessary. This would do that.
As she finished her task and her sword hovered over the last blood-red string, Sara looked back for her team. Two stood watching her, and they nodded in encouragement.
She raised a brow, wondering where Arcnus had gone off to, but she thought maybe there was just one more thing he needed to get done. Thinking nothing more on it, she whirled in a pirouette that would have done her mother the dancer proud and sliced her sword through that final string.
As it snapped, it was as if its power snapped through Sara and flung her back to her comrades.
Isabelle caught Sara before she fell, careful not to touch the swords as she did. Then she said, as they all watched angry Kades pour from tents on the mountainside and start running toward them, “Let’s go.”
Sara didn’t want to go—she wanted to face them.
But her job was done, and now was neither the time nor the place. They couldn’t face an avenging army alone, just the four of them, and magically summon up the strength to wipe them out. Not to mention the mechanics of fighting in a metaphysical state against all-too-physical fighters who had more mages on their side.
So she watched as Isabelle released the spell that snapped them all back into their bodies in their own camp. When Sara opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was that the shield wall was gone.
The second was that Arcnus was dead.
16
He lay in repose on the ground, almost as if he was sleeping, if not for the thick cord of red blood dripping from a nostril, down the corner of his mouth and onto the ground below him.
Isabelle walked over to where Sara sat on the ground staring at his body, startled. He had fallen just in front of her.
“What happened?” Sara asked in a daze as she looked at his beautiful body. It was almost uncanny his resemblance to a portrait sitting at that moment, except for the fact that he would never rise again.
“The strain was too much,” Isabelle said as she held out her hand.
Sara looked up at her and gripped the outstretched arm, pulling herself up as she went.
“I asked too much of him,” Sara said. Her memory was flashing back to the initial push he gave to get them flying, and then she remembered the strain on his face as he was flagging.
“He didn’t have enough power to do this, and I kept pushing him,” Sara said.
“You did what you had to do,” Isabelle said sternly. “To give us an opening to fight another day. We would have starved, trapped in this shield, otherwise.”
“That or be overrun,” someone interjected. It was the shock of hearing someone else that jolted Sara out of her melancholy.
Sara set her jaw in a hard line and finally released her tight grip on Isabelle’s hand. A bit reluctantly—it was nice to be supported by someone instead of the other way around.
She looked around and saw everyone waiting as if no time had passed. Everyone except one other mage. Sara was almost distracted by the fact that the shield wall was still up, as well as visible this time, but first she wanted to know where her people were.
“Reben, Linus, Isabelle, myself, the line mage, and the weather warden,” Sara said grimly. “Six mages went into that casting, and I only see four now. Where is our warden—where is Tomas?”
Linus stepped forward as Isabelle fell back.
“He told me to tell you, ‘It was an honor,’” Linus said.
Sara turned in a wide circle, looking around. Familiar faces met her gaze. Some grinning. Some hungry. Some passive. But none of them was the mysterious weather warden who had lent the power they needed mid-battle. None was Tomas.
“But where is he?” Sara asked, a bit helplessly—which was unusual for her.
Reben said, “After I came back, the five of you stayed in the trance. It was all fine until Arcnus dropped like a stone right after Tomas exploded.”
“Exploded?”
“I would call it more of a transcendence,” Karn said.
Sara stared at him.
“What?” he said. “I know big words.”
Sara shook her head. “You’re telling me he exploded or transcended. Transcended where?”
She knew that she needed to focus on more pertinent aspects of her life right now, like why, after all that work, the shield wall still hadn’t come down. But she had gone in with five other mages, sent Reben away, come back with three mages and a body, and damn it, she wanted her other body. Or she was going to start searching for him. Sara earnestly believed in the rule that no warrior was to be left behind on the battlefield, and she wasn’t going to stop believing in that maxim today.
“He should have come back with us,” Sara said. “He was there with us and his body was here, and now he’s gone.”
Isabelle placed her hand back in Sara’s and gave a light squeeze.
“I know he’s gone, and it doesn’t seem right,” Isabelle said slowly. “But he wanted to do this. He wanted to give his all in service of the empire, and he did. We can only honor what he sacrificed by not looking behind.”
“So he didn’t suffer?” Sara asked, energy depleted. She was exhausted physically and magically. It had taken all she had to accomplish that attack, every single drop of power in her being, and that was on top of the battles they had fought since late in the night.
She wanted to continue the fight to find her missing mage, but with everyone telling her he had done what he had to do and moved on, she was almost ready to move on. She was envious, even. He was at peace while she was still at war. Until the day came when she got everyone back in formation with the greater imperial army, she always would be. Sara tried to not let her thoughts overwhelm her, and instead focused on what she had to do in the present.
Repeating her words almost as a ghost of her former self, Sara said, “He didn’t suffer, right?”
“No,” Isabelle said firmly. “In fact,” she continued with a grin, “I’d say he went out with the lightning and sparks he’d always wanted. Killing Kades and flying through the realms like a god. Much better than dying on a battlefield of blood and guts, wouldn’t you say?”
She ended her speech by happily gesturing at the muddy earth around them, and Sara had to laugh as she choked back an overwhelming sob. One she wouldn’t give in to. By the gods, she was tired, but that didn’t mean she was going to fall apart. Not here. Not now. They had more work to do, after all, and she would do it.
She took a few steps away from the group, carefully avoiding the line mage’s body, as she touched the shield wall that glowed around them.
“Well,” Sara said, unable to keep the anger from her voice, “I thought we’d killed off all the shield mages, but apparently not.”
“What makes you think that?” Karn asked from behind her.
Sara swallowed hard and turned around to face the disappointed group.
“Because they must have had a backup team or plan or something. Anything, really, to slap these shields back as if we’d never been there in the first place.”
The wide grin on Karn’s face and the happy but weary looks from the others was her first clue that she was wrong. Dead wrong.
“What? What is it?”
It was Reben, with joyful glee, who broke the silence.
“You didn’t fail, silly—you succeeded!” the young mage said.
“What do you mean?” Sara gestured at the wall of power, as if they didn’t see what she did.
Isabelle sh
rugged. “Apparently these crafty mercenaries decided a plan C was necessary as soon as we were left in our trance.”
Karn said, “It wasn’t to get around your orders. Just as a backup, you know.”
Sara crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
He explained how they had pooled Reben’s power with a residual magic object one of the soldiers had found in a tent left behind. This particular object was a personal shield projector, very expensive, and obviously the property of a high-ranking leader in the imperial army. Since he or she wasn’t around to object, they had boosted the power of the personal shield enough that it would throw up a protective wall around a larger area…for a certain amount of time.
“How long?” Sara asked while she thought about the implications.
They could gather up their strength in case they were facing more Kade guards on the other side. At the very least, she might be able to get some shut-eye. She hadn’t thought to do it before because no one had expected the attack to work so well.
“Five more minutes,” Reben said cheerfully, dashing all of Sara’s hopes and dreams.
Sara closed her eyes briefly and then opened them. Her back was still to the shield wall as she looked at everyone surrounding her.
“Did anyone by chance get a look at the exterior before the new shield went up?” she asked.
Looks were exchanged and then Karn said, “Well…no. We had this puppy in place before you broke down the other wall. Just in case.”
Sara nodded. She wasn’t mad. It made logical sense, after all.
She turned to their scout. “Reben, could you take a cautious peek through and see?”
Now that they were all back, it wouldn’t hurt for Reben to spy through the secondary shield, and if she found something heinous looking back, well, they could all be ready to fight while she ran.
But Reben dashed Sara’s hopes again. “No, this object’s shield is keyed against all interlopers. Even me. It would take a mage with a theoretical background to take apart the actual residual object—”
“Which would defeat the purpose of having it up in the first place,” Isabelle added.
“—in order for me to get to the other side,” Reben finished glumly.
Sara took a deep breath and shrugged. “All right, then, we’ll prepare for all contingencies.” She looked to Karn and asked, “Are we ready?”
He patted the new shield prototype that all of the warriors who’d been left now carried. Sara walked over to him and got a good look at them finally. They weren’t shiny. They weren’t even imperial army standard issue. In fact, it looked like he’d taken them directly off a fallen Kade guard and liberally applied blood in lines to make a sigil.
Sara guessed, “The imperial lion?”
“You’re damned straight,” Karn said proudly.
Sara snorted and held back laughter as she took the proffered shield from Karn’s hands. She faced it outward, as it was supposed to be, and then proudly put it on her arm as she turned to stand side by side with her second in command.
The others who had returned followed her example after two managed to move Arcnus’s body off to the side. By the time it was done, they were lined up in two rows. The first row had a combination of maces, swords, and shields. Simple and effective. The second row had halberds and staffs for long-arm fighting.
On Sara’s other side, Marx spat into the ground before he announced, “One minute left.”
Sara’s stomach dropped.
She was tired.
She was weary.
She was depleted.
But she wasn’t downtrodden. As they prepared to fight the last battle that they could, she knew it was now or never. They either won this one or died trying, because she knew she couldn’t ask any more from this group of warriors and mages. Those who had given her everything and asked nothing. She was willing to do the same, but as she watched the top of the secondary shield wall, she had a simple prayer.
Gods, let us rest, Sara thought.
Then it was happening. The top of the shield began to glisten more than the rest, and slowly a hole at the top of the dome formed. She watched as the circle widened until the edges were clearly defined, and then the edges of the golden dome began to fall back in slow motion as they all watched.
The hole widened and widened until the entirety of the sky was visible—bright, clear blue.
Then sounds came to their ears, the rumble of voices, but it was unclear who those voices belonged to.
As the shield wall fell before her eyes, Sara sucked in a harsh breath and raised her sword, ready to give one last rallying cry. Ready to give her life in the service of the empire.
She saw unfamiliar heads appear in her vision as the shield wall got lower and lower.
Then chests and chainmail.
Until the wall was gone and she stood staring.
Silence fell in the empty space where the wall once stood.
And then a stupendous roar went out over the waiting regiments.
Hundreds upon hundreds of imperial army soldiers and mercenaries stood cheering.
Cheering Sara and her band of ragtag mercenaries and soldiers.
Astonished at the fervor and the joy in the crowd, she lowered her sword, wondering for a minute if it was all just a cruel joke. A mirage, maybe. But the sounds of the crowd rose higher as she managed to pick out the faces and names of some of the soldiers she recognized.
Looking over at Karn, Sara whispered, “Is this real?”
He shouted, “It’s real!” He was already waving his sword in the air in triumph.
And then the lines broke. People from Sara’s first and second line of warriors began to walk forward, uncertain at first and then faster and faster as their comrades from the other side met them with joy. Friends and lovers recognized each other with excited yells and Sara felt tears running down her face.
Tears of joy and tears of relief.
It was over.
They had won.
17
As her group mingled with the surviving members of the imperial forces, Sara looked for others. People she knew in leadership, not just survivors. What she found was daunting. There were hundreds of soldiers standing there to greet them—as it turned out, theirs was the last of the shield walls to come down.
The rest had dropped minutes before, which was an eon in time to a soldier at war.
The first of those who had broken free when their walls collapsed had quickly gone to help the warriors who were still doggedly fighting the Kades in their prison bubbles. But as the walls fell, the story went that the Kades in each of the domes seemed to realize that they had lost their advantage.
The majority of them had started backing away from the clash of swords and fighting that they had been at all night and into the morning, pursuing the outmatched soldiers and mercenaries of the imperial forces until they were all fighting in what were basically rat holes. So one could understand the confusion of those soldiers when the invaders they’d been fighting suddenly seemed to give up. But it all became clear when the Kades fell back one by one through their portals to escape just as the shield walls fell.
Those who had fought through to the end gathered and waited, wondering why this one remaining dome had not yet fallen. To Sara, of course, it made perfect sense, but those outside her shield wall wondered if the Kades were coming back for one final push, and had gathered their mightiest creatures of the night behind the new shield. To their surprise, and to Sara’s own, each side held more imperial forces instead of another bout with the Kades. Hence the celebrations.
But as she looked around, all Sara saw were lower-ranking warriors. Lots of private mercenaries, some warrant officers, and regimental sergeants lingered freely. But where were the captains? Where were those in command?
When she asked, she got looks of sorrow and shakes of heads.
Eventually, those she asked began pushing her to the back of the large gathering.
&n
bsp; They weren’t pushing her away, but rather toward something.
Or someone.
Heart in her throat, Sara let herself be led as hand after hand met her shoulder and guided her through the packed crowds. When she finally reached the edge of the sea of soldiers, one man stood alone on the edge of the crowd.
With fiery red hair, his mane was unmistakable, but still, she couldn’t believe it.
Swallowing deeply, Sara walked over to the man and stood at attention.
She waited a moment for him to respond.
When he didn’t, she saluted. “Mercenary Fairchild reporting for duty, captain!”
Captain Barthis turned to look at her, and all she saw was empty bleakness in his eyes. Sara knew that she looked exhausted. But he looked horrible, so run-down that she wondered how he was still standing. His uniform was filthy with tears where he’d clearly been almost knifed, if not had been, and smudges ruined his formerly stunning uniform.
But it was his eyes that captured her attention and wouldn’t let go.
They were full of sorrow.
She stared in discomfort, not knowing how to comfort him, or if she should even try.
He gave her a dark smile. “Mercenary Fairchild, I knew you’d make it through. You always do.”
His words were given without complaint or even mockery. Just empty truth.
Sara licked her lips as her eyes lingered on his, and then he turned away, and it was a relief. She wasn’t sure she could take a second more of the well of grief that was brimming in his gaze. Turning from his face to look out on the vista that had so captured his gaze, she jumped in surprise.
She’d been walking forward with such grim determination, to greet the man the soldiers had been so sure would answer her queries, that now that she was here, she realized she hadn’t even bothered to attempt any sort of situational awareness on her way.
To be fair, the crowds had been so thick together, everyone touching everyone else, brushing up against each other shoulder to shoulder, and even hugging, that she hadn’t been able to see her hands in front of her, let alone the ground beneath her feet.
