“Think they’ll take it well?” I asked.
Cathy laughed. “Doubt it.”
We picked a direction and started walking. We were hoping to find a sign of how the camps were broken up, but it was too easy to get lost in the chaotic nature of the camp. I stopped and approached a volunteer soldier when I noticed his familiar face.
“Finally left the farm for some adventure?” I asked.
Aaron smiled. “It took shooting down an Evenawk scout, a girl showing up on my doorstep saying she’s in love with me and a king walking down the street looking for some volunteers, but I can take a hint.”
“Hey, you found them,” Natalie’s voice said from somewhere in the crowd. She emerged and crashed into Aaron. “I heard you were back. Figured we’d have to find you before you found trouble.”
“Too late,” I said.
I introduced them to Donkor and told them about our suicide mission. Aaron listened with a look of fear on his face, but Natalie had that look that suggested she was about to say something crazy.
“We’re in,” she said.
Chapter 31
“What do you mean, ‘we’re in’?” Aaron asked, turning to Nat.
“Oh, come on,” she replied. “You know Andy needs as much help as he can get because he’s a door knob.”
“Standing right here,” I said while Donkor chuckled.
“What good could we do on the ground with our bows?” Natalie continued. “We’re better off following Andy up the mountain. We can take care of the sky archers. Biggie and the Lady of Destruction can take care of the ground troops.”
Aaron sighed and shook his head at me. “Some days it is a mistake knowing you. When are we leaving?”
“Early morning,” I answered.
“Hear that, I’m the ‘Lady of Destruction’,” Cathy said happily.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” I replied.
“Too late,” Cathy responded.
“We’ll be ready,” Natalie said. “Don’t leave without us.”
“Tell me it is not just us five,” Aaron said, regretting agreeing to this mess.
“We were heading off to find Davalin’s camp when I stopped to ask you for directions,” I said. “We’re recruiting troops there.”
Aaron nodded. “Good. They’re just a bit more north of here. Past the mess of an area they’re calling the kitchen tent. The Lady’s troops should recognise her and help you from there.”
“Thanks, kids,” I said. “Where are you staying so we can find you?”
Aaron pointed at a dirty looking tent behind him. “The volunteer camp.”
“Don’t worry,” Natalie said. “We’ll find you first.”
“See you then,” I said.
We headed in the direction Aaron pointed and heard the two of them bickering behind us. I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head. They were definitely back together, but for how long, I couldn’t guess. They were the type of couple you think wouldn’t last but stay together forever. Chaos was their happiness.
Aaron’s assessment of the kitchen tent was accurate as well. Troops hurrying back and forth, volunteer kitchen workers serving as fast as they could, spilt food littering the grass where butter fingered soldiers bumped into one another.
“I can get us through this,” Donkor said.
“Lead the way,” I said.
Donkor’s face twisted in a scowl and he stomped through the area with us in tow. Either the soldiers moved out of way or were bumped aside by Donkor’s size. Nobody dared to say anything to the pissed-off looking, giant Nesqian with a large sword.
We had cleared our way through when a Davalin guard recognised Cathy and approached us. “My Lady,” he said, nervous to be speaking with her directly. “It’s good to see you alive and well again.”
“Thank you,” Cathy said. “Could you help us get to the Davalin camp?”
“Of course, my Lady,” the soldier said. “Captain Harvey will wish to speak to you.”
The soldier started towards the camp with Donkor and Cathy shot me a worried look. “There’s no Captain Harvey in her memories,” she whispered.
“Must be a new guy,” I answered quietly. “Fake your way through it.”
We quickly caught up and followed the soldier the remainder of the way to the camp. Davalin’s section wasn’t very large compared to Thurlborn or Riverside, but the troops seemed to be in better spirits; possibly because the sight of their Lady had restored some of their hope.
We saw Bill speaking with a few guardsmen close to the largest tent. When he recognised us he sent the men away and approached our escort.
“Thank you, soldier, I’ll take it from here,” he said. Our escort saluted and hurried off and Bill turned towards Cathy. “It’s good to see you’re still alive, my Lady.”
“Likewise, Bill,” Cathy said, shaking his hand.
“It’s good to see you too, Kairu,” Bill said to me.
“You’re doing well,” I said.
He laughed dryly. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Donkor cleared his throat and I chuckled. “Our big friend is Donkor, the Nesqian Ambassador.”
Donkor waved and smiled. Bill took a second to absorb the big man’s presence before introducing himself. He turned back to Cathy. “You’re here to talk to Captain Harvey and lead the troops, right?”
“Sort of,” Cathy said. “We have a mission to perform.”
She explained the details and Bill looked intrigued and listened attentively. When she had finished, Bill nodded slowly. “Give me a moment to get some volunteers together. There are some men and women around here who want to see our brothers avenged for Scert’chak.”
“I...can’t ask you to do this,” Cathy said. “Not after what it was like last time up there.”
“You’re not asking me, my Lady,” Bill said. “I’m volunteering. We lost our friends and a part of ourselves up there. I feel I have to return, even if it means my death. I need that closure.”
Bill’s passion made Cathy go quiet. She thought to herself for a second before turning to me. As much as we needed the help, I didn’t want to see Bill throw his life away. But if it wasn’t him then it would be someone else. If he wanted, or needed, to do this, then we should give him the chance. I nodded my approval to Cathy.
“Get those troops together and be ready, we leave early in the morning,” Cathy said.
Bill saluted and smiled. “Yes, my Lady. Captain Harvey is just inside.”
“Thank you. Dismissed,” Cathy said.
Bill didn’t waste any time and hurried off to find his soldiers. Cathy entered the tent first with me close behind her. Donkor said he’d wait outside because he didn’t want to limbo his way into another tent. I would have to remember to ask him what the point between life and death had to do with tents. It didn’t make sense to me.
Captain Harvey sat behind a desk, looking through document orders when he looked up at us. A good looking guy with blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked more like an entertainer than a soldier, but as we drew closer his disfigured nose became more visible. After multiple breakings, the nose was beyond repair, but he seemed to not mind. For all I knew, it could have been a battle trophy he wore with pride.
“Lady Middleton,” Captain Harvey said, rising to his feet. “It is so good to see you alive.”
“You must be Captain Harvey,” Cathy said smoothly.
He smiled slightly. “Yes. Our paths never crossed each other and probably wouldn’t have if this war hadn’t happened. I was the night granary guard for ten cycles. The need for leaders forced anyone deemed to have ‘experience’ to be thrust into the role.”
“Well based on what I’ve seen, you are doing a good job,” Cathy said.
“Thank you, but I’ve mainly been doing the paperwork,” he said. “Soldiers like Bill are the reason we’re still on our feet. Anyway, now that you’re here, we can benefit from some true leadership.”
“Yeah, about that,” Cathy said.
> One explanation of everything later and Captain Harvey’s face had started to show all the sadness and stress from the past couple of weeks. He was relieved to hear that Davalin’s troops would be added to Malkia’s army and said that he would oversee it personally.
“Good luck on your mission, my Lady,” Captain Harvey finished. “I hope to see you after this is all over.”
“Likewise, Harvey,” Cathy said, leaving the tent with me in tow.
“How’d it go?” Donkor asked.
“We’re set for tomorrow,” I answered. “You might as well grab a bunk and get some rest. We leave pretty early in the morning.”
“You sure you don’t need me for anything else?” Donkor asked.
I shook my head. “We’re just going to bed ourselves.”
Donkor giggled and winked. “Right. See you tomorrow.”
He left and Cathy turned to me with a confused look. “What was that?”
“I wish I knew,” I answered.
“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Cathy asked playfully, lowering her voice. “How do I die?”
“I think I got an idea,” I smiled.
“Do I go out in a blaze of glory?” she asked hopefully.
“Something like that,” I replied playfully.
*****
I was worried that my night would be plagued by nightmares but I only had one dream and that didn’t make sense to me.
I was walking in a flat, barren wasteland. There were no people, or wildlife or even a sky. The ground was black and where the sky should have been was white. I started running, looking for something and finally stumbled upon a single structure. The Tower of the Watchful Eye.
When I approached, the Tower exploded at the base and fell towards me. As I watched it I didn’t feel scared, instead I felt...relieved. The Tower fell and I knew it would crush me, but I was glad. I was going home. I awoke before it could hit me.
Sleep was ruined for the night. I lay awake until Cathy entered the tent to wake me up. We quickly dressed, gathered our volunteers and hurried out of the camp. We needed to cross the field before sunrise. I kept busy searching for any signs of Evenawks, hoping the dream wouldn’t press against my mind and distract me.
Arriving at our position, I watched the sun slowly rise. How Markus was going to drive the Evenawks out to fight, I was still trying to guess. Could their presence simply be enough to have Desroche meet them head on? I scanned for patrols and sure enough, Evenawks were scouting the mountain side at this early hour. I would have my answer shortly.
Donkor’s presence made me turn and I watched the big guy sit down beside me. I pitched my thoughts about the upcoming fight to see what his experience had taught him.
Donkor smiled. “Our enemy has to know something is happening. You’ve stopped his scouting camps and defeated key players in his offensive. He receives word that Balendar is marching under a new king. He won’t have any choice but to send an attack. If he doesn’t, he’ll have an entire army on his doorstep.”
“Certainly make our job easier,” I said, looking to the sky. “Patrol’s coming.” I closed my eyes and shielded us from the sight of the passing Evenawk. I opened my eyes again. “Okay.”
Donkor chuckled. “Some days I wish I had magic. Just to know what that is like.”
“Well there’s a scary thought,” Natalie said behind us. “You’re already a building. Imagine that building throwing Fireballs and that would be the scariest thing I’ve seen.”
I debated whether to tell her that the city we’re to attack used to have towers that threw Fireballs but decided the surprise would be better. “How’s everyone doing back there?” I asked.
“Alright,” she shrugged. “Kind of a buzz kill. I just want this to start.”
“Soon enough,” Donkor responded, pointing outwards.
In the distance, the flags of Balendar and its cities could be seen as waves of troops marched towards Ghanlar. They chose to spread themselves out, giving the illusion of a large, invading army. Donkor was right, Desroche wouldn’t ignore it. He couldn’t. This was the remainder of Balendar and it was marching right into his hands. My stomach knotted as I realised that every second spent getting to Desroche would mean another’s death.
Donkor patted me on the back in comfort. “Come on. The Evenawks will be all over the place shortly and you can’t shield us from an army.”
We rose and followed Natalie back to our group pressed up against the mountain. The scouts had been accurate. The way the rock had formed had created a small area that was shielded from above. It was safe for now but when the ground troops landed and looked this way, we would be easily spotted.
We were under the cover when the squawking started. They were long, panicked sounds. A quick search of one of their minds showed that their attention was directed towards the army and not us. I looked over the group and gave them a quick nod that we were alright.
Most of the Davalin warriors closed their eyes at the sound of the squawking. Bill had found a great group of ten soldiers willing to help us, but some of them looked like this was their first battle. Seven men and three women of every age, all willing to die in the hopes of keeping their loved ones safe. I would do my best to bring them home.
“You don’t look too well,” Cathy said quietly to me. “Are you over thinking again?”
I chucked softly. “Yeah, but I’ll be fine once we start fighting. I just hope we can get to Desroche before we lose the Evenawk race in this battle.”
“We’ll free them,” Cathy smiled.
I nodded and took a couple of deep breaths. A couple of loud squawks drew my attention to the sky which darkened as hordes of Evenawks flew over us. The sheer numbers surprised me. It looked like Desroche had successfully brainwashed the entire race and wasn’t afraid to send everyone out to fight this battle.
“I love you, Aaron,” I heard Natalie whisper.
“Love you too, Nat,” he replied.
Cathy nudged me and I turned to look at her. She had a childlike smile on her face. “First to a thousand kills gets to make all the rules for the rest of our lives.”
I couldn’t help myself from smiling. She always knew just what to say. “You’re on,” I replied.
Chapter 32
There was no whistle or bell or any other sign that signalled the start of the battle. The Evenawk horde just plunged from the sky straight at the Balendar troops. Sky archers covered the ground troops as they transformed into their humanoid form and the Balendar troops could do nothing but wait for the volley of arrows to stop.
From behind the Balendian main line, a returning volley of arrows was shot into the sky, taking down its fair share. With the archers in the sky temporarily scattered, the soldiers marched on the Evenawk ground troops and the music of iron on iron played out across the land.
From our spot, we couldn’t make out any details, but the sounds of war cries and squawks left enough for the imagination to fill in the blanks. Either the fighting was fierce or they were standing in front of each other shouting. The latter suggested that we would be in for a long day.
A few straggling Evenawks slowly made their way over the mountain and lowered themselves behind the fighting. Dangling from their feet where human shapes that could only be the Mages assisting Desroche.
From their position they could watch over the battlefield and control the Evenawks. They also happened to be between us and our goal up the hill. For the sake of both the battle and our mission, we would have to take them out.
“They’ve dropped Mages in our path,” I told the others. “We need to take them down to help the main group.”
“We should wait for when the king starts to pull back,” Aaron said. “The Evenawks will be too busy to realise what we’re doing.”
“Solid plan,” Donkor responded. “The Balendians should be backing out soon. The Evenawk force is larger than we could have expected.”
“If we take down the Mages now though,” Cathy started, “t
he army will be more disorganised when Balendar pulls back. Nat and Aaron could catch them from behind and we won’t get spotted.”
“How many did you see, Kairu?” Natalie asked, favouring the idea.
“Just four, but there has to be more than that,” I answered.
“It’s a good start,” Cathy smiled. “Up front, lovebirds. Stick close to the rocks.”
“Single file should work well,” Donkor added.
Aaron and Natalie readied their bows and hurried out of our hiding spot. It was weird to see Natalie using a bow but she assured me she was well trained in its use and it made sense to have something good for long range when you are fighting birds on a mountain side. I assured her that I would be giving her a hard time should she miss her targets.
Aaron stopped and dropped to one knee. The group did the same as Aaron drew his bow and fired upon the first Mage. The arrow struck the Mage in the back and he dropped. A little further ahead, Natalie and Aaron lined up their shots and dropped Mages close together.
The closer we drew to the mountain path, the more Mages I saw. There had to be at least ten in total and when Natalie and Aaron each released another arrow, half had been eliminated. We could take care of two more before having a clear path up the mountain, but the remaining three would sense something was wrong eventually. We didn’t have time to waste, but we couldn’t keep them alive.
The two at the path were killed and we headed for our destination. I pointed out the last three to Natalie and Aaron. “Anything you can do?” I asked.
“I can get one more from here,” Aaron said. “Maybe two.”
“My Lady,” a Davalin soldier named Gina called out. “Balendar is pulling back.”
Sure enough, past the Evenawk army, Balendar was starting its retreat into Archanion. General Kobo and the Nesqians would be waiting and the Evenawks would be for a tough time. Unfortunately, this also meant that the Mages would be looking to each other to rally the rampaging brainwashed.
“Take the shot,” I said to Aaron.
He and Natalie lined up and let their arrows fly. Two of the three dropped quickly to the ground and the last turned towards us. He immediately grabbed his throat and a loud squawk escaped him before Aaron’s second arrow hit him in the forehead.
The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 Page 25
