Dunedrifter (Warlords of the Sandsea Book 2)

by Elisabeth Wheatley

Talitha readjusted her grip. Inhaling, she tried again. She was more careful this time. Instead of watching the others, she focused on her own climb. Being the last one down might lose her some respect—but respect at the cost of her life wasn’t worth it.

  Through some miracle, she reached the roof of the first building without a fall.

  Ashek and Kasrei were already waiting, though several Dunedrifters took longer. The magian had removed her thick robes, leaving her leather garb underneath. She checked the bracelets and amulets rattling from her wrists, waist, ankles, and neck. Ashek waited for the others, tapping one sandal against the ground.

  Ashek’s men gathered around, waiting for the command. Many had their blades drawn.

  Just below was the first watch tower. There appeared to be only a handful of warriors—all men—gathered around a fire. The edge of the roof just barely covered their scout tower, leaving two paces of room for them to drop down.

  Ashek leapt first and something in Talitha’s chest flipped. She dove after him and the rest of the Dunedrifters followed.

  Talitha hit the ground sideways and rolled to her feet. Her sword was up the next moment, buried in the nearest guard.

  Ashek already had one of them on the ground, a sword through the man’s chest. The Dunedrifter’s gaze met hers for the briefest of moments and she could have sworn he smiled.

  One of the guards screamed, but Johasi—a burly Reskian—stabbed a dagger through his mouth and punched it out the back of the man’s skull.

  Ashek spun as the last man made to flee. With a hard slash, he hamstringed his victim. Before the man could shriek, Ashek had a foot on his back and a sword through his head. He was good at this. Frighteningly good at this.

  The last of the Dunedrifters trickled into the guard tower. Kasrei joined them last.

  Talitha waited for the others at the top of the narrow stairway. It was only wide enough for one of them to pass at a time. The angle downward was treacherously steep and so low Talitha wasn’t sure Gilsazi would be able to walk back up with his horns.

  Johasi went first, ax clenched in his meaty fists. Kasrei surprised Talitha and went second, followed by Ashek. Talitha plunged after him.

  The passage was cramped for the first few paces, then widened out into a larger chamber stocked with dried goods and jars of water. The jars were of fired clay, glazed smooth. High quality, at least. Some were empty, but a few were still fresh. Talitha ran her thumb over the seal along the necks of the jars—three circles with whorls branching around them.

  Squinting in the dark, she tilted the nearest jar toward the light. There they were—the triad suns of Ilios.

  These jars were too large to have been with Kasrei and Gilsazi’s escort. Had the bandits raided an Ilian caravan? It left a bad taste in her mouth, but Talitha kept quiet. They would sort it out later.

  Their group pressed lower into the cave fortress. Stalactites and stalagmites attested to a time when water had dripped from above.

  A bellow at the front signaled another battle. Talitha skidded to a stop on the narrow stairs, but the man behind knocked into her back. She jostled into Ashek and he shoved her off, focused on the path ahead.

  Grunts and shouts and thuds came from the front and Talitha could do nothing but wait. Heart pounding, she clenched the hilt of her weapon.

  Finally, Ashek surged forward and Talitha was on his heels. They broke out into a sandy courtyard with a bonfire in the center. Johasi lay unmoved across the threshold, but some twenty of Xeram’s men leapt up from around the bonfire.

  Some were on their feet with spears and swords. The others were still stumbling up from the edge of the fire, wine sacks sloshing out of their hands as they did.

  Talitha hacked at the neck of the first man to come within range, cleaving his leg off below the knee before Kasrei got a hold of his throat. The magian snapped his life force out of his body and a silver blast exploded into three of Xeram’s warriors at once.

  Talitha and the Dunedrifters hung close together, forming loose ranks. Ashek’s men fought with more discipline and coordination than their enemies. None rushed ahead or on his own to start looting before the fight was over. Talitha wondered if Ashek had killed anyone over that before.

  A spear jabbed for Ashek’s back. Talitha kicked it aside and buried her sword in the attacker’s chest. Blood gurgled to the man’s lips, running down the stubble on his chin. Talitha yanked her blade free in time to catch Ashek’s eye for an instant as he turned. He inclined his head and whirled to face his next opponent.

  An axwoman and a lithe man with a hooked spear of some sort dove for Talitha at once. Sinews rippling, the thick woman swung hard. Talitha dodged and the ax thudded to the ground. Sparks flew where it struck stone.

  The spearman made to stab, but Kasrei was there an instant later. She slipped up behind the man and grabbed his throat. His eyes snapped wide for just an instant before his life force sizzled into Kasrei’s hands in a tiny storm of silver.

  “No!” the axwoman screamed. She whirled on Kasrei, but it was too late.

  The magian launched the silver bolts into the fray of Xeram’s men, lancing through their chests with terrifying accuracy.

  The moment the axwoman turned, Talitha charged. She slashed hard across the woman’s bicep and the ax faltered. Coming back around, she cut a gash in her enemy’s thigh. As she went down, Talitha sliced from above, stabbing the side of her neck.

  Stepping over the wheezing body of her enemy, Talitha spun to find Ashek. He fought several paces from her, a Dunedrifter guarding his back and another to his left.

  A wiry woman with a spear stabbed for his torso. He stepped out of the path, seizing the spear as she rushed past. In one fluid motion, he shoved it up to strike her in the face. When she lost her grip and fell, he spun the spear and jabbed it into her gut, impaling her to the sand.

  That was the last of Xeram’s fighters.

  Several of their own lay in puddles of blood. The Dunedrifters left the dead where they fell and dragged the wounded to the side. Emalek grumbled and cursed at a slash above his knee.

  “Talitha?” Ashek’s gaze found her too quickly.

  Below, the shouts of alarm had begun. They had perhaps a few moments before the rest of Xeram’s men were flooding upwards.

  Talitha wished there had been a way for them to scout, but numbers hardly mattered in the tight spaces of the cave fort. Surprise had been far more powerful.

  “You general will probably be somewhere in these upper levels,” Ashek panted. “Xeram is most likely in the sleeping quarters with a flagon of wine and a girl or two.”

  Talitha nodded, then looked to Emalek, scowling on the ground. “Kasrei and I can find him. Once we—”

  The magian took off running.

  “Kasrei! Stop!” Talitha raced after her friend and Ashek followed, waving his men after them. “What are you—”

  Kasrei tore open the door to a crumbling guard tower. She dove in and light flooded out after her. The door banged shut, creaking on rusted hinges.

  “Talitha!” Ashek grabbed her arm before she dove through after Kasrei.

  Talitha jerked back, losing her balance. She stumbled into his chest and he caught her, an iron arm wrapping around her waist.

  “Wait,” he panted. “Think.”

  For a moment, she was pressed against him—his breastplate heaving against her. They were both still breathless from the fight and the heat of battle, but his closeness sent an entirely different heat flaring through her.

  Ashek’s gaze flickered to her lips for a moment before he let go abruptly. “It could be a trap,” he muttered. “Be careful.”

  “You’re right.” Talitha straightened, looking past him to the Dunedrifters in ranks and ready to follow at a word. “I should…think.”

  The cries of an infant came from behind the door. Talitha looked back to Ashek before taking a step forward.

  With Ashek and his men at her back, Talitha opened the door. This time, sh
e stepped to the side, letting her eyes adjust before she entered.

  The room was lit by blazing oil lamps, just recently filled. Kasrei stood some steps in, fists clenched at her sides.

  “Kasrei?” Talitha stepped inside, careful to keep the door clear as an escape route.

  Gilsazi sat cross-legged on the right of a table perhaps as long as a man was tall. He appeared both unharmed and unbound. He caught her gaze and the sharp lines in his cheek tensed.

  “Gilsazi!” Talitha nearly crumpled under the relief. Alive and well—but then he snapped his gaze to the figure at the head of the table.

  Naram stood just two steps out of Gilsazi’s reach. He cradled a fussing infant, shifting her from arm to arm with a scowl—Chinasa.

  Talitha’s blood went cold. “Naram?”

  “Ah, Talitha.” The young man smiled. “So good of you to join us. You did surprise us. It wasn’t easy to be ready by the time you made it here.”

  Chinasa squalled and Naram’s scowl deepened.

  He held Chinasa balanced in his arms, away from his body. The slightest shift of his hands and the baby would hit the stones. “I never could stand these things.”

  Naram would have to get over it. He’d have one of his own in a few months—if Talitha let him live that long.

  “Give me back my baby, you little whore,” Kasrei growled. Energy rippled in silver veins along her hands.

  Naram only smiled, raising Chinasa a little higher off the ground. “Do you plan to tell your children that you were a whore?”

  The silver veins around Kasrei’s fist intensified, crackling louder.

  Gilsazi looked between Kasrei and Talitha. His gaze trailed pointedly to the end of the table. Facing them was a chest made of precious cedar with a broken wax seal around the edge.

  “See that the rest of the fort is routed,” Ashek ordered a burly man with a gold earring. “Leave no one alive who wouldn’t do the same for you. Wasari, you watch outside the door. The rest of you, follow Ramsik.”

  The earringed man grunted his approval, pounding his spear against the stone. The other Dunedrifters emptied out, leaving Ashek and one other of his men—the earless one—standing watch outside.

  “I’d be more careful, princeling,” Ashek said. “Between these three here—” He pointed to Talitha and the baby’s irate parents— “do you have any idea what will happen to you if you harm that child?”

  “I’ll give her back,” Naram said with a shrug. “In one piece, even. Provided you all cooperate.”

  “What do you want?” Gilsazi snarled. His hands tightened on his knees.

  Naram looked to the ensaadi. “Talitha—”

  “That’s ensaadi to you!” Gilsazi roared. His fist pounded against the floor. A tile splintered.

  Naram simply held Chinasa up a little higher, rocking her weight from arm to arm as she continued to cry. “Talitha, open the chest. If you would.”

  “What is it?”

  “A message.”

  Talitha looked to her general.

  He pursed his lips together and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “Gilsazi?”

  He bowed his head, great black horns lowering like a surrender.

  “What is it?” Talitha demanded. When he didn’t answer, she looked to Naram. He raised an eyebrow at her and looked to Chinasa for a pointed moment. Talitha looked to the box.

  Ashek grabbed her arm. “Are you mad?”

  Talitha whirled on him. “I can’t let her—!”

  “Enough!” Kasrei seized the box with box hands and heaved it over.

  The lid spilled open, releasing the scent of sharp cedar and rotted decay. At first, Talitha thought two melons tumbled out.

  The heads of Esreth and the ensaak were rotted, misshapen, and almost unrecognizable—almost.

  Esreth’s long black hair had been partially shorn by the blade that severed her neck. Gash marks showed where it had taken several blows to remove her head. Her mouth was opened in her dying screams and her eyes were glassed to white.

  The ensaak’s head rolled to face away, but Talitha recognized the scar cutting a tentative path across his shaven scalp.

  A mixture of cedar oil and blackened blood spread around them. Their features had softened in death, bloated and decayed. The oil had preserved them somewhat, but they must have been dead for days—perhaps a week.

  The world tilted and Talitha was on her knees. “No!” she cried. “No, this can’t—you can’t—!” The rest of her words dissolved into incoherent gasps. “What have you done? What have you done?” She clamped a hand over her mouth, choking back a sob.

  Kasrei stared in vacant shock and whirled on her husband. “You knew?”

  Gilsazi lowered his head.

  “She was carrying your child!” Talitha shook. Her vision blurred. Her throat constricted. “She was willing to die for you!”

  “And she did,” Naram snapped.

  Talitha’s head dropped. Everything had splintered in one instant. What would Ilios be when she returned?

  If she ever returned at all.

  “What have you done to my people?” Talitha gasped. “My city?”

  “It is no longer your city, heretic.”

  Talitha shuddered, closing her eyes.

  Ashek took a step closer, but didn’t touch her. “Get up, Talitha.”

  Talitha couldn’t seem to get her feet under her. Her chest had turned into a yawning void.

  “What do you want?” Kasrei demanded. “Besides a speedy death?”

  Naram licked his lips hastily. “Need I remind you that you still have two children in Ilios?”

  Talitha hadn’t thought it possible, but Kasrei’s fists clenched tighter.

  Smirking, Naram straightened. “Anything you do to me, will be done to them.”

  “By who?” Gilsazi snarled. “You never answered me—who?”

  Squaring his shoulders, the youth raised his chin. “You will bow to me or suffer the consequences. I will purify Ilios and bring it wholly to Anakti. The worship of the arcane Lonely God will end.”

  “You’re insane,” Kasrei snapped.

  “You’ve been listening to that old dog in the temple.” Gilsazi made to stand.

  Naram spun so that Chinasa was between him and the tavrosi. “What does it matter if it’s a lie?” He shrugged. “A youngest son, married off as the cheapest of his kin, will wear an ensaak’s crown. If that is not proof of divine favor, what is?”

  “I don’t believe this,” Ashek said. “What manner of madman are you?”

  Part of Talitha was sure she had gone mad on seeing her family’s heads. Could Naram actually have done this? She had thought him too weak to be a threat.

  What a fool she had been. What a wretched, wretched fool.

  Naram ignored Ashek, focusing on Kasrei and Gilsazi. “Being the great and good ruler I am, I offer forgiveness and mercy, should you break with the pretender and return home.”

  “Pretender?” Gilsazi looked to Talitha, on her knees with stooped shoulders.

  Talitha had never thought a face could speak, but in that moment, Gilsazi’s did. I’m sorry, I’m sorry was screamed in his eyes over and over.

  “Talitha of Ilios is a usurper and a heretic, worthy of neither pity nor mercy.” Naram smiled. “Do you remember all the times you humiliated me in the practice yards?”

  Talitha didn’t know exactly what he meant. It had seemed to her that he did the humiliation all by himself that day by not following her instructions.

  “You will be an outcast, friendless and homeless for the rest of your life. As you made me feel in Ilios. Or you could die here.”

  “I made you feel that way?”

  Naram raised his chin just a little. “I curse you to the Sandsea.”

  Talitha couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening. “You have the support of the nobility?”

  “He does.”

  Talitha looked to Gilsazi.

  Her general nodded solem
nly. It occurred to her that he might have been forced to lie, but she had to trust Gilsazi wouldn’t betray her. Everything else had been torn away—she needed to believe she could trust him.

  Ashek knelt beside her. “Get up, ensaak,” he whispered.

  “I failed,” Talitha choked. “My family, my people, my city, even my god.”

  “I will not let them break you.” Ashek grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. Hudspeth was avenged, just as he had said. Yet he didn’t look as pleased as she would have expected. “Get on your feet.”

  Perhaps it was the authority in his voice or the disdain. Either way, her knees shook and she couldn’t look at the heads on the floor, but she stood on her own.

  She looked to Gilsazi and Kasrei. “I cannot command you to follow me,” she said calmly. “I will not command you at all.” She wanted to turn to Ashek, but there would be no solace for her there. “I…I don’t know what I will do. I cannot ask for your loyalty at this time. Perhaps never again. The decision is yours.”

  Kasrei closed her eyes. “Talitha…”

  “Do you still want this?” Naram extended Chinasa to her father. “Or would you prefer to make another one?”

  Gilsazi snatched the babe back, cradling her protectively against his chest. “I will kill you,” he growled.

  “No, you won’t. Even when you go back, there’s no way for the two of you to escape with your children. You will return home and in time thank me.”

  Talitha wanted to help them. She wanted to protect Ilios from whatever this man wanted, but…she couldn’t.

  Her contract with Ashek was over. They had agreed to part ways. She had no army, no means of taking back Ilios.

  She had not felt so alone since she’d been a child.

  Gilsazi looked at Talitha for a moment, then pounded his fist straight into Naram’s face. The young man’s head snapped back. Gilsazi’s punch lifted him off the ground and he thudded into the wall.

  Something cracked and Naram bounced to the floor, landing facedown. A red stain on the stones marked where his head had struck. Naram groaned.

  “Gil!” Kasrei was next to him a moment later, her hands on his face even as she surveyed Chinasa. “Is she alright? Are you alright? What did they do to you?”