He grinned slightly, “That’s not how things work.”
“Why do you keep coming after me?”
“We’re your guards…”
“No… tell me why you, not the Cavalry, why do you come after me? Why would you die to protect me?” she asked him, honestly curious.
Kralen smiled, “Because…”
“Because it’s an order,” Emily guessed.
“No, because I care about you… you’re like the Cavalry’s little sister.”
“A pain-in-the-ass sister.”
“No, a sister that we treasure and value,” one of the other guards said.
Emily nodded slightly and disappeared into her bedroom before the guards could see tears. She still needed to deal with the facts Wen told her, but she realized right now she needed to focus. She quickly threw on her uniform and was slipping her .45 into the holster when she walked out. They all headed for the balcony as she tied her hair up.
They walked out onto the balcony and looked out over the city. From there, they could see the standoff.
Emily shrugged, “Everything Wen said was right though.”
“Wen is an idiot, nothing he said was correct,” one of the other guards told her.
Kralen turned to her, “What’s it going to take to get you into the bar?”
“Hide?”
“Yes… hide.”
“No, I’m going to help.”
Kralen nodded and looked at the standoff, “I figured.”
“Lock down the palace,” one of the members of the Cavalry said, and Emily heard the heavy iron bars slamming into place and the metal window covers sliding down to cover the glass.
“Calm down,” Kralen told her.
Emily hadn’t realized she was shaking. She was shocked to feel the fear building. They’d never let her into a heku battle, and she started to become afraid. Everyone on the balcony fell quiet when the Valle advanced on the Equites. City and Palace guards mixed with heku from the city and began a fight that instantly filled the streets with blood. Screams and guttural growling echoed up to the palace, and Emily’s heart skipped a beat.
“Kralen…”
“What?” he whispered.
“I can take them from here.”
“Just wait, we do what we’re told and hold the palace.”
“But I can stop this, right now before more die.”
He looked over at her, “Right now, this exact instant, you’re Cavalry… you’re not a council member, or even the Elder’s wife… you’re a guard and we follow instructions.”
She nodded. She knew he was right.
“Brooks Coven is here,” one of the guards said, and they all looked over as a large transport helicopter landed and green clad guards blurred through the city toward the fighting.
“Does Chev know?” Emily asked, watching the vicious battle.
“No, we haven’t had contact with any of those that are out on a mission,” Kralen told her.
For hours they watched. The Equites were holding off the hordes of Valle as they fought to get into the city to take the palace. Emily couldn’t tell from this distance who was winning, and she couldn’t tell the faction of the bodies piling up in the streets. The Cavalry waited patiently, but Emily was nervous and pacing across the balcony.
“Captain,” one of the guards hissed.
Kralen and Emily both followed his gaze out to the hills west of the city. A black mass of advancing heku could be seen slowly heading toward the city.
“Enemy or Ally?” Emily whispered.
“Encala,” Kralen hissed.
“Oh my God,” Emily gasped. “How many?”
“Close to a thousand,” Kralen said. He turned toward the battle and Emily could see his mouth moving quickly, but heard nothing. Finally, he turned, “Mount up. We’re going to head them off.”
Before Emily could react, Kralen had her in his arms and jumped the third-floor balcony railing and landed softly on the grass below. He put her down and she ran toward the stables as the heku blurred. By the time she got there, her horse was saddled and ready for her. She mounted quickly and turned to Kralen.
“We’re going out through the cemetery to avoid the main fight, let’s go,” he ordered, and then kicked his mare into a gallop.
Emily was able to keep up while on horseback and finally pulled ahead, her racing horse hitting maximum speed. She could see the dark figures ahead of them, but with the setting sun, she couldn’t make out anything more than a black mass. The Cavalry formed a line and saw the Encala stop. One heku walked toward them.
“It’s Frederick,” Kralen whispered.
Emily watched as the Encala Elder came forward and stopped in front of Kralen.
“You’ve stooped to helping the Valle?” Kralen growled.
Frederick grinned, “When it serves our purpose, yes.”
“I suggest you turn around and return to your city. We aren’t going to let you join this fight.”
“Who’s going to stop us?”
“I am,” Emily said from down at the end of the Cavalry line.
Frederick gasped and took a step back. He’d been too focused on Kralen and hadn’t noticed Emily, “Wh… you’re here?”
“What, are you afraid to fight a girl?” Emily asked, glaring at him.
“We were told you would be taken away,” Frederick said, taking another few steps back.
“Your informant was wrong, and I’m not going to let you into that fight.”
“There are a thousand of us… you’d risk harming yourself if you turn that many to ash.”
“I’d do it and you know it. I’m an Equites, and I’d die to protect them.”
Frederick grinned broadly and turned to Kralen, “You’re going to let the girl fight your battles?”
“No, we’re going to let her help us,” Kralen told him.
Emily grinned and watched them.
Frederick glanced nervously at her and back to Kralen, “It’s disgusting, letting a mortal fight.”
“I’d much rather fight beside her than the Valle.”
“What?” Frederick growled when Emily laughed.
“Oh, nothing,” she told him.
“I’m not afraid of you! Traditional heku law says you can’t touch me.”
She rolled her eyes, “Like I can’t touch your Generals?”
“Yes,” he said, pleased.
“Oops then.”
Frederick’s eyes grew wide and he turned back to his troops, and then back to the Cavalry, his eyes red with fury, “How dare you!”
Emily took a tissue and wiped the small trickle of blood from her nose, “When’s the last time you saw me adhere to heku codes?”
“Enough, Em,” Kralen said, fighting back a laugh.
“Sorry, Captain,” she said, and watched Kralen.
Frederick growled and blurred back to his troops.
“That was great,” one of the Cavalry said, laughing.
“I wondered how long it’d be before he noticed his Generals dropping one at a time behind him,” another chuckled.
“So now what?” Emily asked. “They’re just standing there.”
“Our orders were to hold the line and keep them from joining,” Kralen explained. “So for now, we wait.”
“I could just ash Frederick and send them into a panic.”
Kralen smiled, “As much as I’d like to see that… we wait.”
Emily nodded. She decided to follow orders. Hours passed as the horses nibbled at what was showing of the yellow grass above the snow. The heat from her horse kept her warm and Emily waited, trying to be as patient as the Cavalry, but her mind kept wandering, picturing different scenarios in her head, from the obliteration of the palace, to her ashing the entire Encala force.
“Damnit,” Kralen hissed, the first noise any had made in almost six hours.
“What?” Emily asked.
“It’s not going well. Thukil arrived along with four other covens, but the Valle are stil
l holding strong.”
Emily turned toward the city, “I can even up those numbers.”
“We can’t, we have to stay here.”
“I can maybe do it from here.”
“Won’t you get the Equites too?”
She sighed, “Yes.”
“Then no.”
“I can go back, just for a few minutes, and even up the numbers.”
Kralen thought for a moment, “Let’s just see. If you leave here, there’s a chance the Encala will join in. We can’t stop this many.”
“Oh,” Emily said, and turned back to the Encala.
Two hours later, she could tell the mood of the Cavalry changed. They were now fidgety, and whispering among themselves.
“Tell me,” Emily whispered, and looked over at them.
“They broke through the front line and are in the city, heading for the palace,” Kralen told her, obviously upset.
“Let me go, please.”
“If the Encala join them, it will end for sure. We can’t have you leave this line.”
Kralen looked over, wide eyed when Emily spoke again.
“Let me talk to William,” she said into the phone.
“Emily! We can’t call an Enemy Council,” Kralen whispered, still shocked.
“What the hell are you doing!?” Emily yelled.
“Emily? Where are you?” William asked, loud enough the entire Cavalry could hear.
“I’m sitting out here freezing my ass off to keep your army from getting to my city.”
“You’re in Council City?”
“Yes”
“We were told you’d left.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you were told. I want to know what gives you the right to attack my family.”
“This has nothing to do with you,” William told her.
“Yes it does. I’m an Equites and you’re attacking my home… What keeps me from ashing Freddy and the rest of your officers?”
There was a slight pause, “Tradition.”
“Screw tradition,” Emily said, and glared across the field.
Kralen sighed when four of the Encala Captains fell to ash, “Em…”
“Stop it!” William growled. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“I do too! I’m dealing with a piece of shit heku and trust me… I will personally get you back for this,” she said, and shut her phone.
Emily couldn’t see it, but the Cavalry could, across the dark field they saw Frederick shut his phone and look over at them furiously.
“Swedesford Coven just arrived,” Kralen said, loud enough that Emily could hear. “They’ve pushed the Valle back out of the city.”
“What are they doing?” Emily asked when the Encala army moved forward slightly.
“They’re getting ready to attack us,” Kralen said, and she saw the eight members of the Cavalry tense. “The Valle are falling back, which leaves the Encala to get to the palace. We’re all that’s in their way.”
“Well that’s stupid,” Emily said. “I can ash all of them.”
“They know we’ll tell you not to.”
“You’d rather die and have the palace taken, than for me to handle it and then sleep for a while?” Emily asked frowning.
“No, I’d rather die than to have you die,” he said, and looked over at her. She saw the worry in his face and looked over at the Encala, “We thought we’d lost you the last time. I won’t do it again.”
Emily gasped when the Encala moved forward, close enough she could see them clearly in the dawning light.
“Get ready,” Kralen said angrily. “They’re going to get past us, there’s no doubt about that, but take out what you can, lessen the numbers.”
“Kralen…” Emily whispered.
“Do what you can without ashing them, Em… shoot them if you have to, to buy us some time.”
She nodded and pulled the .45 from her hip.
“Here they come,” Kralen whispered, his voice turned evil and malicious.
Emily found it hard to breathe and could feel her hands shaking as the angry Encala army began to slowly come toward them. She was shocked when they stopped and turned suddenly to look behind them. In the low light, she was able to make out men on horses, a lot of them. They came from the trees behind the Encala and split to ride around them as they headed for the Equites.
Not sure what else to do, Emily raised her .45 and carefully aimed at the one in front.
“Em, no,” Kralen said, and reached out to push her gun down.
“Why no…” she started, and then froze. As the horses came into view, she saw the front heku was Chevalier, and soon was able to see Quinn, Kyle, and Mark behind him. The rest of the Cavalry rode up to their line and fell in behind them.
“What the hell is this?” Chevalier growled.
Emily shut her eyes and took a deep breath, finally feeling like the battle might be in their favor.
“Valle attack in the city,” Kralen explained quickly. “We saw the Encala coming in from the side and came to hold them off.”
Quinn and Chevalier turned and faced their horses toward the Encala. Everything on the hill grew quiet, and Emily figured they were also getting a full report from in the city. She watched when Chevalier rode forward as Frederick did the same. They met in the middle, and she could hear angry yelling, but couldn’t make out what was said.
“Why is she here?” Kyle yelled at Kralen.
“Elders order,” Kralen told him, and Kyle turned to her.
“He said I could stay with the Cavalry and fight.”
Kyle shook his head and turned back to Quinn. She saw their lips moving quickly and her eyes narrowed. Before she could defend herself, Chevalier turned and kicked his horse into a gallop back toward them.
“They’re coming,” Quinn whispered angrily.
Emily looked over at the Encala and as soon as Frederick returned to his army, they again began to advance on the Cavalry.
Chevalier stopped by Quinn, “If the Encala can’t get to the front lines, the Valle are going to lose this… they’re coming.”
Quinn nodded.
When they got close enough, a single gunshot rang out through the trees as Emily pegged Frederick right between the eyes. He fell backwards and the Encala began to run. The sudden crash when the Encala hit the Equites line echoed through the valley, followed by angry growls and the sound of tearing flesh and screams.
Emily checked to make sure the Equites were busy before she rode up to Frederick. He looked up at her angrily before falling to ash. She slipped off of her horse and quickly scooped the ashes into her pocket. As soon as she got back onto her stallion, she came face-to-face with an Encala.
“Seems orders are to bring you back alive, Sweetheart,” he said, grinning.
“Good luck with that,” she told him, and shot him between the eyes. A blur came from the side and his body disappeared from before her.
She turned and saw three heku attacking Chevalier. Taking aim, she took one out with a clean shot to the head, and then she turned and did the same to heku around Silas. After shooting a heku off of Mark, Emily was hit full-force from the side and slammed into the ground. She was pinned face down on the snow and felt her gun ripped from her hand.
“You’re being a pain, shooting us,” a heku said from above her. His body crushed hers as he whispered into her ear.
She felt his weight disappear as Kralen hit him and threw him onto the snow beside her. They began to blur into a fight, and she stood up quickly and ran to her horse, then pulled a rifle from the saddle bag and turned to shoot a heku that was clinging to Quinn’s back. Her next shot missed, and she grabbed the barrel and slammed the gun into the neck of a heku on Chevalier.
Emily was grabbed from behind, her arms pinned at her sides, and she screamed as she felt herself being blurred into the trees. The strong arms held her tightly and squeezed painfully.
“Screw it,” she gasped, and the heku turned to ash at
her feet. She turned and ran back for the fighting. The trees grew quiet, and she pushed to run faster, not sure what she was going to find. When she cleared the trees, she stopped and looked at the Cavalry standing among the bodies of the Encala. They were standing around the remaining live Encala, their uniforms torn and covered in blood. Emily walked forward slowly and stood beside Chevalier.
The only Encala officer looked up at her angrily.
“Are you ok?” Mark asked from beside her.
“I’m fine,” she said, breathing heavily.
“The Valle retreated,” Kralen told her.
Emily nodded and then looked at the Cavalry, “Where’s Jaron?”
“Em…” Mark sighed.
She turned and looked over the scattered pieces of heku and saw his body lying off to the side with four more of the Cavalry. Emily slowly walked toward them. The world slowed down and she couldn’t hear anything but the pounding of her heart.
Emily knelt down by his body and took his hand, “Jaron?”
As she looked into his unseeing eyes, the screams started behind her. The remaining Encala fell backwards, thrashing in pain against the snow and screaming in agony. She shut her eyes, and a tear fell as she put her hand on Jaron’s chest and lowered her head.
Emily felt Chevalier’s hand against her back as he knelt beside her and whispered, “Em… let them go.”
She released the Encala from the burning and leaned forward. She kissed Jaron’s forehead softly and then let Chevalier help her to stand up.
“Zohn said it’s over. The Valle are gone,” Kralen said, coming up to them.
Emily wrapped her arms around herself and looked down at the dead Cavalry. As the others spoke about getting the Encala back into the city, she felt her anger growing. Turning quickly, she mounted and kicked her stallion into a gallop. As she flew past the Encala, they turned to ash.
Chevalier looked down at the ash and then up to Emily as she disappeared over the hill toward the city, “Damnit.”
“Gather them up,” Kyle said. “I’ll revive them in the prison.”
The Cavalry began to do as ordered and Kyle walked up to Chevalier with Quinn, “Where’s she going?”
“I’m not sure,” Chevalier said.
Zohn called out that Emily was riding through the city, turning any Valle she rode by to ash.
“Let’s go,” Chevalier ordered, and the entire Cavalry rode back into the city. The destruction was immense. Bodies lay along the walkways and some of the houses closest to the gates were on fire. Equites worked feverishly to put out the fires as others gathered the dead and moved them to the palace lawn.
Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series Page 66
