They were all waiting in a gully where the hills on either side of them rose far above their heads. The ground was moist where Caleb stood, unlike most of the places in Broughtonhaven. These valleys were perhaps where the rainwaters spilled down the hillside and trickled along until the waters met some plot of ground that desperately longed to drink. There, the rains would seep underneath the surface of the soil and never return.
Lining the sides of the roads, the Spiritualists hid in the underbrush, keeping themselves from being seen along the pathways. Many of them draped their heads with their dark colored clothing. Those Spiritualists who wore the brighter colors made sure to bury themselves within the leaves and the branches.
The Pioneers did the same, and many of them took cover in the trees above so that they could see longer distances even though the canopy prevented a clear line of sight in any one direction. Stationing themselves in a gully wasn’t Caleb’s preference, but some of the Spiritualists insisted that it was the least vulnerable place for an ambush because of how thick the forest was at that level.
“Is Yael coming?” Caleb asked Shauna.
“I haven’t seen her in months, but I'm sure that she'll be here.”
“Maybe she can direct the Spiritualists once we lay siege.”
“Maybe. But they’re afraid, and once you use the toxin, they won’t have the Hellstate to protect them.”
“Good. It’s time for them to stop being cowards and fight,” Caleb replied.
Shauna stood back and crossed her arms. Her violet emblem reflected marvelously in the sunlight, and her golden sari twisted around her ankles. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me? I’ve stopped letting people use me however they want to, and I stopped being weak.”
Her eyes faded in and out of blackness as she resisted the Hellstate. “Overnight, it’s like you have become someone else.”
“I’m doing what’s good for Broughtonhaven.”
Shauna fell to her knees after those words. She held her head from the nausea, but that didn’t keep her head from swirling. The Hellstate wrecked her insides as she refused to succumb, and the voice that once guided her to lucidity was beyond her reach. The spirits around her surfaced powerfully and growled at those who were around her. Pushing her inner self forward, she wrangled free from the darkness — without the voice that once kept her stable. Something about Caleb’s spirit was waning and becoming too slippery for her to hold onto whenever the Hellstate pressed upon her.
Caleb looked away, not paying attention to her. He waited for Sarai's Pioneers to come over the hill through the thicket so that they could lay siege to Irez. The moans of the spirits intensified as the day pushed on. The anticipation of the Spiritualists invoked a more powerful pressure from the Hellstate.
The sun stood above them in the sky looking through the leaves of the canopy at noon. The heat was rather bearable, even though the wind wasn’t blowing. The Pioneers and the Spiritualists tried to stay off the roads. As the sun titled lazily into the evening, Caleb could see slanted shadows gradually making their way through the brush off to the east. Sarai had arrived, and she brought hoards of Spiritualists with her.
Motioning to Shauna and Uriel to remain in their positions, Caleb snuck up to the top of hill to connect with Sarai, grabbing on the trunks of the sturdy trees so that he would not slide back down. He had not seen her in weeks, and she had a few scars and bruises on her that weren’t there before. Caleb didn’t ask how she got the abrasions, knowing that they were more than likely due to her own recklessness. She fought hard and her body paid for it.
She pulled back her hood and flicked her braid over her shoulder. The evening sun rays splashed onto different parts of her golden skin, and her hazel eyes lit up from the reflections. “How’d it go in the west?” she asked as she looked down into the valley. “Any casualties?”
“Trina and Lee. Also about twenty others. You?”
“Four or five until we got to Arenn. Had quite a brawl there. Couldn’t get the toxin out fast enough and the Polarists took advantage of us. Thirty-five or so didn’t make it,” she said matter-of-factly. “That’s where the bruises came from.”
“I figured.” Caleb rubbed his chin and squinted from the few rays of sun that settled onto his face. “My twenty came from a miscommunication outside of the central city of Nobin. Same thing happened. Toxin wasn’t read to deploy, and that’s when they hit us.”
“Caleb, do you think we’re ready for this fight?” She stared into his eyes, battle-ready but compassionate.
“It seems that you don’t,” he replied harshly.
“I just don't want people to be killed for no reason.”
“This is war, and people will die.”
“But under our command? You've seen the Spiritualists.” She tossed her hand at the soldiers around her. “The toxin is so new. None of the Pioneers have fought with it before, and the Spiritualists are scared out of their wits.”
Caleb fixed his bow around his chest, clenching the grip. “You seem to be fine with the Polarists killing more innocent children.”
She shook her head. “You have some nerve. Why would you even say that?”
“Because that’s what you must want.”
“You’re despicable.”
“Despicable? Maybe. But the Polarists need to suffer for this invasion.”
“Suffer? You’re starting to sound like a savage.”
“No, I’m starting to sound efficient. Something that you’ll never know about, Second Watch Pioneer Alma. Round’em up!” He kept his eyes on hers and twisted his finger in the air to motion to the troops that it was time to lay the siege.
Caleb hiked back down to the hill where the soldiers were gathering their gear to move onto Irez where Raylen had stationed his troops.
The sunlight sneaked away as the evening conquered the province. Shrills from the Screechers pierced through the thick darkness, and the growls of other wildlife creatures rumbled through the night. Caleb remembered why he hated Broughtonhaven so much, and with the hundreds of Hellstates that had been ignited, the spiritual activity reached its chaotic maximum. Caleb was unsure if it was the beasts that were howling or if it was the spirits.
Shauna kept watch over the spirits while Uriel stayed near Caleb. Uriel's extraction had made her less sympathetic towards the supernatural wildlife. The apparitions that had once taken over her, now were now formidable ghosts that offered no expressions of mercy whenever they surfaced next to her.
Irez stationed itself in front of them across an open field where the canopy had been cut back to make room for the city. Caleb and the soldiers kneeled low in the bushes, and the azure moonlight rested on his face as the shadows of the night darkened his features. The buildings had been well-kept over the years, so the town looked new. Polarists flowed in and out of the town in ranks, but there was no sign of Raylen.
“You don’t have to come with us,” Caleb said to Uriel. “This is not your war. You’re not a Pioneer or a Spiritualist now.”
Uriel's voice was filled with heaviness and unexpected emotion. “These were my people too,” she whispered sharply.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m just saying that you’ve done enough. You rescued me and Shauna. You can stop trying to make up for the person you used to be.” He put his hand on her back, still crouching near the tree line.
His words seeped into her, and the corners of her lips crinkled. She pressed her eyelids tightly together and dropped her head into her hands. Her muffled sobs could barely be heard.
He massaged her back to comfort her, and she smacked his hand away. Shauna rustled through the weeds and gleamed at Caleb. “What did you say to her!”
“Nothing!” Caleb hollered in an aggressive whisper.
Shauna pulled Uriel away behind the edge of the boscage, and Caleb thumbed his lip thinking about what he had said. Once again he had been misunderstood when he just wanted to show his appreciation. He didn’t
have time for this. “Sarai!” He motioned with his hand.
She crept through the bushes. A few twigs cracked beneath her footsteps, but her quiver did not make a sound. Clenching her bow, she stared at the city and waited for Caleb to say what was on his mind.
“The Polarists are coming in from the eastern road,” he whispered, pointing to the city. “If we attack straight at the city, the Polarists won’t be able to stop the assault, and we can take the town with only a few casualties.”
“We’d be better off flanking them. I can take the Northern Sector Pioneers to the north side, and you and the Southern Sector can attack the south. The Spiritualists can divide up between the two of us.”
Caleb put his knee on the ground, grinding his teeth together. Sarai was defying him intentionally, and it bothered him. “I’m the Third Watch now, and I am taking my people into city right here. This is our best chance to catch them off guard.”
Sarai snapped her head to the side to look at him. Her braid spun around her. “Are you trying to get us killed? What if they surround us?”
He waved her off. “They won’t surround us. They don’t even know we’re coming.”
“But what...if...they...do?”
“We’re not flanking them when we have a straight line of attack right here,” he shouted in a fierce whisper, pointing to the city.
“Pioneer Eaves, get your people ready to flank.”
“Pioneer Alma, you are not in charge of me anymore. We are attacking here. If you want to be a part of this assault, then you’ll do the same. Otherwise. Stay out of the way.” He held up his Lightguard and motioned ahead, signaling to the other Pioneers that they were moving out.
Sarai grunted and retreated to her people, reluctantly signaling to them to prepare for the assault. Despite the commotion of the Pioneers gathering their gear, the forest was silent. Yael had indeed decided to come. She stepped to the edge of the canopy, gray hair whipping in the winds. The twins were with her.
“Caleb,” Yael called to him. “Do you have any idea when the Naturalists are going to arrive?”
“They aren’t.”
“What? But Shauna sent word to me saying the contrary.”
“Then she lied. We’re on our own out here.”
Yael ran her fingernails lengthwise through her gray hair. “This is unacceptable. I would have never allowed the Spiritualists to engage Irez if I had known that the Naturalists were not going to intervene.”
“There's nothing that we can do about it now. We are set to attack.”
“We are not walking into this deathtrap with a band of Wanderers.” Yael sent communicator spirits to address the commanders of the Spiritualist military, telling them to pull their troops back.
“So after all we’ve done, you’re just going to abandon us?” Caleb asked without looking at her, still kneeling in the grass.
“There’s no battle here, and I’m not going to watch the slaughter of my people based on some stupid potion. And you’re supposed to be dead!” She snapped, not keeping her voice down this time.
Dead? What did she mean? He didn’t have time to worry about that. If the Spiritualists were leaving, that changed the plans.
Leaves fell from atop the canopy, and the woods rattled as the Spiritualists exited the battle front. Caleb's chest sunk in as he felt the power being sapped from him. The reinforcements were retreating, and the battle immediately became more of a challenge than what he had first planned.
He signaled to the Pioneers to stand down. Sarai crept back to him. “Caleb, we can’t attack them now. We don’t have a chance without the Spiritualists.”
Caleb rubbed his forehead and cleared his throat. “This is the best chance that we have to push the Polarists out. We can’t retreat now. Not when we’re this close,” he whispered.
“This close to what? Death?”
“We are going forward. Either you can help us, or you can run away like those cowards!” He threw his hand back, flippantly pointing to the Spiritualists who were retreating.
Sarai turned up the corners of her lips in annoyance. “The Northern Sector will not be a part of this assault. If you were wise, you would not lead your people to their death.”
“If you were wise, you would remember what we’re fighting for.”
“Something that it looks like you’ve soon forgotten. I’m going to pull my troops out of this. Stay if you want.”
“Whatever happened to ‘we don’t leave our people’?” he said, mocking her.
“You’re the one abandoning us. We know when we don’t have a chance!” she whispered sharply. “Those soldiers would follow you to their graves. If you were wise, you would not give them the chance to prove it to you!” She turned quickly away from Caleb and punched her fist into the air, exposing her Lightguard – three flashes and then another punch signaling to the Northern Sector that they were retreating.
Murmurs from the Pioneers bubbled up in the night, sounding like silent gibberish. Many of them were confused at why some were staying and others were leaving. Caleb signaled to the two hundred men and women of the Southern Sector that they were staying for the battle.
The retreating Pioneers could scarcely be heard as they crept through the darkness, and the isolation beset Caleb even more than when the Spiritualists had abandoned him. Even Shauna was gone. Only his people and Uriel stayed. He put his head in his hand and massaged his temples. It would take all that he had to win this battle, even with the toxin.
Several moments passed that seemed to take hours, but finally Caleb was sure that there were no members of the Northern Sector left with him on the battlefront. “Uriel, are you sure you don’t want to go with the others?”
“You’re going to need me more than they will.”
Caleb nodded. “Our first step is to take out those four guards standing at the east gate. Then we’ll sneak in and take the city.” He spied the Polarists standing to the right of the gate. A few spirits surfaced to investigate, and then they settled back into the blackness. Screechers shrieked through the night, but they were too far away to cause any alarm.
The watchmen were planted as stiff as trees with their arms locked across their chests. Their bulging coats pushed their elbows upwards, and their blue emblems beat rhythmically behind their extended beards.
Crossing his wrists above his head, Caleb signaled to his three best archers nearby to follow his shot with Naturalist arrows. The archers motioned back, indicating which of the four guards they were targeting.
Caleb eased off his bow. The string vibrated from the movement. In a motion that flowed as smoothly as the wind, he doused the tip with the green Anaerobia, and then he notched an arrow into the bow. The string pressed against his lips as he inhaled.
The night was still and cool from the power of the Polarists even this close to the edge of the tree line. The vibrations in the bowstring ceased to oscillate. He was left-handed, so with his right eye closed, he stared down the body of the arrow. “Guide shot,” he barely uttered.
With a whistle, the arrow hunted the guard to the far left. Three emerald tipped arrows stalked behind his. Each arrow sliced through one of the guards...except for Caleb’s. The guard that he had been targeting had stepped forward, only for a moment, to align himself with other three. Caleb’s arrow spiraled past the Polarist.
Yelling back inside the city, the guard called the town of Irez to alarm. He bounced up and down with one hand to the side of his mouth to project his voice. He only was able to scream out a few words before an uncharged arrow from one of the archers cut into his throat. Trying to keep the blood from spilling out, the man clasped his neck with both glove-covered hands and stared into the sky where his grim expression showed that he was gradually fading into the darkness of death.
The breeze hawked in, carrying with it the icy chill of The Deficit. Polarist troops scurried to the gate. Their heavy boots treaded over the solid ground, sounding like an army of horses preparing for war.
&
nbsp; In his last few moments, the dying guard’s trembling, blood-soaked hand pointed to the woods from where the arrows had come. At the cadence of the elite guard’s command, the soldiers dispersed towards the forest, spreading out as they diffused across the open field.
The galloping footsteps of the assaulting Polarists got closer. A faint dust rose from the terrain beneath them because of the scurrying of their boots, and their azure emblems radiated the dust like a mystic fume.
Without breathing, the Pioneers watched the massive sea of Polarists flooding in on them. The temperature plummeted. Trees splintered from the ice that formed. Caleb looked up, and a tidal wave of frozen liquid crept overhead beneath the canopy. His muscles could barely move, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the chill or from his own petrification. Resisting the urge to give in, he sprang to his feet and hollered until his voice scratched the back of his throat. “Toxin! Use the toxin!”
Grabbing his toxin pouch from his hip, Caleb slung it over the open field. A few tiny pollen particles speckled out from the top of the leather bag though it was tightly tied. Caleb snatched out an arrow that tore the pouch open with one shot. The Pioneers followed his lead.
The pollen flailed through the air with each gust of wind as the toxin drizzled down over the field. As the toxin took root, Caleb ripped out another arrow, slammed it into the Materialist Anaerobia, and yanked it back into the bowstring.
With the muscles in his shoulder flexed, he released the bolt which soared through an oncoming soldier’s heavy coat. The man catapulted backwards. An explosion swallowed several troops within it. The Polarists wallowed on the ground, fighting to extinguish the flames.
More Materialist arrows pierced into the field, but no explosions erupted. The breeze got warmer, and the ice above the Pioneers started to melt. The toxin had taken over the field. The oncoming Polarists slowed their pace at their instant loss of power. Silent arrows, from the Pioneers, cut into dozens more of the soldiers.
Infused (Book 2 of The Pioneers Saga) Page 28
