The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams

by Melissa Myers

  “I won’t leave him here, Valor,” she said, though she wasn’t sure he could understand her words. Her throat was so tight it was painful to breath. She wasn’t sure how long Valor had let her cry. From the expression on his face his pain was a mirror of her own. It’s not just Finn he is grieving for, she reminded herself. He lost his sister and niece as well, and now his best friend.

  “I’ll carry him, Jala. I won’t leave him here either,” Valor assured her. “I wouldn’t leave him here either,” he added in a quieter voice.

  She sat up slowly and looked at Valor across Finn’s body. “Do you think they can bring him back? He killed Devron and they brought the bastard back. Can someone bring Finn back?” she asked, frantically seizing on the idea. Where she had come from dead meant dead, but not here. She had seen the dead return to life in Sanctuary.

  “We can try,” Valor promised, his own dark blue eyes still glassy with unshed tears. He gave her a firm nod and started to pick the body up.

  “Wait,” she said, holding a hand out to him. “You can’t fight while carrying him. Let me remove the rest of the Barllen and I can store the body in a stone. It will keep it in stasis as well so it stays preserved,” she said, half amazed that she was capable of thinking so clearly.

  He nodded and motioned for her to go ahead. “Hurry, though, we have to get out of the city very soon.”

  “I’ll hurry, but we can’t leave the city quite yet. There is something I have to do before we go,” she said calmly, her mind pushing the grief back. She wouldn’t let it govern her now. Not when there was still a chance she could bring Finn back.

  “What?” Valor asked, his own voice sounding clearer as if he was following the same belief.

  “Kill Hemlock,” she said simply and returned to the removal of the Barllen. She let her anger build as she worked. With each breath it grew stronger, pushing back the grief and despair. Those emotions could wait. She needed the anger now to punish those who had caused the pain. “You grieve so much more gracefully than me, Valor. I’ve watched you over the past few days, mourning your sister in silence. I can’t mourn in silence. I want to hurt them. I want them to feel the pain they have caused me.”

  Valor shook his head and smiled coldly. “No, I haven’t been grieving gracefully, Jala. I’ve been biding my time. I was sealed behind a wall where I couldn’t act. I can act now, and once you are finished here I promise we will make them feel pain.” There was a sincerity to his voice that made his words ring of an oath.

  Looking up at him she nodded slowly, her magic still at work on cleansing Finn’s body. A silent pact had just formed between the two of them. She could see in his eyes that he had felt it form as well. “We both have more than simply Finn to avenge,” she said, then paused and met his eyes fully so he knew her next words were not simply idle. “I promised Hemlock I would bring Sanctuary to its knees if he killed Finn. I think he might have thought I meant just the City of Sanctuary. The ones that have truly brought our pain aren’t in the city, Valor. And they think they are safe from vengeance.” She fell silent again and stared back down at Finn as she worked.

  His death will be their damnation. It will be a long hunt, but we will have their blood. I promise you that sister, Marrow said. He had remained silent and watchful by the door until now. She glanced in his direction and gave him a nod of agreement. It was the first time he had called her sister, and she knew it was said with respect. Before the barrier in her mind lifted it would have seemed odd. Now however it fit perfectly. Bendazzi were spoken of as cold and cruel hunters, totally ruthless in nature, and she was feeling anything but merciful.

  Chapter 28

  Fionahold

  Shade lit a cigarette as he stepped into the darkened courtyard. The call for assembly had come bare minutes ago and from what he could tell he was one of the first to arrive. He moved silently to where his group would be forming up, content to find a wall to hold up while he waited. A few figures stirred in the shadows and he nodded absently to them without taking any true notice of who they were. Beyond a handful of people, he didn’t truly know anyone in the Fionahold.

  “Not even a true hello. Well I can see I was missed,” a familiar voice called as he leaned back against the stone wall.

  “Lex?” Shade called back in disbelief. He hadn’t seen his former body guard since his first week at the Fionahold. He pushed back off the wall and searched the darkness for his friend.

  Lex stepped away from the small group of people Shade had walked absently by, and moved over to Shade’s side. He was thinner than Shade remembered and had more scars showing than before. He wore his long black leather coat as always, but the garment had seen hard use recently. Hastily done repairs showed up and down the back and most of them looked to be tear marks.

  “What the hell happened to you?” Shade asked, looking up from the coat to his friends amused face.

  “Been in Glis fighting against the bloody Blights,” Lex said casually and then bowed to Shade. “Thank you ever so much for bombing Eldagar. I am forever in your debt for killing those damn things before I had to fight them personally.”

  “They called you back from Glis for this?” Shade asked a bit incredulous. While capturing the city was important, the reports from Glis suggested they couldn’t spare anyone from the fighting.

  Lex shook his head and the light in his gold eyes seemed to dim a bit as his expression grew somber. “No, I’m uh, I’m here for reassignment. Everyone else in my squad is dead. I was the last one. So I’m back here until Lutheron can assign me to another battle squad. We were with Sebastian’s forces near the Arovan border awaiting re-supply.” Lex rubbed his face and leaned back against the wall beside Shade.

  “Sebastian Blackwolf is dead?” Shade asked quietly. He had heard about Chastity Blackwolf’s death earlier in the week. Apparently Jala had started a riot over Chastity’s arrest. Their child was apparently missing as well. So if Sebastian was dead it meant Glis no longer had an heir. If High Lord Nicoli fell in combat Glis was as good as done. Without a high lord, Glis would be another neutral territory like Merro had been or the Greenwild still was. If there was anyone left alive there, when it was all said and done, of course.

  “The last I saw of him he was slumped over his saddle with an arrow in his back. I was trying to get Leah to safety at the time so I wasn’t close enough to see if he still lived,” Lex replied, his voice faint and subdued. He glanced over at Shade and flicked a finger toward the cigarette that was burning forgotten in his hand. “Have you got another one of those? I haven’t had decent tobacco in weeks.”

  Shade nodded silently and handed his friend the cigarette case. The news about Leah’s death was a shock to him. She hadn’t even been Fionaveir and he hadn’t realized she had been involved in the fighting. He knew now wasn’t the time to push the topic with Lex though. Lex had been very close with his twin sister. As well as his friend seemed to be handling it, the wound was still too fresh for conversation. “An arrow in his back, eh,” he said finally to steer the conversation further from Leah.

  Lex nodded slowly and took a long drag from the freshly lit cigarette, seeming to savor the smoke. “First time I’ve ever seen an arrow in a Blight ambush. Funny, I haven’t heard any other reports of them being used either. From all I’ve seen the Blights don’t use weapons other than the ones they are born with. I’ve seen one or two of the smarter ones use magic, but never weapons.”

  “Can’t say that I’ve ever seen them use anything made by us. They travel naked and seem to shun anything manmade,” Shade said in agreement. “That makes three of our allies hit this week, Adana Firym, RenDelvayon, and now Sebastian. If I were Nicoli Blackwolf, I would be checking all of the shadows before I slept at night.”

  Lex chuckled darkly. “Would take a braver man than me to tackle Nicoli Blackwolf. Have you ever actually met the man?”

  Shade shook his head slowly. “I knew Sebastian a bit. He seemed nice enough, though he had no love for me. My
last name of Morcaillo kind of branded me from certain social circles.”

  “Sebastian was nothing like his father,” Lex said firmly. “Sebastian was touched by the wolf. Nicoli is like a wolf in a man’s body. When he moves it’s like he is prowling and when he watches you, you feel like prey. He is refined and dresses nobly. Hell, he even wears plate mail in battle, but still there is something about him that is positively feral.”

  More forms had filled their area of the courtyard and they both grew silent as Vaze approached. Moonlight glimmered off the man’s black armor as he moved.

  “What exactly is that he is wearing?” Shade asked quietly. He had wondered about the armor since the first time he had seen it. He had never seen anything like it, not even in the Arcanetech classes at the Academy.

  “Shadowsteel,” Lex answered in a hushed voice, his eyes on Vaze. “He is the last of the Lords of Shadow, though he is a bastard of the line. I think that is the only set of Shadowsteel armor left on Sanctuary,” Turning to Shade he motioned toward their commander. “Have you seen him fight yet?”

  Shade shook his head slowly. “Charm said I should watch him. Though I must say I’ve been to the Spring Games enough to believe one sword slinger is the same as the next.”

  Lex snorted in amusement and shook his head. “Not true,” he said simply and turned back to watch Vaze as the man moved among them inspecting armor and weapons. He barely paused as he passed by the two of them, simply nodding approval at their gear.

  “I’ve never even heard of the Lords of Shadow,” Shade admitted, once Vaze was well past them.

  “You won’t either. They were omitted from the history books after they fell. No one talks about them. As far as I know they had no allies at all in Sanctuary,” Lex explained.

  “Because they were absolute bastards,” Charm said conversationally as he dropped down from the wall to land beside the two of them. The rogue was dressed in mottled grey silk and even his blond hair was covered tonight.

  “Goswin wasn’t too sweet either and they are still in the history books,” Shade pointed out.

  Charm shook his head lightly and sighed. “It’s a prison, Shade. Everyone here is a bastard in one shape or form. There are no good guys in Sanctuary. The Veyetta were frightening enough though that even the Morcaillo steered clear of them.”

  “Veyetta?” Shade asked, unsure if it was the house name or the races.

  “House Veyetta. Our noble commander is Vaze Veyetta, though he doesn’t use the surname. He was born three days before his House fell. His mother died in childbirth and Lutheron stole him just before the city fell. So, by rights he is the last Lord of Shadows even though he is bastard born. Only a few Fionaveir actually know where he is from, though. He is wise enough to keep his origins secret. As I’m sure you will be doing in the future as well,” Charm explained.

  “If everyone steered clear of them, how did they fall?” Shade asked.

  “We will be going in secretly. The Justicars outnumber our full attack force four to one,” Vaze said loudly. Shade watched the man, wondering if he had overheard the conversation and had chosen that moment to speak to end it. “There will be four staging points. Our goal is to secure the inner city. Lutheron has ordered no quarter in this fight. If they raise sword or spell against you, kill them. They will not show us mercy, so we will show them none. Some of you have separate assignments. If you see one of your brothers or sisters depart silently do not draw attention to them. If you have not been given a special task, then your only duty is to fight. We leave in five minutes, be ready.” Vaze nodded to them as he finished speaking and moved away from his group to confer with the other strike leaders.

  “I would be one of those ‘leaving silently’ individuals, so please ignore me once we arrive in the city,” Charm said with a smile to both of them.

  Shade nodded quickly. his eyes on Vaze’s retreating back. “I guessed that. He is gone now, so answer my question. Who killed them off?” he asked quickly and motioned for Charm to speak.

  Charm snorted in amusement and shook his head. “Such a child,” he said in amusement as he studied Shade’s impatient expression. “The Stormlord finished them off.”

  “Arovan? But they never attack anyone,” Shade objected. thinking Charm was joking.

  Charm shook his head again and laughed softly. “Never taunt a Firym, never anger a Delvay, never cheat an Avanti, and never underestimate an Arovan,” he said in a tone that suggested he was repeating a well-worn mantra.

  “What’s the one for Morcaillo?” Shade asked curiously.

  “Never taunt, anger, cheat, or underestimate a Morcaillo,” Charm replied, with a smirk, earning a frown from Shade.

  “I believe the coined one is ‘Never trust a Morcaillo’,” Lex corrected quietly. “I judge by the individual, however,” he added with a smile to Shade.

  “All of the houses have one of those?” Shade asked, amazed that he had never heard them before.

  “It’s a Fionaveir thing, and yes they all have them. You will hear them all before long I’m sure,” Lex said and then stood from the wall as Vaze returned. “Should be a damn good fight. I’ll finally get to see your sword skill at something other than sparring,” he said with a grin and clapped Shade on the shoulder.

  “Should be,” Shade agreed quietly, wishing he had the enthusiasm for the coming fight that Lex was showing. Unlike everyone else here, he knew their enemies too well. For his entire childhood he had dined with them, played with their children, and then dealt with them as a Lord himself when he ruled the Morcaillo district of the city. The battle lines had been drawn evenly between the houses with the exception of Delvay and Seravae who were yet to commit fully to either faction. With the way everything was split, Shade was on the opposite side of everyone he knew.

  “We go now!” Vaze called loudly and magic washed over Shade as the translocation spell took effect. The courtyard faded to darkness to be replaced with the whistling of arrows and screams of his comrades.

  Still reeling from the magic, it took Shade a long moment to realize what was going on. A hand shoved him roughly to the side and he stared in surprise at Lex who was deflecting arrows with his sword. “Fight, Shade, they were waiting for us!” Lex yelled.

  Shade blinked once in response and quickly drew his swords. It took him a moment to get his bearings. They were south of the market near the Greenwild gate. Archers lined the walls and rooftops on three sides and a battalion of Justicars filled the street beyond. Two of the roads had been barricaded hastily with wagons, forming a neat box to trap them.

  “Fight!” Vaze bellowed to those still too stunned to move. Darkness welled around the commander’s head, forming a helm that solidified like his armor. He drew his blades from his hips and charged toward the waiting Justicars. As he ran the shadows around him blurred again forming twin echoes of his body. Shade watched in fascination as shadowy arms drew the swords from his back. It was like looking at three of the same man standing in the same spot. At times there seemed to be just one body and then Vaze would move quickly to strike and the mirror images of himself would twist in a different directions. Six swords danced from the same body and the Justicars reeled back from the assault.

  “Shade! Fight!” Lex yelled again and Shade shook his head quickly, embarrassed by his own lack of action. Arrows still rained down on them with deadly precision and it seemed as though the majority of the Fionaveir were centering on the wall of armored enemies.

  Putting his swords away quickly Shade stepped back against a wall and called on his changeling abilities. It was clear where he would be the most use to his comrades. He searched the nearby walls for a quick way to his enemies as his body shifted over to that of a Blight. With the Blight camouflage up he climbed quickly and closed on the first archer. It wasn’t an honorable way to kill, but then neither was shooting them like fish in a barrel.

  An explosion sounded as he reached the top of the wall and a wave of fire rose high above the city
near the Academy. Not just us that was ambushed then, Shade reasoned as he recognized the work of a Firym. That was pure fire that had risen, not Hellfire such as the Rivasan used. Likely it had been Havoc removing the archers from his area in a less subtle fashion.

  Turning back to the Archers before him Shade drew a dagger from his belt. As he drew the blade across the man’s throat, Hemlock’s offer to train him rang in his mind. This wasn’t Assassin’s work he told himself firmly. This was necessary no matter how wrong it felt. There were Fionaveir dying below from the arrows these men were shooting, and more would die if he tried killing them honorably with swords.

  He moved to the next Archer quickly before they had a chance to realize someone was killing them off. The man glanced over his shoulder as Shade approached and with a moment of disgust he realized he knew the man. He was from house Avanti and Shade had drunk with him a time or two. Swallowing his growing revulsion Shade drew the dagger quickly across the man’s throat before he could call out.

  Another explosion split the night as the gate of the Merro district exploded, sending shards of rock and dust high into the air. Shade paused in his grisly work long enough to watch riders emerge from the cloud, running hard for the center of the city. The dark wine colored hair of the lead rider was unmistakable and Shade had to fight back the urge to call out to Jala as she rode past.

  “Fight on, push them now!” Vaze bellowed as the battle below him thickened. The Fionaveir were hard pressed and out-numbered and couldn’t afford any distractions. Pushing thoughts of Jala away, Shade turned his attentions back to his own work. With luck, he would get a chance to speak with her after the city was won.

  A scream sounded below and Shade glanced down long enough to see yet another Fionaveir fall to a Justicars blade. If they won, he amended and prayed that Lex was still among the fighters rather than one of the corpses. He didn’t have many friends left and the thought of losing another made his task a little more bearable.