Just behind Thaddis, the next pair of soldiers paused. One carried the pole with the gristly head, shrunken to skin over a hollow skull. An urge to protect Daria made him grab the rock in from of him. He couldn’t give in to the impulse to run out to wrest the pole from the man, thus saving Daria from having to see the reality of her father’s fate.
Khan looked back at Thaddis, but the picture of Iceros stayed with him, and a watching sensation shivered around his othersense. Perhaps the spirit of Daria’s father rode with them. He didn’t know if, in this world, spirits had special powers. It wouldn’t hurt to ask. Khan sent Iceros a little prayer for help, but didn’t stop his scrutiny of the enemy.
Khan studied Thaddis, looking for any sign of weakness. Only an idiot would wear black in the desert. He hoped the sun’s heat had sapped some of the man’s strength and made him a little dizzy. That would give them an edge. They needed every advantage they could get.
Thaddis glanced at Khan’s hiding place and narrowed his amber-colored eyes.
For a panicky few seconds, Khan thought Thaddis might have the same intuitive powers as Daria and be able to sense him. His mouth dried, and sweat prickled his skin. Moisture trickled down his back. He didn’t even have his weapons except for his knives. Keeping his body still, he slid his hand toward the knife tucked in his boot.
But then Thaddis turned his head. “Remember—” he pinned each of his soldier with a glance that could bore through metal “—I want her alive. Battered and bruised is acceptable. Major wounds are not.”
The men nodded.
Thaddis waved his black-gloved hand in a choppy forward motion.
They moved ahead, giving Khan another chance to study them. All the soldiers had swords dangling in scabbards from belts at their waist. In addition, two carried bows and arrows. I’ll have to pick those off first.
One of the soldiers causally glanced his way, and Khan held his breath. When the last man passed the gate, he released it with a hiss. He snuck out of the hiding place and peered around the wall, waiting until the last of the cavalcade passed the first corner.
Leaping out of his cubbyhole, he dragged up the gate and wrestled it into place. He twisted the locking mechanism until it snapped closed. Earlier on, that lock had taken him several days to figure out—an interesting puzzle to play with during some of his first lonely nights. Not something one could figure out in a few minutes. Thaddis and his men would not be able to backtrack without tearing down the barriers. And that would make them easy targets.
First part of the plan executed—they’d trapped Thaddis.
~ ~ ~
Wait, Daria told herself. Let him get into position. Leaning her body against the outcropping of stone that partly shielded her, she steadied herself, drawing back the bowstring and sighting toward Thaddis’s black-clad chest.
Now.
Straight and true the arrow flew toward the target. Then, as if hitting an invisible wall, it bounced back and landed harmlessly at the feet of the golden horse, who trod the feathered shaft into the dust.
A shout went up.
The medallion must be protecting him!
Daria sucked in her breath, drawing a second arrow and sending it toward the man carrying her father’s head on the pole. This one found its mark, stabbing deep into the man’s chest. He dropped the pole, clasping his hand to the arrow, before collapsing in the saddle.
One man pointed to her. For his trouble, he became her target, the shaft penetrating his armpit.
That was two. Nine more. She yanked another arrow from her quiver, refusing to give in to the whisper in her brain.
What are we going to do about Thaddis?
~ ~ ~
Khan sprinted around the barrier, past the piled stone and brick of his hiding place, toward his designated attacking position high on the bastion of their trap.
Several shouts and the neighing of horses broke the stillness.
Khan’s heart leapt into his throat, and he scrambled up the surface of the crumbled brick embankment, his feet and hands seeking the holds he’d memorized earlier. Hauling himself up to the platform, he looked over the edge, taking in the situation at one glance.
Thaddis is alive.
Disappointment stabbed through him. The initial plan had already failed.
The leader astride his golden horse circled the soldiers, directing them with arm signals and yelled commands.
Two men sprawled on the ground, feathered shafts through their chests. Their mounts milled about in confusion.
One gray horse lay still; an unseated rider tried to capture one of the loose horses, but it bolted.
Thaddis shouted to the man on foot to storm the barricade after Daria.
Bomb time.
Khan reached for the weapon, hefting it in his right hand. The sun glinted purple and green highlights off the metal. With his other hand, he turned the knob one-quarter revolution.
The specter of the firewave roared before his eyes.
He blinked to clear his vision, cocking back his arm.
The twisting detonation cloud curled about his arm, halting him midthrow.
The insidious wrongness of using the bomb, which had hovered for three days around the edge of his othersense, gathered momentum, and then exploded inside his chest.
No.
He fisted his hand around the explosive, dropping his elbow.
Quickly, Khan twisted the knob back to the original position and, stooping, let it roll off his palm. But instead of landing in the soft sand of the designated resting place, the weapon took an extra bounce and rolled off the rim of the ledge.
Khan cursed and dived for the bomb, but missed. As he watched the metal sphere bump and skip down the wall, his gut clenched, half expecting the explosive to detonate. With a final roll, it settled near a lumpy rock, teetering at the base of the fortification.
Shaken, Khan grabbed his bow and an arrow from the quiver.
On the street below, the soldier closest to Khan raised his bow and drew back the arrow, preparing to shoot up toward Daria.
Khan sent his first shot deep into the man’s back. Slowly, the dead man slid sideways off his horse. Intent on harrying Daria, none of the others noticed his loss.
I’ve just killed a man. Khan refused to acknowledge the sickness churning his stomach. This was battle. Later, if they survived, there’d be time for remorse.
Another of Daria’s arrows hit home. A man screamed.
Aim for Thaddis. If he’s out, the men will probably give up the fight.
Heart pounding, Khan knew this was the most important shot of his life. He wouldn’t have a second chance to catch the man off guard. Steadying himself with a deep breath, he targeted Thaddis and let fly.
Not waiting, Khan followed with another arrow. Both ricocheted off an invisible barrier several feet away from the leader.
He must have some kind of force field around him.
Thaddis jerked around and spotted Khan. He pointed at the soldier nearest him and waved him toward Khan.
The man urged his horse forward, until Khan’s arrow caught him in the shoulder. The wounded man cursed, clamping a hand to the shaft and slumping forward.
Daria’s arrow impaled another soldier in the leg, penetrating through the limb to wound the horse. His mount reared, tossing the man to the ground. He tried to yank out the shaft, his efforts becoming feebler as the poison took effect.
Six down. But not the real enemy.
The wounded gray horse tossed its head, melted into a kneeling position, then toppled over.
An annoyed look crossed Thaddis’s face; he narrowed his amber-colored eyes and studied the dead horse. Then he grasped the medallion hanging around his neck, turning to stare at Daria.
Foreboding feathered across Khan’s othersense. Whatever Thaddis was doing did not bode well for his beloved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
As she reached for another arrow, an invisible force seized Daria, paralyzing her limbs. Her mi
nd cried out, but her jaw clamped shut against the words. Fear rushed through her veins. Only her eyes could move, and she stared down, trying to understand what had happened to her body.
Below her, Thaddis cupped his hand around his medallion, his tawny gaze locking with hers, his features tightening into the face of a predator. He ignored the chaos of the dead and wounded men and animals around him, sitting on his golden horse as if he and Daria were all alone together. Without glancing away, he raised his other hand, waving a command for the soldiers to center their attention on Khan.
Daria’s heart thumped in her chest, the beat a fierce contrast to the stiffness of her muscles. Her othersense shuddered away from the evil of Thaddis’s emotions.
He toyed with her, delighting in her helplessness. Then a visual flash accompanied his feelings, showing how he’d sexually torture her naked body.
Daria wanted to writhe away from the filth of his thoughts. But her imprisoned form wouldn’t allow movement.
Khan, her mind screamed. Khan, help me!
From his direction, an arrow thudded home into the seventh man’s chest. The soldier screamed, falling backward out of the saddle. His booted foot caught in the stirrup, and his horse bolted, dragging the corpse behind, leaving a bloody path in the sand of the street.
Without releasing the pendant, Thaddis held up the necklace so Khan could see his hold on the medallion.
The movement made Daria rise to her tiptoes, the rest of her body still frozen into her original position.
The cruel smirk Thaddis sent in Khan’s direction betrayed his intentions. “I have the princess in my power,” he called, pulling the medallion a bit.
Daria jerked forward, leaning at a precarious angle over the barricade.
“Cease at once, or I’ll force her over the edge.” Thaddis bared his teeth in a feral grin. “The fall probably won’t kill her, unless of course she breaks her lovely little neck, but a few broken limbs will make her more docile.” He moved the pendant another inch, and Daria’s body followed.
Daria? What’s happening? Khan’s frantic question jangled along her othersense.
She sent back the sensation of her paralysis. Use the weapon, she urged him. I’d rather die than let him take me like this. She hoped he caught her meaning, even if he couldn’t pick up on her actual words.
A vision blinked in her othersense of the sphere resting against a rock at the foot of the wall, completely out of reach, even if Khan had been willing to allow her to die with Thaddis and his remaining men.
I’ll have to surrender.
Fear clutched her heart in a grip of iron. No.
Yes. Slowly, Khan raised an arm, holding the bow over his head.
Thaddis jerked his head toward the ground underneath Khan’s perch. “Throw it down here,” he ordered.
Daria could feel Khan’s inner turmoil and helpless rage. But he complied with Thaddis’s order, leaning over the balustrade and releasing the bow. It jarred against the sand below, bouncing once, then falling into the dust.
Thaddis nodded. “That’s more like it.” He turned back to Daria. “Now, my pretty princess, I suggest you throw your weapons over the side and climb down from there.” He pressed the pendant with his thumb.
Daria’s frozen limbs melted, but instead of being free, her body responded to Thaddis’s suggestion. She slid her sword from the scabbard and tossed it down. Her quiver of arrows and her bow followed. She swung one leg over the low broken stone screening her perch, automatically finding hand and toe holds as she inched her way down.
Although her arms and legs reacted with strict obedience, her mind screamed and raged. Her othersense pounded at the control surrounding her, but she couldn’t shake Thaddis’s possession.
Yadarius!
The call squeezed out from her heart in a reflex entrenched from years of turning to Him. Then she remembered the SeaGod’s betrayal and hardened her heart against any other fearful appeals to traitorous Deities.
When she reached the bottom of the wall, Thaddis forced her to turn and face him. The three remaining soldiers moved to surround her in a loose circle, their swords drawn. Behind them, she could see Khan swing his leg over his balcony, beginning the climb to the street.
Daria looked away lest she reveal what Khan was up to. Stop. She put all the force of her love into that command to him.
No. The word came through clearer than she’d ever experienced the othersense sending before.
He’ll kill you.
I’d rather die trying to stop him than live with the guilt of letting you be taken.
Desperate, Daria bored her gaze into Thaddis, willing him to see in her eyes the defiance she couldn’t show with her body, nor say with words. Anything to keep his attention on her, instead of Khan.
Thaddis widened his smile. A gust of wind fluttered his auburn hair. “I will have the pleasure of taming you, my dear.”
She wanted to spit words into his face, but had to settle for narrowing her eyes.
Thaddis threw up his head and laughed. He gestured to the shrunken head of Iceros. “Say hello to your father, Daria.”
Daria refused to break eye contact, increasing her inner struggle to sever the invisible bonds holding her. If only there was another way to attack him.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Khan jump the last few feet to land quietly on the street. Dust puffed around his boots. Creeping a few feet closer, he pulled both knives out of his boots. With a flick of a wrist, he snapped the first one, then the other into the two men nearest him.
The blades struck home. Without a sound, both men staggered to their knees, then crumpled onto the sand.
Khan pulled his curved knife from his belt, preparing to attack the final soldier.
Daria’s heart leaped into her throat. The short blade wouldn’t be much help against a sword in the hands of a trained warrior, but it was all he had.
A snarl crossed the remaining soldier’s broken-nosed visage. He advanced toward Khan, sword held in front of him. With a growl, he thrust it forward.
Shad darted down, swooping for the man’s eyes, missed, but left a bloody trail of clawmarks across his cheeks. He cursed.
Khan bounded sideways and jumped again, landing in the vicinity of the golden horse. Turning his wrist, he slashed out with the unpoisoned side of his blade, slicing the horse across the rump.
The animal neighed and reared up. With a curse, Thaddis released the medallion to grab the slackened reins.
For a moment, Daria was free. Running over to the body nearest Khan and his opponent, she stooped and grabbed the sword from the corpse. Still in a crouch, she spun into the beginning pass of the delt-tay, swiping low with the sword, hamstringing the calf of the enemy.
The man’s leg collapsed, slowing, but not stopping, him. Dragging his useless leg, he hitched around and hobbled toward Daria.
She raised her sword, preparing to swing, only to have her arm freeze.
Thaddis had dismounted. He strode forward, holding the pendant in front of him. An animal look of anger narrowed his tawny eyes. He bared his teeth in a lupine grimace.
A groan of despair hummed inside Daria’s clenched jaw.
The guard shuffled within killing distance, his gray eyes squinting, mouth drawn into a snarl.
Thaddis stepped in front of her. He held up one hand in a stopping motion. “On pain of death, don’t harm her.” He pointed at Khan. “Kill the man, you fool.”
With all her might, Daria struggled to wield the sword and sever Thaddis’s head from his shoulders, but not even her little finger would move.
The soldier pivoted to follow Khan, who circled around toward Thaddis.
Thaddis raised his sword, holding the blade against Daria’s throat. “I suggest you back away,” he growled, pressing the metal edge into her skin.
Stinging pain banded around her throat, and she could feel blood trickling down her neck.
“Don’t hurt her.” Khan stepped away, raising both arms.
But he didn’t drop his weapon. The soldier shuffled between Khan and his master.
Thaddis turned, surveying Daria. Cocking his head, he assumed a mock artistic air. “I think I’ll add a second cut. Two should make an interesting scar.” He lowered the blade an inch before drawing the edge against the side of her neck.
Her jaw remained locked shut against her moan of pain.
“There.” He whipped his head around to face Khan. “Beautiful, don’t you think? I’d so hate to make them deeper.” His tone grew harsh. “Now drop your blade.”
“I’ll surrender.”
No, Khan. Daria cried out in silent anguish. Utterly helpless, she remembered her vow to throw herself on her sword before allowing herself to be taken by Thaddis. All she needed to do was move deeper against his blade. A few inches…. She strained to push herself forward until beads of sweat popped out on her forehead.
A pulling sensation drew Daria’s gaze over to the grisly head of her father. The head lay sideways, one empty eye socket peering at her.
Daria. Her name shivered across her othersense, sounding like the voice of Iceros.
Father?
A burst of love answered her. For a second, her father’s features imposed themselves over the shrunken skull. Daughter, use your othersense against the medallion.
Horror laced with hope coursed through her stiff body. My father…here with me? She hardly dared believe.
She focused on Thaddis’s pendant, remembering the threads of her hair fastened to the dark background. If she could somehow dissolve the strands, the medallion might lose its power over her. Gathering her energy, she fired it like an arrow toward Thaddis’s hand.
In her mind’s eye, her power left a silvery wake as it speared through the air to land with a tiny fireburst against the medallion.
Nothing happened.
Still baiting Khan, Thaddis didn’t notice her attack.
She increased her force, willing the hair to burn away. The medallion remained unaffected.
Sower of Dreams (The Gods' Dream Trilogy) Page 27
