Sisera's Gift 2: Sacred Blood

by Robyn Wideman

  The man walked towards Isabella, arm still raised. He bent down so his face was just inches from hers.

  “Hello, filthblood.”

  He laughed.

  48

  Kai sat alone in a bedroom of the farmhouse, watching the light from the lone candle dance along the whitewashed wall. He could hear a commotion outside of the room but he knew it was his people making preparations for their early morning assault on the Tower. He sat and contemplated their battle plan.

  “It is so foolish,” he said to himself, shaking his head. They were putting too much reliance on the dragons and the two girls but what other choice did they have. They had been sitting, waiting for something to happen for way too long. “If only they hadn’t captured Camdyn. We could just go somewhere else and start again.”

  A faint knock came at the door before it started to slowly creak open and Jaime’s head poked in.

  “Come in,” Kai said.

  “How are you feeling?” Jaime asked as he sat on the end of the bed.

  “My body is still run down but my mind is beginning to clear up. I convinced Rosalie and Adina to let me have some more of that potion so I will be just fine today.”

  “I still think that you should sit this one out but I know what you are going to say so I won’t press the issue.” Jaime sighed. “You know what that stuff actually is, don’t you?”

  “Yeah but I don’t care. I need it to get through this,” Kai said, leaning his head back against the wall.

  “All right then, if you say so,” Jaime said, shaking his head. “The men have mustered and we are ready to go on your command.”

  “How many?”

  “About five hundred, give or take. There are others still arriving every hour.”

  “Good. Hopefully, that will be enough,” Kai said. He thought for a moment, then continued. “You will take my place in the vanguard. I will lead the main army.”

  Jaime turned to look at his friend, to be sure it was not a jest. “I’m happy to hear that,” he said with a nod. “I will gladly trade places with you.”

  “You understand that it will be very dangerous but it is of vital importance that we get that gate open. I wouldn’t ask but I am a little worried that I may become a liability and let the men down. I should be where I will cause the least amount of harm to my own people.

  Jaime gave a grim smile and nodded.

  “Get everyone up. We leave in twenty,” Kai said.

  Jaime immediately stood up and gave a sharp salute. “We’ll be waiting for you in the field,” he said and left the room.

  Kai got up and stretched. He felt the blood rush to his head, and he began to feel dizzy. He reached out a hand to steady himself but misjudged the bed post and went crashing down to the floor.

  “Are you okay?” Rosalie asked, bursting into the room. She rushed to him and helped him get off the floor.

  “I’m fine,” said Kai, rubbing his head. “I just stood up too fast.”

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked, handing him a cup of water.

  Kai took a long sip of the cool liquid and nodded. “I will be fine,” he said.

  “Well, you had better come back to me, do you understand?” she said, giving him a peck on the cheek.

  Kai looked deeply into her eyes and smiled. “Nothing on this earth could keep me from returning to you,” he whispered, before kissing her on the mouth.

  “We don’t have time for that,” Amelia said with a laugh, her head appearing around the corner. “Sir Hamza would like me to inform you that the Knights of the Tower are ready for your command.”

  “Thank you,” Kai said, taking another sip from the cup. “That’s his polite way of saying ‘hurry up,’ I guess.”

  “You better go,” Rosalie said, her eyes meeting Kai’s. She placed her hand on his cheek and kissed him again. “Come back to me, Kai Woods.”

  Kai smiled and turned leave the farmhouse, picking up his bow, quiver, and sword on the way out. He went out the front door and was greeted by Amelia and Adina.

  “Good luck.” Amelia gave Kai a close embrace, which he returned.

  “Godspeed, Kai,” Amelia said with a nod. “I will be with the rear guard, should you need repair.”

  “Thank you both,” Kai said and turned to look out over the field, which was filled with soldiers lined up according to rank and file. He walked forward and stood next to Jaime and Hamza, greeting each man with a nod.

  “Thank you all for coming,” he said so that even the last man in the file could hear him. “You all took a sacred oath when you joined the Daxrah but those are only words. Our lives over the last months have been difficult. To be honest, I wouldn’t blame you if you did not return when the call was sent out. But to see all your faces here, ready to defend that which we all deem valuable, makes me proud to be your leader.

  “We don’t know what we will find when we get there. We don’t know if there is anyone even there. We don’t know if we have the strength to defeat them if they are.

  “What we do know, though, is that we were ejected from our home when we needed to be there most. We cannot let this stand. We must arise and take it back.”

  The men simultaneously let out a sharp cheer, raising one arm into the air.

  “Your squad leaders have their orders. Vanguard leaves immediately.” Kai stood in front of his men and saluted. “Godspeed, men.”

  As soon as they had returned the salute, all hell broke loose as the men regrouped themselves into their various squads and positions.

  Kai looked to Jaime. “Good luck, old friend. I will look for your back on the battlefield.”

  “As I will yours.” Jaime threw his arms around Kai and the two men shared a tight embrace. When they released, Jaime turned and disappeared into the night.

  Kai turned to Hamza. “Good luck,” Kai said as he extended his arm.

  “Why would you let that fool lead the vanguard?” Hamza had an intense look on his face.

  “I know that you and Jaime don’t get along, but I would trust no other man to take my place,” Kai said reassuringly. “I figured you would enjoy my company a lot more anyway.”

  “I would have preferred to take your place in the vanguard.”

  “I know but you must understand that for this particular mission the van is more of a scouting force, and the Knights are not really known for their stealth abilities,” Kai said. “The Daxrah are more suited in this case.”

  Hamza grunted, standing down. “We’re ready when you are.” He said, turning to join his men.

  Kai took a small vial from the pouch on his belt and pulled out the small cork. He tipped the contents of the vial into his mouth and swallowed. Soon he could feel the rejuvenating sensation travel through his body.

  Soon after the vanguard left, Kai commanded the main force to assemble and move out. They were traveling on foot through the night, so the going would be slow but they needed to maintain the element of surprise.

  It took a couple of hours to travel around the foothills but it was much easier going in the dark. When they reached the edge of the tree line, Kai ordered the men to stop. He went ahead himself, looking for the predetermined signal from Jaime, signifying that the gates were open.

  He waited for some time but the signal never came so he made his way up to get a closer view of the fortress. The gates were still closed.

  “What happened to them?” he thought. He began to worry as the sky was beginning to brighten. “We are losing our advantage and without the gate open we are lost.”

  Despair was beginning to set in when suddenly the gate opened. Kai immediately ran back to the main force and ordered a silent charge. The best thing tactic he could come up with was sneaking in as close as possible, then storming the gates before they closed. “It’s not pretty, but hopefully it will work,” he thought.

  The gate was still open when he returned to his previous hiding spot to scope out the situation one last time before they charged in. Eve
rything looked quiet, so he gave the signal and the entire force ran forward towards the open gate.

  They rushed through to find the yard completely empty.

  “There is something very wrong about all this,” Kai said as he lowered his drawn bow. He looked around the wide yard but everything was completely still except for behind him where the Knights of the Tower and the Daxrah were filing into the yard.

  “You could not be more correct,” a pompous voice spoke from thin air.

  Suddenly the massive gate slammed shut which made the entire force turn towards it. When they turned around again, they were completely surrounded by Brothers of the Sacred Blood, bows and crossbows raised.

  “What in the hells?” Kai shouted, completely taken by surprise. “Impossible.”

  “Fire,” the voice shouted and volleys came flying down on the army.

  “Run,” Kai shouted as he ran, ducking for cover. He scanned the yard and found that it had changed greatly in an instant. On the far end, there sat three great machines, each had the look of a ballista, but somehow different. There were also great heaps of random stuff piled all over the yard.

  “They must have some powerful magic,” Kai thought to himself as he found shelter behind the granary. He watched in horror as his men fell by the dozens to the arrows of the Brothers.

  He frantically scanned the yard for an idea when Caritha appeared in the sky above the yard. “Thank the gods,” Kai said, preparing to rush from his cover to attack alongside the dragons.

  Suddenly, there was a great noise from one of the machines and a massive net flew into the air, completely enveloping the massive beast, slamming her into the ground, unable to move. Kai watched as Shayla was struck by the device that deployed the netting and thrown to the side. She hit the ground, unconscious it seemed, fifty yards from where Kai was crouched and slid into a pile of fallen Daxrah.

  Kai jumped forward and ran to her. He scooped her up from the pile of fresh corpses and turned back to find cover again when something caught his eye.

  “Jaime.” His friend's name crossed his lips as a whisper. There in the bloody mud was his oldest companion in the world. He fought back tears and the urge to drop the unconscious girl. He gritted his teeth and ran back to the shelter of the granary.

  “You will not have died in vain, old friend.” Kai vowed vengeance as he laid the dragonblood girl on the hard dirt ground.

  Shayla opened her eyes slowly. “Cari,” she whispered, her eyes fluttering shut again.

  “Shayla. Can you hear me?” Kai looked into her eyes. “Shayla. Come back to me.”

  The girl slowly opened her eyes again. “Kai?” she said.

  “Yes. It’s me. Are you okay?”

  “I’m not sure. Where is Caritha?” she asked, suddenly alert, she attempted to sit up and look around but found that she was unable.

  “Give it a minute and take it slow, okay? I don’t know what is happening but we are getting slaughtered here,” Kai said, grimly.

  Shayla slowly pushed herself onto one elbow and looked around. She shook her head and, with Kai’s help, sat up.

  “I can recover quickly,” she said with a nod of thanks. “Where did all of this come from? Isabella and I just flew over with the dragons and none of this was here.”

  “Same for us. When we entered the gates the yard was empty. Suddenly, someone spoke and everything changed. I suspect powerful magic.”

  Shayla nodded. “We need to help them,” she said, struggling to get to her feet.

  “Here. Try one of these,” Kai said, handing Shayla a small vial of purple liquid. She took the small, glass vial and looked at it while Kai opened another and emptied the contents into his mouth.

  Shayla opened the vial and drank it down. Instantly, she drew herself up to full height.

  “This is amazing,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  Kai tried to keep up with the girl but she ran ahead, throwing flames toward the archers in the windows of the tower. Kai stopped and watched with amazement as the dragonblood sped around the yard, leaving a trail of death in her wake. He drew his bow and picked off random archers when they popped up in the windows.

  Suddenly, balls of fire began to strike the Tower out of thin air. Then, a massive stream of flame lit the bathed the wall and setting the tower on fire.

  “Flame that can ignite stone?” Kai thought in amazement. “It can only be dragon fire.”

  He scanned the skies but saw nothing.

  The barrage ended shortly after it began but then resumed just minutes later. “They are making another pass,” Kai thought as he turned his attention to a large group of Brothers that was beginning to surround what remained of the Daxrah.

  A massive electrical explosion at the top of the tower caused an earthquake-like tremor to shake the earth. Kai looked up in time to see Tyrath fighting with someone on the veranda. He watched as a dark figure leaped from the balcony and landed on the back of the bronze-yellow. The dragon twisted in the air when it began to fall straight down, slamming hard into last group of fighting men.

  Shayla came running towards him. “The rest are trying to escape into the Tower,” she said. She pointed into the sky. “Look, there’s Sisera. Isabella must be close. Let’s go.”

  Kai followed the bonded girl as she ran into the reception hall of the Tower when he heard another of the machines. He looked out to see Sisera being dragged from the sky by a large net.

  He turned to call to Shayla when, instead, standing in front of him was a huge, hooded man. Behind the man, at the other end of the hall, Kai could see that Shayla had confronted another of the Brothers.

  “Garron save you,” the huge man said, raising a large battle ax.

  Kai recognized the man’s voice. “Who are you? Show yourself to me,” he said.

  The Brother pulled back his hood and sneered.

  “Jaers?” Kai was dumbfounded.

  The Brother lunged forward, swinging the massive weapon. Kai jumped back to avoid the strike and drew his own sword. Jaers spun around to make another attack but this time Kai used his blade to deflect the blow and kicked the big man in the side of the knee. Jaers tried to quickly recover but Kai was already in motion to capitalize on the moment of weakness. Kai dove forward, driving his blade into the big man’s chest, through his armor.

  “Fool,” Jaers shouted, attempting to grab Kai by the neck. Kai gritted his teeth and twisted the blade. The big man gasped and fell to the ground, his life force spilling onto the floor.

  Kai fell to a knee as he was trying to catch his breath. He looked up to see the Brother that was engaged with Shayla about to drop a stone pillar on the dragonblood. Kai jumped up and ran towards them, throwing his sword overhand at the Brother, striking the man in the arm. He dropped the pillar which missed Shayla’s head but instead landed fully on her left arm, her screams filling the hall.

  The Brother turned to face Kai. “Ah, you’ve bested Jaers. Unfortunate. I had great plans for him,” he said, clenching his fists.

  Kai recognized the voice from before the gate closed.

  “It was him,” he thought, raising his sword. The Brother just sneered and raised his fists in a martial fighting stance.

  Kai ran toward the Brother, poised for a side-swipe attack. At the last minute, he drew the blade up to make a lunging forward thrust attack but the Brother, who was surprisingly quick for a man his size, anticipated the change and spun himself sideways. As he turned, the Brother smashed his fists down on the top of Kai’s forearms, causing Kai to loosen his grip on the sword. A raised knee striking immediately afterward was enough to completely dislodge the blade from Kai’s hands. The sword skidded into a corner while Kai stumbled in the opposite direction, falling over the pillar that still lay on Shayla’s arm.

  “Help me get it off,” she said as Kai recovered from the fall.

  Kai glanced up to see Omar going to recover the sword, so he jumped to his feet and lifted the pillar, which was much heavier than the Brother
had made it look. He lifted the pillar just enough for Shayla to pull her crushed arm from underneath when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar glint.

  Kai immediately dropped down, just narrowly missing the edge of his own sword. He kicked out his leg, attempting to disrupt this Brother as he had the last one. The Brother was not so easily fooled and turned his leg to absorb the blow, then quickly turned and landed a hard kick to Kai’s genitals.

  The intense pain caused Kai to double over and fall to the ground. The Brother jumped at the chance and began to kick Kai as hard as he could, landing more than one head shot. Kai had flashbacks to the beating he had received from Raven.

  When the blows suddenly stopped, Kai looked up and found Shayla holding a sword that was buried deep into the Brother’s chest. When she pulled the blade out, the Brother began to laugh.

  “You don’t dare kill me, girl.” He laughed, blood beginning to pool in his mouth. “You owe me for releasing you from a life of servitude and boredom.”

  “I loved him.” Shayla gritted her teeth. “And you took him from me. For that I owe you.”

  She grabbed the Brother’s hood and, using the sword, cut it from the robe, taking the man’s head as well. His limp body fell to the ground while the rest of the blood poured from his decapitated head.

  Kai was not sure how to feel about what he had just witnessed but he was in no position to judge.

  “Thank you.” His words were mumbled. He could tell his jaw was probably broken, along with many other parts of his anatomy.

  “His brother tortured me for two weeks. He killed my father and he killed my betrothed,” Shayla said as she stared into the eyes of the dead man’s head. “I thought that I would feel more satisfied right now.”

  Kai nodded, thinking about Prince Erik. “I understand how important revenge is,” he said.

  “Caritha,” Shayla said suddenly and ran towards the tall double doors of the entrance, holding her broken arm so it would not flop around.