He had been left to guide them, his words reaching them over the din of clashing sword, the rush of sound. It was almost too much; his hand gripped the standard pole for balance, and the Black Osprey fluttered against his forehead.
Three men fell; he could clearly count the Tyran that approached. They, too, were injured; their armor was rent, their swords notched and bloody. They hardly seemed like men at all.
But neither had the Ospreys, in their early evening flights. Fire flared at their eye level, glinting off helms as they fell back. One more, he thought grimly. Just one, and he would be finished.
But it didn’t come.
Instead, seeping through the encroaching ranks of the Callestan Tyran, came surcoats and colors he recognized. Men, he thought. And a woman.
Although she was yards away, a hundred yards, maybe, he could see her face. She was not a mage; she wore a helm. But her skin was pale, and her movements certain; her eyes were blue and clear. She was a commander; it was almost impossible that she could be here, at the forefront of her House Guards, face bleeding where Annies, had tried to slow her down.
But she kept coming, and as she did, he heard the Ospreys raise voice, saw them find a strength that had almost abandoned them. They called out her name, as if it were a battle cry and not a prayer.
She had come for them; they were hers.
And Duarte AKalakar surrendered them with a tired grace.
* * *
Two thirds of the Ospreys were dead when the Callestans called their retreat. Scattered among them, dying, were Kalakar House Guards. Cook, bent among them, treated them all as if they were his. He looked once to see the standard, and he offered it the grim salute of a nod, no more.
The commander of the third army made her way to Duarte AKalakar, and only when she reached him did she doff helm. Her face was a mess. It would heal, and given her medics and her resources, it would heal well—but he memorized the new wounds that cut across familiar silver scars; these had been taken, and given, for the Ospreys.
She said, “You didn’t think I’d come.”
It was a gentle accusation. As gentle an accusation as she was capable of making.
He bowed head. She raised it, bending to lift his chin. “AKalakar,” she said. It was the title of all men—and women—present. “Take your standard. Take the men who can walk beside it. The third army is waiting for us.” She grimaced. “And probably not with a lot of patience.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “I would have spared you this,” he said at last.
She said, “I know. But I’m Ellora AKalakar.” She lifted her head, and added, “If I’m not mistaken, that’s Decarus Alexis AKalakar, and she’s waiting for you.”
He turned, in pain, and pain was good.
Alexis caused more.
* * *
He stared at the Kalakar now. Helmless, in the dark, she might have been the same woman. The same woman under whom the remains of the Black Ospreys had served; the same woman who had taken them, broken, into the House Guards when war had at last come to its close. She had not left them to die within the valleys; she had not abandoned them before the military tribunal.
But in the darkness at the close of this second war, she surrendered at last to the inevitable. “You served me,” she told him.
Past tense. He heard it clearly; it was deliberate.
“Yes.”
“Who will you serve, now?”
“I don’t know.” He bowed to her. “But Alexis belonged in the South, Kalakar. This was her home, and I brought her back to it.”
“She changed.”
It hurt him. “So did the war.”
“Duarte—”
“I don’t want to leave here here,” he added. “Not alone. She was the heart of the Ospreys.”
“So were you.”
He shrugged. He had to take his leave of the Kalakar, and it was a parting that he had foreseen twelve years past. When it had failed to happen, he had sworn he would serve her forever.
So much for oaths.
“Alexis is waiting,” she told him gently.
He nodded.
“And the House Guard is waiting as well.”
And nodded again. “Let me carry her,” he said.
She hesitated for just a moment, and then she gestured. Verrus Korama came to stand by her side, as he often did. He carried something in his hands, and she took it from him, dismissing him as wordlessly as she had summoned him.
Turning to Duarte AKalakar, she gave him what she carried: The flag of the Black Ospreys.
THE END
Short Stories by Michelle West and Michelle Sagara
The first six stories released are connected to the Essalieyan Universe of the novels I write for DAW as Michelle West. Since those are my most asked-for short stories, those are the stories I wanted to make available first. The rest of the stories will be released in chronological order from the date of their first appearance, which are listed in brackets beside the titles, along with the anthology in which they first appeared. All of the stories have new introductions (which will probably come through in the samples if you’ve already read the stories but want to read those.)
In the Essalieyan universe:
1. Echoes (2001, Assassin Fantastic)
2. Huntbrother (2004, Sirius, the Dog Star)
3. The Black Ospreys (2005, Women of War)
4. The Weapon (2005, Shadow of Evil)
5. Warlord (1998, Battle Magic)
6. The Memory of Stone (2002, 30th Anniversary DAW Fantasy)
* * *
7. Birthnight (1992, Christmas Bestiary)
8. Gifted (1992, Aladdin, Master of the Lamp)
9. Shadow of a Change (1993, Dinosaur Fantastic)
10. For Love of God (1993, Alternate Warriors)
11. Hunger (1993, Christmas Ghosts)
12. Four Attempts at a Letter (1994, By Any Other Fame)
13. Winter (1994, Deals with the Devil)
14. What She Won’t Remember (1994, Alternate Outlaws)
15. The Hidden Grove (1995, Witch Fantastic)
16. Ghostwood (1995, Enchanted Forests)
17. When a Child Cries (1996, Phantoms of the Night)
18. The Sword in the Stone (1997, Alternate Tyrants)
19. Turn of the Card (1997, Tarot Fantastic)
20. The Law of Man (1997, Elf Fantastic)
21. Flight (1997, Return of the Dinosaurs)
22. The Vision of Men (1997, The Fortune Teller)
23. By the Work, One Knows (1997, Zodiac Fantastic)
24. Under the Skin (1997, Elf Magic)
25. The Dead that Sow (1997, Wizard Fantastic)
26. Kin (1998, Olympus)
27. Step on the Crack (1998, Black Cats and Broken Mirrors)
28. Diamonds (1998, Alien Pets)
29. Sunrise (1999, A Dangerous Magic)
30. Elegy (1999, Moon Shots)
31. Return of the King (1999, Merlin)
32. Work in Progress (1999, Alien Abductions)
33. Water Baby (1999, Earth, Air, Fire and Water)
34. Faces Made of Clay (2000, Mardi Gras Madness)
35. Sacrifice (2000, Spell Fantastic)
36. Shelter (2000, Perchance to Dream)
37. Pas de Deux (2000, Guardian Angels)
38. Déjà Vu (2001, Single White Vampire Seeks Same)
39. To Speak With Angels (2001, Villains Victorious)
40. Lady of the Lake (2001, Out of Avalon)
41. Truth (2001, The Mutant Files)
42. The Last Flight (2001, Creature Fantastic)
43. The Knight of the Hydan Athe (2002, Knight Fantastic)
44. Legacy (2002, Familiars)
45. The Nightingale (2002, Once Upon a Galaxy)
46. A Quiet Justice (2002, Vengeance Fantastic)
47. The Augustine Painters (2002, Apprentice Fantastic)
48. How to Kill an Immortal (2002, The Bakka Anthology)
49. Fat Girl (200
2, Oceans of the Mind VI, ezine)
50. Diary (2003, The Sorcerer’s Academy)
51. Dime Store Rings (2004, The Magic Shop)
52. To The Gods Their Due (2004, Conqueror Fantastic)
53. The Stolen Child (2004, Faerie Tales)
54. The Rose Garden (2004, Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City)
55. The Colors of Augustine (2004, Summoned to Destiny)
56. Unicorn Hunt (2005, Maiden, Mother Crone)
57. The Snow Queen* (2005, Magic Tails; with Debbie Ohi)
58. Shahira (2006, Children of Magic)
59. Choice* (1997, Sword of Ice: Friends of Valdemar)
60. Childhood’s End (1998, Tad William’s Mirror World)
61. Winter Death* (2003, The Sun in Glory: Friends of Valdemar)
*Set in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar, as the anthology titles suggest
For more information—or just to say hello!—I can be found online at:
Twitter: @msagara
Facebook: Michelle Sagara
My blog about my written works: Michelle West & Michelle Sagara
Black Ospreys Page 6
