Bastial Sentinels (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 5)

by Narro, B. T.

  Jek turned away.

  “Watch your footing!” Harold yelled back. He might as well have reminded them to breathe after someone had just choked.

  They slowed as they continued their descent. Peter still almost fell when an arrow bounced off the rocky wall just in front of his face. Jek collided into him. They grabbed each other as Jek was slammed into by the man behind him.

  They took a moment to find the source of the arrow. Below was a sea of green and black—frogs and skunks—as they met in a frenzied clash. But back toward the forest, thousands of skunks were still unopposed. Among these skunks were the archers shooting at them. Just when Jek found them, five more arrows shot from their bows. Still clutching each other, Jek and Peter fell flat to the ground.

  The man who’d bumped into Jek uttered a guttural cry. He bounced off the wall of stone, his feet slipped off the path, and he started to slide.

  From his knees, and with Peter on top of him, Jek reached out to grab something—an arm, a leg, any body part he could. He ended up with the tail of an arrow in his grasp, the other end of it lodged in the man’s chest. The man howled as his momentum didn’t quite stop him but turned him along the steep slope of the mountain. Jek wouldn’t let go. He wouldn’t watch another person fall to his death.

  But the moment Jek made this decision, the arrow tore loose from the man’s flesh. Jek reached out to grab his shirt, but the frog already had tumbled backward and begun to roll.

  Jek cursed and almost fell down the mountain in his mad—and ultimately unsuccessful—effort to save the man’s life. Peter pulled Jek back up, and they scampered backward until they both hit the jagged rocks behind them. Quickly, he and Peter scrambled to their feet. Their current path took them away from the edge, allowing them to pick up speed as more arrows pelted the mountainside.

  Jek had walked up and down the sharply turning paths every day, never once sprinting. And although he was running now, it seemed to take twice as long to get to the bottom.

  When they came close, and he saw the brawl that awaited, his eagerness immediately dissolved.

  Harold stopped them just before the last slope. “Shoot the skunks clustered in the back!”

  As the archers aimed, Jek told Harold, “The mages won’t be able to reach them.”

  “Then get in there and fight.” Harold slapped his back. “Mages, follow Jek into the battle!”

  Jek lurched forward and then stopped, waiting for his mind to catch up. It was screaming that there had to be a better option.

  “Go!” Harold demanded as the archers let loose their arrows in an arc over the tens of thousands of men and Elves.

  Jek’s heart wanted him to rush ahead and find Cleve, but his abilities weren’t of much use when surrounded by frogs and skunks. He had no skill with a sword, nor did the mages behind him.

  He surveyed the battlefield, unsure what he was looking for. Just ahead was chaos. The sword was everyone’s chosen weapon except for the Elven psychics, who were stabbing enemy fighters with daggers. Even if Jek and the other mages weren’t cut down the moment they entered the fray, the chances of striking a skunk with a fireball without hitting an ally were slim.

  Harold kicked Jek in the rear. “Are you a coward?” the officer yelled.

  Jek spun with rage, tightening the grip on his wand. “We’re of better use alive!”

  “Not if you’re just going to stand here—” Then Harold’s eyes caught sight of something over Jek’s shoulder. “Archers aiming at us to the west!”

  Jek turned to find a cloud of arrows darkening the sky. He snapped his wand to create a hovering wall of SE.

  There were too many arrows. Some went over, others landed short, and even more were too far off to the side for Jek to block, but those that did strike the translucent green wall bounced off with a clank. He saw no one was hit.

  Then it occurred to Jek what he needed to do. Slashing his wand, he broke the Sartious wall into dust and pulled the energy behind him as he ran west, parallel to the backs of his allies. The other mages followed.

  As momentum kicked in, dragging the energy felt no different than pulling a wagon. He split his mind, concentrating on gathering more SE into the cloud as he kept it controlled behind him.

  But he didn’t notice the archers freely shooting at them until one of his mages called out, “Arrows!”

  Jek found the skunks and whipped the Sartious Energy into a block between them and his mages. None of the arrows even cracked the heavy energy.

  He broke the SE apart, still gathering more, still running toward the archers, but now with labored breaths—now with a strained heart. He focused to keep the SE behind him and out of his body as best he could, but there was just so much of it. With a quick glance, he was surprised to see the cloud was the size of the Lages’ mansion! He could feel his body trying to suck it in like air after a long dive underwater, so he focused to keep it out of his blood…out of his heart.

  It had been a year since he’d tested how much Sartious Energy he could gather and maintain. It was about half of what he had now, and he still had the strength to handle more.

  The mages behind him shot fireballs at the still-unopposed archers. Two skunks were hit. The other enemies tried to shoot Jek and his mages once more, but Jek needed only a third of his gathered SE to block their arrows with a thin wall.

  Close enough now to see their faces, the skunks looked to each other for ideas. “Need swordsmen!” some shouted.

  An enemy officer picked up on the call. “Gather around me,” he commanded from the outer rim of the brawling swordsmen. Skunks left their current skirmish to surround him.

  The red mages with Jek shot fireballs at those now in front of the enemy archers. But they had their shields ready. Some were still knocked on their backs, but they rose quickly before any mages could cast again.

  The officer brought his thirty swordsmen forward. “We’ll kill these mages. Join the other archers.”

  “Jek, call for help,” one mage said.

  Even if he wanted to summon aid, they’d pushed too far into the ranks. No ally would make it to them in time. “We can handle this. Just don’t shoot until I say so.”

  The enemy officer was the first of his men to charge, the gilded shoulders of his otherwise black tunic glistening in the setting sun. The other thirty came to his side or stayed close to his heels. Everyone in front raised his shield in anticipation.

  “Shoot?” a mage nervously asked.

  “Not yet,” Jek instructed.

  He strained to move the mountainous cloud of SE between his mages and their attackers. His arm shook. His heart heaved with each strained beat. The skunks eyed the massive Sartious cloud as they advanced toward it. They sneered, not a single one of them suspicious. It made Jek more nervous. Never had he attempted such a spell. Could they know better than he did that it wouldn’t work?

  It’ll work! a voice yelled inside his head. They just aren’t expecting it.

  It had to be true. None of these skunks could’ve anticipated what he had planned. They’d seen Sartious shells stop fireballs and Sartious walls stop arrows, but they’d never known pure Sartious Energy to crush a man.

  He waited until the cluster of storming swordsmen was directly beneath the enormous cloud. Then he brought back his arm as if readying to throw a ball. The skunks held their shields in front of their chests, expecting a fireball. But death would come from above this time.

  Jek screamed as he crammed the heavy cloud into a block. He’d never forced so much SE together at once. Time seemed to slow as he forced it against itself. The process strained his whole body. It felt like folding steel, like collapsing a metal box with his bare hands, like taking all the clouds in the sky and forcing them into a single point, all in the span of a breath. The energy pressing together made a clang like a hundred blacksmiths slamming down the final strike of their hammers onto a hot blade.

  Then Jek finally released his hold on the block and gasped for air.

/>   It shook the land when it fell. None of those beneath it had a chance to scream. The officer was the only one to escape, as he’d been just one step too far ahead. The force catapulted him. After a somersault, he jumped to his feet and looked behind to see what had happened. When he beheld the block of emerald energy, he turned to Jek with a gaping mouth of utter shock.

  “You cannot win this fight!” Jek yelled. “Convince your men to retreat.”

  The man’s expression hardened. He charged at Jek.

  After a despairing sigh, Jek said to his mages, “Now you can cast.”

  The enraged officer was struck down by fire, and this time he didn’t rise.

  Chapter 31:

  CLEVE

  When the battle began, Cleve couldn’t find an opportunity to go on the offensive. Overwhelmed by enemies, it was a constant struggle just to protect himself. He managed to kill some overaggressive men as they lunged confidently, often paired with another skunk in their attack. But Cleve continually was driven back in his defense, nearly tripping over frogs facing the same dilemma.

  Pushed away from Reela and Vithos, he lost track of them. But he didn’t let himself worry. The Elves were the most capable force on the battlefield. They stayed together and tore through skunks like a hurricane, leaving bloody bodies in their wake.

  Now night was approaching, shrouding the outer reaches of the battlefield. The numbers had turned in their favor, and Cleve relished the constant two-on-one advantages.

  By the time he found the Elves again, spotting Reela safely beside Klaiya in the heart of the hurricane, enemies were just starting to flee. Rather than chase them, Cleve covertly aided their escape as best he could. He accidentally tripped two frogs running after a skunk. He clumsily fell into an ally archer about to shoot his arrow through the back of a black tunic. Then he saw Oster fighting off two swordsmen as he backed away, searching for an escape.

  As Cleve ran, all he could hope was that his allies wouldn’t kill him when he came from behind and tackled them.

  The Elves had adopted the same plan as Cleve. Rather than casting psyche to disable skunks through pain, they were flooding their minds with a terrorizing fear of death, convincing the enemy troops that their lives would end in a moment if they didn’t flee. Unfortunately, there were some skunks so stubborn in their resolve that even powerful psyche did nothing to deter them. Soon they fell like their comrades.

  Reela surprised Cleve by jumping out in front of him and using her psyche on the two frogs he was about to tackle. “Let them escape!” she shouted, as she took her allies down with pain.

  They tripped, both falling hard. She let down her hand, and they jumped to their feet. With faces red with rage, they started toward her.

  “Traitorous bitch!” They pointed their swords. But their arms fell the moment Cleve stepped in front of Reela with his Bastial steel blade.

  The men looked around to find Elves everywhere stopping frogs from chasing skunks. Cleve glanced at Oster, who looked over his shoulder gratefully.

  “What is this?” one frog asked.

  “Why let them escape?” the other added.

  More frogs spat the same questions at Elves all around them.

  “They’ll be your allies soon,” Cleve explained. “The battle is over.” This battle, at least. “Klaiya will explain everything.”

  Frogs everywhere seemed to be ignoring the Elves, looking for answers among their own instead. There was no cheering from the victory, just scowls and squints of confusion. The frogs huddled around their officers, some pointing at the Elves like children telling their parents of another misbehaved child. By then, the only skunks left were dead.

  The Elves came together in a group, like the frogs. Klaiya stood between the two groups and waited. The air was heavy with aggression. Cleve could hear the angry murmurs of frogs claiming the Elves needed to die, others agreeing and adding that the Elves couldn’t be trusted or that they’d already served their purpose.

  “Cleve.” Jek was waving his arm to get his attention. The mage came out of the array of soldiers to meet Cleve between the groups.

  “Glad you’re not hurt,” Cleve said, offering his hand.

  Jek clasped it. “What about Reela and Vithos?”

  “They’re fine. Calvon and Peter?”

  “Peter’s fine. Calvon got a gash in his arm, but otherwise he’s unharmed. Did you notice they only had one siege weapon?”

  Cleve nodded.

  Jek let out something between a laugh and a scoff. “I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like if they’d been hurling two boulders at once. I’m glad you made your shot.”

  “Me as well. What happened to the rocks that landed up where you were? It looked like they exploded.”

  “I managed to catch them with Sartious spears.”

  “Spears? I’ve never heard of such a spell.”

  “It’s not a proper name, but I don’t know what else to call it. I can shape Sartious Energy into anything, and spears were what I chose.”

  He’s going to do well when we face the desmarls…all that Sartious Energy he can use, Cleve thought.

  Jek sounded worried when he asked, “Why did the Elves stop us from killing more skunks?”

  “Because they won’t be our enemies much longer,” Cleve replied.

  Jek showed confusion, but at least he seemed to believe Cleve. “How’s that possible?”

  Cleve was reluctant to say more. He wasn’t prepared to lie to Jek, nor could he think of a way to reveal the truth that wouldn’t damage Jek’s trust. Luckily, Klaiya took everyone’s focus by raising her long arms and shouting.

  “Rather than speculate whether it would be wise to attack us—your proven allies—why don’t you ask whatever questions you have?”

  An officer came forward with a snarl. “No one’s speaking or moving until Raymess gets here. That includes your Elves. Stay back there and wait, and keep your psyche to yourself.”

  People began turning to the mountain as Raymess, Micah, and Tobkin navigated down the now-damaged paths. The trip looked treacherous, and twenty men started up to offer their assistance, not that Cleve understood what they could do.

  In fact, when they reached Raymess and his two high-ranking councilmen, they offered their hands for balance, only to be denied. So they kicked rubble from the broken paths instead, looking back with protective glances.

  It was eerily quiet. Nearly a fourth of the skunks had survived, and they must’ve been deeply hidden in the forest by then. Not even half of the frogs had fallen. They waited in silence for their next orders.

  There were three challenges that Cleve feared coming to Lake Mercy: convincing the frogs the Elves were their allies, fighting off the skunks, and now this—revealing the true purpose behind not only their visit, but everything Fatholl had done up to this point.

  Raymess and Tobkin were encircled by officers when they reached the ground. Micah split off and walked toward Jek and Cleve.

  “Did you and Raymess witness any of the battle?” Jek asked.

  “We saw the end.” Micah’s dark eyes were set on Cleve. “I always assumed there would be cheering after any victory.”

  There usually is.

  “Too many frogs want to attack the Elves now,” Jek said. “I don’t know how we’re going to stop them.”

  “Changing their minds is the only option,” Micah said. He and Jek were speaking to each other, though both didn’t look away from Cleve. His reticence made him feel like he was eavesdropping. He had to say something.

  “We need troops from Waywen and Presoren—as many as can fight,” he said.

  “Need them for what?” Micah asked.

  “For the desmarls.” He eyed Klaiya. With folded arms, she stared at Raymess impatiently. “Klaiya will explain everything, though it might take some convincing.”

  “Why are you being so cryptic with us?” Jek sounded insulted. “You’re making it hard for us to trust you if you won’t trust us.”


  I’m only making things worse. This is why Cleve didn’t want to answer any questions. He looked around for Reela, knowing she was far more skilled in easing other people’s suspicions.

  Perhaps called by his thoughts, she emerged from the crowd of Elves. As she locked eyes with Cleve, he knew she understood.

  She greeted Jek and Micah, and they nodded and smiled in return. “I saw what you did with all that Sartious Energy, Jek,” Reela said. “I’ve never seen anything like that. How did you make such an enormous block of it?”

  Cleve didn’t know what she was referring to. He made a mental note to ask later.

  Humbled, Jek’s gaze fell to his feet. “Practice, I suppose. I gathered as much as I could and did what I knew how to do, just at a greater scale.”

  “I’m sure thousands of skunks noticed it as well,” she said. “The battle changed right after. They knew they were going to lose. You realize that you probably saved many lives with that one spell? It would’ve taken much longer for them to start running.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” Jek still had trouble meeting her eyes.

  “I didn’t see the spell,” Micah said. “You’ll have to show me.”

  “As soon as I figure out how to do it without nearly killing myself, I will.”

  After a quick chuckle, Reela brushed her hair from her face and became serious. “I’m sure you and the rest of your men are confused and wary because of how the battle ended.” Her strong voice grabbed their gaze as they straightened their backs. “We wish to explain everything, but we fear how some will react. It’s a delicate matter, and Klaiya knows better than any of us how to handle the dialogue appropriately.”

  Reela stopped herself, her mouth twisting. “I’m afraid I’m sounding grim. My point is while you may have reasons to distrust these Elves, you shouldn’t. Cleve and I came here with my brother from Ovira. We held Fatholl and his Elves in the same regard as you do. Our minds didn’t change quickly, and we expect it’ll be a hundred times more difficult for Raymess. Please help him think logically while he speaks with Klaiya. I believe that’s a fair request.”