by C. Ellsworth
Aeric’s voice came again, this time sounding a little clearer. “Are you able to continue, guardsman Adele?” There were murmurs from the crowd. Were they worried over the safety of their savior? Or were they shocked at how poorly she had performed when she might just be the last hope for everyone’s survival?
Be strong, Addy! But a lump had formed in her throat, and her eyes threatened tears. Could they not see she was trying? She was doing her best, and they just stood there thinking of no one but themselves! “I’m fine!” Her voice was a growl, the fire in her middle burning away any potential tears. She shook the sand from her hair and returned to the center of the circle.
After a pause—and an insistent nod from Addy—Aeric called, “Sorsia!”
Addy clenched her aching jaw. Here it comes.
A guttural cry echoed throughout the yard, and Sorsia raced forward, spiked knuckles poised to strike. Addy took a wide stance, her daggers raised before her, and when Sorsia leaped into the air, she had only a split second to react. She spun to the side, hair stirring as a fist-weapon nearly crashed into her skull.
But when Sorsia landed, it left her facing away, her back exposed.
Addy could have driven both daggers into Sorsia’s back, but instead she swung hard, pulling back just a little at the last possible moment. Sorsia had tilted closer, though, and the blade cut across thick leather, slicing a small opening but drawing no blood.
The woman whirled about, eyes wide with rage. She knew she had been caught off guard, and by a princess no less! And everyone in the training yard, including the Guard Captain, had been witness.
Sorsia’s dark eyes flamed, the scar under the right standing out, and her lips drew back into a sneer. Then her spiked fists became a whirlwind of blurred attacks. Addy fell back, dodging this way and that. There was no opportunity to strike back. She could barely keep from getting skewered!
Something . . . sparked in Addy, that familiar flicker that signaled the imminent release of her power. No! She snuffed it out before it could grow any further. Once released, there was no telling what damage she might—
Her heel caught, and Addy pitched backward onto the sand. Ash and rot! Sorsia was descending on her like a raging bear. Addy kicked out with her foot.
Crack!
Sorsia cried out in agony and fell forward onto the sand, clutching at her knee.
Aeric’s voice called out, “Enough!”
Addy collapsed back onto the sand, breath coming in heaving gasps. Her mouth was as dry as parchment. Good thing Aeric had called a stop to the exercise. Another minute or two of fighting under the sun, and she might have passed out. Where was Saem with the water?
Sorsia lay in a fetal position, clutching her knee and gasping through gritted teeth. Was her leg broken? Lord of Light, she had to be all right! The woman was the second strongest person in this company. But what else could Addy have done? She had meant only to trip her.
Addy rolled over and sat up, sand again cascading from her hair and shoulders. “Are you all right, Sorsia?” The woman was about to hurl a torrent of curses at her, no doubt.
Sorsia gritted her teeth. “You’re not . . . completely worthless, Princess.” Her voice was strained, brows furrowed from the pain. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve had worse injuries falling out of bed.”
That sounded suspiciously like a compliment. Addy clenched her teeth to keep her mouth from dropping open.
Aeric stepped forward and kneeled to inspect Sorsia’s knee, poking and prodding and bending her leg this way and that, drawing repeated gasps and muttered curses. “I don’t think there’s any permanent damage. Go see Erabelle for an ointment and an ice pack. Then go easy for a few days. No acrobatics.”
Addy breathed a sigh, but Sorsia’s revenge still might come when least expected.
Chapter 17
Addy awoke with a start, then lay restlessly in her bed for a time, staring up at the ceiling. What time was it? A little past midnight, most likely. The night air was stifling inside the quarters. The sash to the room’s only window was up, but no breeze came through, not even the smallest.
Cold sweat clung to her skin beneath her shift, but at least her heart was no longer throwing itself against her rib cage. That nightmare. The same scar-faced skeg from Old Town had slowly peeled her skin off with a curved knife, leaving only a patch around the bird-shaped scar on her back. How was she supposed to sleep after that?
The sounds of heavy breathing—and Traizen’s loud snores—permeated the room. They apparently had no trouble finding sleep these past months. Were they not concerned at all with the task ahead? Of course, most of the pressure lay not on their shoulders, but on hers. All they had to do was get her there, and then she had to do the rest, whatever that was. Oh, Phineus had given her instruction on what she was to do, once she arrived at the Tower, but even he seemed uncertain about whether that time-honored ritual applied in her case.
With a sigh, Addy rolled over onto her side, then put a hand through the neck of her shift to run a finger along the scar. Was it really a bird in flight, or was it some other symbol that held meaning to the skeg?
A sudden cry pierced the night.
Chills raced down Addy’s back. What was that? She held her breath, heart pounding as she strained to listen. Had it been her imagination? None of the others in the room stirred, but she had heard something. It had sounded human, but it could also have been a vulture’s screech or the wail of a cat fight. No, it was definitely human.
An alarm bell tolled once from somewhere in the barracks, accompanied by a single shout. She sat up, heart pounding in her ears, and the room fell silent. No snores or heavy breathing. The others were awake now.
Karine whispered, “What was that?”
Traizen leaped from his bed to stare out through the window. He was dressed in only a loincloth, as usual, his nearly naked form outlined in the moonlight. “I can’t see a blasted thing!” His voice was a whisper. “It’s too dark.”
Another alarm bell rang elsewhere in the barracks, and a voice shouted in the night, “To arms! To arms! The barracks is under attack!”
Under attack? How was that possible?
Like a disturbed nest of ants, the whole of the barracks came alive. Cries, both in warning and in dying, sounded from near and far. Addy’s companions all scrambled to pull shirts over heads and legs into pants, and she did the same. No one bothered to light a candle. There was too little time, and the light might have drawn unwanted attention through the window.
The door to their room suddenly burst open and Aeric stuck his head in, breathing heavily. He wore a mail shirt, the tiny interlocking metal rings reflecting blue in the dim light. His voice was calm but urgent. “Traizen and Sorsia, you two stay with Addy and Karine. Liah and Ryan, you’re with me.”
Traizen flexed his arms and chest muscles, his prominent brow drawn. “What’s going on? We heard the cries. What is attacking us?”
“Skeg.” Aeric’s face in the dim light was grim. “We don’t know how many yet. Dozens maybe.”
Aeric shot Addy a meaningful glance, and her knees grew weak. That skeg . . . he was coming for her, he and the others with him. The scar on her shoulder seemed to throb.
Aeric disappeared from the doorway, and Liah and Ryan picked up their weapons and ran after him into the dark hallway. With the door open, she could hear the shouts echoing louder. How many skeg were there, dozens? Hundreds? Spirelight, don’t let them take me!
Karine stood impatiently, casting frequent, apprehensive looks at the doorway. She wore her short sword on her hip now, and her left hand was resting on the pommel like any seasoned warrior would. Was she as frightened as Addy?
Traizen—fully dressed now—took up his massive hammer and crossed the room to close the door. Then he took a readied stance before it. “Keep an eye on the window.” His voice was sullen. Had he actually been looking forward to charging off to fight skeg?
Sorsia mumbled something under her breath a
nd went—limping slight—to stand beside the window with a scowl. Spiked knuckles adorned her tightly clenched fists, and she looked eager to use them; she and Traizen both seemed all too eager to join the fight.
The sounds of battle continued outside, sometimes sounding distant and other times right outside the door. More than once the moonlight, coming through the window, was obscured for a moment, sending the room into complete blackness, but no one ever tried to get in; if they had, Sorsia would have been ready.
Addy gripped the two daggers sheathed at her hips. The leather-wrapped handles felt good in her palms. She had come so far with her training, and she was no longer some helpless little girl, like she had been in Old Town. Lord of Light, what was she doing just standing around? How am I supposed survive the Waste and rid us of the Faege when all I do is cower in my room the first time there’s a true fight? She started toward the door.
Karine shifted on the edge of her bed. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not going to sit here doing nothing while others are out there dying.” Before Addy reached the door, however, Traizen moved to block the way. She tried to push past him, but he stood firm. “Move aside!” If he didn’t get out of the way right then, she might just change her mind, and every minute she wasn’t out there helping was another man dying.
Traizen stood for a moment looking down on her, his hammer hanging loosely in his hand. Then his deep-set eyes turned to the others briefly before they were back on her. “All right, but we all go together. We all stick together. And if things get too crazy, we’re heading right back here, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.”
Addy gave him a nod, and then the others moved. Traizen opened the door and peeked into the darkened hallway before stepping out. Sorsia followed close behind, stopping before Addy to mutter “Stay close to me, or I’ll hurt you myself.” An odd way to say she was worried for Addy’s safety, but it seemed like progress somehow.
Karine stepped to Addy’s side, and together they entered the hallway.
If their room had been dark, the hallway was darker still, with the only light source being the occasional narrow arrow slit that gave a limited view of the moonlit courtyard outside. How could anyone fight in such darkness? The others had their weapons in hand, though, and so she readied hers as well.
Traizen’s head whipped back and forth from one end of the hallway to the other, and then he was charging off, heading to where the commotion seemed loudest. He made a good pace, with his six-foot hammer held before him, pausing now and again at lamp-lit intersections to listen before moving on.
A dark shape suddenly appeared from around the corner before them, and a startled shriek leaped from Addy’s lips before she could clamp her mouth shut. A flowing mass of impossible black swirled into motion, and two curved blades appeared, gleaming in the soft glow of a nearby lamp. It was him! The one from Old Town! Wait. No, this one was much smaller.
Traizen leaped forward, his heavy weapon parting the air noisily as it raced toward its target. The skeg flowed easily under the attack, and the hammer smashed heavily into the wall, sending shards of stone flying.
Sorsia moved in, spiked fists rising to block arcing blades as the skeg tried to skewer her with both weapons at once. Sparks flew as metal met metal, the woman somehow turning aside those attacks without losing a hand or even a finger. Her own countermoves, though, were blocked as well, and the skeg was then turning his attention to Addy.
Pale eyes met hers and locked fast. Her heart skipped a beat. Even when Karine stepped in with short sword swinging, the skeg never broke his gaze, slapping Karine’s blade aside as if it was a harmless stick.
Addy raised her daggers, but her hands trembled. Was this skeg as deadly as the one in Old Town? Remember your training, Addy. You can do this. Focus on the eyes!
Something crashed into her from behind, sending her flying into the wall and then onto the floor. Aeric was there, trading furious blows, his long sword crashing against curved blades and sending loud clangs echoing down the hall. His blood-splattered face was twisted with fury, teeth bared like a rabid animal as he moved like lightning.
Three moves later the skeg fell with Aeric’s blade protruding from his back.
Ryan and Liah were there as well, their own bloodied weapons drawn. Ryan helped Addy to her feet and gave her a quick once-over. “Are you hurt?”
Blood dotted his face and clothes. Spirelight, that wasn’t his, was it? “I’m not hurt.”
The others had gathered around the now-lifeless skeg, staring in morbid curiosity, everyone but Aeric and Traizen. Those two had no doubt seen the like before on their journeys to the Tower. The Guard Captain might have even seen them from the wall, or in Old Town, as Addy had.
Aeric suddenly whirled on Traizen. “What in the cursed Waste are you doing here? I told you to stay in your quarters!”
Traizen wore a scowl and stood firm before Aeric, they’re eyes level. “You told us to stay with Addy and Karine.” His voice was a growl. “Not to cower in our beds.”
Addy gritted her teeth. Leaving the room had been her idea, and if anyone was to blame, it was her. She stepped forward, daggers still in hand at her sides, her heart racing. “It was my doing, Guard Captain.” Aeric turned his furious glare on her, but she wasn’t about to back down now. “I chose to join the fight with or without them. They were just protecting me.”
“Fool girl!” Aeric’s scowl pierced like a knife. “Do not think I won’t lock you up for your own protection.” Lock her up? He wouldn’t!
Blood pulsed in Addy’s ears, and her stomach twisted, but she drew herself up and met Aeric stare-for-stare. “I’m sure you could, but I will not be treated like a glass doll when others are dying around me. And if I cannot survive this fight, then what hope is there for me to survive out there?” She drew in a shuddering breath, but Karine gave her an approving nod. “Aeric, even if you drag me back to the quarters, I will only leave again when you turn your back. Let me help. Please.”
Aeric’s face turned a furious red. His free hand half-raised, then clenched into a fist. Addy stood firm. I will not back down, no matter what he says!
Aeric’s mouth worked as if searching for words. Then, abruptly, he dropped his hand to his side. His face remained flushed, though, and the veins were prominent on his forehead. His voice came out cold and harsh, like a sword leaving its sheath. “Surviving isn’t all about courage and determination, girl.” He breathed a sigh, and some of the tension left his form. “Use your head. It isn’t just your life at stake here. If you die, what will become of us? Will you sacrifice yourself so easily, knowing your brother is slowly being consumed by the Faege? Every day he draws a little closer to death—as we all are—and yet you would throw away whatever chance we might have. You are selfish beyond reason if you do not consider that!”
Gevin? Addy blinked. Her face flushed hot. No, she hadn’t considered that! She was just trying to help, but was she really just thinking of herself? If she died this day, Gevin and everyone else would die as well. Maybe not today or even a year from now, but all would, eventually.
Addy heaved a sigh. “You are right, of course, Guard Captain.” She swallowed. “I’ll return to the quarters. But . . .” She wasn’t about to back down completely. “If danger finds me, or those with me—despite trying to avoid it—I won’t sit and watch. You can’t make me do that!”
Aeric’s face relaxed a little, but he paused, eyes searching hers. Finally, he nodded. “Very well. By all accounts, there are fewer than a dozen skeg in this assault, so we should have them all dead or fleeing before dawn. You four get back to your quarters and stay there. We’ll talk more of this in the morning.” Then, after one last pause, he turned and charged down the hall, Liah following close behind.
Ryan hesitated a moment, brows furrowed with concern as he eyed her. “Stay safe, Addy.” Then he turned and broke into a run after the other two.
“You as well,” she called after him.
<
br /> Her remaining companions were now looking at her strangely. Traizen wore an amused smile as he walked past her. “Come. Let’s get your pretty rump back to the room.”
Addy frowned. My what?
Sorsia gave the dead skeg a final glance. Then she too walked past. “Keep your head on straight, Princess.” Her plump lips bent into a smirk. “Those kinds of thoughts will only get in the way.”
Addy blinked. What thoughts? About Ryan? She was just . . . showing concern . . . for a fellow guardsman.
Then it was Karine’s turn to walk by, one delicate brow quirked high, and her full lips pursed. Addy’s cheeks grew warm.
Sorsia was waiting in the shadows of the hall when Addy caught up to the group. She gave Addy a nod and then fell in behind to take up the rear. Traizen led them back the way they had come—not bothering to pause at the intersections this time—until they came to the long hall leading to the training yard. There was fighting going on there, out on the sand. He paused before moving on, but judging by the death grip on his hammer, it was clear he was eager to get back into the fight, and the set of his jaw said he was frustrated with not being able to do so.
Karine cast repeated glances around her as if expecting an attack to come from every shadow. “The skeg back there . . .” she whispered. “It’s the first I’ve faced . . . or have even seen up close. Those eyes . . .”
“Very pale.” Addy nodded, a shiver running down her spine. “Like ice.” Stop that! You must get over your fear!
Karine’s lips drew to a thin line. “I . . . hesitated. After all the training, all the lessons I have learned, I found myself unsure of what to do. I’ve faced others in the training yard, as we all have, and yet this was not the same. My life was in true danger!”
