Dabrova Hill, named after the little village that lay to the north, ran roughly east to west. Mostly treeless, the hill and the surrounding pastureland sprouted short, green grass at this time of year. The sun had burned off all the clouds and now shone down on the armies poised to do battle.
When they arrived, Ladvik and Vially checked final positions. As ordered, their captains had the army strung out along the top to take advantage of its length and to discourage flanking attempts by Gerolt’s paltry mounted forces. To the east and west of the hill came more foot soldiers and archers behind them. Archers stood to the west with a clear line of sight down to the bottom of the hill. Near the center, the Queen’s Horse and the other heavy mounted cavalry waited.
Leisha, Avrid, and their minders stood under the lone tree towards the center of the hill, near the archers. On the east side of the hill, Sarika stood with Eli. Though not as strong, she could still remove weak compulsions and help sow chaos on her side.
***
As the sun rose higher, their enemy appeared and organized themselves into loose ranks. Just as scouts had seen in previous battles, soldiers filled the first five rows. Behind them came footmen with the black-robed Cursed mixed in. At some unheard command, they began moving forward.
From their position on the hill, Leisha watched the Deojrin advancing, creeping closer to their position. Still too far away for any of the Cursed to threaten her soldiers, she knew the first rows of enemies fell well within her range. As she stared, transfixed by their neat ranks, the hill disappeared and then the sky, until row after row of her enemies filled the whole of her vision. Blood pounded in her ears. She could start freeing or killing them now. Time seemed to draw out in front of her, a long line of possibilities, of victims.
“Leisha.” Distantly she heard Avrid’s warning. “Look at me,” he commanded while also brushing his mind over hers, demanding all of her attention.
Reluctantly, she drew her eyes away from the approaching enemy.
Avrid saw her breath coming in short gasps and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “I know what you’re feeling. I remember my first battle well. The signal will come soon. Take a breath and relax. Bloodlust is not needed here.”
Confused, Leisha looked at him and then back down the hill. Why did he want to deny her nature? Born a weapon, now placed in Andelko and Ladvik’s hands, she stood here to save her kingdom, her people, herself. Her blood coursed, fast and furious, driving out all doubt and the vulnerability she loathed. Power coiled around her, up her legs, around her waist and shoulders, seducing her, reminding her what she could do if she just called on it. Today she would hunt and kill, just as she was meant to.
No one would stop her. No one would threaten her and no one would cage her.
Avrid touched her arm. “Control yourself and put your strength back to sleep. I can feel it all around us. Later, you’ll need it. Conserve it, just like we practiced.”
For a moment, Leisha wanted to lash out at him, to remind him she did not take his orders. Anger whipped the air between them, and Avrid took a step back, alarmed at her reaction and the strength he felt pulsing in her mind.
The others felt it as well, and when Zaraki reached out to her, she saw his fear. It shook her free of the spell and she drew a slow breath. “I’m sorry. I’ve never felt it take hold of me like that.”
“It happens to all of us,” Avrid said, relaxing as he felt her take control of herself again.
A horn sounded, and Leisha saw armored men begin their charge down the hill. They would crash into the Deojrin front line far ahead of their hill. As they raced away, the armored riders and their warhorses moved forward, preparing a charge along one flank of the enemy.
Once, years ago, Leisha rode one of their warhorses out to meet an enemy. She remembered sitting astride on his great back, feeling the barely restrained power as he listened grudgingly to her commands. Now they left in three waves, urging their mounts forward until the ground vibrated with the impact of their pounding hooves.
Another signal to the west sounded and archers loosed their first volley. A shower of arrows rained down ahead of the first wave of charging Tahaerin pikemen, killing Deojrin indiscriminately. Their enemy held, huddling behind shields, then standing to advance once more, inexorably, like the tide, unconcerned with arrows, charging horses or a few dead companions.
The Cursed began their work. On the flank, before the riders could reach the first Deojrin ranks, they began dying, tumbling from the backs of their horses to be trampled under the charge.
“Now,” Avrid said calmly, already reaching out for his first victim.
Leisha slipped the lead that confined her to her body. Just as they planned, she ignored the first few rows containing the black-robed Cursed. They would die during the melee. Instead, she picked a young man. Hildur—his name leapt up into her mind as she entered him. Distracted, he made no move to stop her as she dipped into his thoughts. Before he could react to her invasion, she plucked randomly at the strings of his compulsion. Then she felt his attention turn to her as he tried to beat her back.
She panicked as he hurt her, unable to remember her lessons and unsure how to parry his attacks. Avrid, help! she screamed. No response came, and she knew he struggled with his own victim.
Breathe, breathe, Leisha told herself, even as Hildur moved to enter her mind. A moment of clarity and she realized she could see his intentions the instant before he acted. Just as when she watched Zaraki and Jan spar in the courtyard at Branik, all she had to do was listen.
With quick thoughts, she turned his impotent attacks aside. Frustrated, he pressed on, but Leisha did not notice. She saw his compulsion, remembered how to manipulate it, and saw the weaknesses in this one.
Snip. Snip. She cut him free.
The compulsion fell away and for a second the slave sagged. Leisha withdrew so he could not attack her, but she felt the surge of fury and pure hatred.
One, she told Zaraki. He would keep track for her.
***
After she and Avrid each reached ten, Jan and Zaraki pulled both mind readers back from the ridge and sat them down in the short grass. They both stared at their keepers with confused expressions before shaking their heads and scrubbing at tired eyes.
“Water?” Zaraki asked, handing her a cup.
“Yes, please,” Leisha said. “Thank you. Can you see anything?”
Zaraki watched her closely as she drank. “We’re holding them and there are pockets of panic where you both are working.”
“Is it working?” Avrid asked, rolling his shoulders.
Jan glanced at Zaraki as the two considered what to say. “It’s having an impact,” he said finally, not wanting to give voice to his concerns or doubts this early.
Focused on their tasks, neither mind reader seemed to notice the misgivings that danced in eddies along the ridge.
***
On the eastern edges of the fighting, Irion led a group of ten soldiers. All around them, men fought and died, grappling with each other in the bloody mud churned up by the passage of horses and fighters. Irion grabbed the arm of the Deojrin in front of him, avoiding the wide thrust with the ugly-looking dagger. Dragging the other man in close, he swung his free arm and battered the man to the ground with his mace. He looked up for his next victim.
Twenty feet in front of him, Irion saw a black-robed man sag to the ground only to rise up and begin attacking the enemy soldiers around him. The Tahaerins cheered and picked targets away from the crazed mind reader. Their orders said to leave these Cursed unmolested as long as they attacked the Deojrin. It pleased Irion endlessly to see the slaves Sarika, Leisha and Avrid freed turning on their former captors and tearing them to pieces in their frenzy.
For several moments, the soldiers around the enraged mind reader panicked, unsure how to react to their formerly docile and obedient slave turning on them, biting and clawing at them. The Tahaerins use the brief distraction to pick off a few of their enemies. But
all too soon, one of the Deojrin recovered his senses enough to strike the Cursed man down, running him through with a long pike.
Irion saw the man fall and urged his men on.
***
Not even an hour into the battle and Andelko could see cracks appearing. Below on the battlefield, panic reached out deadly tendrils in the ranks of Tahaerins and mercenaries alike. The promise that the mind readers would be dealt with had not materialized in a meaningful way, and the Cursed struck over and over, killing without warning, spreading terror. He watched as ranks of their men fell to the black-robed slaves.
Ladvik and Vially exchanged looks with him and Andelko nodded.
“I’ll go and talk to her now,” he said without further explanation.
A short walk down the length of the ridge and he found Zaraki, Ani and Jan standing watch over their charges. “How are they doing?” he asked, not sure how to even begin this conversation.
Zaraki looked at the others but knew they all saw the same things he did. “They’re tiring already. I can hear it in her thoughts.”
Nodding, Jan said, “Avrid too. This is too slow. If we had five or ten this would be a massacre, but they free one and by the time they move to the next, the soldiers have recovered and butchered the first. They can’t build any momentum.”
“And it seems like they’re recovering from the initial shock faster now,” Zaraki said, feeling disloyal.
Andelko looked back over the battlefield. From this side, he watched the Horse readying another charge from the top of the hill. “We’re still outnumbered,” he said finally. “And I’m afraid that we’re going to see some ranks break soon. There are pockets of panic in the peasants, of course.”
“I know. We’ve seen it here, too.” Zaraki looked at Leisha standing straight and proud in front of him, working as hard as she could to save them. “This isn’t going to work, is it?”
Shaking his head, Andelko knew the time had come. “I don’t see how, even though I know these two will exhaust themselves trying. I’ll have the horses readied. I’ll give it a bit more time and then I want all of you off this ridge and on your way.”
Ani started to protest, looking at Jan and then Zaraki. “Andelko—” It could not happen this way. She would not let it.
“You know the rules,” he said, and offered a sad smile.
“We’ll meet you in Noster then?” Zaraki did not want to imagine how he would tell Leisha when he pulled her out again.
“In Noster,” Andelko said, and they all knew he was lying. The Lord Constable could not abandon his army. He and Ladvik and Vially would stay.
Turning on his heel, he started back down the ridge to where his marshals waited. Not even an hour into the battle and Andelko could see their plan would fail.
***
On the east side of the hill, Sarika despaired, watching as the battle turned against them. Groups of Deojrin who found themselves under attack by their own slaves faltered at first, but recovered and resumed fighting. She could see the plan would work if only they had more help. If they could free the Cursed faster and keep up the pressure on the enemy troops, they would win. But with only three of them, the slow pace of their work meant they Deojrin always had time to regroup.
Already, Sarika neared exhaustion, but she would not give up. As long as Eli would allow it, she would keep trying. She cast herself out, looking for another weak target she could free.
The woman’s name, Hanne, leapt into Sarika’s thoughts when she dove into her mind. After finding so many Cursed too powerful for her to attack or with compulsions too complex for her to dismantle, Sarika did not understand at first what lay before her. Hanne’s constraint looked like old cloth, barely clinging to the spaces and corners of her mind.
It reminded her of Petrine’s—weak and frail. Sarika heard a whisper of a thought.
I don’t want to do this. Help me, the voice wailed.
Suddenly, Sarika knew what to do. She saw how, in minutes, they could turn the tide of battle in their favor. Now. Faster, faster, she chanted as she cut Hanne free.
Once restrained, she saw Hanne’s mind explode, blossoming, reaching out to reclaim what the constraint once controlled. It unfurled like a banner and Sarika felt the woman stumble and then whimper, confused and frightened.
Who are you? Hanne demanded. What have you done to me?
Sarika cast her gaze around, frantic now. Where could she send this gift, this miracle?
To your left. Look to your left. The trees. Run.
After a brief hesitation, the woman turned and began running.
***
Avrid stood against the tree with a cup of water that tasted like ashes. Listening to Zaraki tell them their efforts were not enough, he watched as Leisha tried to accept the words. She and Avrid both knew they could not keep up. With every Cursed they attacked, they fell further behind. His fear distracted him as he thought of his former masters and what they would do if they caught him.
“I’m sorry. They’re readying the horses. We have to go,” he heard Zaraki say, and saw Leisha shake her head and huddle against her husband. They had tried so hard.
Now they became exiles, hunted and haunted, fleeing ahead of an enemy army that would sweep over this land. Like a plague of rats, the Deojrin would swarm over these kingdoms, devouring everything in their path. Avrid quailed, certain in the knowledge that Gerolt would pursue them, no matter where they fled.
A mind brushed over his, demanding and insistent. Sarika? Are you all right? he asked, alarmed by chaos he felt from her.
Her thoughts crashed into him, excited and frenetic. Avrid, find more like Petrine. Their compulsions are obvious, frail and tattered.
Petrine? he asked, confused. The Lord Constable is ordering us to retreat. We’re out of time.
Ignoring him, Sarika pressed on. Think about it, she shouted at him, forcing hectic thoughts and images into his mind. Find ones like Petrine and they’ll fight for us. They don’t go mad.
They don’t go mad. Without another word, Avrid turned to see the drawn anxious faces of people who had become almost friends to him. Gasping as his heart pounded, he became a whirling tempest of excitement, waving his arms to get their attention. He started laughing, seeing the absurd and simple answer that sat in front of them, all this time. “All of you listen,” he demanded, shouting at them. “Someone go tell the Lord Constable to give us more time.”
***
Leisha began searching, frantically at first, until she realized that the Cursed with weakened compulsions were scattered across Gerolt’s army like stars. Not plentiful, but they were there, waiting for her to find them. Like a stone skipping across a still pond, she jumped from mind to mind, searching for ones that met her needs.
The instant she touched the thoughts of the enslaved mind reader, Leisha knew this would be another for their tiny army. Like gossamer threads, the Cursed woman’s compulsion seemed ethereal, the vines warping her mind pale and faded. You’re free now, Leisha said as the woman’s name leapt into her thoughts. She cut the bonds holding Runa captive. But take care so the Deojrin don’t see. Act normal. I’ll show you where to find safety if you’ll help free more. The queen needed allies and had to be ruthless. If they would not help her, she would not save them.
Who are you? the woman asked, apprehensive but not hostile.
I’m Leisha, she said, and showed the other woman what she had done, explaining in quick images and phrases how to remove the compulsions and how to find others that could fight with them.
Runa’s mind flashed and flared as she experienced her first breaths of freedom. Yes, I’ll help you. I’ll help you and we’ll kill them all. Just like Avrid, she wanted revenge.
Run. Look for these trees, to the east. My soldiers won’t hurt you if you’re fleeing. Get away from the Deojrin, and then find more.
Through the other woman’s eyes, she saw her look around and catch sight of the spinney of trees and underbrush. Runa broke into a run, d
odging soldiers from both sides. Several Tahaerins made to strike her but pulled up short as they saw her trying to escape. All around her, Deojrin soldiers stared or blinked, not understanding a slave fleeing battle. Their compulsion should force then to fight on no matter what.
Leisha withdrew, satisfied she had done all she could. She hoped Runa would survive. Between her and Avrid, she thought they had freed five of these precious Cursed, who would help free others.
***
Unlike the queen or Avrid, Sarika’s talent had never been great. However, not all disasters demanded a mind reader’s skills, and she could see one unfolding before her.
From her perch on the hill, she saw the little copse where their new mind readers friends hid. She could guess when they struck back at their former captors as the number of freed Cursed in the middle of the Deojrin ranks continued to rise. But now as she watched, Tahaerin soldiers swung around behind the trees to stop a Deojrin charge, surrounding the hiding spot.
The queen and Avrid, intent on freeing as many as fast as possible, likely would not notice. Nor would they see the group of enemy soldiers break away from the others. She could barely make out their hands waving and pointing in the direction of the small copse of trees where Hanne and the others hid. Someone had realized what they were up to.
All would be lost if the Deojrin found their little army of mind readers. Sarika flung herself out frantically, scanning the battlefield for someone to save them.
She found Irion and explained what had happened and who hid in the little stand of trees. To the south, I can see soldiers. I think they’re heading towards the mind readers we freed.
Now, Irion saw them, a group of Deojrin gathering, pointing towards the little copse. Somehow, they knew. Together, they started moving, loping away, weapons in hands.
He did not know if the freed Cursed could protect themselves or not, but he knew he could not risk them dying, now that he understood Sarika’s plan. “We have to stop them,” he shouted to his men, and pointed at the enemy breaking away and heading in their direction. They took off at a run to intercept the Deojrin.
As Dragons from Sleep (The Tahaerin Chronicles Book 2) Page 43
