Evenlight

by Krista Walsh

  “Darcy Dorning,” Ariana hissed.

  “I saw you fall over a cliff,” said Venn, lip curling into a snarl. “You couldn’t get the hint and die?”

  Dorning, because of course it was the charming bastard who had tried to steal Cassie away, sneered. “If you thought you’d get rid of me that easily, you prove you’re just as foolish as I thought.”

  Venn scowled. “We killed your father easily enough. I guess we should have lopped off your head, too.”

  Darcy paled, and Jeff held his breath, wanting to give Venn a kick for her lack of tact. For someone who, a moment ago, had been so concerned for Jeff’s well-being, she was certainly being careless with it now.

  “I was clinging to a rock when his corpse fell over the side,” Darcy said through white lips. “And you dare throw that in my face? Once we kill the author, I’m going to take my time with you.”

  Sophie growled. “We don’t have time for that. Not yet. Raul’s people have to be the priority.”

  “For you!” Darcy yelled. “These people killed my father. For me, that’s a much greater crime than burning down some pitiful ramshackle farm.”

  Sophie’s scowl deepened, but she said nothing in argument. Turning her attention away from her compatriot, she focused back on Jasmine.

  “Have I answered all your question? Do you think you can pass over with a mind at ease? I’d love to stay and chat all day, but there’s so much to do.”

  She raised her hand to give the order, Jeff braced himself for the blade at his throat, but her plan backfired. With one mind, Jayden and Jasmine both launched themselves towards their attackers, Venn and Ariana jumping in at the first hint of a fight.

  Sophie hadn’t lied when she said she knew nothing of fighting. She hadn’t thought to disarm her prisoners.

  Jeff squeezed his eyes shut, held his breath and fell backwards, knocking his captor off balance. He heard the sword hit the hard ground and opened his eyes to look around for it. His fingers felt the blade and he drew it towards him, rolling back onto his knees with the weapon in hand. His captor, still trying to untangle himself from his grey robes, froze and stared up at him, defiance and fear coexisting in his gaze.

  “Do it, and I die a martyr at your hands,” he spat. “You prove everyone right.”

  Adrenaline in his veins, the sounds of the fight in his ears, Jeff wanted nothing more than to drive the point of the blade through the man’s heart. Avenge himself for all the pain and suffering this group had caused him over the last two weeks. But the image of Cassie floated up behind his eyes, and he knew he couldn’t. He wouldn’t be able to look her in the eye as a murderer.

  Besides, he had no desire to prove any of these psychos right.

  Flipping the sword around, he lunged the hilt into the man’s head and gave a grunt of satisfaction as the Rober fell unconscious to the ground.

  At the front of the room, Sophie was screaming at her people to fight harder and better, but her voice had gone shrill, and she sounded every bit the preteen that she was. Unable to fight for herself, she swung a heavy sword in front of her to keep back anyone who tried to approach. Venn, having taken down the three men around her, had no fear of a poorly wielded blade. Her black attire melting into the shadows of the low-lit tent, Jeff saw her creep into the corner.

  Before he could see what happened, a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He didn’t have time to react before a fist flew towards him, crunching into his cheek. The rush of the hit dulled the pain, and even as he cried out, he hit back, returning a punch into his assailant’s nose.

  It wasn’t until his knuckles came into contact with the man’s face did Jeff see it was Darcy. The soldier, once so strong and well-trained, now didn’t have the strength to stand steady at the blow, wobbling to stay on his feet. Over the blood spurting from his nose, Darcy glared with such hate that Jeff knew he would never have won if the soldier had been in full form.

  Wild with fury, Darcy pulled his dagger and lunged towards Jeff, but his step was off, and Jeff moved aside, holding up his hands as the soldier stumbled forwards. Coming up behind him, Jayden grabbed Darcy’s arm and twisted the dagger free, bringing him to his knees as he yelled out.

  Jeff spun around and saw that all the Robers had been taken down, either dead or unconscious. Maggie held her arms around William, Brady beside them with a bloody sword in his hand. At the back of the tent, Sophie sobbed into her hands with Venn and Ariana behind her. Poor Jacob, the man who had told them nothing and still betrayed his peers, lay dead at Jasmine’s feet, and Jeff was amazed to see tears pooling in her eyes as blood dripped from her blade. She quickly brushed them away with the back of her sleeve and steeled herself in front of Sophie.

  “Now that we’ve finished wasting our time, you’re coming with us. Now. You’ll call off your men, disband your ridiculous troupe, and then you’ll tell us everything you know about these vortices while we go and kick the asses of Raul’s followers. Understood?”

  Sophie sniffled and glared with fury at Jasmine. Jeff expected her to spit at the woman’s feet again, but Venn pressed a knife into her back, and she nodded stiffly.

  “What about this asshole?” Jayden asked, kicking Darcy in the rear. The man swung his head towards the warrior with a feral growl, but Jayden ignored him.

  “Bring him,” said Jasmine with a weary sigh. “He’s guilty of treason to the crown. Do you think your mother will want him?”

  She directed the last question to Ariana, and the princess shrugged. “I don’t think she’d be heartbroken to know he was killed twice. Bring him and throw him in the fray. I doubt he’ll last long.”

  Jeff glanced at Jayden in time to see his friend smirk at her callousness.

  Definitely meant to be.

  “Then let’s move out,” said Jayden. “Venn, you got the kid?”

  Sophie scowled as Venn’s smile grew. “Got her.”

  “You and William take her and lead the way. I doubt we’ll run into trouble with their precious child-leader guiding us through.”

  “You will!” Sophie yelled. “Nothing matters more than the mission. Even my life.”

  Jayden snorted. “I believe it. But let’s put it to the test.”

  Venn gave the girl a shove and pushed her to the front of the tent. William held back the tent flap and grabbed Sophie’s arm, standing tall with the responsibility.

  Jeff, his cheek starting to throb, followed after her next to Ariana, who put her arm around Jeff’s shoulder to steady his feet.

  Maggie and Brady came after them, and Jasmine and Jayden followed behind, Darcy between them, shouting and cursing with every step. Jeff wished he’d clobbered the guy in the mouth to shut him up for awhile. Next time he would make sure to aim better.

  Many of the Robers had gathered around the tent at the sound of the fight, but Jeff noticed they had already started to slink away now that it was clear who won. No matter how loyal these people claimed to be to their mission, he guessed the ones still at the camp weren’t as eager to give their lives for it as the volunteers who had ridden out. A fact for which he was grateful. As much as it was like facing off with straw dummies, he didn’t relish the idea of taking down all of them at once.

  “Fight them!” Sophie cried. “Don’t let the author leave!”

  “One step closer and she dies,” Venn threatened. She turned her head to catch a small group that had crept closer, and cast her next words towards them. “If you don’t care about that, then know I will single-handedly cut down anyone who tries to come near my friend. If you don’t believe I can, just follow the trail of your comrades’ blood I’ve left all over the county.”

  Now they stopped, and she flashed the wolfish grin that still made Jeff’s skin crawled.

  “Looks like your followers’ dedication doesn’t match up with yours, my dear,” Jeff heard her say to Sophie. “Should have done a better job recruiting.”

  They marched towards the horses, the same bitter woman standing g
uard over them. For a minute Jeff thought she would try to take them on herself, but after a moment, she stepped aside in full glower.

  “Give us that one, too,” said Jasmine, pointing at a sturdy grey mount. “I don’t trust these two to ride behind any of us.”

  Darcy and Sophie were gagged and bound tightly together, their arms close by their sides, and then tied to the saddle, giving them very little manoeuvrability. The new horse was leashed to Brady’s piebald before they rode out.

  “We’re too close to waste any more time,” said Jayden, casting his gaze up to the sun, which was now making its descent across the sky.

  “You keep saying that,” Ariana commented. “‘Wasting our time.’ You don’t think it was worth coming here, learning what we did?”

  Jayden glared at her over his shoulder. “We could just as easily have swung by on our way back. What have we learned other than that a child and a coward are behind this pathetic attempt to destroy us? We could have guessed that anyway.”

  Ariana’s jaw flexed as she ground her teeth. Jeff held his breath. “We learned why these guys are after Jeff, and a bit more about the cabal’s plan. We know to make damn sure they don’t get their hands on him. We wouldn’t have had that information otherwise.”

  “But how will that help us defeat them?” Jayden countered. “Even without the fanatics, we would have gone to the village, destroyed the cabal, and the problem would have been solved.”

  Ariana’s face turned red, a creeping flush that seeped up from her neck, over her cheeks, and met her strawberry blonde hairline. “What do you want me to say, Lord Feldall? I did what I felt was in the best interests of your people. I refuse to apologise or back down from my decision.”

  “And I refuse to apologise for thinking it was the wrong decision. We spent almost half a day just to pick up two more useless prisoners that someone will need to keep an eye on. Strategically, it was stupid.”

  Jeff swallowed a groan and looked to Jasmine, who glanced back with a roll of her eyes and shook her head.

  Let them sort it out, the shake said. You’ll likely get your head lobbed off if you cut in.

  Jeff took the warning to heart and tried to tune them out, wanting to give them whatever privacy was possible on the open road, but their voices continued to rise.

  “If you thought of anything other than bloodying your sword,” Ariana went on, emphasising the final words to give the full force of the double entendre, “you would see that sometimes you need to spend time learning facts before you charge in. Fewer people get hurt that way.”

  Now it was Jayden’s turn to go red. “I hardly think you’re the one to lecture on information gathering. Or providing, for that matter. I also don’t see how your methods lead to fewer people getting hurt.”

  Jeff sensed the debate had moved away from the encampment and onto more personal ground. Although it was the closest they had come to hashing out their issues, at this point Jeff felt it best to clear his throat and remind them there were more ears here than they perhaps wanted around such a subject.

  Ariana, prepared to deliver her counterstrike, snapped her mouth shut and left the words unsaid. Jayden had a similar reaction, turning his head away from the others to stare off down the road. Neither of them appeared composed, and Jeff could only hope they would be able to channel their emotions in the right direction once the battle began.

  Other than the snickers from Venn, and Maggie’s and William’s worried whispers about Brady as they watched to make sure he didn’t relapse into dragon mode, the rest of the ride was quiet. And slow. So slow. Every step felt like it took an hour, and Jeff swore they passed the same patch of trees more than once. They were on their way to Cassie. Nothing else mattered.

  He didn’t care that Brady kept a wary eye on the sky for the dragons Talfyr had warned were coming.

  He didn’t care that Jasmine’s shoulders slumped and her eyes drooped, as though she were overcome with weariness.

  He didn’t care that Darcy and Sophie were straining against their bindings the closer they got to the mountains, either afraid of meeting the enemy tied up as they were, or planning to attack their captors before chaos broke out.

  The Kinnaeth Mountains loomed closer, and in the not-so-very-far distance, he could see signs of the army. No smoke billowed up from the camp, the troops being under strict instructions to keep their position secret as best they could, but they couldn’t keep that number of men silent, and for the riders downwind, the sound of armour and voices, and the smells of sweat and horses came strong.

  Jeff’s heart raced. This time there would be no interruptions. No more delays.

  So when Jayden stopped in the road, still a few kilometres away from their destination, Jeff’s patience nearly tipped over the edge.

  “What now?” he demanded, pressing his lips together when Jayden held up a hand to silence him.

  With a gesture for everyone to draw closer, he rode up to the grey horse and pulled the gags down from Darcy’s and Sophie’s mouths and pointed towards a faint trail in the snow. “Do either of you know about that? Does it lead to the village?”

  The girl pressed her lips together and stared resolutely ahead, while Darcy held onto his silent glower.

  Jeff felt his sanity lurch precariously towards madness. Before he knew what he was doing, he grabbed a bottle from Maggie’s satchel, popped the lid, wrinkling his nose at the smell of sulphur, and reached out to tilt it over their heads.

  “Jeff, no!” Maggie called, hand stretched out to stop him.

  “I don’t know what this stuff does,” said Jeff, “but based on my friend’s reaction, it’s not pretty. At this point, I have no qualms about emptying it over you and watching you break out into boils, or melt into a puddle of goo. Tell us what Jayden wants to fucking know.”

  Darcy showed only the slightest concern, as if he suspected the threat was idle, but Sophie’s eyes went wide, her gaze glued on the opening of the vial that Jeff began to lean in her direction. He was amazed at the steadiness of his hand, feeling composed even as he slipped out of control. He sensed more than saw his friends’ stares of surprise that he, the meek quiet author, should be the one to threaten the young girl with more scarring. But considering what was at stake, he knew they would do the same in his place.

  “It’s their hunting path,” Sophie replied, voice trembling. “They use it to avoid the main roads so they can stay a secret. It leads right into the camp.”

  “Idiot,” Darcy grumbled.

  “Have you used it?” asked Jayden, ignoring him. “Is it guarded?”

  Sophie shook her head, tears trickling onto her cheeks as Jeff jerked his hand. “N-No. Not that I’ve ever seen. It’s the path our scouts use to watch them.”

  “Then we’ll use it now. Jeff, feel free to do what you like, but we might need her again later.” Jayden turned his horse away and rode up next to Jasmine to confer.

  Jeff pretended to hesitate, drawing out the anticipation of how much of an asshole he would be, and then pulled the vial back and stuffed in the stopper. With a last glare towards the prisoners, a “next time I won’t be so lenient” kind of glare, he sidled his mare closer to Maggie.

  “So what does this one do, anyway?” he asked.

  Maggie breathed a sigh of relief as Jeff slipped it back into the satchel. “It’d make their skin burn and peel away from their bones. Not pleasant to watch.”

  “Fuckbeans,” Jeff breathed. “Why would you give me something like that? Why does it even exist?”

  Maggie grinned. “It actually goes with the healing vials in your satchel, believe it or not. Sounds awful, but it’s remarkably effective against rotting flesh on long campaigns. You just don’t want to get it anywhere else.”

  Jeff slowly shook his head. “You people are so weird. All right, now that the unpleasant part of the day is done, Jayden, what’s the new plan?”

  “We’ll leave the militia to attack head on and we sneak in from the back. William, I
want you to bring the message to the captain to ride in as soon as Lyle’s and Kariel’s men are ready.”

  The young man looked crestfallen. “And miss the fight?”

  Maggie scowled. “Don’t sound so disappointed. Trust me, you can count yourself lucky if you do.”

  William glanced towards Venn, and Jeff could see the concern in his eyes—he suspected it was both that she would get hurt, and that she would think him weak for not being there.

  Venn gave him a wink. “I’ll meet you in the middle and we’ll tear them down together.”

  William’s face lit up, but Jeff heard Maggie’s quiet moan at the thought.

  “Either way, we’ll need you,” said Brady. “From the little I could put together, the spell to close the rifts is a powerful one. We’ll need as many people as we can to make sure it’s done.”

  “Brady,” said Jayden, “you stay with Maggie when we get up there, make sure she’s able to work without trouble. Jeff—”

  “I’m finding Cassie.”

  No room for argument.

  Jayden hesitated and then nodded. “All right, but then you get away. You’re a big target, and we can’t protect you from all of them.”

  Jeff had no issue with those orders. He didn’t like the thought of leaving his friends to fight, but getting Cassie to safety was his number one priority.

  “Then let’s do this.”

  Out of the corner of Jeff’s eye, Jasmine swayed on her feet as she dismounted, and she tightened her grip on Nalen’s reins to steady herself.

  “Except you,” said Jeff. “Maybe you should stay here.”

  She frowned. “I’m fine.”

  “Jax—” Brady began, but she cut him off.

  “Whatever this bug is, I’ll kick its ass as much as I’ll kick theirs.”

  Jeff and Jayden exchanged a glance and her brother shrugged. “Your call. Either way, we’re going in now.” He dismounted and drew his sword, cutting through the bindings on Darcy’s and Sophie’s legs, grabbing them by the arms to pull them down. “You two will stay close and guide us around the camp quietly and quickly. Just as my friend, here, had no issues flaying you with chemicals, I don’t have the least compunction about leaving you to Raul’s people to let them do as they wish. Understood? Good. Now follow the princess.” He didn’t wait for their reply before pushing them in Ariana’s direction.