Bastial Sentinels (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 5) (2 page)

“Just bows.”

“Damn. We need to get Raymess. Where is he?”

“The main courtyard,” Lisanda answered, wiping her eyes and calming her weeps with a deep breath. “But we must fetch Micah and Mother first. It’s easier than coming back for them from the courtyard. Then we can get Raymess and leave.”

“Not without Silvie,” Jessend insisted.

Jek looked at her incredulously. “But I thought you two hated each other now.”

She slapped him. The shock alone made him stumble.

“That doesn’t mean I can let her die!” Jessend retorted.

“I’m sorry,” Jek said. “If she’s at the stables, that’s on our way out, and we could use horses anyway. Where are Micah and Vala?”

Muffled screams seeped through the walls.

“Second floor dining quarters,” Jessend said, ignoring the shrieks.

“Which one?” Jek asked as they started down the hall. Two of the guards flanked him while the other two dropped back to guard the group from behind.

“East,” Jessend answered. “The far one.”

“Damn.”

When they reached the end of the hall, Jek peered around the corner. A battle was raging in the next corridor, guards of Goldram falling to Elves. Other escape routes were available, but it would take his group longer to get where they were going, and there was no time to spare.

“Follow me.” Jek rushed forward, pulling in Bastial Energy. Coming closer to the Elves, he saw they both wielded swords but wore no armor. Their long hair flipped over their backs as they spun toward Jek and started to extend their hands.

Just as the crippling pain began to surge through him, he released the energy in a fireball. It struck one Elf in the chest and knocked him into the second one, sending them both sprawling.

Creating a Sartious shell, Jek and the guards sprinted toward their fallen enemies. One of the Elves was dead, but the other struggled to his knees and pushed out both hands with a grunt. It did nothing, and it was too late for him to grab his sword, for the two guards had closed in and run their weapons through his chest, splintering Jek’s Sartious shield.

As they hurried on, screams echoed around the palace, and the smell of death was heavy in the air. Lisanda grabbed his hand as he held his wand at the ready with his other. Jek thought he heard the shuffling of feet from around the corner. He created another Sartious shell in front of his group as the two guards beside him gripped their swords tightly.

An Elf jumped out and grunted as his palm shot forward. In a blink, his aggression was replaced by shock when he saw Jek’s shield of heavy green energy. He turned to flee, but one guard was quick enough to stab him before he got too far. The other guard pounced and finished him off. Somewhere behind Jek, he heard shouting. He listened closely.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” a woman yelled.

“Cooperate and you’ll live,” an accented voice replied.

Jek didn’t stay to hear the rest. Except for a fallen palace guard, the hallway ahead of them was empty. “Almost to the stairs,” Jek reassured his group.

“We’ve been lucky so far,” Jessend said. “We need bowmen and mages.”

“Why hasn’t the rest of our army come to help?” Lisanda asked.

“They might be on their way.” Jek tried to stay positive even though he didn’t believe it himself. It was unlikely that word of the attack had spread quickly enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Soon they reached the stairs, where they found more fallen guards with twisted limbs and lifeless stares. Jek expected Lisanda to whimper as she stepped over them, but she made no sound. Her face, usually soft and expressive, was as hard as stone. Her eyes were dark with unyielding determination.

“Fatholl must be responsible for this,” she said when they’d climbed the stairs.

A shriek echoed off the walls.

“Quiet!” Jek heard an accented voice demand, “and you won’t be harmed.”

“Elvish accent,” Lisanda said. “It seems like they’re only killing guards.”

“And our family,” Jessend added, gritting her teeth.

After a few more hallways, they came to the main hall of the second floor. Still more bodies littered the corridor, only one Elf among at least ten of King Danvell’s men.
They’re Raymess’ men now
, Jek realized with a chill.

As they neared the dining quarters, Jek heard evidence of another battle. Lisanda gasped and covered her mouth. “Are we too late?”

The door was closed. It was the only entrance and exit. The two guards at the rear had come around to join Jek and the other two at the front. One kicked open the door as Jek thrust out his wand to create a Sartious shell as wide as he could manage.

Through the translucent emerald green, they saw men and women fighting and falling. Chairs were tumbling, and tables were being flipped. Jek strained his eyes to search for pointed ears, long hair, a hand extended, anything to indicate who was his enemy, but it was impossible to tell. So he let the Sartious Energy break into dust.

The gruesome scene unfolded as the cloud of energy thinned. Elves and Humans were engaged in a frenzy of swords and psyche. Micah Vail stood in the center, using his own powers of psyche to disable an Elf, allowing a Takary guard to cut off the Elf’s head. But then Micah fell to his knees when another Elf pointed his palm.

“Kill him!” the Elf screamed. “He’s a psychic.”

Jek was pulling in energy so he could shoot a fireball at the one disabling Micah, but then another attacker rushed over with his sword, ready to strike. Jek shot him before he could reach the King’s adviser.

Sudden pain made Jek collapse, and the wand fell weakly from his hand. He could do nothing but scream as he tried to reach for it.

Then the pain stopped. Gasping for breath, Jek snatched his wand from the ground and gingerly got to his feet, trying to gather his strength. The Elf who’d pained him now had an arrow sticking out of his torso. He was stumbling backward when another arrow impaled him, and he fell. Jek turned to find Jessend with a bow in her hand, loading another arrow. He took another quick glance to locate Lisanda, who was standing in the doorway calling her sister’s name. “Jessend, Jessend get back here!”

Turning back to the room, Jek saw Vala Takary just as she shrieked. She was pressed against the corner, two guards on their knees in front of her, pained from psyche. An Elf rushed toward them. Jek couldn’t risk shooting the enemy. If he missed, his fireball could kill the Queen.

The guards who came in with Jek had joined the brawl in the center of the room. They and Micah were too busy to help Vala, giving Jek no choice. He aimed, steadied his hand, and fired. The fireball slammed into a chair, careened upward, and thudded against the wall. Still, it startled the Elf as clumps of fire rained down. His focus was lost for a blink, just long enough for one guard to rise and open the Elf’s stomach with his sword.

To Jek’s side, he heard Jessend scream and then her bow hit the floor. An Elf trudged toward her with his arm out, yelling something in Elvish. Jek aimed his wand, but he was taken by psyche from a different Elf before he could fire. He tried to scream for Micah, but he barely could hear his own words as every muscle in his body felt like it was being ripped apart.

He tried to stand, but he couldn’t even straighten a leg. He had no control over his limbs. Managing to twist so he at least could face his attacker, he noticed Lisanda running toward the Elf.

“St—!” he tried to scream. His stomach clenched so tightly, only the beginning of the word made it through his lips. “Stop!” he managed to shout on his second try.

His attacker dropped his sword to aim his other hand at Lisanda. She shrieked and fell, but at least Jek felt his pain diminish. He found enough strength to get to his feet. “Micah!” he shouted, this time loud enough to be heard.

In an instant, all the pain was gone as Micah took down the Elf with psyche. Jek first shot a fireball at the other enemy who was two steps from slicing off Jessend’s head. As he turned to shoot the Elf who’d been paining him until Micah interceded, he saw Lisanda already there, awkwardly picking up the enemy’s sword. Her small hands shook as she raised it over her head.

With a wail, the Princess brought the weapon down through the Elf’s chest. She tripped over him as she killed him, stumbling forward and landing on her stomach.

Jek had a Sartious shell ready, pushing it in front of him as he ran over and helped her up. “Stay with me,” he told her. She held his hand securely. “Jessend, get over here!” he yelled to her.

She ran to join them. Jek took the twins with him across the room to retrieve their mother. Vala ran to them the moment they were close. She clutched Lisanda and Jessend to her as they huddled behind Jek’s Sartious shell.

He noticed the hazy outline of Elves giving up on him and turning their attention elsewhere.

“Ready an arrow,” he ordered Jessend.

She did, and he let the shield shatter once again. He shot fireballs while she sent arrows sailing. It wasn’t much longer before the battle in the dining quarters was over. Micah and the remaining seven guards rushed to them.

“The King?” Micah asked.

Everyone’s gaze turned to Jek, waiting for his answer, Vala teary-eyed and worried.

“He’s dead.”

The Queen started to collapse, a hand over her heart. But her daughters helped her stay upright, and she shook off the grief as another concern clearly entered her mind.

“My son,” she said. “We have to hurry to the courtyard.”

Chapter 2:

JEK

With Micah now in the lead beside Jek, their party hustled through the corridors, only slowing with caution when screams rang out ahead. While the palace was usually a lively place, it felt like the dead now outnumbered the living.

“We’re not leaving without Silvie,” Jessend demanded.

“Don’t be foolish,” her mother argued.

“They might not want to hurt her,” Lisanda suggested. “All the bodies we’ve seen are either guards or Elves.”

Jek looked over his shoulder as they ran through an empty hall. “We’re going to the courtyard first for Raymess,” he said, “and then to the stables to get the horses. If we can save anyone else besides your brother, we will.”

Coming to the end of the hall, Micah extended his arm to stop Jek just before screams came from around the corner.

“I’m just a server!” a woman shouted.

“Please leave us!” someone else pleaded.

Jek sneaked a quick look. Elves were breaking down the doors and dragging men and women out of the rooms.

“If you don’t want to die, you’ll come with us,” one of the Elves said.

Jek tucked his head back behind the wall. “I think they’re taking everyone to the courtyard. But I still don’t know why.”

“They’re seizing control of the palace,” Micah said. “After that, I don’t know.”

“We must get to Raymess in the courtyard before they get there,” Vala urged.

Jek took a breath. It wasn’t his place to go against the Queen, but she needed to hear the truth. Going to the courtyard no longer was possible. If the Elves were taking everyone there, they must already control it. “Raymess has either been killed or he’s elsewhere in the palace,” Jek told her, his tone apologetic. “We won’t find him in the courtyard, at least alive. Going there would just deliver your daughters to them.” Not waiting for Vala to reply, he turned to Micah. “Where would the guards take him if he was in the courtyard when it came under attack?”

“They would flee the palace however possible. The stables would be their goal, but there’s no way to get there without going up to the second floor and then back down. We should go back and follow the second floor through the courtyard to the stables. It’ll allow us a glimpse at what’s happening there as well.”

Without hesitation, Jek turned and ran back the way they’d come. Vala and the Princesses followed, surrounded by seven winded guards. Jessend had taken the bow of one fallen guard with her, leaving her and Jek as the only ones able to fight from any distance. Unfortunately, he figured that meant he would need her help, which would put her in danger as her mother looked on—not the most ideal circumstance.

On the second floor, three Elves surprised Jek and his group. He snapped his wand to make a Sartious shell. Micah lowered his outstretched hand. “I can’t pain them through that,” he said.

Jek couldn’t see their faces through the haze of his SE shield. Their hands were lifted, and they were waving them as if trying to find an angle of attack.

“Jessend, shoot them,” Jek hissed.

She came to his side, drawing an arrow. “I can’t see them very well.”

“Try your best. I’ll reform the shell as soon as your arrow breaks it.”

Suddenly Jessend collapsed along with everyone else. Jek didn’t understand how the Elves’ psyche had penetrated his shield. But he realized his mistake when a woman’s voice came from behind him.

“I knew I’d find a way through that magic barrier.”

Twisting on the ground, Jek saw the Elf who’d killed his king. Her ankles and wrists were still bound, her chains clanking with each small step forward.