Blood of Innocents (Book Two of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (43 page)

Chalayan wrung his hands, licking his lips and shaking his head. “That time, there were a lot more of us, and Caitlyn—”

“She’s not here, and never will be again,” said Aidan. “Didn’t you learn anything from Mazoet that could help us?”

“Hints only, nothing substantial. But I’ve been working on something…” Chalayan broke off and shook his head. “Too dangerous.”

“Vasile,” commanded Aidan. “Find one of Chalayan’s shield rocks and stand over it, but keep one foot on it. Without the contact, you’ll go flying like the jukari did.”

Vasile nodded and searched for a rock, then did as he was told, placing a foot on the
crafting
. The hilt of his sword was slippery in his grasp, and he had to constantly wipe his hands on his shirt.

Around him, both cel Rau and Aidan did the same, while Chalayan hunkered down, making himself as small as possible next to their barricaded cave.

He needs to concentrate, realized Vasile. Chalayan was timing his sorcery so the shields sprang up at the right moment. Too soon, and the jukari wouldn’t be pushed off balance; too late, and a sword cut from such huge creatures would mean the end of one of them. And he had three shields to focus on, plus his own, if it came to that.

Vasile swallowed, wondering if his survival was the lowest priority for the sorcerer. Probably. He forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths. Scanning into the darkness past the light from the sorcerous globes, he thought he could see shapes moving. A twig snapped behind him, and he whirled, but it was only Aidan taking up position above another of the crafted rocks.

Sighing with relief, he turned back to see a monstrous jukari lumber out of the night, heading straight for him. A full head taller than the other two, its chest was covered with crude medallions. It closed the distance to him in a heartbeat, raising a steel hammer big enough to crush boulders.

As the hammer came down, Vasile closed his eyes. Heat flared under his foot, and his skin tingled. Flashes of light penetrated his eyelids, and there was a thud.

He opened one eye to see himself surrounded by a dissipating blue haze, and the jukari on its back about ten paces away, still clutching its weapon. Black blood dribbled from its nose, where it must have impacted on the shield, and it groaned, shaking its head, as if to clear it.

“Kill it,” Aidan hissed at him. “Quickly.”

Gathering his courage, Vasile approached and struck at the jukari, but at the last instant, it raised an arm, and his sword bit into its hand, splitting between two of its fingers.

It gave a cry of pain, then its yellow eyes met his. He trembled as it rolled onto its side.

“Do it!” yelled Aidan. “Kill it before it recovers!”

Vasile stabbed the jukari, only to feel the point of his sword stop and slide away, catching on one of the beast’s medallions. Snarling, it jerked up and swung at him. A massive clawed hand clipped his head and sent him reeling.

Scrabbling on the ground, he whimpered as the jukari came after him. Groggily, he turned and lunged for Chalayan’s rock. As his hand closed around the
crafting
, he looked for the sorcerer, praying it wasn’t a once-only sorcery.

Again, his skin tightened, tingling as the shield ran over him.

Vasile broke contact with the rock to see the jukari being pushed back once more. It stumbled to its knees.

This time, he didn’t hesitate and ran at the creature with a wordless scream, driving his blade deep into its chest. Hot, dark blood covered his hands. The jukari bellowed and clawed at him. He danced backward to avoid its talons.

And the beast fell, slumping to the ground.

Vasile swallowed his rising gorge and kicked the jukari. It remained still. As fast as he could, he pulled his sword from the body. Backing away, he again stood above his crafted rock.

Chalayan’s laughter rang out. “Bloody ancestors, Magistrate, haven’t you killed anything before?”

Vasile looked at his hands covered in black blood from the dying monster. “No,” he said. He closed his eyes for a moment, but more growls from the forest shook him alert.

Another jukari came into the light, sharp teeth bared and wielding a two-handed sword, one Vasile thought he wouldn’t be able to lift.

A second emerged to stand beside it, then a third.

Vasile jumped as a hand touched his shoulder. Cel Rau.

The swordsman jerked his head toward his abandoned crafted rock in the dirt. “These are mine, Magistrate.”

Slightly ashamed, without knowing why, Vasile nodded and edged toward the rock, keeping his eyes on the three jukari.

What are they waiting for? he thought.

Then another growl came from behind Aidan, and two more jukari appeared from the forest. Like the others, these two also stopped, as if waiting.

Aidan looked frantically toward Chalayan, who clutched his amulet and was muttering to himself. Another, smaller, jukari stepped into the light, a runt compared to the others. No, it was darker skinned, and it grinned with a mouth full of fangs. Matted dreadlocks of wiry hair fell past its shoulders. Weaponless, except for a knife at its hip, it wore a number of rings and medallions, all covered with what looked like sorcerous runes. Vasile swallowed with dread, not believing his eyes. It had to be a vormag.

Chalayan stood and took a step toward the mythical creature made real. It barked a harsh command, and the jukari sprang at them.

Vasile stomped his foot down on his crafted rock as hazy blue domes sprang up around cel Rau and Aidan. Too early. The jukari weren’t knocked back but merely pushed off balance.

Chalayan’s eyes were locked on the vormag, distracted. Preoccupied as the sorcerer was, it wasn’t likely he’d be able to time the shields well enough to be truly effective, as they’d been before.

Sweating like he’d only stopped drinking yesterday, Vasile glanced from cel Rau to Aidan, trying to decide who needed help the most.

Cel Rau fought three jukari, but he was dancing around their lumbering forms as if they couldn’t touch him. One jukari clutched at an arm sliced to the bone, while another backed away, wiping at a wound on its cheek, a cut from cel Rau that had barely missed taking the creature’s eye out. Without thinking, Vasile rushed toward him, and watched horrified as the shield
crafting
pulsed just as Aidan’s foot slipped off the rock. The shield slammed into Aidan, throwing him to the dirt like a rag doll. He landed next to one jukari, while the other creature stumbled near Vasile.

Vasile screamed and slashed at it with all his might, sword biting into its arms, which were raised in self-defense. It batted aside his next slash, and he stumbled, off balance. The jukari lurched to its feet and overshadowed him, snarling through fangs. Inhuman eyes filled with hate bore into his, and Vasile’s legs quivered in fear. From the corner of his eye, he saw Aidan crumble under an onslaught of heavy blows, sword flying from nerveless fingers.

What was Chalayan doing?

A rock rolled across the ground, coming to rest near Aidan, and Vasile saw him reach for it.

Vasile turned and ran toward Aidan, diving for the rock. Their hands clutched it together as Aidan’s jukari raised its sword, and Vasile’s stomped behind him, growling with menace.

“Chalayan!” shouted Aidan, when nothing happened. He flung himself to the side as the jukari’s blade swung down, and it was all Vasile could do to hold onto the rock as they both twisted in the dirt.

Vasile’s skin tingled as the shield erupted again. The jukari yelped and flew backward, as it thudded into the barrier, which then winked out. The jukari writhed on the ground half-dazed, while Aidan scrambled in the dirt toward his sword.

Vasile rushed at the jukari with the injured arm. Baring fangs at his approach, it snarled, shaking its head, as if to clear it. He jumped, both feet landing on its stomach, knocking the wind out of it with a whoosh. It coughed, gasping for air. He slashed his sword across its throat. Black blood sprayed from the gash, drenching his face. The stench made him gag. As the jukari thrashed, he hacked frantically at its head, two hands on his sword hilt. Eventually, the thing uttered a whimpering moan, and its body went still. Vasile stood over it, breath coming in harsh gasps, sweat and blood dripping down his face. Bile rose in his throat as some ran into his mouth, and he spat into the dirt.

Looking around, he saw Aidan cradling his arm, injured from the heavy blows. Still the man struggled to his feet, face filled with pain.

“Magistrate,” hissed Aidan at him. “Cel Rau.”

Vasile had forgotten about the swordsman. He blinked sweat from his eyes and stumbled away from Aidan, who fumbled for his sword with his good hand—to see a scene from a nightmare.

Chalayan was screaming, cords standing out from his neck. The vormag snarled and snapped its fangs as it inched toward him. Chalayan was shielded, but the vormag held two
craftings
against the barrier, and it crackled and buckled like a thin piece of metal under a blacksmith’s hammer. Rivulets of sweat streamed down Chalayan’s face, then he howled as his legs crumpled beneath him. He knelt in the dirt, bending to the vormag’s sorcery.

Cel Rau danced between two jukari, swords flicking at them with astonishing speed. Shallow cuts covered his arms, and blood trickled down his neck from a deep gash on his head.

A third jukari was on its knees; a slash had hamstrung the creature. Bellowing and snarling, it snapped fangs whenever cel Rau came near. Almost ineffectual, it still remained an impediment to cel Rau as the other two kept him boxed in. The jukari were using their fallen companion as a barrier cel Rau couldn’t pass. The jukari were between him and Chalayan’s crafted stone.

Vasile stopped, hesitant to join the fray for fear he’d put Chalayan or cel Rau off balance. As he paused, wondering what he could possibly do to help in a sorcerous battle, the swordsman stumbled.

Deflecting one sword and sliding to his left, cel Rau stepped back to avoid a blade and moved too close to the kneeling jukari. Claws dug into his calf as the monster latched onto his leg. Hooting with delight, the other two jukari watched as cel Rau turned to slash at the hands clamping his leg.

Vasile blinked away tears. He sucked in air, afraid for cel Rau, afraid for them all. They would kill them all, these creatures from the Shattering, and suck the marrow from their bones. He would never know the truth of Gazija and his plans, never know the truth of the Indryallans and their motives. They would never make it to the emperor, and he wouldn’t be able to redeem himself.

He lurched into motion, skirting the gloating jukari. His fingers closed around the crafted stone. He needed to get close to the vormag, and hope Chalayan noticed. Vasile took a few quick strides toward the creature.

Blue light erupted from his hand. Pain flooded his mind as his arm bones cracked and twisted, and he was flung across the clearing.

Darkness descended on him, but he willed it away with strength he never knew he had, groaning and drooling as he rolled in the dirt. Shouts and curses echoed around him. He had failed; it was too late.

Vasile groaned and looked up to see cel Rau still struggling with the jukari. But Chalayan was now on his feet. The shield that had sprung up around the stone Vasile held had also distracted the vormag. The sorcerers and the beast’s positions were now reversed: the vormag was on its knees and its expression turned to fear tinged with shock as a thin tendril of violet extended from Chalayan’s shield.

The sorcerous filament penetrated the vormag’s shield, which popped out of existence. There was a sound like a thousand bees humming. The vormag’s scream was cut off—as Chalayan’s sorcery cleaved it in two. The sorcerer turned toward the jukari, and his cord whipped at them, slicing through flesh and bone as easily as a stick through water. Their howling cries died abruptly. Cel Rau ducked his head as blood sprayed across the clearing.

Vasile looked around frantically. Were there more jukari? He tried to get up, but a burning agony in his arm stopped him.

A hand touched his shoulder.

“Magistrate?” cel Rau said.

Vasile whimpered as needles of pain spread from his arm and up his side. He closed his eyes.

“Don’t move. You shouldn’t have picked it up.”

“Are they all… dead?” Vasile managed.

But cel Rau had gone.

He opened his eyes and saw the clearing painted red. Pieces of jukari lay scattered around. Mostly identifiable. His arm felt soft, as if his bones had turned to jelly. Vasile cradled it to his chest and closed his eyes again, lying back on the ground.

Behind him, Chalayan howled with glee. The sorcerer’s laughter echoed around the carnage.

“It worked!” he crowed. “Magistrate, you’re a genius!”

Footsteps approached. Water splashed onto his face, into his dry mouth. He gulped a few swallows then turned away.

“I won’t lie to you, Magistrate. You acted when it mattered, but it’s gone bad for you. You may lose the arm.”

Aidan’s blunt assessment of his situation didn’t surprise Vasile. He nodded. “The others? Cel Rau?” He groaned. Even talking caused him pain.

“A badly gashed up leg, but he’ll mend. My arm’s better than yours, but it’s still broken. You did well, Vasile. Chalayan did for the vormag when you distracted it, then the jukari.” There was consternation in Aidan’s voice, and Vasile wondered why, if the sorcerer had saved them.

He could still hear Chalayan’s laughter, and it was the last thing he heard as he lost consciousness.

•

Vasile came to, he was still lying in the same spot. His thoughts felt fuzzy, as if he’d been drinking. Someone had placed his coat under his head and propped him up against a saddle. His mouth was dry.

“Water,” he croaked, trying to pry his eyes open.

A shadow approached, and blissfully cool water splashed into his mouth.

“Not too much,” Aidan said. “Here, I’ve some medicine for you to take. It’s the best we can do to dull the pain at the moment.”

A soft pellet was pushed between his teeth, and he chewed slowly, tasting herbs and bitter medicinal compounds. More water washed it down.