Ghosts Of Alfhaven (Book 2) (14 page)

It was enough. Rage flooded his mind and washed all fear away. He roared in righteous anger and ripped the sword from his leg. It hurt. He did not care. He rushed the hound that bit Loraleth. It let go of her and turned on him. The enraged bellow that ripped from his throat visibly intimidated the creature. He felt its blood spray him as he buried both swords into its chest and tore them out again. In the same movement, he sliced the hound across the maw and brought it down.  The third dog turned on Sawain. Its jaws dripped blood. Sawain roared and threw the enemy sword like a giant knife. It soared through the air and buried itself in the monster's shoulder. It halted its pursuit, broke away from the fight, and whimpered loudly as it fled into the darkness.

Sawain roared one more time before the rage left him. When it did, overwhelming pain ran from his leg to his mind. He glanced around. His team was in as bad shape as he was. Loraleth was on the ground, bleeding profusely. Tobi was not moving. Blood dripped from a wound on Naralei's left arm. Mari sat against a tree trunk with her head slump on her chest.. Timbrel was nowhere in sight.  Jatharr limped to Tobi and knelt down beside him. Shadows covered Sawain's vision as Jatharr hung his head. The pain from his shattered leg drove him to his back. It was too much for him to handle. He blacked out.

Chapter 14

Sawain opened his eyes. He was in darkness. He could hear voices, but he did not know who they belonged to or what they said. His leg hurt. He tried to move it. Pain rippled through his body. He suppressed the scream in his throat into a grunt. The pain sharpened his senses. He was in the druid grove still. He could make out the faces around him. Jatharr, Mari, Banthan and Naralei were huddled around him. They looked relieved to see him awake. Jatharr grinned through bleary eyes.

“
He's coming around! I guess the Druid water did do some good!”

Naralei sighed, “You scared us, leader. I didn't think you were ever going to wake up.”

Sawain still had to squint to make out which of the girls was talking to him, “Naralei? What do you mean? How long have I been out?”

She hesitated before she answered, “Almost two days.”

Sawain was fully awake now. He tried to pull himself to his feet, but the pain from his leg and four pairs of hands kept him pinned to the spot.

“
What do you mean two days? Why didn't you wake me up?”

Jatharr grunted as he struggled to keep Sawain from breaking his grip, “What do you think we've been doing? Your wound was grievous. There was some sort of poison on those blades that made it hard for us to heal them. Even the gash on Naralei's arm took a day to stop bleeding. We thought you were going to bleed out at any moment. It's amazing you're even awake. We just got the bleeding to stop.”

Sawain looked at his wounded leg. His pants were torn away at the wound and the injury itself was wrapped in bloody rags and set between two sticks. The unbound part of his leg was a dark color. He was sure it did not look the way it was supposed to look.

“
Where are the others? Timbrel? Tobi? Loraleth?”

Everyone's expressions flashed worry and sadness. Though he was delirious, Sawain caught the change, brief as it was. Naralei forced a smile.

“Don't worry about them right now. We need to make sure we can get this leg of yours well enough to travel. There's no way I can fix it, but maybe Sibilach will be able to help us, if she is a magic user, like everyone says she is.”

Sawain ignored Naralei's advice, “Where are the others, Naralei? I want to know what shape my team is in.”

Naralei dropped her gaze. Everyone was silent for a moment, then Jatharr cleared his throat.

“
Timbrel's fine. He got chased up a tree in the fight. He's with Loraleth right now. She was badly wounded as well, but not by the same weapons you and Nara were. Everything shook her up badly, though. She isn't coping well.”

Sawain arched an eyebrow, “Why? What shook her so bad? I thought that, out of all of us, she was unshakable.”

Jatharr hesitated before speaking, “She came close to death, Sawain. You did too. In fact, I think Turin's favor is the only thing that kept you here. You should have died from that wound. You still could, too. Best case scenario is you loose the leg, but not yer life.”

This hit Sawain hard. The breath left him while he stared at his blackened leg. His career as a leader and hero just began. The thought of losing all of his dreams here in this grove terrified him. He could not speak for several minutes. Finally, he looked up at Jatharr again.

“What about Tobi?”

Everyone was silent. Sorrow draped heavily on their features. Jatharr sighed and closed his eyes.

“
He's gone, Sawain.”

Numbness spilled over Sawain's mind and trickled into his body. He stared at Jatharr with his mouth agape. He did not believe him. He shook his head.

“No. No, you're lying. He can't--”

A sob found its way into Sawain's throat. He refused to believe it. He tried to force himself up. The four attendants fell on him to keep him from rising. Mari begged him.

“Sawain, please, calm down. You're going to hurt yourself more. If we lose you, we've lost everything!”

Sawain was not listening to reason, “Where is he? Where is Tobi?! Let me up! Now!”

The four friends did all they could to keep the broken warrior from rising. Sawain's rage stirred within him. Red filled his eyes as he fought to get to his feet. He began to scream and thrash.

“
Get off me! Get off me! WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HE?”

Jatharr grunted as he took a blow from Sawain's left fist, “Alright, let him go, before he kills us all!”

The others reluctantly obliged and jumped back from Sawain. The pain from his leg kept Sawain on his hands and knees, but his rage fueled his determination to find his best friend. He scanned the grove. His eyes fell on a mound of rocks beside the druid pool. He crawled slowly over to it, dread filling his chest as he inched closer. Soon he was beside it. He stared at the end of the pile closest to the water. Sickness soured his stomach as he reached for one of the large rocks in the pile.

He pulled it away and several of the smaller rocks fell away with it. Tobi's face was revealed. Reality crashed down on Sawain. It was more than he could handle. He fell prone beside Tobi's makeshift grave and let out all of his grief. He cried harder than he ever had in his life. Tears fell like rain as he screamed uncontrollably.

“No! NOOOOO! Not you, Tobi! Not you!”

His mind ran through the thoughts his grieving tongue could not form.

You were my best friend. You were the first real friend I have ever had. Everyone else either saw me as a thrall or a shieldling. I even had to fight for Kyra's attention. You were always there for me. You can't be dead, you still have to prove to the world your greatness. This can't be happening. I believed in you, Tobi. You were going to be a hero. I just know it. It can't already be over. It just can't be.

Sawain wept bitterly for hours. By the time his mind finally began to cope with reality, his tongue was parched and clung helplessly to his dry throat. He could not cry anymore. There were no tears left. He just sat in front of Tobi with his broken leg outstretched. He stared at Tobi's lifeless face. He was so pale, but he looked like he was sleeping. Sawain prayed many times that he would just wake up. He never did.

Naralei eventually approached Sawain and offered him a water skin. He did not want it, but some of his reason did return to him and he knew that he needed it. He accepted it and drank deeply from its contents. The water was sweeter than normal water. It must have come from the pool he sat beside now. He handed the half empty skin back to Naralei.

“Thanks.”

Naralei took it and sighed, “I know you two were close, but please don't forget about your living friends. We need a leader right now, Sawain. We are at war. We all want revenge for Tobi, but we can't get it here. We can't get it until you are better. If we don't act soon, we'll all die out here. You need to pull yourself together. Loraleth can see you breaking down and it's not helping her at all.”

Sawain inhaled deeply to clear his runny nose, “I understand that. I know I'm supposed to be a leader, but how can I be one when this sort of thing happens to everyone who puts their faith in me? Tobi is my best friend, but he's not the first one I lost who trusted me. I just don't think I'm going to be able to do this. I'm just a thrallborn. I grew up on a farm. I'm no warrior, no great leader, no great hero. I'm just a crippled failure.”

Naralei sat down beside Sawain. She did not look at him, she merely stared at Tobi's motionless face.

“You don't really believe that, do you? Tobi did not die because you are a bad leader. Tobi died because you are a great leader. People don't die for someone they don't believe in. Tobi gave his life in battle because he cut that Bjornhund and its rider off from getting to you. They were going to flank you and you would have died for sure. Tobi stepped between you and death so that you could do what no one else can: Stop the Grey King. He would be so disappointed if he could see you now.”

Sawain sniffed again and stared at Tobi's corpse. He was taken aback by what Naralei said. He never thought that way about those who died under his command before. He smiled genuinely.

“I guess Tobi did prove himself to be a hero, after all. Thank you, my friend.”

Tears ran down Naralei's cheeks when she looked at Sawain. She smiled too.

“I guess he did. You need to go talk to Loraleth. She really needs a morale boost.”

Sawain closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to push his own feelings down and remember the rest of the team. He nodded at Naralei.

“Right. Will you help me up? My leg's a little sore.”

She snorted, “Sure. Come on.”

Naralei stood up and bent over to help Sawain to his feet. It was a slow and painful process, but they managed it all the same. They limped over to the edge of the grove where Loraleth sat. She had her back against an old oak and held her knees close to her chest. Blood-soaked rags were wrapped around her wounded shoulder. It looked badly misshapen. That arm dangled uselessly by her side. She made no acknowledgment of either comrade as they approached her or sat down beside her. She stared forward, eyes locked on Tobi's grave.

Sawain tried to think of something to say to her to get her to revive. Nothing came to him. He did not really know how to handle near death experiences, and this was at least his fourth one.

“Are you alright, Lora?”

She did not answer him. He sighed and thought harder to find words of comfort.

“We all miss Tobi. Me, especially. He was a great friend and a courageous hero. It's hard for us all, but we have to get moving again. Tobi would--”

“
I'm not going with you, Sawain.”

Sawain looked at her and blinked with shock, “What do you mean?”

Loraleth took a deep breath and slowly let it out, “I'm afraid. I'm too afraid. I don't want to die, like Tobi. I'm sorry, Sawain. I'm just not ready to give my life, especially for a war that does not concern us.”

Sawain scowled at her. Indignation boiled in his belly.

“Does not concern us? How does it not concern us? The undead are running amok in the Forest, razing villages to the ground, killing our friends and family. Please tell me how it doesn't concern us, Loraleth.”

Loraleth closed her eyes to hold back tears, “I mean, you brought this war to our doorstep. If you had never come to Alfhaven, no one would have had to die. My arm is useless now. I'm good as dead if I stay with you. I'm going back to the city and I'm taking Tobi's body with me.”

Sawain grit his teeth in anger, “You really believe that? You think it's one person's actions that led them here? Loraleth, you're talking like a fool! The Grey King's army is larger and more numerous than anything our world has seen before, and it grows with every murder his minions commit. This forest is full of life. They did not follow me here, I simply got here at roughly the same time. This war is unavoidable, and Alfhaven is feeling that truth now more than ever.”

Loraleth did not respond. She simply sat there and stared into the darkness. Sawain continued with his speech.

“You can go back, Loraleth. No one is stopping you. You can desert your team in their hour of need and be branded a coward by your people. You can let me down. You will live, but can you really live with what you've done? What will you do when the Grey King's risen army besieges Alfhaven City? When everything is ablaze and death surrounds you, when you have no choice but to face the end, you will die alone. Cowards always die alone. That will be your fate if you walk away today. Naralei, help me up. I'm tired of sitting here. We have places to be.”

Naralei looked at Sawain in shock and disbelief. She glanced at Loraleth, who did not try to hold back the tears. She rose to her feet and roughly pulled Sawain to his. Pain shot through his body like thousands of tiny knives that pierced every joint. He grit his teeth and tried to hide the excruciating pain. They limped over to Mari, Timbrel, Banthan, and Jatharr. They all looked to Sawain with nervous expressions. Sawain surmised that they overheard his talk with Loraleth.

“Alright, Ghosts, We're bloodied, battered, and broken, but not beaten. We've been sitting around for too long. We have to get to Bitterdeep Bog and find Sibilach. She's my only hope for restoration. She's also the key to avenging Tobi. Get your things together, we're moving out.”

Mari glanced at Tobi's grave, “But, what about Tobi? We can't just leave him here. We can't let them turn him into a monster!”

Sawain nodded, “I know, Mari. Loraleth has elected to take him back to Alfhaven, but I don't think that is what he would want. Before we leave, we are going to give him a pyre worthy of a true hero.”

Banthan cocked an eyebrow skeptically, “A pyre?”

Jatharr nodded sagely, “It's a tradition common in Grosgur Fells. We build a great wooden platform for fallen heroes and ignite them. It releases their spirits from their worldly duties and also prevents their bodies from being misused or desecrated by necromancers. It is a great honor to have a Pyre built in your name.”

The elves in the group looked at one another, unsure of this outlandish tradition. Sawain sensed their uncertainty.

“Tobi deserves this. He died a hero. Whether you like it or not, we are doing it. It also ensures that his body won't fall into the Grey King's hands, so what is there to argue?”