Heiress: Birthstone Series Book Two (38 page)

What if I was killed in this battle? How would it affect
Aylen and my friends? What if, because of me, Lirig or Haji were killed? How
could I handle the guilt of knowing I’d brought them here? Something inside me
told me my choice had been made and there would be consequences I could never
take back. I wasn’t sure if it was instinct or just common sense, but with each
step, I knew I was marching toward a future I wasn’t sure I wanted.

“Have you changed your mind? About being with Aylen?” Lirig
asked with a nudge. I glanced at him and saw his eyes shift purposefully to
Haji. “Because no one would blame you if . . .”

“What? No!” I shook my head and for the first time since
we’d left Baen’s camp, I smiled a little. “No, Lirig. It isn’t. . . If
something happens. . .” I stopped to take a breath. “If I don’t make it back to
Aylen, tell her I loved her but I was too selfish to live without her.”

With a snort, Lirig rolled his eyes. “You’ll be fine.” He
slapped my back and moved off toward Haji. He lowered his head close to her ear
and her eyes darted to me as he spoke. I looked away.

We hadn’t gone much further when the earth rumbled beneath
our feet. Everybody halted their pace to listen. Somehow, I knew what was
coming even before it reached my ears.

It wasn’t as close as it sounded, but the explosion vibrated
through my frame, shook my legs, and jarred me out of my stupor. Behind it
followed the endless wail of destruction as walls, earth, and land shifted and
crunched, broke and collapsed. Distant screams filled the air but were drowned
in the chaos and noise of battle cries.

My eyes took in the faces of the other rebels, the terror in
their expressions. But that wasn’t all I saw as they reached for their weapons.
They wore defiance like a type of armor, only it gave them the courage to face
the blows rather than shield them. In many, I saw resigned grimaces of
recognition. They were no strangers to what we were about to face.

I reached for my spear. At the front of the group I heard
the call from our sky dweller leader.

“Indikae’s wall has been breached! Hasten! It is time!”

I pushed my way toward Haji and Lirig and we began to run
with the others, faster and faster toward the sounds of battle. Gems made their
appearance as the few who had bloodlines prepared to use their gifts. Tears
streaked the faces of several men and I knew they thought of their families,
wondering if they would see them again. I wondered the same thing. But still we
ran, on and on while the ground quaked beneath our feet and the cries of a
doomed city echoed throughout the forest.

The land sloped steeper the closer we got to Indikae but I
ignored the burn in my legs and the ache in my chest. I was closer to Aylen
with every step. She might even be on the battlefield already.

Adrenaline surged through my body and my fears drained away
with each pulse of my heart. It was too late to look back.

And then, a moment later, it really was.

Our small army rounded a bend in the trees, revealing the
city where it sprawled at the base of the mountain and halfway up its slope. We
didn’t have time to breathe before the opposing army slammed into us.

I heard the earth rumble again but before I could register
what it meant, the ground rose up in giant chunks and flew toward us.

“Drop!” someone yelled. I fell to my knees as dirt and rock
shards rained down, soiling us and plunking against our armor.

I searched for Haji and Lirig and found them nearby. Lirig
was on his feet in an instant. He scrambled for the nearest tree and began to
climb.

The opposing forces began to make their way toward us and I
prepared my spear.

“Haji, stay close!” I screamed. She ran toward me, her own
spear ready.

The first man who came at me had no gems that I could find.
I had a moment to be relieved before I heard his guttural cries and noticed
savage way he glared at me.

His sword was already stained red from those he’d fought
against but I turned my eyes to his armor. There was always someplace in the
neck that remained exposed.

He swung at me but I twisted away. Haji drew up behind him
and jabbed him with her spear. When he turned, I saw my opening. I tried not to
think as I jabbed the long tip of my spear into the side of his neck. He fell
to his knees with a curse.

“Sai!” Lirig called as the earth began to rumble again. “Use
your arrows! The brown cloak behind the . . .” Lirig’s instructions were cut
off as the ground around the tree shifted and turned. Lirig began to descend
but it was too late. The exposed roots of the tree ripped from the ground and
the tree tipped. I turned to where Lirig had pointed and saw a swarm of
warriors protectively surrounding a man shrouded in a brown cloak.

Returning my spear to its holster, I reached for my bow,
still strapped against my back. A moment later, my arrow whizzed through a
small opening in the crowd, past a small break in the warriors, and implanted
in the chest of the man with the cloak. As he dropped, the ground near us
stopped rumbling.

Behind me, I heard the tree crash to the ground, but before
I could turn to check on Lirig, he was already by my side.

He grinned and knocked me in the arm with his fist. “Nice
hit.”

“We need to get out of here. Most of the battle is near
Indikae. We’ve got to help keep them out of the city,” I said.

Haji nodded. “Lead the way.”

This time, I kept my bow ready. Lirig and Haji flanked me
from both sides as I sent arrows into the exposed flesh of any opposing soldier
within my aim. I focused first on those who were using gems and hoped it would
give someone without a bloodline a chance to survive longer.

It wasn’t difficult to know who was fighting for the king
and who was a rebel. The king’s men were much better outfitted for war and
their weapons were far superior.

The rebels’ armor was weak by comparison, but we still had
several strong gem warriors on our side, though their gems weren’t as powerful.
As we made our way deeper into the fray, the earth continued to churn under our
feet. Clouds roiled in the sky and dumped rain and snow one second, then shot
jagged webs of lightning a moment later. Warriors vanished in the midst of
battle only to reappear behind someone fast enough to thrust a blade through
their middle. I shot as many as possible.

When my last arrow was spent, I pulled my sword from the
sheath hanging at my side and began to work my way closer to the city walls.
Haji, Lirig, and I stayed back to back, fighting as we’d never fought before.

The constant screams of pain began to fade as I lost myself
in every fight. The king’s soldiers continued to pour into the land in numbers
too great to comprehend. We were in a losing battle, I was sure.

Closer to Indikae, winged men twisted and flipped in the air
while sending their own volley of arrows into the mass of soldiers. Some
ventured closer to our side of the battle when we grew closer to being overrun.
At one point, the three of us found ourselves surrounded by five heavily
armored soldiers. Two had glowing green gems set in the hilt of their swords. I
pulled one of my knives from the sheath inside my vest and flung it at the
closest man with the weakest armor as he raised his arm to lunge toward Haji.
It found its mark and he stumbled backward with a gasp. The other four
attacked. I ducked beneath two blades and swung out with my sword toward one of
the gemmed soldiers. His sword struck mine with a clang and we pushed against
one another with all our strength. Without his gem, I would have had the upper
hand, but I felt myself slipping. He was too strong.

“Sai!” Lirig yelled behind me, caught up in his own fight. I
sensed the other gemmed soldier coming up behind me but I doubted there was
anything I could do. I braced myself for a hit I wouldn’t survive. A moment
later, the beat of wings thrummed close by and I heard the soldier drop behind
me. I saw the flyer soar overhead, but his wings dissolved as he dropped to the
ground behind my foe and plunged a sword into his back. The soldier fell to the
earth next to his friend.

Before I could acknowledge his help, the flyer’s wings
reappeared and he was back in the air, twisting away from random bolts of
lightning sent his way while he used the wind to soar out of reach.

I turned back to my friends and helped them finish off the
last two soldiers before moving on.

Sweat streamed from our limbs in spite of the cold as we
pierced armor, stabbed at exposed flesh, and fought with every ounce of
strength. It took all three of us to bring down a warrior with a green gem
whenever we were faced with one. Most, however, were engaged in fighting the
flyers and some of the other gem wielders hiding behind the destroyed city wall.

Sometime later, snow began to fall, strangely gentle amidst
the raging war. It danced past our eyes and drifted to the ground, a shroud of
white atop the crimson shades of death layering the earth. For a moment, as I
put an end to my latest opponent, I glanced toward the city in wonder. The
fight for weather domination had seemed to stop for the time being. The wind
gusts, lightning strikes, and pelting rain were gone. I silently thanked
whoever had managed to gain control of the clouds and turned back to my fight.

With each stab of our weapons, we drew closer to the city
until finally, we were only a few paces from what was left of the shattered,
broken walls of Indikae. There, the bodies of the slain littered the ground in
numbers too great to avoid. We tripped past them, stumbling over the still
figures now masked in a thin layer of snow. Behind me, Haji slipped and I
turned in time to grab her arm. Lirig helped lift her, nearly stumbling
himself.

“I can’t go on like this much longer, Sai. We have to find a
place to rest,” she gasped. Her breath made small, white clouds in the air as
she spoke and her lips were a pale shade of blue.

“None of us can,” Lirig croaked. For the first time, I
noticed the red stains darkening his lower midsection.

“You’re hurt,” I said.

“It’s going to get worse if I keep moving.”

“Haji, take Lirig and find shelter inside the city. There’s
got to be people who can help.”

“But Sai. . .”

“Do it! I won’t be far behind.  I’ll make sure the path is
clear.”

Haji reached for Lirig’s hand and began to scramble over the
broken pieces of stone wall. I twisted my sword with my body and slammed myself
into a soldier headed toward them. He rolled away and jumped to his feet. I
followed suit and waited for him to approach. From the way he limped, I doubted
he’d be much of a challenge.

He sneered at me and swung his sword toward my neck. I
ducked and came back up with a swing of my own. He caught it with his weapon
but when I pushed into him, he stumbled slightly. Taking my opportunity, I
looped my foot behind his and pulled. He fell backwards and tumbled down the
pile of rubble. He didn’t stir once his body hit the ground.

I turned to climb over the rest of the wall but halted as a
familiar face passed into view.

Tereg!

Fascinated, I watched him fight three, then four men at
once, a green gem glowing hot against his throat. He was faster than any
warrior I’d seen, his sword thrusting too quickly for his opponents to stop. No
one was a match for him, as soldier after soldier attempted to take him down.
He dodged and ducked and used pure muscle to throw enemies to the ground. His
mouth was set in a hard line and his eyes burned against his pale face but
other than the moisture trickling from the sides of the head, he showed no
signs of tiring. I gaped at him, ashamed I’d never realized the kind of master
he was.

In moments, seven soldiers lay at his feet unmoving. He
wiped his brow and turned to face another onslaught but paused, his sword in
midair. He must have felt my gaze because he turned slightly and lifted his
eyes to mine.

The world seemed to slow around me as several emotions passed
through his features. His eyes widened with horror while I screamed out his
name in warning. But he didn’t glance at his newest attackers. Instead, his
expression shifted, replaced by one of grim determination, as though he’d made
a decision. He reached into his boot, pulled out a blade, and with perfect aim,
flung it in my direction. The moment it left his hand, he nodded, ever so
slightly. Then a sword struck him from behind.

I watched in silent surprise as the knife flew toward me,
spinning and glinting in the cold light. When I heard it make contact, it took
me a moment to realize I wasn’t the recipient of the blade. I spun around. Not
far behind me stood one of the king’s soldiers. In one hand he held a nearly
dead Travel Gem and I realized amidst the sounds of battle, I hadn’t heard him arrive.
In the other hand was his sword, now forgotten as he stared at the knife
protruding from his chest. He fell to his knees. Several broken pieces of stone
rolled beneath him and he tumbled down the remains of the wall. I turned back
to Tereg in time to see two fallen soldiers on the ground. They lay only inches
from where he now knelt, his arm limp and his sword motionless in his hand. A
third soldier still stood, his sword pointed toward Tereg’s bleeding, injured
body.

I heard myself scream as I stumbled through the rubble, past
the broken chunks of stone, into the battlefield. But the moment the sword
pierced Tereg’s heart, the cries of war, the clash of weapons, and my own
anguished sobs faded from my ears. The world became deathly silent.

As Tereg fell to the earth, his murderer looked at me. His face
twisted into a grimace and he readied his stance. A green gem pulsed bright
against his neck. I dropped my sword and yanked my spear from the holster. He
didn’t move, the smile still plastered to his face in confidence. But I didn’t
fear him. A battle cry from somewhere deep inside my gut tore through my chest
and ripped through my lungs. His smile faltered. With every ounce of strength I
possessed, I hurled my spear toward the soldier’s gem with deadly precision. He
gaped as the gem shattered and my weapon found its mark in his throat. I didn’t
watch as he collapsed to his knees.