Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, 5) (14 page)

“
H
old up
.” Sanders held his fist in the air so those out of earshot knew to stop. The Captain and Shanti sat rigid, one looking out to the right, one staring straight ahead. They were using their mental power.

He glanced behind him and saw the line three horses wide extend back and around the bend. Lucius was with the prisoner near the back of the line.

“What’s here?” Sanders asked Daniels.

Daniels glanced down at his empty lap where the map usually was. He put his hand on top of his saddlebag before scrunching up his brow in thought. “Small town up ahead, I believe. It’s the only town between here and our destination. Apart from that, there are smaller camps and trading outposts, like we’ve seen already. None of those will bother with a force as large as ours.”

Sanders glanced behind him again. He remembered when he’d been taken by the Graygual and Inkna. The Graygual weren’t an honorable sort, but they protected the things they valued, and only an idiot wouldn’t value someone that blocked out mental power. They needed more people around that prisoner if the Graygual were going to make a play to recover him.

“Sanders.”

Sanders’ head snapped around at the implied order from the Captain. He directed his horse around the others and walked until he was next to the Captain’s large stallion. “Yes, sir.”

The Captain’s eyes were unfocused. “There is a host of watchful minds up ahead. We think they’re guarding the town. Within those there is one that bespeaks Graygual officer.”

“How high a rank, sir?” Sanders asked.

“He’s high,” Shanti said. “Intelligent and cunning. Not as high as the Hunter, but he’ll have skill and speed. He’ll have a few good officers under him, and he’ll be a good leader. This may be speculation, but…the Graygual aren’t known for their creativity in training.”

Sanders remembered what the Captain and Shanti had said about the inner-circle warrior. They weren’t original, but they didn’t need to be. They were excellent.

“What’s our move?” Sanders asked. “Go around?”

Shanti shook her head and looked as if she was holding something back. The Captain stared at the back of her head for a while before heaving a sigh and looking down at the head of his stallion. He seemed to be fighting with something, but Sanders had no idea what. With that woman, Sanders imagined the littlest of things became ten times more complicated.

“We’re going straight through,” the Captain said in a strong and sure voice. Sanders knew him well enough to hear the resignation in the words. “We’ll hit them hard and fast. No sneaking.”

“Sir.” Sanders braced his hand on his leg and tried not to shift uncomfortably. “All due respect, but that city is not our play. If we go through, it’ll act like a warning for the Graygual. They’ll know we’re coming, killing any chance of surprise.”

“Do you think a horde this big can go around without being noticed?” Shanti asked in irritation. She didn’t look back at him. It sounded like a repeated argument. “They’ll see us, or feel us. This isn’t like that Mugdock town. These Graygual are trained. They don’t miss much. In the time it takes us to go around, we’ll be spotted, and we’ll have an army waiting for us.”

Sanders gritted his teeth. “If you don’t mind me saying, sir.” He glanced at the silent Captain before returning his gaze to Shanti. “But there is a chance we won’t get noticed with you and the Captain running interference.”

“The interference will be noticed, as will our tracks.” Shanti shook her head. “We came this way, so we need to commit to this way. If we blaze through that town, killing or maiming everyone we can, we can be through and onward in no time.”

“The townspeople will help,” Kallon said, now directly behind them. “They are scared to act now, but when the balance is restored, they will rise up. We’ve seen this time and again. I agree with
Chulan.
”

“If the Captain had time to get to that challenge between you two, you wouldn’t be so sure,” Sanders growled.

“He’s right,” Rohnan said in that damn placating voice.

Is this what had happened to the Captain? He’d been browbeaten into this decision by the most stubborn people alive? Well, Sanders wasn’t so easy to sway. “What do you know about it, gorgeous?”

“I am not so mistrusting as you—”

“That’s enough.” The Captain shifted forward in his saddle and then sat back, his shoulders straight and broad. He’d made his decision and was gearing up.

Sanders shook his head. “I strongly urge you to reconsider, sir.”

“We should give the townspeople a chance to win back their freedom,” Sonson said, moving his horse closer. “We cannot do this alone. It sounds like it’s time to make our situation known.”

“I had wanted to keep that a secret a little longer, but it cannot be helped.” The Captain turned to Sanders with authority. “This situation is much like the one in the Mugdock lands. Prepare to attack.”

Sonson nodded at Sanders and turned his horse. Sanders turned his horse, too.
This situation is much like the one in the Mugdock lands.
The Captain had been referring to taking the city. He was talking about when they snuck onto the hillside in the dark to catch a predator without a net. It had been a fool’s errand, but had worked out exactly as Shanti had guessed.

The Captain was letting her off the leash again, and this time, all her people and the Shadow would be beside her. God help them all.

* * *

A
couple of hours later
, Shanti sat in the middle of the lane astride her horse with Cayan and the rest of the mental workers around her. The spicy simmer deep in her body heated up, growing into life. Electricity crackled as her power built, answering the deep well of energy boiling within Cayan. The Shadow came in next, spinning the power and morphing it, making it pulse around them. Then the Shumas boosted it, making it grow into a living thing. Like in the trials all that time ago, the power took on a life of its own, surging but playful. Flirty and dangerous.

“Unleash the fury!” Cayan yelled for everyone to hear. “Let’s free these people from tyranny!”

A cry went up from his men. The Shadow and Shumas hardened up, silent. Ready.

Shanti threw up her hand. “Let’s—” Her body jerked backward as the Bloody Bastard took off running. She heard a pounding of hooves beside her, and the thundering of the whole army behind. “Ruined my moment,” Shanti muttered through gritted teeth.

The ground jiggled in her vision before she shifted and braced. Her body merged with that of her horse, matching the movement and finding balance within his stride.

Feeling out in front of them, she gripped the mind of the first Inkna sentry, and the few after, in preparation. They flew around a soft bend. She
speared
the sentries as the Bastard sprinted down the lane, the ground even and smooth. Their minds winked out, only of moderate strength and no match for the might at her disposal.

A surge of power went up from the town, only a couple of hundred yards away now. The enemy had felt the sentries die and knew danger was drawing near.
Here we go!

“Haw!” She dug her heels into the Bastard’s side and gave a grunt when he put on a burst of speed. He took off like an arrow.

The town came into view. Townspeople were running for cover. Shanti spared a small part of her power and touched as many minds as she could, layering them with feelings of relief, joy, and ease. She envisioned wrapping them up in blankets of safety, making them welcome the people bearing down on their town. Finally, she injected a shot of courage. It would not diminish their fear, but it would bolster their natural inner strength. It was time for them to fight.

A line of black ran toward the edge of the town. The Graygual response time was impressive.

She
searched
, combing through the town for the
Gifted.
She found them, many in a state of urgency, some waiting anxiously. About a dozen—they were of moderate power and experience, but a shiver of fear worked through their minds as she
clutched.
Clearly they could feel the power on their doorstep. There was only one force it could be.

The Chosen.

Hating to disappoint them, she
struck
. Her power thrust out of her, slicing into soft brain matter. Agony flared before half the minds blinked out, dead. The others held on, clawing through the pain.

The gates loomed. Graygual stood in front, holding shining blades and experienced poses. Shanti ripped out her blade as an arrow whipped out from the side. Heads popped up over the walls. Bows came up.

Bursts of power flared around her now as the Shadow and Shumas were in range. Their attacks fell on the archers. Screams rent the air. A wave of arrows took to flight anyway, few of them well aimed. Someone groaned in the cluster of Cayan’s army. A gasp preceded the sound of a body hitting the ground.

“Steady!” Cayan yelled, throwing his voice over the noise.

The Bastard gave his equine war cry, unlike any other horse she’d ever heard, followed by a loud whinny as he reached the line of Graygual. He barreled through, knocking his way into the city before flinging out a foot behind to catch someone in the head. The blow cracked the Graygual skull like a melon.

Shanti slashed down with her sword as power slapped her. She shielded as the Bastard reared, having her tipping in her saddle. She threw a leg over without thinking, and jumped. She hit the hard ground and rolled, coming to a stop at a Graygual’s feet. She kicked out, catching his knee. His leg bent sideways. He screamed and fell. Still on the ground, she struck toward his chest. Misjudging, she missed. Her blade rammed through his throat.
Happy accident.

She hopped up. A sword swung through the air, right for her head. She ducked as a blast of power smacked into her. The remaining Inkna were getting annoying.

Without warning, Cayan’s huge undertow of power bubbled up and overflowed. It rolled through her and then surged out, shaking the ground as it ripped through the battle. Pain hammered through the Graygual, making them shriek. Her power swirled higher, filling the void between them with electricity.

“Blast it, Cayan,” she swore, slashing through a Graygual and running deeper into the city. He was right beside her, moving so fast she could barely see the tip of his sword. “You have to aim!”

“I reacted. Quit nearly getting your head lopped off!” he yelled back. He blocked a thrust and then kicked out to the side, catching another Graygual in the jaw. He cut through the man in front of him before ripping him out of the way, too impatient to wait for him to sink to the ground in death.

Shanti took out a knife and threw it at a Graygual who was running around a house toward her. Another knife hit the next man before Rohnan appeared by her side, his staff whirling.

“Take out the Inkna,” Rohnan yelled over the din.

“Give me a minute, would you? I’m leading the attack here!” She caught a sword strike, stepped back, and looped her sword around. The Graygual blade went flying. She stabbed him as she
searched
for the Inkna again. They weren’t hard to find. They were clustered together at the back of the city, scattering their efforts. They were outnumbered, perhaps for the first time in their lives.

Her power surged, then felt the growl of Cayan’s might and spiraled higher. Electricity crackled. Her
Gift
grew and expanded, swirling out. A low-level
boom
shook the foundations of the city. A huge explosion of power ripped out of Cayan, bringing the crowd of Graygual to their knees. Shanti’s power frizzed into white-hot points of light, raining down on the Inkna like a lightning storm. There was nowhere to hide and no hope of blocking. It pierced their consciousness and shattered their minds. The Inkna minds winked out almost as one as the Graygual before them writhed, clutching their chests and screaming in agony.

Shanti felt minds bent on violence in the sky. She glanced up at the rooftops before sending out mental warning. She pointed upward and yelled, “Archers!”

Arrows rained down before Shanti and the army could move. A slice of agony seared her arm, the arrow ripping flesh but not sticking.

Bursts of power flared, but not before answering arrows flew from the army.

“Mine!”

“I got left!”

“I’m shooting anyone I can!”

An arrow stuck into a Graygual chest, followed by two more. He fell to the ground as more arrows struck those around him, this time coming from the sides.

“The townspeople!” someone shouted behind her.

Shanti blasted the town with a surge of pride before
searching
out more Graygual.

“Back of the city,” Cayan yelled, doing the same thing.

He led the charge with her right behind. The Shadow and Shumas spread out, trying to fill the area with power in case anyone else popped out.

“Are the Graygual running?” Sanders yelled up.

“No. Not cowering, either. Waiting.” A surge of adrenaline rose up in Cayan. She suspected it was a trap.

Shanti thought of the Hunter.

Townspeople emerged from houses along the lane. These were mostly men but included a few women; they had angry or determined expressions, with tattered clothes and rusty swords. One carried a shovel. They were prepared to do whatever they had to.