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

C
ayan stood
at the top of the wall, looking out at the lands beyond. He couldn’t see the enemy waiting out there patiently, but he could feel them. They remained out of sight, sticking to the trees and foliage. Their minds were watchful but at rest, not preparing for an attack or expecting one from the city.

What were they doing here if not waging war?

“Captain, we’re set.” Commander Sterling came to a stop beside him, forcing one of the dozen female archers along the wall to make room. “Commander Sanders has the ground forces ready, as well. Shanti is monitoring the mental workers. Maggie, the woman with the exploding devices, has teams set. We’re ready for the next move.”

Cayan clenched his jaw and shifted his weight. He didn’t like making strategies when the enemy’s intentions weren’t clear. It left too much up to guesswork.

He looked along the wall, eyeing those waiting. Eyes hard and bodies squared, his people were primed and ready. Not one harbored a spark of fear, not even the women or younger men. All were determined and ready to defend what was theirs. His people would not let someone invade again. They were warriors.

A swaying branch caught his eye. Nothing but the wind.

“We wait. They want us to come to them; I can feel it.”

“They are trying to draw us out?” Sterling braced his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Or maybe they’re trying to keep us put? Cut off our supplies?”

“With so few?” Cayan shook his head. “Doubtful. They have orders. I just can’t fathom what they are.” He turned toward the stairs leading down. “We wait. Let’s see if they make a move.”

“Yes, sir.”

Cayan nodded to ready the men and women as he made his way through the city. Commander Daniels was in Cayan’s larger office, bent over the maps of the land. Various points had been dotted in blues and grays, denoting known Graygual and Inkna forces. Other colors represented their various allies, minuscule in comparison.

“What do you think, Commander?” Cayan asked as he felt those with mental power moving around the city, shifting position. Shanti was using the opportunity to train them in mental communication. It was genius, though sometimes extremely hard to grasp, even with their
Joining.

Daniels’ bloodshot eyes glanced up before he tapped the neighboring land. “I bet the Graygual have been collecting in the Mugdock city. They could trickle in there slowly until they had a large enough host, then they moved this way. That would seem the most reasonable explanation.”

It made sense. Since the Mugdock attacked all those months ago, they’d been unnaturally quiet. Cayan’s traders had remained unmolested; they’d had no more threats, and reported no real sightings. “You think the Graygual wiped them out after the Inkna made use of them?”

Daniels straightened up, wincing as he rolled his shoulders and massaged his neck. “There is no way to tell, but it seems likely. We’ve been so preoccupied with the larger issues, we haven’t checked in with our turbulent neighbors. Who’s to say what has been going on?”

“That could be why the Hunter was left unchecked. Xandre had his eye on the situation from close enough to get his prize if it was going to be easy pickings. I never thought he would be the kind of Commander to allow important pieces to slip through the cracks.” Frustration welled up in Shanti suddenly, turning into violent energy. She was getting restless. She hated waiting for an enemy to come to her. Cayan knew how she felt, but he also hated chasing an enemy that might be laying a trap.

His hands thudded against the desk as he leaned over the map. “He couldn’t have assembled a large force in the Mugdock lands. Not with the host he had in the Shadow Lands. There hadn’t been enough time to move that many people.”

“That many
valuable
people,” Daniels said. “Kallon gave me the impression that he encountered a great many men who were little better than militia. They were starved out of their lands and given very little choice but to join the Graygual army. The Shadow Lands had good warriors and enlightened tacticians. That doesn’t mean the men waiting at our walls are of the same caliber.”

“But why are they waiting?” Cayan pushed off the wood and crossed to the window. The street beyond was empty, nothing but sunshine gracing the cobblestone. “Anything new from Burson?”

“Just the latest urgent plea to get moving.”

“Have any other reports come in?”

“The land is strangely quiet.”

Cayan turned around to find Daniels was looking at him with an unreadable expression. His shoulders were tight, and not just from the fatigue of constant planning. Something was worrying him.

Cayan thought about the port city of Clintos after they’d returned from the Shadow Lands. The people there kept to themselves. Only low murmurs and the clink of eating utensils graced the inn’s common area, where dice games and the raucous laughter of the drunk would usually vibrate through the space. The town had been plagued by the Graygual, and yet they were lying low. Sonson had said they were waiting for the Wanderer.

Was everyone?

The situation crystallized in Cayan’s head. Everything from the solemn looks of strangers to the glimmer of hope in the downtrodden. From the desperate acts of the Hunter when he was trapped to the hesitation of the army at their doorstep. Everyone, including the enemy, was waiting for someone to push back.

They were waiting for Shanti.

She was the ultimate wild card, entirely unpredictable. Things she found so logical were chaos to most, including her own people, and yet her plans always seemed to work. Even nearly succumbing to death in the burnt lands worked to her advantage—she had found him, and grown stronger.

She was the key, and he was holding her back. He was trying to tame the wildness in her instead of embracing it. He needed to set her free, hold on, and take what came. It was the only way.

Cayan moved toward the door. “Put the plans in action. We’re leaving.” He paused with his hand on the cold metal of the handle. “And Daniels…”

The graying man looked up.

“We’ll head to the Mugdock lands first. We need to clean out that infestation and then plant some eyes there in case they come back.”

* * *

T
wo incredibly short days later
, armed men waited at the gates of the city at dawn, ready to ride out and cut down the enemy. Preparing had been a hectic affair, all while the enemy was growing in size outside the walls. They hadn’t attacked, though. A few had ventured closer each day, and each had been brought down by a well-aimed arrow.

“I had no idea you were this ready,” Shanti said from beside Cayan. “This horse is too tame, though. It does run, right?”

Cayan glanced at her warhorse, one of the best they had. It waited under her patiently, as it was supposed to do. Her own wild horse would have to stay behind. The gash in its chest wasn’t life-threatening, but would severely hinder taking a rider. “Ideally, I would’ve loved to stay within the city and somehow also beat Xandre, but that wasn’t logical. We’ve been preparing for this day since we took our city back.”

Cayan glanced behind him and saw Sanders walk up the line of horses. His Commander paused at the mare bearing Alena. He said a couple words Cayan couldn’t hear, nodded, and continued. “I worry about taking such inexperienced people.”

Shanti followed his gaze before checking her weapons. “Ruisa was more inexperienced. It’ll be fine.”

Ruisa hadn’t been his choice, either. It had been Burson’s.

“We’re ready, sir.” Sanders threw a leg over his horse’s saddle.

Cayan braced. There were so many ways this could go wrong.

He looked at the men and women lining the walls. The Shadow he was leaving behind stood firm and ready, their power unyielding and their viciousness unmatched. They’d protect this land as their own—hearing Sonson speaking with them had confirmed that. Their home would be protected.

Cayan had to make a move. There was no other way.

“Let’s hope there’s no one waiting just outside our mental range.” Cayan looked up at Commander Sterling, who was watching for Cayan’s signal. Cayan nodded.

“Open the gates!” Sterling put his hand in the air for the archers.

“He’s testing you,” Shanti said for what seemed like the millionth time in the last two days. “He’s waiting to see how long it’ll take you to engage.”

“Xandre couldn’t possibly be willing to sacrifice this many men.” Cayan tightened his grip on the reins.

“We only saw one higher-ranked officer. Just one. I bet these men aren’t his best stock.” Shanti stared down at her horse again. “I never thought I’d be sorry that I had complete control of a horse. It’s boring.”

“The things you bitch about,” Sanders growled.

A wave of expectation assaulted Cayan as they waited. Horses started to fidget. The grind of the gate echoed off the buildings behind them.

“No movement,” Sterling said from the wall.

The enemy minds that were awake remained idle. They obviously couldn’t see the gates opening, and without mental ability, they couldn’t feel Cayan’s people gearing up.

“Strike fast, kill quickly.” Shanti took her sword from its sheath. “If there
is
someone waiting beyond our range, we don’t want to be half-dead with fatigue when we face them.”

A flare of
ready
came from the south gate, followed quickly with the west.

“Why is Sayas’ team taking so long?” Shanti turned as if she could see across the city.

The last flare filled Cayan’s awareness. “Move out!” He urged his horse forward, walking until he was out of the gate, and then started to trot.

Shanti fell behind immediately.

“Kick its sides!” Sanders shouted.

“I did!”

“S’am, you’re doing it wrong!” Gracas said.

Bursts of what Cayan could only describe as realization rose up from the enemy, followed by confusion, rage, thrill, and action. This was not a synchronized army, but they knew battle was coming. Right now.

“Charge!” Cayan shouted, sword in hand.

Shanti was beside him a moment later, and the others fanned out behind. Trees whipped by as the enemy scrambled, probably only starting to realize what was happening when it was too late. The thunder of hooves soon competed with shouts and yells as they penetrated the beginning of the enemy lines.

An arrow zipped by from behind before striking a black uniform mid-chest. Another caught an enemy in the arm. Up ahead the Graygual camp was a frenzy of activity, men stuffing their arms into protective tunics as they rushed for their horses, while others ran forward with bows in hand.

“Cut ’em down!” Cayan burst into the center of their camp with his sword already in motion. He sliced through a black uniform as his
Gift
rolled before him, not strong enough to kill, but enough to immobilize. Men screamed. More power struck to the sound of louder screams, making men sink to the ground.

“Take them out,” Shanti yelled as she jumped from her horse. She descended on a cowering group who held their heads in agony. Rohnan dropped down beside her, his staff twirling in his hands.

Cayan directed his horse through the tents, catching a man with two stripes as he ran. Two more sprinted away, one with his shirt only half on. They were not preparing to fight—they were running for their lives. These must’ve been the militia Kallon was talking about.

A figure jumped out from behind a tent with an arrow swinging upward. Cayan kicked his horse, making it lurch forward, trampling the man. He took his own bow and nocked an arrow before turning in his saddle, away from the running men. He loosed toward someone with three stripes running at one of the Shadow’s backs.

His horse neighed as Cayan tugged the reins to the right, running out of the cluster of tents, aiming for another group. He released an arrow, catching a man running at him on a finely bred horse. To his right, a man fell from his saddle, an arrow in the side of his neck. Alena emerged from the trees, quickly nocking another arrow.

Great shot.

Spirals of fear announced the presence of enemy from the side, hidden in the trees. Flushing them out was quick and easy, but as Cayan stared down the length of his arrow at the two dirty and terrified men, he couldn’t relax his fingers for the kill shot. He couldn’t cut down two men who might not have had any other option but to join the Graygual army. They probably didn’t even know why they were fighting, or who. They were just trying to survive. Like Shanti was.

“Damn it!” Cayan dropped the bow before yanking on the reins. That decision might very well be the death of him in the end, but he wouldn’t sacrifice his humanity. If he did that, he would lose no matter the outcome of the war.

His bow sang at the sight of the next multi-striped Graygual. Then the next. They came at him with three or four stripes, straight-faced and hollowed-eyed. A sword-wielding blond warrior exploded from the trees to his right, aiming for two Graygual on foot. They faced him with fierce expressions before the Shadow hacked down at them, catching one before his upswing caught the other.

Behind him ran a riderless wild horse. It whinnied before it ran on, the white bandage around its chest peeling away in places. Shanti’s horse had gotten free somehow, and followed everyone out of the city. The thing was crazy, but it had possibly saved her life in their charge. Cayan would give it a lot of allowance for that.