Sorceress (Book 2) (11 page)

The disheveled traitor grinned and replied, “The Master is here and will snap you like a twig. Your walls are nothing to him!”

Drawing his long knife, the crossbowman took one step forward and rammed it into the man’s chest while saying, “Your words may be true, but you’ll not live to see if they are.”

The dying nomad was dropped over the side of the wall and his killer began shouting orders for the stunned men to get to their positions. She still felt ill at ease, angry, but ready to fight. The conflicting feelings lasted until a runner came up the stairs and pointed at Kayleigh.

“Your unicorn was attacked. It’s hurt, but it killed the two men.”

Taking the steps two at a time, Kayleigh rushed to Rheysurrah’s side. A man stood next to the proud male holding a blanket against her mount’s side.

“Let me see the wound,” she commanded.

As the soldier pulled the blanket back, she examined the wound. They’d tried to slash his neck, but Rhey had better reactions and they’d gotten him on the side instead. It answered the question of where the pain in her shoulder had come from and made her wonder if her actions on the wall had alerted her unicorn.

“Rhey, I’m going to seal the wound. I’ll try not to hurt you,” Kayleigh said.

The unicorn snorted and nodded his head as Kayleigh used her flame powers for a second time to cauterize a bleeding injury. This time was a little different as she suffered some of the same pain through the bond as she burned the wound shut. Fighting off her own tears, she dug a jar of salve from the saddlebags and spread it over the area.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking into the deep pools of his eyes.

When he nodded once more, she continued, “Good, because it looks like the battle is starting any minute. They’ve got something Orsa called a manticore out there. It’s big and it flies, and if it’s going to attack somewhere, I think it’s going to be here.”

Despite all their misgivings and the things they had yet to settle, he gave his reassurance through the bond that he was with her. It was all she could ask. She felt his anxiety about the coming battle. His last fight at Annabeth’s side hadn’t gone very well and Rhey’s nerves were showing. It was an odd turn of events. Kayleigh had been in awe of Majherri’s unflinching determination when it came to combat and she was surprised…almost shocked that she sensed Rhey’s fear. He wasn’t Majherri anymore than she was Annabeth. With their bond, they could not hide from this stark revelation and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Voices from the wall above cried, “They’re coming! To arms! To arms!”

It was her turn to be the determined one. She climbed into his saddle and was careful not to touch his wound.

“We’re about as poorly matched as any rider and unicorn have ever been,” she said to him, acknowledging their misgivings. “But I will fight with you today and we will live to see tomorrow.”

She backed away from the gate. Rheysurrah wouldn’t be able to get up the stairs and onto the walls. Shiftla wasn’t designed like other cities to allow Battle Maidens access. Kayleigh had to settle for hurling fireballs blindly over the walls. The dead nomad’s words returned to her mind, whispering that his Master was here. Other than Kayleigh and the rest of the riders, there were no sorcerers of any type in this city. From the sky on his flying creature, he’d be able to kill at will.

Something was nagging at her mind as she felt the first signs of the charging horses. The ground shook with the pulse of thousands of hooves hitting the ground each second. Something about the tactics seemed off and didn’t make sense. She thought back to everything she’d been taught about strategy and warfare. They had no infantry or war machines!

“How are they going to get through the walls?” she said and realized the answer the moment the mumbled words left her mouth. The rest of what the nomad said raced into her mind. She’d assumed that when the man said the walls were nothing to the wizard outside, it meant that he had a flying beast and could easily get over them.

While that was true, it wasn’t what the assassin meant.

“Get away from the gate!” she cried, but her shout was lost in the massed screams of the men as three bolts of lightning swept across the men above her. Dozens died from the energy and the stonework became chunks of fast moving debris injuring more.

She saw the monstrosity flying high in the air as the human on it raised his staff. Raw magical energy coalesced around it and formed a large ball. Instead of a staff, it now looked as if the man carried a giant mace. With one swift motion, the man hurled the energy at the already weakened section above the gate.

The impact and detonation forced Rheysurrah to stumble backward. If they’d remained where she’d mounted him, there was little doubt in her mind that they would be dead already.

The gate still stood, but most of the stone on the right side had been blasted away and she could see the outside through the breaks. Only a pair of riders could get through, but she could already see a second ball forming. It would destroy the left side and the gate, while still almost completely intact, would fall with no support around it.

She stood on the main avenue and realized that in moments, a mass of cavalry would be pouring into the city like a pack of wild animals. They’d be trampled if they remained where they were.

“Off the main street, Rheysurrah! Hurry! Circle around and head up to the wall from the right side.”

Rheysurrah followed her commands. It was easier said than done with Orsa’s peasant army already showing its true colors. The flying wizard wouldn’t waste his energy destroying all the walls. She could put the walls protecting her one side and her shield on her left arm would protect the other. Most of the enemy would head straight down the main street and if the two could survive the initial wave that came in their direction, they might stand a chance.

By the time they’d reached the side street, the gate had collapsed and the horsemen were already riding free into the city. A pitiful group of arrows met them from the few remaining souls on the walls, but Kayleigh saw them stop as the manticore landed on the wall and began racing along the top, forcing those who’d stayed to be crushed or leap down to injury or death. In horror, she watched as it jumped over her head and landed on the top of a flat stone building and bounded across the roof at speeds an air maiden would be jealous of.

Kayleigh could now say she knew what a manticore looked like – the lion’s body, furiously beating dark leathery wings, and that curled scorpion’s tail thrashing about with a mind of its own. It was the stuff of nightmares.

Rheysurrah couldn’t run at his full speed, as he had to leap over bodies and dodge the fallen debris. A mental jolt from him pulled Kayleigh’s attention from the manticore to a more immediate threat. She saw a group of horsemen fighting with some of the soldiers and armed peasants and she was coming up from behind them. Fortunately, none of the city dwellers were mounted. That made it easy. She aimed her fire high and sent two quick fireballs from her hands. The first overshot, but the second smashed into a rider and sent him down to the ground.

Fire was the great equalizer and the nomads spun into retreat, only to find themselves trapped between more of their number and the now advancing city militia. She used her flames again and again to great effect on this logjam of people and animals. It was brutal and grotesque and she felt sick to her stomach as the sounds of human and horse screams blended into one. The soldiers with her fought bravely, but even they began to fall. Several were trampled when one of the horses turned and bolted into them. Rheysurrah barely dodged the deranged animal as it barreled past.

It took precious minutes, driving the invaders back. There was no sign of the manticore and the wizard riding it. One arrow bit deeply into her shield as another clanged off her chest plate. In a slight panic, she unleashed a powerful wave of flame that made both of them dizzy. Her unicorn suffered from the drain as well and she banged into the side of the building next to them.

Sucking in a calming breath, she used the shield to protect both of them while she gathered her wits. Her blast had set two buildings on fire and they needed to press forward before it spread.

Her unicorn responded to the situation and pushed ahead, using his front hooves like a warhorse and his horn like a lance. Kayleigh witnessed the look of frozen horror on a man’s face as Rhey’s horn drove into his midriff. Acting on instinct, she struck him with the flat of her shield and sent him down underneath her mounts ever-moving hooves.

The nomads didn’t ride trained warhorses. They were light cavalry at best and were driven back by the fury of an intelligent four-legged fighter making full use of his abilities. Kayleigh decided to save her strength and drew Annabeth’s scimitar. She slashed whenever she had an opening and gripped her mount’s frame tightly with her legs to hold on whenever he reared. Riding while fighting was something the third years had spent considerable time on. It was a coordinated dance that the two refined over time and learned to fight as almost a single entity.

Unfortunately, this was their first time as “dancing partners.” She and Rheysurrah were a drunken brawler in comparison as they pushed up the narrow street. It was more like a frantic run through thorn bushes, leaving the pair with cuts and bruises.

They broke into a clearing, chasing after two who had turned and retreated. There were none barring the way as no others had come down this street. One of them hurled a knife which was blocked by the shield, but served to slow her down. They’d come out near where the gate used to be and Rhey dodged the stone debris. Meanwhile, Kayleigh’s vision locked onto a pair of white unicorns. A badly injured one stood protectively over a female shape as the other and her rider circled. The maiden still in the saddle held a drawn bow with no arrow on the string and that meant the crumpled form on the ground was her friend Tamera. The empty string twanged and the riderless unicorn bucked, hit by the magical arrow.

“Garrett!” Kayleigh hissed and kicked Rheysurrah into a gallop. Tamera’s unicorn saw them and made a threatening move to keep the attacking rider distracted. It took another invisible arrow in its side, but left the bewitched air maiden momentarily weaponless.

They were on them before the air maiden could properly react. Garrett wheeled her mount with the speed of a well-disciplined warrior, but Rhey and Kayleigh were already there. The bow blocked Kayleigh’s downward scimitar slash, but Rhey’s horn slammed into her armor and tossed the woman from the saddle. Kayleigh’s left leg was momentarily crushed between the two colliding unicorns and she felt a good deal of pain.

Just as the group was beginning to untangle themselves, Tamera’s injured unicorn joined the fray rearing and bringing a hoof down onto the one ridden by Garrett. Kayleigh tumbled out of the saddle just to prevent her leg from being pinned again. Staggering to her feet, she ran to where Garrett was just starting to rise onto unsteady feet. The air maiden tugged at a hatchet hanging from a loop on her belt and tried to block Kayleigh’s swing. Perhaps it was the adrenaline or the sight of her friend, face down on the ground, but her strike was every bit as hard as when she’d fought that mock duel against Andrea Hawthorne. The hatchet took some of the momentum from it and turned the blow slightly, but was knocked from Garrett’s hand. The rest of the force carried Annabeth’s weapon against the side of the woman’s helmet.

Garrett dropped like a sack of grain and made no move to rise. Garrett’s unicorn bleated like a sheep being slaughtered and stumbled around. Rhey smacked into the side of the unicorn, herding it to one side. Tamera’s unicorn had dropped down to the ground and was flailing with his legs trying to rise.

Kicking the hatchet away, Kayleigh bent down and took the knife from the woman’s belt. She pulled the helm off and lingered long enough to see that the woman was still breathing before running to Tamera’s side.

The earth maiden bled from three separate invisible arrow wounds, but none seemed to be life threatening except for the amount of blood she was losing. Kayleigh called on her fire magic once more and sealed the wounds, causing Tamera to cry out in agony.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Kayleigh babbled.

Through gritted teeth, Tamera growled and said, “S’okay, just hurry and get to my unicorn. Wirnax is in worse shape.”

Kayleigh finished and started running to the downed unicorn, hoping there was something she could do, but the ground shook, causing her to stumble and when she looked up, the manticore was between her and Tamera’s unicorn. She caught wind of a foul odor and swallowed hard at the terrifying sight in front of her.

“Surrender or die!” the man on the beast’s back shouted. Cloth wrappings hid the sorcerer’s face, but the glowing staff he carried promised to make good on his threat.

Realizing that she had one shot at surprising the man with her strength, Kayleigh thrust her hand out and pushed all the flame she could muster at the man. The man pulled his staff across his body and the air between them warped as he summoned some kind of eldritch barrier. The wizard, the manticore, and even Kayleigh expected her attack to fail when it hit the shield, but to everyone’s surprise, it passed through and hit the creature. It roared in pain and bucked hard, leaping back some twenty feet.

The man wasn’t injured, but the beast was scorched on its shoulder and right wing. The sorcerer yelled, “How did you …,” before trailing off and gesturing at her with his staff. A bolt of lightning shot forward and Kayleigh dived to her left. She felt the energy pass through her side and was certain she would be dead in a moment.