Sorceress (Book 2) (2 page)

With only seconds to spare, their magic snapped like a bowstring drawn too tightly, and flames cocooned both of them. Through the heat distortions, Majherri saw the beast squat protectively and flex those dreadful sets of arms. They passed through the barrier and the flames exploded into a fiery flash of death. Unable to see into the eye of the inferno, Majherri leapt based solely on instinct and thrust his horn forward, hoping to drive it into wherever would do the most damage.

With a thunderous jolt, unicorn met beast in the midst of the screams of the men who helped bring this creature forth. Pain was felt on both sides. The hairless chest of the monster was some form of chitin, thicker than skin, like the outer shell of an insect. The horn sliced through it and slammed off of a bone before inching further. A searing burst of agony traversed Majherri’s entire body, through the core of his very being. He knew that his horn had cracked.

Danella had lost her shield in the impact. With Majherri thrashing against the netherbeast’s chest, his rider gripped her sword with both hands, encased it in bright flames, and hacked at the nearest head of the abomination with a strength borne of fury.

The beast cried out, and Majherri prayed to whatever powers might answer that the injuries they dealt it would be fatal. If something had heard, it did not heed. Majherri brayed in pain as clawed hands raked across his haunches. Seconds later he was flung aside bodily and tossed into the air like a bale of hay. Even injured, the netherbeast possessed an unimaginable strength.

The momentary sense of weightlessness ended with his being dashed to the ground. Danella no longer resided in his saddle. Majherri thought that might be a blessing as surely his weight would have broken her leg, if not more.

Struggling upright, the unicorn winced at his injuries. Immediately, he looked for Danella and found her sprawled on the dirt with one of the still-living priests towering over her. She was obviously injured as well. He could feel it through their bond.

Despite, or perhaps because he’d been closest and shielded by the bulk of the creature, the one Majherri figured to be the leader still lived. The man tended to his wounds, flinging the burning rags from his face. Majherri charged at the man by his rider, but the injured creature lurched forward and barred his way. Three of its arms clutched at the area where his horn bit deep. Thick ichor poured from the wounds.

Twice more the monster blocked his path, but the third time it was the hairless man with tattoos on his skull and smoldering robes holding a knife at the throat of the barely-conscious Danella that halted his approach.

“Yield,” he commanded.

Majherri hesitated, unsure of what to do. Without Danella to use the magic inside of him, he was at a severe disadvantage and saw no way out.

Lowering his head, he prepared to charge once more. Surrender was not an option. They would both die, but at least they would be together. Whatever plans had been made regarding that spawn were undone by the injury he’d dealt to it. He was certain of that much.

“No, Majherri!” Danella’s raspy voice called out as she struggled in the man’s grasp. “Run! Warn them! We’re dead anyway, so do your duty as a scout. Avenge us!”

The bald man gestured and a bolt of arcane energy arced from his palm and struck Danella in the face. She collapsed, but the unicorn sensed she still lived. A second bolt tried to strike him, but Majherri darted out of the way. He neighed loudly three times, hoping his rider could still hear.

Turning into the darkness, Majherri fled.

Leaving Danella to her death was the hardest thing he’d ever done. When they killed her, the wasting would slowly claim him. However, he would live long enough to reach other unicorns and alert them to the ancient evil stirring in this forsaken area of the Blessed Continent.

Majherri looked over the oasis encampment. It had been seven seasons since he’d ridden away from the fight with the netherbeast. The wizards had not killed Danella, but done something much worse. His rider now worshipped the very man who summoned the creature. The man’s identity revealed as the mad usurper, Count Darius – a wizard believed dead and gone.

Their victory over the monster forced the mage to return the foul beast to the realm from whence it came, but he’d kept the abomination’s still beating heart as a relic and planned to call upon it again soon. To make matters worse, Darius found a method of using that heart with his forbidden magics to subvert the free will of desert warriors as well as Danella and a handful of other Battle Maidens. Majherri knew now that her corruption had traveled across their bond, and drove him mad as he raced for help. His memories and mind had been crushed under the hoof of that sorcery.

His bond with Danella suffered from her subjugation. Instead of the partnership of equals shared by most of his kind with their riders, she could now dominate him just as she, in turn, was controlled by the words of Darius. It made him furious.

With his memories frayed and undone like some ancient human tapestry, he’d thought Danella dead. He’d mourned her and somehow even forged a bond with a second rider, something considered impossible by his entire race. He was ashamed to admit it, but Danella’s death back then might have been a better outcome.

Kayleigh Reese was the second maiden’s name. She did not possess the adventurous spirit of Danella Lynch. Instead, the girl was the embodiment of innocence and purity. They’d bonded by chance, for she was several seasons older than the humans who usually bonded with his kind.

Though the youngest of the children he’d sired had left The Academy, Majherri found himself returning with Kayleigh. The second time was a wretched experience for both of them. The herd, even T’rsa, had treated him like an outsider, but his second rider had it worse. While Danella’s sister Meghan punished Kayleigh for taking her sister’s place, the humans at The Academy tried to break her like a common horse. When she failed to live up to their expectations, they put her in with the older students, where she floundered like a fish deprived of the water’s safety.

Together, he and Kayleigh plotted an escape, but Danella used her lingering bond with him, aided by more dark magic, to whisk them and several others through the magic portals to the wrong location.

Kayleigh had shown that she did have a warrior’s soul, and together, they had even managed to produce a fireshade in combat against a pair of sand trolls and the nomads working with them.

Danella reclaimed him by force, and the two females had fought, both nearly dying. He fled, carrying a grievously-injured Danella from the scene of that battle, leaving Kayleigh to her doom at the hands of the forces Danella brought with her.

Kayleigh’s fate weighed heavily on his mind. His bond with her was severed by Danella’s actions, but she could not stop him from worrying about the younger woman. From a distance, he’d seen evidence of a powerful magic, perhaps even a fireshade, and Kayleigh was the only person there who was capable of that, but how she’d done it and if she’d even survived remained a mystery. She was a kind girl who certainly didn’t deserve to die alone in the cruel, uncaring sands at the hands of base fiends.

Majherri stared at the huge pavilion where Darius held court with his manticore, a winged lion possessing a scorpion’s tail. His rider was inside, basking in the wizard’s presence and adoring him. It sickened him to see her like that, and he’d retreated to the dunes. He wished to flee, but Danella could force him to her side with a simple thought. This was the extent of the “freedom” he now enjoyed.

Oddly enough, Danella’s mood shifted into uncontrolled rage. He felt her mania wash across his mind and tried not to let it drive him into frenzy. Twice he started down the dunes to find out what was wrong, but each time he stopped.

If she wants me by her side, she will call. I’d prefer not to see her like this.

The sun crept above the horizon as Danella’s fury finally abated. Dawn had arrived. Majherri used to look on in eagerness at the start of another day. Now, he was uncertain and not in control of his life.

Minutes later, a lone human limped up the dunes toward him. The male wore several layers of light protective wrappings and was a warrior in the service of the sorcerer below. He was clearly injured, and though Majherri shouldn’t care whether the man suffered, he nevertheless trotted to the human.

The man’s eyes were the only visible feature through the cloth covering his face. They were not completely consumed by darkness, like those enthralled by the heart of the netherbeast. Majherri’s nostrils flared, and he smelled burnt flesh as he drew closer.

“You are Majherri,” the warrior said. His voice sounded youthful.

The unicorn nodded and circled around the nomad. His clothing was frayed and scorched on his back, and the unicorn swiftly concluded that Danella’s whip was the cause of the man’s wounds.

“I am Rahzir. They say you can understand my words, so I would speak with you. The witch in the desert spared me and said to deliver a message; I have done so and paid dearly for it. Your rider would have killed me if not for the fact that my uncle is a commander in our leader’s cavalry. The leader himself stayed her hand. The witch said that she would come for Danella Lynch one day and take you back from her.”

Majherri digested the young warrior’s message.
The witch?

It took the unicorn a moment to realize that Kayleigh yet lived and swore revenge against Danella. He was now a prize in a struggle between two humans.

As the young warrior limped away to mend his injuries, Majherri rejoiced that Kayleigh still lived, but tempered his elation with the knowledge that his rider would sense his feelings. At first, he wished she would run away from here. Danella would surely kill her, or even worse, make him be part of the girl’s death. Then, he recalled the previous encounter between the two and how Kayleigh had prevailed. Even he, who knew Kayleigh better than anyone else walking this land on four legs or two, had fallen into the trap of underestimating her.

There was more to Kayleigh Reese than anyone imagined. That much he now knew. Perhaps there was still hope.

Kayleigh and Rheysurrah stopped for a break. The newly-joined unicorn and rider could have easily continued for another hour, but the third member of their group slowed them down. It was a brown horse that Kayleigh had taken from a nomad she’d killed. The horse had been ridden hard by the previous owner and hadn’t received much rest since the young woman had claimed it.

The last thing she sensed before dismounting was Rheysurrah’s irritation. The male unicorn didn’t bother hiding it from her. Kayleigh wasn’t certain if it was because of the delay while she tended to what he considered a lesser beast, or if his ire was directed at her.

Bonding with Majherri had been such a wonderful surprise,
she thought as she led Brownie over to some recently gnawed on scrub brush.

“They were here, hopefully not too long ago,” she said aloud. Her unicorn snorted in agreement and found a bush of his own.

Looking at the cluster of fresh tracks in the mixture of sand and dirt, Kayleigh took a deep breath and tried to recall when her life was simpler. She thought of a time when surviving in a hostile environment meant ignoring the glares and sharp words of Helden’s gossips, and not racing across an unforgiving wasteland. Now she searched for her lost classmates, and was trying to avoid an army of desert warriors who had pledged themselves to some sorcerer playing the role of a god. The verbal jabs from the females of Helden withered into nothing by contrast.

For her, it hadn’t been even a full year since she’d bonded with Majherri on a narrow strip of beach in that quaint little fishing village. If she were there right now, she’d hurl herself into the water for as long as it took to remove all the dirt from her body. Her blonde hair was better off covered by the wrappings protecting her head from the sun. A good portion of the left side of her tresses had been burnt during her battle with Danella and the nomads.

Clasping her hands together, Kayleigh drew upon the magic inside of her. It had always been there, like a tiny reservoir of energy, and she’d never noticed it.

Her hands began to fill with moisture. She drank the cool water quickly and beat back her thirst. For water maidens, this was one of the first things they were taught.

The only problem with her water summoning was that she was supposed to be a fire maiden. The shocking truth was still settling over her. People, like that vile Rebekah Morganstern who told her time and again that she shouldn’t even be with the High-King’s unicorn cavalry, were actually closer to the truth than they’d imagined. Kayleigh Reese wasn’t really a Battle Maiden. She was likely a sorceress, or as that one nomad had called her, a witch. Magic wielders were extremely rare, and were equally feared and revered at the same time.

Both Majherri and Rheysurrah possessed a much larger mass of magical power inside their bodies, but with her new understanding, she recognized the unicorns’ magic was unrefined. The mass floating inside her body appeared to be tightly bound and more concentrated. From what little she’d been taught about mages, their magic was capable of incredible bursts of power but was very draining. Her own experiences confirmed this fact. She’d been able to perform a full fireshade without Majherri. However, the ordeal left her reeling.

The next three handfuls of water went to the horse standing anxiously beside her. It carried the few possessions she had left in this world, and some of the items from her classmates that she’d recovered from the site where they’d been ambushed. That ambush had taken the life of Rider Annabeth Welsh, one of the few people she called a friend. The fallen fire maiden’s scimitar was strapped to Kayleigh’s side. It was Annabeth’s chosen weapon, and some of her magic still resided inside the blade. Putting her hand on the pommel, she could almost sense Welsh’s presence.

Then again, I’ve been standing in the heat way too long
,
Kayleigh thought as she summoned more water for Brownie.

Once she finished, the young woman looked back at her new unicorn. Even though she was not touching him, she sensed Rheysurrah’s displeasure. He stared her down and turned his back to her with his tail swishing furiously.

By the Goddess! What did I do now?

It took her a minute before she figured it out. When she did, she wanted to smack her head with her open palm for being such an idiot.
I watered the horse before I watered him!

Isolated on the Sacred Island, Kayleigh had learned many things about how to take good care of a unicorn, but she’d never really been responsible for taking care of a unicorn as well as a different animal at the same time. From Majherri, she’d learned how full of pride unicorns could be. Inadvertently, Kayleigh had just insulted him.

“Sorry, Rheysurrah,” she addressed him and walked slowly to his side. “I was worried about Brownie’s condition. I’m no expert, by any stretch of the imagination, but she looked pretty bad. I didn’t mean to slight you.”

Her apology seemed to mollify him, and he drank the water she offered. Another thing drilled into her head from her time at The Academy was that she should nurture the bond between her and the unicorn, because as the instructors all said, “There would never be any other like it.”

Recent events had proven those wise words wrong … or perhaps not. Her bond with Majherri had been shredded by Danella’s crazed strength, and she had forged a new bond with Rheysurrah. Based on their shared status as outsiders, Kayleigh had trusted Majherri without reservation. With Rheysurrah, their shared common ground was limited to a deep affection for Annabeth. Beyond that, Majherri hadn’t liked Rheysurrah, and she could tell the feeling was mutual. Rhey mated with Majherri’s sister, T’rsa, who had been responsible for preventing Majherri’s yearly mating. T’rsa’s rider, Captain Meghan Lynch, was one of the main reasons Kayleigh and Majherri had decided to leave The Academy. The bitter feelings weren’t something that would fade away anytime soon.

Rheysurrah looked at the horse and snorted.

“Yes.” She didn’t need to be touching him to understand him. “Brownie is slowing us down, but you don’t want to carry all that stuff anyway. When we get somewhere she can survive, we’ll turn her loose.”

The horse had saved her life. She should return the favor. It was the least Kayleigh could do.

Her new unicorn shook his head and snorted. Unicorns weren’t very materialistic. Rhey likely wanted her to discard everything and just ride. She wasn’t prepared to do that. Maybe it was just childish foolishness, but she’d lost so much already. It would be easy to wallow in self-pity, but it served no purpose. There’d be time for that later.

She grabbed the rope holding the horse and tied it to the saddle on the unicorn. Seconds later, Kayleigh climbed into the saddle and felt the connection she had with Rheysurrah. His annoyance and resentment swirled at the other end. He didn’t really like her very much right now. Between the heat, her physical exhaustion, and her frayed emotions, Kayleigh couldn’t really muster much to counter his opinion. Their partnership was off to a poor start at best.

“We’ve rested long enough,” she said. “Let’s try and make up some ground. You can trot and be angry at the same time.”

At her urging, Rheysurrah lurched forward while eyeing the tracks in the sun-bleached dirt. Unfortunately, there was no semblance of an apology on the other end of their bond.

The next day, they saw additional tracks merging with others from the north and east. Immediately, she thought the worst. It could be another band of warriors pursuing them. Without a trained maiden, any encounter would not go very well. The third year Lead Rider, Laurel Whitaker, was competent, even blooded a short time ago, but Kayleigh’s fears for their safety refused to be silenced.

The ground showed evidence of wagon tracks as well. It could be soldiers or a merchant caravan. Still, considering the last caravan they’d encountered had been a trap, she wasn’t certain if this was a good or bad omen and quickened her pursuit.

During the night, the wind had shifted from the south to coming from behind. Kayleigh took this as a favorable sign and hoped they’d overtake the people making these tracks today. They traveled onward until the heat of the sun made it impossible to continue, taking what little shelter the desert offered. Kayleigh filled her canteens and kept the three of them watered as best she could.

The sun was still two hours from setting when Kayleigh could wait no longer.

Spurred by her anxiety, Rheysurrah picked up the pace as much as the tired horse trailing them would allow. Pressing onward, through their next break, they saw distant specks of light in the distance as the sun set. It appeared to be an encampment, and it was in the direction the tracks led. The lump in her throat and the sinking feeling in her stomach grew as the fall of each hoof brought them closer.

They rode onward and the young woman tried to think like a hardened warrior.

How would Annabeth or Lieutenant Townsend do this?

“Rheysurrah,” she said after pondering the situation. “We’ll stop and rest when we’re about ten minutes from them. If they’re intent on traveling through the night, they’ll probably still be breaking camp. I’ll untie Brownie and let her go if we have to run for it or fight. I’m really hoping we don’t have to do either, but be ready if that’s what it takes.”

The unicorn agreed with her plan, but she could sense an underlying feeling through the bond. It wasn’t the steady diet of resentment and annoyance. It was deeper and more personal. The empathic nature of their connection triggered a pair of memories in her. The first was Kayleigh’s mother, and the second was Rider Welsh.

Betrayal,
Kayleigh thought recognizing the emotion.
It’s coming from him. He’s thinking about going into battle without Annabeth riding him.

“I’m sorry that I’m not her,” she said aloud. “I won’t ever try to be her either, but when we fight, I’ll need your best, Rheysurrah.”

And there’s the resentment again. I just can’t win!

She was about to apologize again when she thought of Meghan Lynch, of all people, cautioning her that Majherri had much more experience with the bond than she did and could ride roughshod over her if she let
him. Taking a deep breath, she knew that her guilt and fear that he would change his mind and reject her had caused her to back down on every instance thus far. There was even a derogatory term out in the battalions for a rider who was the much weaker partner in the bond – horn whipped.

She decided to figuratively put her foot down. “If that’s the way you truly feel, I’ll ride Brownie into the camp and you can ride in on the flank. I’ve got enough magic in me for several fireballs without passing out. If I have to do a fireshade with just the magic in me to call on, I’ll collapse. I’d rather do this with our magic combined, but if you’re not up for this then you better let me know right now!”

Resentment turned to hostility and she fed that anger right back at him. The exchange actually made her feel better. Maybe the two of them needed to clear the air between them if their partnership would last. Even with Majherri and a bond that was mostly harmonious, the young girl had felt the need to push back every so often. Her former unicorn was a master of stubbornness, and Kayleigh had learned a thing or two on that subject from months of being Majherri’s rider.

“Okay, Rheysurrah, you’re willing to have a fight with me. I guess we’ll find out if you’re willing to fight
at my side
soon enough.”

Drawing closer to the camp, Kayleigh stopped to rest as she planned. Rheysurrah had sulked for most of the time between her outburst and now. She almost watered Brownie first, just to get a rise out of him, but knew it would be petty and childish, so she conjured water for him first.

Scanning the area with heatsight, she saw a pair riding out from the camp in her direction. Immediately, she moved Brownie and Rheysurrah behind a pile of rocks to block them from view. She’d been too far away to be seen in the fading light, so it led her to believe this was a pair of scouts or couriers.

Either of these two choices meant soldiers, and she didn’t like that at all. In the distance, she could see camp was broken and the rest were beginning to slowly make their way east.

The wait seemed like an eternity. She wanted Rhey and Brownie to be as fresh as possible when the duo neared. In her previous life as her artist mother’s assistant, she’d learned patience. Pottery was fired in a kiln. Oil paints needed time to dry. Sculptures were a laborious process that required attention to detail. The Academy had undone most of her tolerance with respect to that. Drills had to happen at precise times. Inspections and classes were routine. Her days were filled with so much activity that she was rarely stuck waiting for something to happen.

After being moved up to take classes with the third years, one of the classes she’d struggled with was History of Warfare. Lieutenant Townsend, who had surrendered to Danella in order to ensure Kayleigh’s welfare, taught that class. She recalled something the instructor had said concerning battle.

“Fighting is as much about managing the moments before and after the battle as it is the time you’re fighting.”

She’d meant the moments just like now, as Kayleigh stared at the heat outlines of the approaching scouts. Other than her fire magic, she had Annabeth’s scimitar and her Yar throwing knife, which didn’t give her many options if her opponents used bows or crossbows.