The Labyrinth of Destiny (26 page)

And as if those things were not
enough to give Adesina the advantage, the Shimat suddenly shifted her gaze and
froze in fear. Her distraction only lasted for a second, but it was more than
enough time for Adesina to finish her off. The L’avan queen made it a clean
death, ending her life with one decisive movement.

Adesina then quickly turned to see
what it was that had cost the Shimat her life.

Ruon was approaching them at a
hurried pace, with Sitara following close behind. They were still at a
distance, but the Laithur’s form was easily recognized.

That must have been the cause for
Ravi’s confusion as well.

Adesina was also confused and
concerned. Why would Ruon venture into the middle of the battle?

She shook her head and turned back
to the fight. She would ask him when he got closer, but for now there was still
much to do. K’eb and his soldiers were safely withdrawing, but she needed to
continue to cover their movements.

Adesina kicked Torith gently, and
the horse leapt onward into the fray.

There was a whisper of warning in
the back of her mind, and the soft sound of the air being disturbed.

Then the thick shaft of an arrow
shot across the field. The point struck her in the neck.

It almost seemed as though the
world stopped.

Adesina stared ahead in shock, her
eyes barely registering the black form of a Shimat in the distance, holding a
bow.

Her fingers reached upward, tracing
the arrow and feeling the gushing blood from the wound.

It is fatal
. The knowledge
was in her mind immediately.
I am going to die.

Ravi’s mind enveloped hers, and he
suddenly appeared by her side. He forced her to stay calm, even though her
thoughts were racing.

Adesina’s strength fled in an
instant, and she felt herself falling to the ground from her saddle.

She felt a pair of slender arms
catch her and softly lower her. She looked up into Ruon’s black eyes and felt
strangely comforted by his presence.

He must have Seen her fall in
battle, and he came to help her.

As much as he hated humans, he had
become her friend.

Ma’eve, do not give up. There is
still time to get you to a Healer.

Ravi’s face was near hers, and his
voice was strong in her mind. She wanted to speak, but she could not make any
sound.

Pain enveloped her, and her eyes
clenched shut.

Too much blood lost. She would not
make it back in time.

Do not give up.

L’iam would be so worried.
Adesina’s heart ached at the thought of what her husband would be feeling when
he heard the news.

Do not give up!

Adesina felt herself slipping away
into unconsciousness.

Another voice entered into her
mind, speaking in barely more than a whisper.

Do not give up, my child. You
still have much to do.

L’iam had been in the command tent
when he heard the news that Adesina had fallen in battle. He’d dropped
everything without another thought and sprinted toward the fortified gate of
the encampment.

He was vaguely aware of voices
shouting at him, but he could not give them any of his attention. He had to get
to his wife.

L’iam arrived at the gate with only
enough breath to ask the guards if they could see the queen coming.

The foremost guard pointed to the
nearest set of tents. “She was taken to the Healers, your Majesty.”

A small portion of L’iam’s mind wondered
how she had arrived so quickly, but he did not take the time to ask for an
explanation. He set off running again, this time toward the area set aside for
the healing of wounded soldiers.

He didn’t need to ask for
directions to Adesina’s tent. A small crowd of people stood just outside the
opening. They must have only just arrived, because Healers were running to
attend to the fallen queen.

Ruon’s form was the most prominent,
and L’iam could see that Adesina was cradled in his arms. She almost looked like
a child as the Laithur held her to his body protectively.

L’iam rushed to her side, reaching
out to touch her hair. “Adesina! Adesina? Can you hear me?”

“She is resting,” said Ruon in a
voice that was tense with emotion. “She has lost a lot of blood.”

“Bring her inside,” instructed one
of the Healers.

Ruon carried Adesina into the tent,
followed closely by L’iam, Ravi, and Sitara. The tent was used for triage, and
there were several pads that lined the walls. More than half of the pads were
occupied by soldiers who had been recently wounded. The Healer indicated an
empty pad, and Ruon set Adesina down with infinite gentleness.

The Healer used her
vyala
to
scan Adesina’s body, gathering information on what needed healing.

L’iam found himself studying his
wife with equal urgency.

Her face was deathly pale and she
seemed thinner than he remembered. She was covered with cuts and bruises, and
there was a bloody bandage wrapped around her neck. Her breastplate and cape
had been removed, leaving her in the simple clothing that she wore underneath.
Her blouse was dirty and torn, and her pants and boots were splashed with mud.

The Healer carefully pulled back
the bandage on Adesina’s neck to reveal an arrow wound. It was still bleeding
heavily, and the removal of the bandage was like releasing a river dam. The
Healer gathered her strength and channeled it into her
vyala
, closing
the wound on Adesina’s neck into an angry red scar.

The Healer was clearly exhausted
from her effort and sat back with a sigh. “She has lost so much blood,” she
whispered. “I do not know if her body can recover, even with my healing.”

“Are you saying she is…” L’iam
couldn’t bring himself to speak the words.

“She will not die,” Sitara asserted
softly.

“How do you know that?” asked L’iam
with desperation in his voice.

“She is Immortal,” answered Sitara,
looking surprised by his reaction. “It would take much more than a mere arrow
to destroy her body.”

L’iam’s heart leapt with wild hope.

“Immortals can be wounded under the
right circumstances,” explained the Serraf, “but our bodies were designed to
heal rapidly. An Immortal’s body must be mostly destroyed in order for us to
‘die,’ as you would say, and doing so is no small task. It takes a huge amount
of
vyala
to destroy an Immortal’s body.”

“Are you telling me that there was
no need to heal her?” asked the Healer incredulously.

Sitara smiled at the young woman.
“Your sacrifice was not wasted. The queen will recover much faster than she
would have otherwise. I would think that she will be back on her feet by
tomorrow.”

The Healer nodded and stood. “I
will arrange for a private tent where she can rest.”

L’iam felt strangely empty when his
worry for Adesina’s life drained out of him. He looked at Ruon and suddenly
felt that emptiness filling with anger. “Why did you not tell me that she would
be wounded?” he asked accusingly.

The Laithur was seated next to
Adesina and barely spared him a glance. “I am not your personal oracle, L’avan
King.”

“You knew she was going to be
hurt,” L’iam’s voice grew steadily louder, “so why did you not say something
before you left to rescue her?”

Ruon turned his small black eyes on
the man standing over him. His tone was bordered on scorn. “I did not enter the
battlefield to prevent Adesina from being injured. As Sitara explained, there
would have been no point. She was not going to die from a wound such as this.”

“Then why did you bother?” demanded
the young king.

“Because Cha-sak has ordered her to
be captured at all costs, and the wound would have left her vulnerable to be
taken by the Shimat.”

L’iam’s face blanched at this
revelation. “How long have you known this?”

Ruon’s flat features twisted with
condescension. “Any true military leader knows the value is depriving an enemy
of leadership.”

The L’avan shook his head. “No, you
know
that Cha-sak gave that order. How long ago did you have that
vision?”

“Cha-sak issued the order as soon
as he knew that Adesina was the Threshold Child.”

Adesina had told L’iam about her
Dream with Cha-sak and how she had needed to create a mental barrier to protect
herself. That had been quite a while ago, and L’iam felt his face flush as his
anger grew.

“You should have warned us,” L’iam
said in a low voice.

“Warned you that there was danger in
going up against a demon such as Cha-sak?” sniffed Ruon in derision. “I would
think that an obvious fact.”

“I could have done more to keep her
safe,” snapped L’iam.

Ruon shook his head. “Adesina has
all possible protections short of hiding her away.”

“Such as what?”

Ruon gave L’iam a measured look.
“She has me, does she not? Have I not done a great deal to keep her safe?”

That brought L’iam’s anger to a
halt. He looked at the Laithur as he sat protectively next to the sleeping
Adesina, and an unexpected realization came to him.

Ruon only joined the battle if
Adesina was directly involved.

The Laithur often stood aloof,
disdaining to become a part of the “human struggle” with Cha-sak, but he never
refused to help if Adesina truly needed it.

“You have protected her,” admitted
L’iam softly, “and for that I am deeply grateful.”

Ruon seemed satisfied, and he
turned his gaze back to the young queen. “Go back to your duties, L’iam. She
will awake with the dawn.”

L’iam hated leaving her side, but
he knew that there was nothing he could do. He nodded reluctantly, resolving to
be the first face that she saw when she opened her eyes. “I will be back just
before dawn, then.”

“Yes, you will,” stated Ruon, as if
it were already a fact.

L’iam cast one last lingering gaze
on his beloved wife and then walked out of the triage tent, returning to the
ghastly business of directing a war.

***

Night had fallen on the camp.

There were only brief periods of
time when the Shimat and their mercenaries returned to their own camp to rest.
The Seharans and L’avan had moved their tents closer to the battlefield, away
from the fortified camp where the Healers and the highest leaders remained.
That allowed the soldiers to get as much sleep as possible before the fighting
began again.

The lack of soldiers made the
fortified camp seem strangely deserted. The Healers quietly went about their
duties, but there was little other movement.

Even if the sentries had known
where to look, they would not have seen the black-clothed figure slinking through
the shadows.

The figure wore the uniform of a
Shimat assassin, with one vital difference. Pinned to the crown of his hooded
head was a thin circlet made from reddish metal. It was a circlet—so the Shimat
had been told—that made the wearer practically invisible.

Even with such a talisman at his
disposal, the Shimat moved carefully. He ran in a crouch, keeping to the
perimeter of the camp.

It wasn’t long before he reached
his destination.

The large tent was made from a
sturdy blue fabric, making it stand out from the brown of the other tents. The
Shimat approached without making a sound, listening carefully to the voices
inside.

“…think I will go stay by Adesina
tonight. She may not wake until morning, but it will comfort
me
to be by
her,” said the voice of a young man.

The voice of a woman replied. “Ruon
seemed very adamant that I leave, so he may send you away as well. Ravi was
arguing with him when I left, and I do not know if he was successful.”

“She is my wife,” said the first
voice. “Ruon does not have the right to keep me away.”

“If you are able to convince him,”
said a third voice, “I would like to join you. I may not have the chance to see
her before I return to the battlefield.”

The Shimat frowned at this
information. The primary object of his mission required him to locate the
L’avan queen. It would take him time to do so, if she was not in the command
tent.

After a moment of consideration,
the Shimat determined that this change of plans was for the best. Based on what
he had learned about the current occupants of the tent, he could complete the
second part of his mission. In fact, it would probably work out better to
complete the second task before finding the queen.

The Shimat drew a pair of long
knives from his belt and prepared himself.

***

“If you are able to convince him,”
said Me’shan, who was sitting near the back of the command tent, “I would like
to join you. I may not have the chance to see her before I return to the
battlefield.”

“Of course,” L’iam responded.

“I wish both of you luck,” said
Sitara with a smile on her face. “For now, I must also bid you goodnight. I can
sense that Riel needs me, and I should not keep her waiting. She has had a
trying day.”

L’iam returned her well wishes and
watched as the Serraf strolled out of the tent. Then he stood up and stretched.
His muscles were stiff from standing at the table of maps for so long.

“Well, I think it is safe for us to
leave, too. There should not be any more reports until morning. I will visit
some of the wounded soldiers on my way to see Adesina. Would you like to join
me for that?”

Me’shan didn’t answer. He was
staring at the tent opening with a puzzled expression.

“What is it?” asked L’iam.

His father-in-law continued to
frown. “I thought I saw something…”

L’iam felt his spine tingle in
warning and his
vyala
flared to life out of instinct. His vision became
tinted with a pale green light, and he suddenly saw a figure in the tent that
had been invisible to him before.

A figure posed to strike at
Me’shan.

L’iam gave an inarticulate cry and
lashed out with his
vyala
. His reaction had been to drain the energy of
the attacker, rendering him unconscious. However, when the beam of
vyala
reached the masked man, it bent around him and left him untouched.

Me’shan was unable to see the attacker,
but he knew enough from L’iam’s reaction to surmise what was happening. He
ducked low to the ground and moved from where he was sitting, trying to get out
of harm’s way.

The Shimat—L’iam recognized the
uniform—was undeterred by the sudden movement of his target. He simply shifted
his footing and followed through with the downward slash of his long knife.

L’iam leapt forward to tackle the
man. The young king was currently unarmed, but he had to do something. He tried
once more to use his
vyala
on the assassin, but it bent around him as
before.

L’iam grabbed at the attacker’s
head in an attempt to limit the man’s movements, but all he succeeded in doing
was wrenching free a thin metal circlet that was pinned to the hood of the
Shimat.

The assassin suddenly became
visible without the need for L’iam’s enhanced vision.

In a brief moment of distraction,
the tent flap was pushed aside and a dark young man walked in.

“Your Majesty, I…”

L’iam made another grab for the
Shimat’s knife. “Savir, watch out!”

The Henka warrior took in the
situation with a glance, and he immediately took a defensive stance. He drew
the dagger that was always at his waist and rushed forward.

The Shimat had a thin blade tucked
between his fingers, and it became exposed when he balled his hand into a fist.
He punched L’iam in the side, and the blade pierced L’iam’s skin. The L’avan
king stumbled with a cry of pain. Then the Shimat whipped around to meet
Savir’s attack.

Savir was a warrior of the desert.
He had been raised to survive, no matter the situation. L’iam watched as the
young man boldly slashed at the Shimat with his dagger, causing the assassin to
take a step backward in surprise.

Savir pressed his advantage. He
gave a bloodcurdling yell as he attacked, not giving the Shimat the opportunity
to do anything but defend himself.

The Henka was fast—much faster than
anyone L’iam had ever met. The Shimat was clearly unprepared to meet such a
formidable foe. Even so, it only took a moment for the Shimat to adjust to his
new opponent.

The blades of the two warriors
flashed back and forth so quickly that L’iam had a hard time following them.
The young king found himself almost hypnotized by the movement and shook his
head to jog himself back to reality.

He needed to help Savir.

The Henka warrior was very skilled,
but the Shimat had both skill and experience. The fight would not remain
balanced for long.