The Revenge of the Elves (36 page)

Chapter Fifty-three

The plains of Tamarand were replete with enemy troops. The soldiers of Sedahar turned the green fields gray. Like an endless swarm of insects, they flooded the horizon from east to west. They stood in silence, black daggers high in the air, waiting, waiting. Empty eyed, pale skinned, hideous creatures. The stone walls of Concordia provided little comfort for the armies and the people behind them.

Perched high above the other structures, Baron Calipee stood upon the main bulwark of the city’s defensive perimeter. From the castellated battlement he watched both the city and the countryside. Dustin stood to his right and the captains of the elfin armies of Eleutheria, Crispen and Lormarion flanked him on the left. Warriors lined the walls, crammed tight together, shifting their legs, grumbling, laughing, cursing, some frightened, some bold, all anxious. Nervous energy rippled through the ranks, feeding on itself, spreading like a wave across a shore. The banners of the Three Kingdoms snapped in the wind, right in front of Tamarand’s own.

Light weight bows and silver tipped arrows identified the elfin archers of Lormarion, the first lines along the walls on the high parapets. Two rows of heavily armored Crispen warriors hefting longer range weapons stood behind them, backed by the soldiers of Eleutheria, their huge whip-ended siege bows and white feathered arrows at the ready.

The army of Tamarand, well trained and well equipped, spread out along the lower crenelated defenses. Foot soldiers backed the archers of Concordia; large muscular men with long, thin spears weighted at the ends. They could hurl them great distances with tremendous accuracy from the tops of the high walls surrounding the city.

Bubbling iron cauldrons of hot oil steamed up and down the ramparts, kept ready by the intense fires burning beneath them. Fed by pipes and hydraulics, once emptied upon the enemy’s heads they replenished themselves quickly, reaching a scalding temperature in a short time. Small catapults filled with sharp-edged rocks dotted the ramparts behind the assembled troops, flanked by high piles of more. Men wearing deerskin gloves held notched and hardened wood pokers, and they crouched low behind the indented walls, ready to push the siege ladders off when raised against them. Swordsmen filled the remaining spaces, poised to fight if the walls were breached and all other defenses failed.

Calipee stared across the plain. “We’re outnumbered a hundred to one.”

“They have no machinery of war, my lord,” Dustin said. “No ladders or siege engines.”

“Their leader seems unconcerned.” Calipee’s eyes narrowed on the red-robed woman parading before the ranks.
How will they breach the walls? Sorcery. Will they climb the stones?

“What is she waiting for?” Dustin asked.

You to tell them that my son has returned?
“Sundown. The dark doesn’t hamper them,” the Baron replied.

“They’re so quiet.” Dustin clenched his hands behind his back, his thumbs twirling nervously.

“Our enemy is not born of this earth. They are Colton’s engines of war,” Calipee replied.

“They don’t eat. They don’t rest. They just stand there,” Dustin said, his eyes glued on the enemy.

Have you chosen your allegiances badly? Too late for misgivings.
“We have perhaps an hour or so more of daylight. Prepare the men,” he leaned back and directed a lieutenant behind him. Dustin turned to assist and the Baron grabbed his forearm. “Stay. I need you here.” In seconds, runners took off up and down the walls. “Sound the horns. Let them hear it below if they have ears to hear it with,” Calipee ordered another aide.

Dustin shifted his weight from leg to leg and his eyes flashed left and right.

He’s uncomfortable here.
Calipee leaned in to his ear. “Is there no sign of Robyn?” he whispered.

“Has he contacted you again? Is he coming?” Dustin’s breath was hurried, his booted foot tapped the stone repeatedly.

“I hoped,” Calipee lied. “I still hope.” He knew his son would never abandon the heir. If Tamarand should fall, the Quest would continue.
You told her, didn’t you? She’s here for him.

A trumpet sounded. Three short notes and one that wouldn’t end. The blare echoed across the battlements and faded slowly in the growing gloom of the darkening sky. Armor rustled and weapons clanked.

“How far is Promanthea from the city?” Dustin asked.

He’s anxious. What did he promise her?
“No more than five kilometers to the north,” the Baron replied. “But she doesn’t know.”
And neither did you, until now.

“This must be difficult for him, abandoning you like this,” Dustin said. “He will come. You told me how much he cares for you. How could he…”

“Love and war! One always tests the other,” the Baron replied.
Did Robyn get my message?
Calipee tried to contact him, as they had always done in the past. He sent the warning to stay away using the Noban branch as his son instructed.

“Five kilometers is nothing. Is he hiding still? Where?”

Hiding?
“It is my son Colton wants.”
And my city? My people?
The, army he faced now was like no other. A city for a world. Calipee stood up straighter. “When he finds Robyn has not come to our aid, his anger will likely be even greater.”

“Would he dare attack a Lalas?” Dustin asked. He breathed heavier. He shuffled even more.

“Promanthea will not reveal himself. The Possessed will never find him if Robyn doesn’t come,”
And he won’t come. This war won’t end here.

“Why won’t he help? Is he a coward? I was sure…” Dustin stopped himself.

“Sure of what?” Calipee looked at him.
So bitter
. “For whose sake Dustin? We are but one city. The earth is a much bigger battleground.” He watched him closely. His cheek twitched. His eyes were unfocused.

“My Lord, come see this,” an aide by the wall called to him. The baron stepped forward but Dustin didn’t join him. A number of soldiers gathered around to watch what was unfolding below.

The Forsaken galloped through the multitude as if it wasn’t there. She charged to a place beneath the bulwark upon which they stood. Colton’s crimson sun fluttered stiffly behind her, and her hair flew wildly about her face. Her white skin was stark against the scarlet of her clothes. Death cloaked in the bloodied garments of Sedahar.

Her horse reared up and its hooves slammed back down. She looked up at the Baron and laughed. Savage eyes, hate-filled and violent panned the balustrade. She raised her sword above her head and bent it sideways. Then she pointed its tip at the Baron.

The last rays of the sun fizzled out. “And so it begins,” Calipee said.

Chapter Fifty-four

“Keep up with me,” Premoran turned his head to the side and yelled. “We must ride with great speed.” They charged through the twisted forest. Tree limbs, rocks, brambles, logs, gullies and sink holes all tried to trip them up. They dodged some, jumped others, ducked underneath the next, and rode around the rest.

Alemar watched the path but her mind was elsewhere. The image of herself in the stone from Sedahar haunted her. She leaned low on her horse’s withers and forced thoughts of the youngling.

Is it me? Will I be the one?
Her finger rose to the mark behind her ear.

Giles rode right behind, one eye always upon her. She looked back and was comforted by his devotion. He’d suffered more from Clovis’ death than he was willing to talk about, but she knew. She sensed it. For all his posing, his heart was on his sleeve. Clovis was his childhood friend, as close as even a brother could be. Clovis’ parents were old by the time they took Giles in, the orphaned son of a pair of adventurers. Before the darkness, when King Whitestar wasn’t hampered by fear and isolationism, they quested deeper into the frozen reaches north of Eleutheria than any before them, lured by the tales of great treasure in the lost lands. But when Giles was still young, they failed to return. His new family raised him as if he was of their own blood. Alemar knew how hard he took Clovis’ loss.

Teetoo shouted in Premoran’s ear, “Take my reins.”

“You sense it too?” He reached for the horse. “Do what you can to protect the Princess. She must get to Pardatha. My brother has more eyes in these parts than the trees here have leaves.”

“I’ll scout for us.” Teetoo’s face had already changed.

“Meet us at the forest’s edge. Firstspeed!” Premoran said. The wizard lifted his hand and the leather straps found his fingers despite the great speed at which they galloped. “Don’t underestimate him. We’ll not be so lucky as to escape his wrath again. His power grows by the hour,” Premoran grimaced.

Teetoo rose in the air, completing the transmutation as he ascended. His arms thinned and extended, his legs curled beneath him. He withdrew the blood from his extremities and lightened his body’s friction points, increasing the speed of his climb. Great wings spread from his shoulders, soft and pliant. They absorbed the warmth of the sun and became even more buoyant and flexible. Opaque lids closed protectively over his pinpoint pupils.

His shadow crossed Alemar’s path and her eyes shot up. She saw his transformed figure streak across the sky.

The Weloh rose so far, so fast that the forest below quickly became no more than a green patch on a brown field. From his vantage point, he could see for miles in all directions. He flew effortlessly, mimicking the pattern of a large bird, swooping and circling, gliding and diving, scanning the terrain all the while. His senses were enhanced. He saw things from a different perspective, in a different way. The wind, the currents, the humidity were objects to him, like the trees and rocks and water on the surface. His body was light and flexible and he felt more at home in this existence than any other.

Nothing moved below except for their own four horses. The woods were quiet, too quiet. On the forest’s edge he saw the rooftops of the buildings in Peltaran. From above the town, it looked like a blemish upon the earth, a pock mark on a vibrant tapestry. The trees avoid it, he thought. The expanse of foliage around it looked healthy, and the small circle of civilization seemed out of place in its midst. It glowed reddish, something he had not noticed until this moment.
Not natural. Like it’s dying.

His right eye caught movement in the north and he pivoted in that direction. Banking wide, he hovered and focused with both pupils. Had he risen only a bit higher he would have missed it, concealed as it was in the brush.
As I suspected, we are not alone.
The enemy circled and doubled back, and then moved steadily toward his friends.

Premoran lifted his chin and squinted. The sun was bright. Shadows ran across the ground. He turned to the others, grimacing, “Quick, quick, quick! We’ve been spotted!” Leaning into his horse, he galloped through the trees. “Come!” he yelled. “It’s tracking us.”

Alemar caught up to him, with Giles right behind. Nothing was going to harm her, Premoran would make certain of that. Not now. Not here. He veered left and dashed down a small path. It opened onto an alleyway created by two rows of tall trees. He tore down it. At its end, he jumped a hedge and crashed through the underbrush. “There’s a clearing ahead,” he shouted back at them. “We’ll decide what to do when we get there.”

A wall of shrubbery loomed in front of him and he disappeared behind it. Alemar pushed through and Giles followed. Premoran swung around and faced them, his horse pawing the earth. “We have a minute, no more.” He looked down his nose at Alemar. “I won’t risk losing you,” his voice was stern, strong. He spoke low but it resounded in the small area. “You and Giles must go on to Pardatha without me. I will detain this enemy.” His orders were not open to question. “Return to the path we just left and follow it to the stump a hundred yards down. Go left just past it and then keep going. Stop for nothing!” he warned. “Take Teetoo’s horse with you. He’ll find you at the very edge of the woods. You’ll see a moss covered boulder, larger than the rest. Wait there. He’ll guide you from that point until I return. If he doesn’t arrive within ten minutes, leave. Do not wait!” Alemar started to protest and he hushed her with a raised hand. Lifting himself in his saddle, he leaned in close to them. “Keep to the shadows until you reach the water. It will take you longer, but you’ll be able to stay hidden if you’re careful, and you will be careful! Follow the shoreline north. I’ll rejoin you when you reach the River of Tears.”

“Without you?” Alemar baulked. “How can we leave you here?”

“You are not leaving me, Princess. I am leaving you,” he replied, and without another word, he kicked his horse hard. The animal vaulted forward, leapt over the bushes in front of him, and he was gone.

Alemar grabbed the loose reins of Teetoo’s horse and she and Giles pushed their way through the brush until they found the route he spoke of. “Let’s go,” she said to Giles. Together, they tore off down the path.

Teetoo circled high above. The lone rider disappeared and reappeared beneath the trees. He wanted to approach it from behind without it being aware of his presence, and he watched as it drew closer to the others. An air flow lifted him from below and he let his wings billow, slowing his speed. He cocked his head and looked down.

It was moving faster than before, heading straight for what could only be Premoran, Alemar and Giles and his riderless horse. He flexed his wings at their tips and soared ahead. He needed to get closer, the trees were too dense. The figure flashed in and out of the brush and he feared he would lose sight of it.

One of the four figures veered off to the west and the other three continued on northward. After splitting, they moved quickly. The north bound rider headed directly for the interloper. Teetoo assumed it was Premoran. The Wizard knew the enemy was coming.

Teetoo circled again and hovered above the enemy, waiting to dive.

One speck became two. He watched as what he thought was one rider separated from the other and headed south. They must have been traveling tight together or one was cloaking itself until now so no one could see it. It looped around and was coming up on Premoran from the opposite direction. That was the one he targeted.

He elongated his bones as much as they could tolerate and his body wafted upward, lighter and more maneuverable. His legs and feet disappeared in the soft down of his underbelly and his remaining facial skin stretched thin over his extruding cheek bones, nose and jaw. He hung in the air.

The Wizard was being approached from two sides and Teetoo would take care of one. Hovering, he released blood to his extremities, making them heavier, denser, so that when he dove, he’d fall faster. He locked his eyes on his target.

Thwak!
Pain. The arrow pierced the flesh beneath his left wing, shattering the fragile bone. He drew the blood away from the wound, stemming the bleeding, but it was too late. The poison coursed through his veins.

Alemar and Giles galloped down a path littered with debris. The sun broke through the treetops in brilliant bursts, blinding them for seconds at a time. Giles glanced up hoping the flashes would end. He saw something fall from the sky.

“Look up Princess,” he said. “The Weloh’s attacking.”

She raised her head and saw him spiraling down. Her heart stopped. “Giles!” she cried. “He’s falling!”