“Bane,” I began as I ran my hand along his neck. “You have become very important to me in such a short time, but I don’t know how to show you my appreciation. What sort of things do you like? How can I reward you and show you how much I care for you?”
Bane’s little reptilian lips curled up as he smiled at me.
We are bonded, Sintári. You reward me every time I feel your beating heart. Our bond allows me to sense your feelings for me. I have already felt your devotion and that is the greatest boon you can possibly bestow upon me.
He nuzzled his little head against my cheek as he finished sending his thoughts to me. I held his tiny head in my hand, cradling him against me for a moment before I finally let him pull away.
“You are a very special Rhastoren, Bane,” I said as I gazed into his golden eyes.
Thank you, Sintári.
His words rang in my head with a tone of sincere gratitude, and Bane settled in to rest on my shoulder as Tási approached. Seeing him perched on me, she inquired about his report, so I relayed the news of our enemy’s approach while we ate a quick lunch together.
“So tomorrow, the two of us will battle twenty orcs,” she said dejectedly.
Bane stared at her intently and Tási quickly amended her statement.
“Three. I meant the three of us, Bane.”
“See? Our odds just improved significantly,” I offered.
Tási smiled weakly at my attempt to lift her mood, but she was right. From a strictly numerical standpoint, things did not look good for us. Fortunately, I did not intend for this to be a fair fight.
“Ridge will get the wall much higher today, Tási,” I added. “And I already have a plan for him for tomorrow that should help us tremendously.”
“Do you really think you can master that spell before tomorrow?” Tási asked doubtfully.
“I already have,” I replied in a tone that let her know just what I thought about her lack of faith in me.
Tási’s eyes shot open in disbelief and I relayed the story of how her description of the shadow magic’s role in the casting led me to unravel the key to the Spell’s intricate workings. Although it hadn’t been long, in our excitement, we decided to return to the canyon entrance and check on Ridge’s progress.
Ridge had indeed been working hard—the rough stone wall had grown another two feet in height since we’d left him that morning. Now towering over eight feet tall, the barrier was finally beginning to serve its intended purpose. With the wall presenting a true obstacle for the first time, I halted Ridge’s efforts and redirected him to complete a different portion of the planned defenses. Ridge acknowledged my orders and immediately set to work on the project.
As he began to work, I dismissed all of my traps, save the few directly in the wall’s lone gap. Once Ridge was finished, the planned gateway entrance would be the key to our successful defense against the orcs’ attack, and I also needed to free up my Aura. Not only would I need it for the battle, but also to summon Ridge again when the last heartstone charge finally ended.
We decided that we would return to the wall in the morning. Bane could scout the orcs’ precise location for us, and we would make any final preparations based on his reports. Having done everything we could for the time being, we returned to our camp again. It would likely be a restless night for us, but we needed to at least attempt to get as much sleep as possible before the difficult battle.
I practiced my sword forms once again while Tási cast her Spells at her rapidly deteriorating practice targets. While she wasn’t paying any attention to me, I cast Find Weakness on her to see if she had any vulnerabilities we might be able to address. The effort was largely wasted, as her head and entire upper body began to glow with a soft red outline. The weak protection of her robes proved to be no hinderance against attack. But if my plan worked, she would not be facing any direct attacks. Hopefully, I could take out the lone orc archer before he threatened her. If not, her reflection spell would have to serve as her last resort against any ranged attack.
Although we had no real appetite, we forced ourselves to eat dinner as the sun began to set over the mountaintop. In the growing darkness, we retreated inside our tent, and when Bane made a move to leap off my shoulder, I held him in place instead.
I thought you needed some privacy tonight? His questioning thought entered my mind.
“We will have a difficult battle tomorrow,” I said, an explanation I meant for Bane as well as Tási. “I want to have both of you with me tonight.”
Tási nodded her understanding, agreeing to hold off on her opportunity to repay me for the previous night’s torture.
The three of us settled in together, and I wrapped my arm around Tási, cradling her as she rested her head on my shoulder. Bane curled up in a ball, positioning himself on top of me, but with his body pressed against Tási as well. Bane’s soft purrs echoed inside the tent and I felt a warm sense of comfort lying there with the two of them. As we lay there, I let my emotions flow out from me in soft waves, gently enveloping Tási and Bane in my contentment.
Tási responded by offering me a sincere smile before snuggling against me even closer. Bane looked up at me but did not move his head from where it lay over my heart.
I love you too, my Sintári.
Bane had never expressed his feelings for me so directly, and his open declaration caught me off guard. With my own emotions already flowing to him, words seemed an inadequate response. Instead, I stroked his scales softly while channeling my own love for him with every brush against his smooth skin. Bane’s eyes slid shut and he continued to purr loudly as he basked in the flood of emotions.
A bond was forged between the three of us that day, and despite the impending danger we fell asleep as one, slipping easily into a comfortable slumber together.
4
In the morning we ate a quick breakfast, once again having to force ourselves to consume the food despite our lack of appetite. Bane set off immediately to search for the band of orcs, while Tási and I headed for the canyon. Ridge was putting the finishing touches on the project I had given him as we arrived, and I looked over his work in astonishment.
The outer edge of the wall was almost completely protected by a deep trench, and only a narrow strip of earth remained where one could approach the opening in the wall that had been left for our future gateway. The steep incline of the trough made climbing the wall nearly impossible, but that was not the only added benefit it provided. Ridge had lined the deep furrow with an array of razor-sharp stone projections; each pointed shard jutted out several feet from the ground, threatening to impale anyone who dared attempt to traverse the deep gorge. The trench and its vicious spikes would leave only one viable path for our attackers.
“We’re going to need access to the top of the wall, Ridge,” I informed him. “Can you put in the stairs next?”
“Yes,” he intoned with his gravelly voice. “I will do so right away.”
Ridge immediately began drawing out more solid blocks of stone while I turned my attention to the wide gap in the wall that would be our enemy’s only route of attack.
I placed a pair of traps at the outer edge of the gap—one was a vine trap with an automatic trigger and just beyond it was a spike pit I would trigger manually. I hoped to catch a large portion of the orcs in this combination of traps, but I also positioned a second pair at the inside end of the opening, just in case any managed to sneak past my first set of snares. Then, at the far end of the earthen bridge, I placed the final pair of traps, both spike pits, designed to trap any of the orcs that escaped my ambush. If I took out the lone orc archer, we should be able to slay most of the orcs while they were helplessly trapped in or between my deadly snares. Then, just for good measure, I added two more vine traps outside the spike pits. I had more than enough Aura, and the added traps on a manual trigger just might snare a few more of our enemies.
Once my traps were placed, I realized that I had overlooked a potentially powerfu
l weapon that was at my disposal. I still had the spear that Evans had given me after our defense of the Citadel. Although I was better trained with the Essence Blade, the spear was more suited for use in defending the high wall against attackers. Withdrawing the weapon from my pack, I began to practice the series of forms Evans had shown me before walking myself through a few mock scenarios.
“Dreya,” Tási interrupted me. “Should we fight together on one side, or separate to cover the front better?”
Her statement made me realize the rather obvious issue that I had overlooked. The gap in the center of the wall was still uncovered, which left our defenses clearly cut into two separate structures. We could each fight from atop one of them, providing a defense along the entire front, but that would mean we would be limited in how we would be able to support one another should anything go wrong.
I confessed my oversight and we discussed our options. Considering how narrow the canyon was, both of us could easily reach across it to strike at any enemies; Tási with her spells, and me with my bow. With our offense unhindered, we decided to stay together so that, if needed, we could support each other during the battle. While we finished our discussion, Bane returned from his scouting mission. We were both a bit surprised when he flapped his wings and came to rest on Tási’s shoulder rather than mine. Bane settled in comfortably and coiled his serpentine tail around her arm as he gave me his report.
The orcs are close, Sintári. Two hours, at the most.
I began to relay the news to Tási. As I told her what Bane had seen, he laid his head across her chest, a gesture that I knew allowed him to feel the beating of her heart. Tási had observed his behavior before and our conversation dropped off completely as we both reacted in stunned silence to his display of affection. Bane lay with his head stretched across her for a few moments before suddenly jerking himself upright and staring into her eyes intently.
This one is more than she seems, Sintári.
Bane’s words echoed in my head. His implication was not one of mere discovery, but caution as well. I wasn’t sure what he meant and hesitated to respond to his ominous message out loud. He quickly realized my quandary and added to his initial disclosure.
She holds some sort of power within her, Sintári. An untapped reservoir. I do not know if she is holding it back intentionally, or if she is simply unaware of her own true nature.
Wow. Alright, that was some serious shit right there.
“What?” Tási said, clearly unsettled by Bane’s suddenly odd behavior.
I simply couldn’t believe that Tási presented any sort of threat to me. We were too close, shared too much together for it all to be some elaborate deception. The only conclusion I could possibly reach was that whatever Bane had felt within her was something she had chosen to keep secret, or, as Bane had suggested, something unknown even to her. Steeling myself for the potentially difficult conversation that was about to happen, I told her of Bane’s discovery.
“Bane felt your heartbeat, Tási,” I began hesitantly. “But he also sensed something else within you. Some talent or ability that you have either been hiding from us or are not aware of.”
Tási stared back at me with an expression of near terror on her face. She tried to back away a step, but her unsteady legs crumpled beneath her and she collapsed to the ground instead.
I dropped down beside her and took her in my arms. Tears were falling from her face in a steady stream and she trembled uncontrollably in my grasp. As I held her close, she kept repeated just a single word. I heard the pained echo of her despair as she softly repeated it over and over next to my ear.
“No, no, no, no, no…”
Time was short—the orcs were rapidly approaching us, and this was no time for either of us to lose our focus on the coming battle, but Tási was my friend, to say the very least, and I needed to help her with whatever dark secret she had been keeping. Not only that, but at this point, her rapid recovery might mean the difference between us living or dying in the hours ahead.
“Tási,” I consoled her as I gently stroked her hair, “I don’t know what it is, and right now, I don’t care. We will deal with this later. Together. Right now, we are about to be attacked by over twenty orcs. Once that’s over, I promise that I will help you with whatever it is.”
“You have no idea—” She protested
“Tási?”
“What?”
“I. Don’t. Care.”
“But you don’t even—”
“Tási!” I cut her off again.
“You’re right. I don’t know what it is that you’ve been keeping from me,” I told her firmly. “But I do know you, Tási, and I love you. I know that whatever it is will not, cannot change that. We will deal with it together, you and I. But first, I need your help to defend this place. Once we’re safe, I promise that we will handle this together.”
The reminder of the impending danger we faced seemed to snap her out of her misery. Tási nodded and stood up, dusting off her robes as she got up.
“I’m alright,” she said as I searched her eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she replied with conviction.
“Alright then,” I smiled at her. “Let’s get on top of that wall and prepare an appropriate greeting for our guests.”
Bane flew off again, reluctantly. After the revelation about Tási’s unknown aspect, he was hesitant to leave my side. I gently and quietly reminded him that I not only trusted her implicitly, but we needed him to scout for the approaching orcs and let us know when they arrived. He finally took off and left us alone atop the wall. After a few moments of awkward silence, Tási finally spoke.
“I don’t know who my mother is,” she blurted out.
“I don’t understand Tási. Is that your secret? How would that give you some hidden power?”
“My father raised me alone and refused to tell me anything about her,” she continued, completely ignoring my questions.
“When I was older, my aunt, Seera’s mother, told me that my mother had abandoned me. She had given birth in secret and left me with my father before running off somewhere. No one knew who she was, and my father only told them that he had just spent one night with her.”
“I don’t know what that makes me, Dreya,” she lamented. “And I have no way of knowing what sort of curse she might have placed on me.”
“That doesn’t make you anything, Tási,” I replied, taking her hand in mine as we stared out over the wall together. “You are the only one who can define yourself. Your words and your deeds determine who you are, not the circumstances of your birth.”
“I know that,” she answered me. “But I have also known for a very long time that my mother was no normal person. I have felt a strange influence for quite a while. An influence that has grown stronger since I met you. Whatever legacy my mother left behind, being near you has begun to stir it up, to bring it out of me. I’m afraid of what it could be, Dreya. Afraid it might cause me to harm you somehow.”
Her honest admission startled me. That she even doubted herself made me reevaluate my confidence in just how safe I was around her. Then I remembered the elf King’s words and found reassurance in them.
“Tási,” I replied as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “You are here with me for a reason. Whoever your mother was, whatever gift she left for you, I know we will be glad to discover it.”
“I hope so,” she replied softly. Although her words were barely above a whisper, there was a note of optimism in her voice.
Bane returned a short while later. He landed on the rough stone beside me and gave me the bad news.
They are less than a mile away. The scout has already seen the top of the wall. The rest are now heading this way to investigate.
With his dire report complete, I made my final few preparations. I laid out my spare quivers in case I needed the extra ammunition and placed my spear down atop the wall within easy reach. Having the long weapon available to repel
any of the orcs that might try and climb up after us might prove invaluable.
Tási took the few precious moments left to place her reflection spell upon both of us. If we were lucky, the magic would not only protect us from the lone orc archer but might even take him out of the battle as well.
We heard the orcs’ approach before we saw them. Their raucous shouting as they sighted the top of our wall made us aware of them long before they saw us. As the band of marauders crashed through the barrier of low scrub in front of us, I searched among them for the archer’s form.
The orcs broke through the brush recklessly, smashing the foliage with their weapons, and the group came to a sudden halt as they recognized the barrier in front of them.
The majority of our green-skinned opponents were clad in heavy armor and bore wicked-looking melee weapons. My Perception talents had risen to the point that the health bars floating above each of them were now accompanied by brief descriptions. The cursory information labeled most of them as ‘Orc’ or “Half-Orc,’ in addition to identifying their professions. None bore what I would have considered to be an adventurer’s tag and titles like ‘Brawler’ and “Thug’ were the most common among them. Their muscular bodies gave them a distinct edge in close combat, and with the weapons they’d chosen, they had obviously prepared themselves to make the most of that advantage. The band was almost evenly divided between males and females, all of them seemingly eager to fight it out in close quarters.
I focused on the archer as soon as I located him, but he already had me in his sights and launched his own arrow first. I calmly sighted in on him as his shaft rebounded off Tási’s magic, and his own arrow lodged in his chest right beside mine. The impact of my shot rocked his body backwards, and the remaining orcs bellowed out their rage as they charged at us en masse.
The furious orcs rushed across the earthen bridge, intent on wreaking their revenge upon us. From my vantage above, I glanced over the top of the wall as they funneled onto the narrow span. When the vine trap sprung, trapping the orcs that had been leading the charge, their companions immediately began hacking at the tendrils, desperately trying to free the others from my trap.
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