by M A Price
If it comes…
The thick line of serum-taken Unforgiven lining the palace gates told him it might not.
Sixty-One - Katanya
Katanya woke first and Reyn had turned and curled into her side, the scent of him overpowering but heinously pleasant.
She let herself enjoy the warmth for a moment before easing herself off the bed roll. She was careful not to wake him or let him be aware of how closely they had slept.
She dressed, packed up the horses, and made breakfast for the four of them before she roused him.
Before he woke up a little easier than she was comfortable with.
Sixty-Two - Mara
Yenna continued cleaning the horses whilst Mara threw her knives at the target Dexter had painted. He’d added it three moons ago to keep himself busy whilst he tended to the animals, but Mara found it incredibly useful. She also thought her aim was improving as one of the knives sunk firmly in the centre.
“Katanya’s going to be overjoyed when she gets back,” Yenna commented, patting a brown mare’s flank.
“I imagine so. Have you forgiven her yet?” Mara was well aware of Yenna’s continued resentment towards her best friend. The only one to still hold a grudge about her leaving.
“Not formally but I will, if she comes back. We were close….”
She trailed off but Mara thought she could understand. She missed Katanya and she had only been gone half a moon turn. Yenna had known her for years.
When she’d been with the troupe and Tess had left, it had taken her a long time to stop hating her. She wasn’t entirely sure if she ever had.
Yenna cursed Dexter for having the day off as she moved on to the next animal. Mara laughed and moved to help.
“I’m worried about Fendir too,” Yenna’s face had turned sour.
“So am I.”
“What happens if Lorren doesn't come back in time?”
Then the screaming began.
***
Mara found her sword at the side of the stable and willed her power to be ready. Yenna’s head was poking around the stable doors, mace in hand.
“What’s happening?”
“We’re under attack.”
Yenna’s words were only just heard over the sound of more yelling, and the thunder of cavalry. The sounds of battle.
They moved from the stables quickly, ducking between tents and attempting to make their way towards the centre of camp. King’s Men were riding down the walkway. Guild members went to meet them, weapons ready but Mara could already see they were outnumbered. Horribly so.
Yenna swore as she tripped over a body. One of their own. They had no time to stop and pay their respects.
“There’s so many of them,” she whispered.
Mara tasted bile in her throat. “There was no warning from the lookouts.”
“Presume they’re dead,” Yenna hissed. “We’ll make our way to the pavilion. Camrin and Idyn will be making a stand there if they’re still alive.”
Mara didn’t let herself linger on the if. “What about your daughter?”
Yenna looked briefly towards where she camped. “Either the children are safe or there is nothing I can do. I took my vow. I have to protect you.”
Mara didn’t say that she wasn’t going to die today. That her Mark would have alerted her if she were. The automatic alarm system which Kara had planted in her spell. Yenna would know that; but it didn’t mean she wouldn’t be taken or that anyone else was safe.
Three men came at them from the side of the tents. Yenna raised her mace but Mara was already there. She used her power to send them flying backwards. None of them got back to their feet.
They ignored the sounds of the dying as they pressed on. Swords were clashing, axes embedded in not only men, but tents and every surface she could see. Arrows strewn across the grass.
They had reached where Mara and Idyn’s tent stood. So close to the pavilion, but just out of eye sight. The door was open, Idyn must have been inside when this began. She could only console herself with the fact he wasn’t here now and there was no blood in the immediate vicinity.
Another soldier appeared before them. This one Yenna destroyed, her aim true, in one fateful swoop. Blood and tissue flying everywhere as he fell.
Mara moved round the perilous guide ropes, dropping lower to look at the pavilion. The fight was at its thickest there. Forty men and women from each side rallying against each other, a stream of fallen soldiers at their feet.
Flames distracted her briefly, from the direction of their food stores. Violent blue flames which seemed horribly unnatural.
“Users. They have Users,” Yenna whimpered. Mara had guessed as much. It was likely Unforgiven marched in their ranks.
A huff shifted her attention behind her. It was Dexter limping through the maze of remaining tents. Blood gushed from his head, his skin a deathly white. Yenna moved first to grab him, pulling him down low to their position.
“Dex…”
“The kids. Fendir got them out. They should be protected Yen.” He didn’t try to stem the blood as he gave the knowledge Yenna so desperately wanted.
The fighting around the pavilion grew louder. Mara could hear wails from the dying, two of their women fell as she looked over.
Smoke furled across the path making everything hazy. Other Wielders were walking in their direction. Camrin was there, his axe coming away from his victim’s head, blood coating every part of his face, a battle cry still on his lips. Idyn too, he was behind Camrin. Paler than usual. Scared. Idyn was frightened and she could see why. It broke her heart.
There were more King’s Men coming towards them. Users and soldiers. They had to help…
She wanted to scream and cry.
They couldn’t all die like this.
They had come so far, and she loved them all so much. Even stupid Camrin and his stubborn hatred of her.
Ivloch was gone. Him and Katanya would have to come back to this, if they weren’t dead already.
Nobody should have to face that.
She looked down at Dexter. He had fallen unconscious in Yenna’s arms. “Move him into my…Idyn’s tent. He’ll be safest there.” Yenna did as she was told, pulling him roughly across the grass.
Mara watched as yet more of their attackers descended around the pavilion. Other members of The Guild rallied towards it too, but the numbers were still not in their favour.
Yenna returned, breathless, blood still glinting off her weapon.
“We should get you away. Safe.”
“You know we can’t do that Yenna.”
She didn’t respond. She knew as well as Mara did. “To the fight?”
Mara nodded, her sword ready.
They were about to move towards the thick of the battle when she saw him.
Xave waltzed down the camp walkway, The shining plate armour on his torso was covered in the blood of her friends. Users surrounded him on every side, many of them Unforgiven, faces Mara recognised from the Facility.
He was grinning. A sight she had once loved. Now it was the most menacing thing she had ever seen.
Sixty-Three - Katanya
Her power had told her something was wrong as they approached.
They had taken a different route to camp, instead cutting across the other side of the river and backtracking to the entrance beyond the stables.
The tracks in the dirt told her they weren’t the only ones. They seemed to go back several miles and in great number.
Ballaca and Indy had been left behind, she hoped at a safe distance, near the river crossing. Their packs still with them. They both had their weapons, Reyn’s sword was a work of art. One she hadn’t thought to look at before. She hadn’t even asked if he could handle himself in a battle.
They were about a hundred metres from the stables when she saw Fendir barrelling towards them, twenty children surrounding him. It was a surreal sight. Arrows hurtled after them, but no men.
“Run!” Fendir s
creamed, scooping up the smallest child in his arms. Katanya felt the oddest relief that nobody in The Guild had decided to breed recently. A baby in this mess-
Reyn moved to pick up another idling child, no more than four. The girl wept as he took her into his arms. There was another, a boy, around the same age falling behind, a slight limp to his step.
She swept up the boy and called to the others to rally behind Fendir. They kept moving, as fast as their little legs would carry them. Reyn or Fendir yelled out every time one wanted to stop.
It felt like hours before they reached Ballaca and Indy, though Katanya knew only moments had passed. She lowered the whimpering boy to the ground. Reyn was already bringing all the children together, moving them behind the trees, no care for his own safety.
She rounded on Fendir, his breathing was laboured and hard.
“What happened?”
“Out of nowhere. The King's Men. Xave. Xave’s there Kat.” He looked horrified and lost. Katanya let herself curse and hit the tree before her. Ballaca glared in judgement and shifted her body in front of the children.
“Is Ivloch?”
“No. I don’t know where he is.”
“Camrin? Idyn? Mara?” If anything had happened to them. Surely Mara would have known if she was to…
“I don’t know. Dexter told me to get the children out. We were training them. Cam's orders. Dex held them off whilst I got them away. I don’t know what’s happening or who’s alive.” He looked like he wanted to sob, as if he had given up. “I just know there is a ruddy lot of them.”
Katanya managed to rub his back as she flew around him and past the horses. Reyn was stroking a young boy’s head.
“I have to go. I have to help them. Will you stay here with Fendir?”
Reyn patted the child and came to her, pushing her further back. “You can’t go in there alone. Let me come with you.” He reached for her hand and she let him take it, the slightest touch of their fingertips. He hadn't expected her to let him. “I can help.”
She shook her head. “If you’re seen then they know you’re helping us. It’s the worst thing that could happen and Fendir is going to need help here. If anyone comes…”
He looked annoyed but another glance at the children told her he saw logic in the statement. “I’ll protect them with my life.”
“Thank you Reyn.”
“Not many people call me by my name you know. Arrogant prince usually,” he clutched her hand a little less awkwardly. “I hope I see you again Katanya Leshi.”
“Likewise Prince.” She meant it.
She turned and walked away without another word to him or Fendir. No goodbyes.
Once she was past the trees, she used her power to erect a shield around them all. It would last as long as she did. It would give her less magic to use against her enemies, but luckily, she was just as deadly with a weapon in her clutches. Knowing they were safe might mean she could fight with a clearer mind.
If only it were that easy to protect everyone.
They would have objected if she had told them her plan. It was better this way. The people there had to stay alive.
She ran back towards the camp praying there was a Guild left to save.
Sixty-Four - Mara
The fighting ceased as Xave reached the pavilion.
The King's Men, and to her astonishment, The Guild, all froze. It took her a moment to realise Yenna was also perfectly still...
Xave was using his power.
Yet Mara could still move.
It didn’t seem to be working on the men surrounding him either. User – resistant. Trust Xave; she should have known.
Even in the Facility, she had an inkling he thought himself superior to all who weren’t Wielders.
“None of you can move. That is my doing. I want you to think on my words as I hold you in place. Your lives are in my hands. The lives of those you care for belong to me,” the words echoed the ones he had demanded she say, it made her feel sick. Yenna’s eyes were searching wide but the rest of her stayed immobile.
Mara mouthed an apology and stood up. She had heard enough of Xave’s inane babbling.
He was going to threaten everyone, demand her, and kill them anyway. She knew what he was like now, from the stories she heard and the realisation he had tried to control her.
Xave wanted her to be his toy. Innocent Mara who he could conquer and wield like another weapon; whilst she could never escape.
She would surprise him.
The Mara Lars that Xave had known was weak. She was scared and daunted by this world of magic she had been horribly thrown into. There had been no escape in a Facility. He had found her easy prey to manipulate.
That Mara hadn’t had a Mark thrust upon her that would change her life. A destiny she had never asked for but would no longer back away from. The version before Katanya, before training, and before falling in love with a man that deserved her.
She was different now and she knew her own power. She might not be able to defeat him, but she certainly wouldn’t play into his hands.
His men turned as she crossed the distance between the tents and the pavilion but Xave did not.
She moved to stand in front of Camrin and Idyn.
Xave's smile faltered as he saw her.
The spell came apart. Bodies moved behind her. Some fell. Death rattles echoed across the field, lost in the wind and mayhem. The smoke continued to billow.
The fighting didn’t resume.
All attention was on her and Xave staring at one another.
“Oh Mara, how I have missed you. You’re going to come with me aren’t you? You’re not going to let your little friends die here. It would make it all so much easier.” He looked her up and down, his gaze concentrated on the Mark across her wrist. “Oh I knew she gave it to you. I told them all. I told them I would bring them the greatest prize.”
"You never saw my Mark Xave. You had no idea until today. If you had told Jefferson then I would be hunted across Brodanna. You're lying and trying to look powerful again."
"Oh Mara. I took you for smarter than that. Clearly you took me for a fool." He circled around his statuesque men. "Do you really believe your Elex friend to be so smart? I knew who she was. I gathered her plan. How do you think I have tracked you so well Mara? I protected you. I mated with you. I used my gifts to form a connection between us that you will never shake."
She felt herself recoil. It couldn't be true...
The dreams. Becca's body. The attackers in the woods...
"I have told the King and my friends here," he gestured to the stoic Unforgiven, "…exactly who you are. Why force the rest of the kingdom to know? Why put power in your name? See you hunted? I don't want that Mara. I want you with me, where you belong. The King is more than happy to see you come to me willingly."
She took a step forward. She heard Idyn cry out behind her.
“I’m not going anywhere with you Xave. I am not yours and I never will be.”
He stopped grinning and the Wielders surrounding him raised their palms ready to attack.
“How wrong you are Mara. You have always been mine. From the very first moment you came to the Facility. You belonged to me before you got that Mark and you’ll belong to me until the end of your days.” He dared to snigger as he looked into her deep brown eyes. “You’ll be my key to power. You have no idea what good you can do with your gifts, but I will show you. We will all show you. So many worlds we can see together. This one will mean very little.”
Another step forward. From the corner of her eye, she saw Yenna dart towards them. Mara spat on the ground.
“I would rule nothing with you Xave and your power is an illusion. You’re more of a puppet than the bodies The Unforgiven take; you just don’t know it. I will never come with you. I will never be yours. People don’t belong to people. They choose, every day, they make a choice who they care for and it’s the people that are worth it. You, are not, and you never will be.”
>
“Oh Mara.” He turned to the man nearest him. A tall lieutenant with scars across his lean face and thick black gloves on his hands. “Grab that one.” He pointed to Yenna.
The gloved hand reached out and Yenna froze. Her body didn’t move of its own volition as it glided next to him. Her body against the King's uniform, a gloved hand to her throat.
“This is my dear friend Everett. Or he was Everett. He is now inhabited by a man that calls himself simply ‘Suffering’. One touch of the skin and he will infect her with a toxin that will course through her body. Hellblood they call it. Do you know what Hellblood does, little Mara?”
She didn’t but she wasn't going to admit it.
“It kills you slowly. It shuts down your organs, it rots you from the inside until you can’t move, breathe or speak. Your body dies as your mind survives. You watch yourself fall apart and there is nothing that can be done. No Wielder in generations has been able to find a cure. It’s a death sentence. The worst kind at that.” Camrin answered as he positioned his body in the line between her and Xave.
"Now you're gifting me with enemies to kill Mara. Your love knows no bounds."
A hand brushed her back and she knew Idyn was behind her. Jengen appeared at her side. Such a brave and wonderful family she had found.
One Xave was threatening to take away.
She had wanted to surprise him, to show him she wasn’t the same mouse he had left behind, but like most people who liked control, he had done whatever was necessary to take it back.
“I’ll come with you if you let her go,” She didn’t let herself think about the words, they were to save Yenna and The Guild.
Xave’s predatory smile returned.
“I knew you would see sense in the end. No need for such bloodshed and pain…”
Then out of the undergrowth, like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, an arrow struck Xave…
Sixty-Five - Katanya
The bow had been on the floor.