by Lisa Cassidy
He said nothing further, and when she looked up he was watching her with the same concern on his face she’d seen often over the past year. He wasn’t buying it, but he wasn’t pushing her to talk either. The depth to which he knew her— knew how to handle her—both terrified and warmed her at the same time. It also made her brave.
“I need to ask you a question.”
“Anything,” he said without hesitation.
“Why did you come back with me?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Why did you come back to DarkSkull with me as part of my protection detail?”
“I told you already.”
“No you didn’t.”
Dashan huffed out a breath, looking at her in confusion. “Yes, I did.”
“No. I assumed that Cayr had sent you, and you let me,” she said carefully. “Did he send you?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Dashan’s hand dropped to the hilt of his sword and he took a half-step back. She wasn’t sure he even knew he’d done it.
“It’s an easy question. Did he send you with me?”
A shutter dropped down over his face, the first time he’d done that to her in months. “I’m going back to camp. It’s getting late.”
“He didn’t send you, did he?” Alyx’s words stopped him halfway back to the trees.
“No, he didn’t.” Dashan spun around, back and shoulders rigid. “Can I go now?”
“So why did you come?”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to get at. You needed a protection detail, I’m a Bluecoat. It’s simple.”
“First, I snuck away. I had no intention of taking an escort. Secondly, you’d already been through that hell once before, so don’t pretend like volunteering to do it again was as easy as choosing what to eat for dinner.” Frustration made her snap at him, his anger triggering her own. It was always like that between them.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want to know why you’re so angry right now. I want to know why you chose to come back and why you let me assume Cayr sent you,” she said heatedly.
“You love him, he loves you, and he’s my best friend. Of course I’d let you assume he’d done something good.” Dashan’s eyes had gone dark as night. “And I’m angry because you’re pushing at something that you shouldn’t. There’s no need.”
“Did you come back here for me?”
“Yes, I did,” he said flatly. “You’re one of my two oldest friends.”
“And that’s all it was?”
True anger filled his voice now. “You don’t want to know the answer to that question, Alyx, so don’t pretend like you do.”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want to know.”
He shook his head and stepped away, the anger appearing to drain out of him. “Well, I’m not going to give you what you want. You should get back to camp—Tarrick is probably already wondering where you are.”
“Dashan...!”
But he was already striding away, disappearing into the trees, her voice trailing uselessly after him. Alyx swore and kicked at a pile of leaves on the ground, angry about the tears welling in her eyes and his refusal to answer her. Guilt followed quickly on the heels of her anger. She’d hit a nerve with him, she’d known it, and she’d kept pushing anyway. He’d been right too—did she really want to know why he’d come back?
Yes! a small voice inside her whispered, only deepening her guilt and confusion. Worse, that traitor part of her knew what she wanted his answer to be.
Chapter 34
Alyx tossed and turned, her tired body slipping more deeply into sleep. Images of Brynn flashed through her dreams. It had been so long since her last nightmare that it took a moment to recognise the transition, the magical hooks sinking deep into her mind. The dark power was remorseless, pulling her away with ease despite her struggles.
The familiar dark tunnel closed in about her, suffocating. Tendrils of darkness snaked down through her magic, malicious and probing. She screamed soundlessly, unable to control the terror. A high-pitched whisper hovered at her ear, cajoling and hating at the same time.
Alyx fought harder for release, unable to bear the magic driving deeper into her mind, the feeling of horror that surrounded her. Reaching desperately for her magic, using more brute force than skill, she managed to wrench herself free for the briefest of moments. Images flashed through her mind almost too fast to comprehend.
The glint of a sword.
Three figures hunched down, looking towards the orange glow of a small fire.
The faint glow of mage light flickering around a right hand.
Then he had her again, smothering her magic and freedom with terrifying ease. Alyx choked on the darkness, twisted and writhed to no avail. Her mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out.
The transition to wakefulness wasn’t immediately apparent. Gasping, heart thundering in her chest, she struggled to get up, the confining blankets around her trapping her in place.
“Alyx!” Dawn’s voice, mental and physical, cut through the terror. Abruptly she became aware of the cold night air being sucked into her lungs and the clammy sweat on her skin.
“Nightmare,” she managed to gasp.
“What’s going on?” Tarrick’s voice was distant. She shook her head, tried to dispel the grogginess of sleep.
“She had a nightmare.” Dawn’s voice, calm and measured.
“I’m all right.” Alyx put a hand up as her friend moved closer. “Just give me a second.” Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths, continuing until the panicked beating of her heart began to slow.
When she opened her eyes again, Dawn was kneeling at her shoulder, watching with worried eyes. Tarrick hunkered beside her. It was hard to read his expression in the darkness, but his presence was nonetheless reassuring. He would always protect her.
Around them the camp was silent. A single fire still burned. Alyx frowned as she looked at it, snatches of the dream tugging at her. She’d broken free for a moment... there had been something...
“Dawn!” Urgently, she reached out for her friend. The girl’s hand was cool in hers, but her grip was firm. Wordlessly, Alyx touched her magic, drawing up what she remembered of breaking free of the nightmare and showing it to her friend. Then, eyes snapping open, she pointed at the fire.
“What?” Tarrick snapped as Dawn’s expression turned from concerned to shocked.
“Wake the militia and Bluecoats.” Alyx kicked back her blankets and stood. “I think something out there is coming for us.”
He reached out to grab her arm, stilling her headlong rush. “Tell me what you know.”
“She broke free of the nightmare for a moment." Dawn explained as Alyx struggled to elucidate what she’d seen. “I think she saw true images from the mind of whoever is causing the nightmares. There were three unidentifiable figures, and they were somewhere dark, crouched in undergrowth, staring at a campfire.”
“That campfire.” Alyx was as sure of that as she’d ever been of anything.
To Tarrick’s credit, he didn’t doubt them. “Dawn, wake the rest of Third Patrol, Alyx, you get to Rothai. Do it quietly. If there is an imminent attack, we don’t want them to know we know. I’ll rouse Dash and Rodin.”
“Right.” Reassured by a clear plan of action, Alyx reached for her staff and reached down to tug her boots on.
Bending low, she crept through the sleeping bodies. Rothai had been on watch earlier in the night but now he slept on the opposite side of camp. Spurning the comforts of the carriages, he chose to sleep in the best position to respond to any attack.
He woke instantly at Alyx’s touch on her shoulder.
“Sir, I don’t have time to explain, but I think we’re about to be attacked,” she murmured.
He nodded slightly. “What’s being done?”
“Tarrick has gone to quietly rouse the militia and Dawn is waking the rest of Third Patrol.”
Rothai
silently rolled out of his blankets and reached for his staff. “Where is it coming from?”
Alyx hesitated a moment before pointing. “There are three men watching the camp from that direction. I think one is a mage.”
“I’ll wake the masters and alert them to the threat,” he said. “Tell Tarrick to take Third Patrol and go after the watchers. Maybe we can spring the trap before it springs on us.”
Small sounds of movement began drifting through the night air as Alyx located Tarrick’s thoughts and headed towards him. The soldiers were rousing, and although they were being quiet, it would be impossible to hide their alertness much longer.
She was halfway to Tarrick when a bright burst of pink light arced through the night and ploughed into the ground inches from Master Yirith’s carriage. The resulting concussive burst rocked the carriage on its wheels and momentarily turned the night bright as day.
Into the echoes of the fading boom came a loud hissing, almost like falling rain. Alyx blinked furiously, trying to re-establish her vision. By the time it cleared enough for her to see, shouts were resounding from the section of camp where the soldiers slept—the militia and Bluecoats forced to duck and find cover amidst a hail of arrows.
Leaving the carriages vulnerable.
Almost on cue, darkly-clad figures emerged from the trees on the opposite side of the camp, heading directly for the carriages. Alyx froze, unsure of which threat to address first.
“Contact Tarrick!” Rothai stopped mid-stride and bellowed at her. “I want Jayn raising her shield around those carriages and Mika with her so he can fly the masters out if things go badly. The rest of Third Patrol is to form on me!”
Without waiting for her response, the warrior mage turned gracefully, drawing his staff and running to head off the attackers descending on the carriages.
“Dawn, Rothai has orders.” Alyx relayed them as quickly as she could. “There’s a second attack on this side of camp and they’re making straight for the carriages.”
A slight hesitation as Dawn relayed the instructions. “We’re coming. Tarrick says the soldiers can’t move to help while they’re pinned down by those arrows. Jayn’s pinned down too, she and Mika can’t get to the carriages either.”
Alyx winced as an arrow hissed by her shoulder. Two booms sounded in quick succession, rocking the ground at her feet. More bright flashes lit up the night.
Rothai had engaged the attackers.
Moments later Tarrick, Cario and the twins came into view, sprinting towards Rothai. She moved to join them, but then slid to a halt, assessing the situation in a quick glance. Their attackers were in a position of advantage, pressing their assault from cover while the councillors and their defenders were on open ground. They were on the back foot too, the attack coming before they’d been able to get into defensive position.
Making a snap decision, Alyx reversed her course and headed for the nearest carriage rather than Rothai. Arrows whistled around her and she dived the remaining distance to gain cover.
More sonic booms ripped open the night as Tarrick joined Rothai, and Alyx almost fell halfway up the side of the carriage as the whole structure rocked sideways. Cursing, she re-established her grip and hauled herself up onto the carriage roof.
A glance showed at least twenty swordsmen clustering around Rothai and Third Patrol—the warrior mages seemed to be holding them at bay, though. Across camp, any Bluecoat or Militia not hunkered down under cover were slowly being picked off by the continuous rain of arrows. She thought she could just make out Jayn, Mika’s tousled head beside her as they crouched amongst the horses.
“Jayn, be ready. I’m about to give you some cover.”
The wood of her staff was smooth in her hand. Alyx pointed it in the direction the arrows were coming from and summoned her magic. The concussion bursts flew from her staff, illuminating the night in a silver-green glow. The resulting blasts rocked the ground and temporarily stopped the hail of arrows.
“Jayn, go!”
The girl was up and moving even as Alyx slid out of her mind, grabbing Mika’s arm and dragging him after her. They sprinted over the flat ground between the horses and the closest carriage, Alyx watching with her heart in her throat the whole time.
An answering concussion burst ploughed into the ground inches behind them as they reached the carriage, sending them both flying forward into the dirt.
“You all right?” Alyx shouted.
“We’re good.” Jayn was already getting up. “I’ll get all the masters into the centre carriage, it will be less of a drain on my shield.”
“Good idea!”
Summoning her magic once again, Alyx sent another retaliatory blast. More arrows began flying, fewer than before, aiming directly at her this time. Swearing, she dropped to the carriage roof as they flew over and around her. As soon as they stopped, she rose and hurled two more bursts before scrambling to the edge of the roof and swinging herself over. Frantically summoned and discharged, they were more powerful than her previous and seemed as if they rocked the whole world as they exploded.
Now what?
“Alyx!”
She spun at the sound of Dashan’s voice. He was sprinting towards her, Rodin and two other militia behind him.
“I think you managed to slow those arrows,” Rodin said dryly. “Thanks.”
“Any time.”
“We’ve got bigger problems.” Dashan was terse. “Look.”
She followed his gaze, but was almost blinded by the concussive blast which slammed into the furthest carriage, splintering it into pieces. Slivers of wood flew outwards, one slicing through her sleeve. Rodin paled dramatically.
“Jayn!” Alyx queried in a panic.
“They’re all in here with me.” Jayn stuck her head out of the centre carriage. “Another blast like that hits this carriage though, and my shielding isn’t going to last long.”
Dawn slipped into her mind. “Alyx, Rothai says you’re to stay with the masters to protect them if the defences don’t hold.”
“All right,” Alyx sent back.
“Under no circumstances are you to leave them,” Dawn said. “He means it, Alyx.”
“I understand. Now leave and concentrate on keeping yourself alive.”
“If we form up and attack in a block, that mage out there will cut us to pieces,” Dashan was saying as Alyx’s eyes snapped open.
“We can’t fight them off like this, though, scattered around the camp. They’ll pick us off one by one.” Rodin was tense.
“So we need to take out the mage.” Alyx spoke up. “The attacking swordsmen are on foot and won’t stand a chance against trained cavalry if you can get to the horses and form up.”
“It’s not as easy as that. We don’t know where the mage is, and even if we did, we don’t know how to take him or her out.” Dashan shook his head.
“I can do it.”
“Alyx…”
“Our men are dying,” Rodin cut in, desperation tinging his voice. “If we don’t do as she says, we’ll all die here.”
“The masters will get out,” Dashan said grimly.
Alyx took a deep breath, ignoring the voice inside her that was reminding her of Rothai’s instructions. Focusing hard, she tried using her telepathic magic to locate the thoughts of the mage attacking them, but either he was shielding, or her ability to use telepathy wasn’t good enough to find a stranger. Her eyes flew open. “Mika!”
He came scrambling out of the carriage, his cheeks flushed and eyes too bright. “What is it?”
“We need to get a fix on where that mage is,” she told him. “Can you fly over the forest and try to find him—without being seen?”
“Master Rothai ordered me to stay with the masters in case things go bad.”
“I know, but if you can find the mage, I think we can stop things from getting that bad.”
He hesitated for a moment, but then his shoulders straightened. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
�
�Rodin, go back to the men and mount up as many as you can without getting shot full of arrows. Tell Tijer he’s in charge of the Bluecoats,” Dashan instructed. “You’re to form two groups and attack from each flank. Once Alyx and I leave, you give us ten minutes before launching the attack.”
“And if you haven’t killed the mage by then?”
“Then we’ll all be in pieces.”
“Yes, sir.” Rodin saluted before running off.
“You can’t come with me, Dash.”
“If you think I’m letting you go hunting a dark warrior mage on your own, you’ve got another thing coming,” he retorted.
Another concussion burst forestalled Alyx’s response, and both ducked instinctively as the burst hit Jayn’s shield, rocking the ground hard. Mika dropped out of the sky moments later.
“That burst gave him away,” the boy spoke in a rush as he knelt, then used a finger to begin drawing in the dirt. “He’s out here, about thirty yards into the trees, using the cover of a particularly large tree trunk. He scouted well, too, he’s got a clear line of sight to the camp.”
“Does he have any guards protecting him?” Dashan asked.
“None that I could see.”
“Good man.” Dashan thumped him in the back. “Now get back in the carriage and be ready to get those precious masters out of here if things go pear-shaped.”
He nodded. “Good luck.”
“Ready, mage-girl?” Dashan turned to her.
Her palms were sweating, and a trickle of nausea already curled in her at the thought of what she was about to do, but it didn’t matter. “Let’s go.”
Once they’d gained the cover of the trees, Dashan broke into a run. Alyx followed directly behind. Eventually, he slowed and held up a hand, waiting until she was close enough to speak in a barely audible undertone. “We’re close.”
She gave a slight nod, and together they crept through the darkness, Alyx trusting completely to Dashan’s sense of direction. Sweat trickled down her spine, her stomach knotted so tightly it made it hard to breathe. She was going to have to kill again.
Focused so hard on pushing away the sickening knowledge of what she was about to do, Alyx jumped slightly when Dashan’s hand settled on her shoulder. He raised a finger to his lips, then pointed through the trees to their left. She stared, her eyes beginning to blur before she saw the human-shaped shadow standing in the cover of a large tree trunk.