by B. T. Narro
I made a wall of dvinia and threw it in front of me, clearing the snow for a breath. I knocked over two soldiers with it, both rolling back into the white and out of view.
I thought one of them had been Davon, but I couldn’t be sure. I ran toward him, wondering how the hell I could possibly get him out of here alive. Killing him would be good for our cause, but not for Callie.
A large body fell on me, taking me to the ground and rolling over me. He grabbed my layers of fur, but I kicked him off as he yelled for the others that I was here.
I took to the air as I heard men collide beneath me, one screaming that he had been stabbed.
Suddenly, the wind stopped screaming, and the snow began to clear.
Failina, what are you doing? I wondered as I felt warmth run through my body, the sun reaching me again.
At least it allowed me to spot Davon.
“There,” he announced as he trudge toward me confidently. “Surround him.”
I looked around me to see dozens coming from every angle.
“I’ve got him,” said a woman as she formed a fireball.
I threw myself into the air as she cast, the fireball hitting her own man square in the chest. He fell back into three others with a scream, and the sheer density of the crowd came to my field of view. There had to be hundreds within a stone’s throw.
I had just enough time to check on Failina in the sky above me. Where she had been earlier, Valinox now hovered. Failina’s body spiraled away from him. I hoped she was still alive. Valinox, meanwhile, found Souriff somewhere beneath him and flew straight at her. She was maybe fifty yards from me and still looked to have all the archers distracted, but she wouldn’t as soon as Valinox was upon her.
Davon was completely surrounded by his people, our plan to take or kill him obvious to everyone in the vicinity. There was no way I was getting to him now and escaping with my life.
With Valinox distracted, however, I might be able to get Callie out of here. I soared toward the large tent in the center of the encampment.
Two heavily armored soldiers positioned themselves in front of the flap of the tent, but I didn’t bother to deal with them. I flew above it and cut a slit in the roof, toward the back of the tent where I suspected Callie to be held.
I fell through and landed on someone’s back, giving me just a moment to look around. Soldiers and sorcerers packed the tent, with Callie just a few steps away from me. Her hands and ankles were tied, while two men held her arms and dragged her away from me. An archer had an arrow ready, firing across the interior of the tent.
I caught it with my shield in front of my face. I made a wall of dvinia to block a fireball. I tossed the shield into the mouth of someone rushing at me with a sword. He fell back with a curse as I weaved around the attack of another swordsman and had just enough time to stick the tip of my blade into his side, where his armor was open.
My dvinia blocked a jet of fire. I kicked a table into the path of someone rushing me and ducked under a swipe at my head. A flash of light turned my head toward Callie. Flames exploded from her hands. The two men holding her arms fell away as she hollered, “Jon!”
She hopped toward me as someone called out, “Kill her before he gets away with her.”
I noticed the archer taking aim again, shifting to fire at the princess. I grabbed her with dvinia and pulled her the rest of the way to me, catching her in the air with my hands and putting myself between her and the bowman as I ducked my head down.
It felt like a pinch against my back as the arrow failed to break through my armor. Men came at us from every angle, a vicious look in their eyes as they steeled themselves to kill this innocent girl. I tossed her high into the air with dvinia, through the opening in the tent. I tried to hurl myself out after her in the same fashion, but someone grabbed my legs as I was taking off.
The extra weight pulled me down, ruining my aim and causing my head to brush against the top of the tent as my body flew into the side wall. I felt the man’s hold come loose from my legs as we hit the ground. I got up and cut a hole in the tent as I felt someone strike my armor with his blade and someone else grab my ankle.
I looked back and thought about using the hilt of my sword to bash in the head of the man grabbing me, but three more were just about upon me. I had to get out of here now. Callie must be on the way down in a fall that would kill her. With one still clutching my ankle, I hurled myself out of the fresh opening in the tent and into the sky.
I kicked and spun, flinging off the large man previously attached to me. Then I spotted the princess falling not far from my trajectory. I tossed myself in her direction and stopped underneath her in the air. I made a blanket of dvinia far above my head to catch and slow her, though she broke through it and still came at me fast! I opened my arms and hoped for the best.
She collided into me, but I somehow managed to get my arms around her. She screamed as we tumbled wildly, arcing quickly toward the ground. I was unable to tell just how I was holding the princess, as my focus was poured into getting dvinia around my waist while the ground came at us.
I lurched with a great pull of my mind, the strain coming out through a grunt behind gritted teeth. Only then did I realize that I had Callie over my shoulder and she was about to slip off.
“Jon!” she screamed.
“I got you!”
“No, the arrows!”
Only she could see what I hoped to be two or three archers aiming at us, but then a dozen arrows flew by.
One struck me in the armor and didn’t stick, but another got me in the leg and stayed there. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt one bit, though it did throw me off my trajectory and nearly caused the princess to tumble off my shoulder as she shrieked in fear.
She ended up pulling me upside down as I held her legs with both hands. “Hold on!” I yelled over her screams. “I won’t drop you!”
I flew out of the encampment, both of us upside down, as arrows missed us at greater and greater distances, and soon the archers had given up.
Callie never stopped screaming as she hung with my hands around her ankles. Blood rushed to my head as I took her another mile away from the encampment, my hands starting to ache. I didn’t know how I was supposed to land like this, but I had to set her down before she slipped.
She suddenly stopped screaming, and I looked down to see that she had passed out, her arms dangling. It was probably a good thing, I figured, as I took her over the forest. I carefully navigated the two of us down through the canopy of trees and on to the forest floor, where I slowed to gently ease Callie down on her back.
I took a moment for myself, as I sat and put my hand on my head and waited for the dizziness to abate.
Callie woke up suddenly, screaming and thrashing on the ground.
I held her shoulders. “Calm down. You’re safe.”
“Jon?” she asked as she looked around.
I was breathless as I pulled out the arrow in my leg and healed my wound. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Where are you going?” she asked as I took off again.
There wasn’t enough time to answer.
I flew high into the sky and suspended myself as I checked each direction for my demigod allies. I noticed Failina soaring toward me from far away. Valinox seemed to have driven her a couple miles north. I didn’t see any sign of him, though.
She arrived promptly. Out of breath and with her tunic partially ripped, she asked me, “Where’s the metal mage?”
“He was too well-defended, but I did manage to get back the princess.”
“Good, very good! Where’s Souriff?” Failina asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t seen her since I went down.”
We held in the air. The only sound was Failina’s constantly moving wind as she jittered back and forth.
“Oh,” Failina said in a small voice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
We waited for Souriff. And then we waited some more. We couldn’t se
e within the encampment from here, even with the spyglass. We edged closer. Failina watched through the far-seeing lens as I listened to her creak and moan with worry. I was prepared to go back for her sister, but only if Failina gave the word.
“She must need our help if she’s still alive,” Failina said.
“Wait, look.” I thought I saw someone fly out from the encampment.
Failina gasped and put the spyglass to her eye. “It’s her. Go.”
We soared toward her. Someone else flew out soon after Souriff. As we came closer, two things became clear. One, Valinox was quickly gaining on Souriff. Two, she had a tremendous number of arrows stuck in her limbs, where her armor didn’t reach.
We closed the distance quickly. “Move away from me,” Failina warned me as she formed a fireball that soon grew to be bigger than I was. A few moments later, it was twice that size. We hovered in the air as Souriff barreled toward us with a trail of blood falling from the sky behind her. Failina’s fireball continued to grow, the heat unbearable even as I waited twenty yards from her. I wasn’t sure even Valinox could stop such power at this point.
“I will kill you!” Failina yelled when he seemed close enough to hear.
It looked like he believed her as he stopped in the air, scowled for a moment, then turned and flew back toward the encampment.
“I need these arrows out of me now so I can heal myself,” Souriff groaned and pulled one from her thigh, blood spurting out. “Where’s the metal mage?” she asked me.
“I’ll explain when we get back to the fort,” Failina said as she lowered the spyglass. “This fight is over. Jon, meet us there with the princess.”
“You got her?” Souriff asked.
“I did.”
“Fine.” She seemed pissed off, not relieved. I didn’t quite understand it.
The three of us headed in the same direction at first, but I veered away from them to return to the spot where I had dropped Callie off in the forest.
I landed near her. She held a face of pain, and I noticed then the tears in her dress and the speckles of soot all over her. She had clearly burned herself when she had blown away the two men holding her captive.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I went back to check on Souriff and Failina. They’re both fine. They’ll meet us in the fortress.” I approached her. “Can I heal your wounds?”
She nodded as she held out her arms, showing painful burns streaking the back of her hands.
I repaired the damage her spell had done, then asked, “Did they hurt you in any way?”
“No, but some of them discussed making a mockery of me by publicly disrobing me for the entertainment of their soldiers, and others suggested even worse things I’d rather not say. These men are pigs, Jon. They deserve to die.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“Why did you land so far from me? I thought at first you weren’t coming to rescue me.”
“I’ll be honest, princess. We didn’t think we would be able to get you back right away because Valinox seemed to be guarding you. We were going to take someone valuable to him and set up a trade for you after. But as soon as I saw Valinox leaving, I went for you. I hope you are not offended.”
“Oh no, I understand. I’m very glad it worked out this way.” She slowly formed a smile. “You were marvelous, Jon! I’ve never seen that side of you before, but I had heard stories. I’m glad I finally got to witness why my father has put so much trust in you. I do wish, however, that you were able to get me here a little safer. I was so terrified you were about to drop me! I believe I passed out.”
“You did, but I wouldn’t drop you,” I assured her. “We should get to the fortress. You can ride on my back this time. It should be a tad more comfortable for you than upside down by your ankles.”
She chuckled. “Yes, it will be. If I had to choose between flying upside down or never flying again, I would never fly again.”
I turned so she could hop on my back.
Like most of my passengers, she gasped and clutched tightly as we took off from the ground. I brought her up through the canopy of the forest.
“God above,” she uttered. “How far to the fortress?”
“Far by foot, but we will get there quickly. Why?”
“Oh,” she said in disappointment. “Because I don’t want this to end. I could not enjoy it when Valinox took me all the way here because I was too afraid of what was going to happen.”
“Then hold on, and I’ll take you faster.”
She squealed in delight as I tossed us eastward. For a short time, Callie made it clear how much she enjoyed the feeling with hollers here and whoops there, but then she had a serious question.
“My father must be worried sick. Will you be taking me back later?”
“I think instead I should bring your father to the fortress, as it is now clear that the castle is not safe for any of you.”
“I suppose you’re right. Valinox did break into my quarters even with the door locked. He’s too powerful, Jon. He’s even stronger than the last time he was there. Not even a demigod should have the ability to break down a locked door of the castle keep.”
“His power comes from everyone’s increasing use of dteria. We might not be able to kill him right now, but we should be able to sometime after this is over and we have gotten rid of most of his dark mages.”
“You sound like you really have hope that we are going to win this war.”
“Don’t you?”
“I do now that I know you do,” she said as she rested her chin on my shoulder and hugged me.
It taught me something about hope that I might’ve always known but had never thought about until then. It could be just as contagious as despair.
*****
By the time I brought Callie to the fortress, Souriff appeared to have recovered from her injuries. She still had the same pissed off expression now as she did before, and I was starting to make sense of it. It was as if she thought the trouble she’d gone through had not been worth the result. Perhaps she saw little to no value in the princess and was frustrated she had taken such a risk. Or perhaps Souriff was angry with me for giving up on the metal mage and going for Callie.
I wasn’t going to start a quarrel with her. There was no point. The demigods and our commanding officers, Byron and Leon, seemed to be in the midst of a conversation similar to the one I’d just had with Callie.
It sounded as if everyone was in agreement that the king should be here now. It wouldn’t be long before we faced off with Rohaer’s army. Nykal had remained in the castle because that’s where we all believed he would be the safest, not just from Valinox but from possible traitors who would look for an opportunity to take him out and put a Chespar in charge. Now that Valinox had proven that he could take the princess from within the walls of the castle, the entire royal family should be here with the rest of the army loyal to his majesty.
The only part of the topic that still seemed to be up for discussion was whether the demigods and I should strike our enemies again before the battle. I voiced my opinion then.
“It’s not worth it,” I said. “There is a much greater chance that one of us will be killed before we would be able to take out someone like their metal mage. If Valinox wasn’t around, it would be different, but he’s always with them, as I believe the two of you should be with us,” I told the demigod sisters. “It’s time to give you callrings like we have seen the metal mage use to summon Valinox when he needed help.”
“We already decided that with your king,” Souriff snapped. “But don’t think that we’re going to fight this war for you. When it’s time for the armies to engage, we will draw Valinox away—and that is it. The whole purpose of our assistance is to stop his influence. We will not do more.”
I looked at Failina to make sure this was true. She nodded at me. “We have done enough fighting in the past and agreed that it only results in the massacre of humans. The
loss of life will be too great if we focus our efforts on Rohaer and Valinox does the same to your people. It will take the two of us to distract him, anyway.”
I asked, “What if he stays back with his army in the fight? He could offer protection in the form of walls of dteria while showing no aggression.”
“Then we will do the same,” Failina answered. “However, that is unlikely of our brother. He wishes to use the power he has obtained from Airinold and will not be content to sit back and watch. Now we must leave to fetch your king before Valinox decides to make another play at him or his family.”
The sisters took off abruptly, leaving the rest of us in surprised silence as we watched them go.
At least I didn’t have to be the one who went for the king and queen.
I remembered Failina expressing concern about carrying a mortal on her back. Perhaps she had gotten over that fear, though I doubted the same could be said of Souriff’s fear to face our enemies again.
“It’s probably best that the demigods aren’t involved in this fight,” Leon said. “They just create chaos.” He slapped my back. “Good work getting back the princess. It doesn’t look like it was easy.” He lifted a flap of fur that stuck out from my Valaer steel chest plate. Flakes of snow fell off, revealing a hole.
With the help of a few others, I took off my armor, as well as my helmet and Michael’s coif underneath. It looked as if much of the fur had been damaged where it had been exposed, snow baked in around the gashes.
“I’m sorry,” I told Hadley as I unwrapped the fur from my torso and handed it to her.
“Don’t you worry about it,” she said as she brushed off the snow with her gaze on me. “As long as you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said as I handed Michael his coif.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Jon fight,” I overheard Callie telling the rest of the group. “He took on more than a dozen men just to get to me, many of them sorcerers.”
“What happened exactly?” Charlie asked. “Tell me every detail.”