by Matthew Ward
The grace dropped her weapon. She tore at Adanika's forearms with gloved fingers, the heels of her boots skittering on the cobbles and her wings beating desperately. Adanika's wings beat harder still, and the grace found purchase on neither stone nor air. They approached the palace at blinding speed, but Adanika made no effort to check her pace or gain height. Not until the very last moment, when she did both.
With a mighty sweep of her wings, the Speaker of Truth threw herself up and backwards, at last releasing the grace. Her victim had a heartbeat, maybe two, to slow her course. It wasn't enough. The grace slammed into one of the palace's columns with a sharp crack. The impact shattered the column into rubble. The overhanging roof shuddered. A moment later, the grace struck the palace's outer wall in a brilliant flash of amber light. She shuddered, and lay still.
The commotion was drawing attention, not from the nearby streets, but from the Tressians who lived in the shops facing onto the palace square. I saw shutters open, then close again just as swiftly. No one wanted any part of the fight going on beneath. At least the residences emptied out onto back streets rather than the square itself.
I'd ten paces to go. Adanika's arrival spurred two of the graces by the stepping gate to act. As the Speaker of Truth soared back around to the fight, they took wing to intercept her. My effort to keep the fight on the ground had failed, but there was nothing to be done about that now. Adanika drew her own sword – borrowed from the armoury of Lord Karov, no less – and prepared to defend herself.
Adanika had once told me she feared to fight a grace. Now, it seemed, she'd have to fight two. Blades flashed in thrust and parry as the serathi soared above my head. I couldn't help her. But I didn't have to.
Elynna's arrival was perhaps not as spectacular as Adanika's, but it was no less effective for all of that. The younger serathi's bare feet took a grace squarely in the small of the back. Taken unawares, the grace was plunged from the sky, and struck the cobbles with a crack of snapped bone. She regained her feet in an instant, but one wing trailed limply behind.
Elynna landed beside the grace and battered at her opponent with another of Karov's swords. There was no method to her attack, no style. Each strike was guided by nothing save outrage and desperation. I had, at last, found a serathi I could have defeated in single combat. The pity of it was that she was on my side.
Jamar and I at last reached the surviving Tressians and their single remaining foe. I brought my sword down, double-handed, to bite deep into her wing. She flung back the injured limb to knock me down. Jamar shoved me clear, and stabbed the point of his own sword into the grace's side. Amber light shone. For a moment, she was off-balance, and in that moment she had lost. With a wordless and vengeful battle cry that spoke to good friends lost that day, the Tressians tore her apart.
Elspeth's opponent was down, amber light bleeding from a hundred tiny cuts. I could do nothing to aid Adanika. I was tempted to lead a charge against the lone guardian of the stepping gate. But then my gaze fell on Elynna, and I knew where my duty lay. "Jamar!"
His head snapped out, taking in the scene. "I see it!"
When last I'd looked upon the young serathi, her vigour had compensated for her paucity of skill. This was no longer the case. She bled light from a handful of wounds, and each parry she made was slower than the last. Her opponent gave the impression of a cat toying with prey, dragging the out fight so long as it remained amusing.
Jamar's lowered shoulder struck the masked serathi full in the chest. That impact would have knocked me sprawling, with several broken ribs to boot. The grace barely staggered. Quicker as a snake, she seized Jamar's throat and hoisted him so that his feet dangled off the ground.
I'd seen Adanika pull a similar trick, just before she'd snapped the fellow's neck. Jamar grabbed the grace's wrist, tucked his knees up to his chest, and slammed his feet down. Two heavy boot heels, driven by every ounce of Jamar's strength, slammed into the grace's knee with a sickening crack. She lurched, pitching to her unwounded knee.
Jamar rolled free, but too slow. The grace's sword came around to finish him. Legs pumping in a last, desperate sprint, I struck the descending blade aside. Before the grace could react, I thrust at the gap between her breastplate and her mask. She tried to twist aside, but the pain from her wounds slowed her. The blade rammed home to the hilt. Amber light burst from the golden eye sockets, and a third grace fell dead.
Reaching down, I hauled Jamar to his feet.
"Nicely done, my prince," he allowed.
I shook my head. "Past time I saved you."
I looked now upon a fight clearly turning in our favour. Elynna still stood, though just barely, and I hoped she'd have the sense to stay out of whatever followed. Elspeth's grace lay unmoving, throat slit by the Daughter of the Moon.
Something metallic clanged to the cobbles behind me. I turned to see a grace's mask bounce off the cobbles. A heartbeat later, a grace fell from the skies, her body battered and broken, her face withered and cracked as if from extreme age. Adanika had triumphed.
Only one opponent now remained.
The last grace finally abandoned her post, though whether out of anger or desperation was impossible to say. She bore down on the surviving Tressians, but slowly, using her wings to shield the vicious stream of bolts Emmeline's soldiers sent her way.
I caught Jamar's eye. "Do you have enough for one last dance?"
"For this one, and as many others as you need, savir."
With that, we charged the final grace, swords held high. As we ran, the Tressians surged forward, and I knew that the grace was doomed.
The serathi fought as if possessed, but we had endured too much to be thwarted now. Even so, it cost us, and cost us badly.
The grace's sword split a Tressian's skull, severed another's arm, and thrust at my heart. I'd no chance to parry.
I saw my death in that moment. A second death, from which there'd be no return. Then a shoulder collided with mine, knocking me clear. As I struck the cobbles, a Tressian blade took the grace's throat.
With a last flash of light, the battle was won.
But at what cost? I thought, as I rolled to my feet. There had been so much death, and more to come. Only nine of the Tressian soldiers still stood, and they were a battered and bloody lot. Adanika tended Elynna's wounds, injuries that seemed far worse than I remembered, and I wondered how close to death she'd come. And Emmeline...
"Savir!"
Jamar knelt beside a white tabard stained red. Sick to my stomach, I dropped my sword and ran to Emmeline's side. Too late, I recalled that it had been Torev's squire who had pushed me clear. She'd taken the blow in my place, and this was her reward.
All at once, the victory turned to ash in my mouth.
I flung an army back towards the palace. "Go! Fetch help!"
One of the Tressians ran towards the steps. I already knew aid wouldn't arrive quickly enough.
Emmeline's breathing was low and thready, her eyes sightless but twitching. I pressed my hands against the ragged gash in her chest and tried to stem the flow of blood. The grace's blade hadn't taken her heart, or she'd already be gone, but I was at a loss. I wasn't a physician. I was a prince, a warrior, an ambassador, and in that moment more useless than in any other in my life.
A hand fell on my shoulder. Jamar met my gaze. The havildar looked as stricken as I felt. I'd never seen him so afflicted.
"Adanika!" I shouted hoarsely. "I need you here."
Both serathi reached my side a moment later. They made no move towards Emmeline.
I stared up at them, disbelieving. "She's dying! You have to help her!"
Adanika exchanged an ominous look with Elynna. "We cannot."
"What?"
My hands were slippery with Emmeline's blood. Her blonde hair was thick with it. Her life drained away through my useless fingers.
"She is not ours to save." The younger serathi sounded sad and tired – two things I'd never thought her capable of. Amber light see
ped from her own wounds, and every word she spoke sounded like a burden. "She bears another's mark."
Adanika winced at Elynna's words, but did nothing to correct them.
"That's how we're looking at things, is it?" I demanded. "She's not a follower of the Radiant, so she dies? I thought we'd moved beyond that."
A muscle tightened in Adanika's jaw. "I cannot save her."
Emmeline's breathing slowed.
I searched for the words to convince her. I found none. "Adanika..."
The serathi gazed down at Emmeline. "The only thing I could do is what Irina did for Calda. It would cost my life, and I must live to challenge Azyra, if many more deaths are not to follow. Had she been marked by the Radiant, it might have been possible..."
"There must be something you can do."
How ridiculous and thoughtless my words must have seemed to the Tressians. So many had died in the battle for the stepping gate, but I'd not pleaded with the serathi to save them. I didn't care. They may have died for my goals, but they hadn't died to save me.
Adanika set her hand on my shoulder. "I can speed her on the journey, end her pain. I am sorry, Edric. I wish it were otherwise."
"No." That wasn't Adanika's responsibility. It was mine. The last duty of a friend, though I'd known her only a fortnight. I knew I'd carry the burden of her death until the end of my days.
"I can save her."
The voice was so quiet that I missed it at first, and only when the words were repeated did I turn to see Elspeth standing behind me. She looked unsteady, uncertain. A far cry from the haughty goddess I knew.
"I can save her," she said again, "but there will be a price."
"There always is," I said bitterly. "I've little left to give. You know that better than anyone."
"I know," Elspeth said, her voice for once bereft of mockery. "But there will be a price all the same. The serathi were created as servants, whilst Ashana fashioned me as a daughter. I can do much they cannot. It will not destroy me to help Emmeline, but I will be weakened." She stared at me, as if pleading. "I'll be of little help to you on Skyhaven."
Emmeline took another ragged breath.
"I don't care. Save her."
Elynna frowned. "But she is marked by another. It is forbidden."
"You think I care about that, or what you think?" Elspeth crouched at Emmeline's side and placed her hands over mine. "It's also forbidden for us to war with each other, to interfere in the lives of mortals. There are so many decrees that I can't even count them, let alone recite them. Everyone else is breaking the ancient laws. You. Jack. Malgyne. Even Astor." Her voice shook, not just with outrage but, I think, with fear. "What does it matter, cousin?"
"It doesn't matter." Adanika nodded, as if someone had placed the final piece in a puzzle. " It doesn't matter at all. Do what you can."
Elspeth withdrew her hands. "It is already done."
I'd seen nothing. I'd felt nothing. But already Emmeline's breathing had returned to something approaching normal. There was no more blood. The squire's clothes and my hands were still sticky with it, but her wounds had closed. Carefully, not wanting to risk disturbing Elspeth's miracle, I withdrew my hands.
Elspeth sank back on her haunches. "She is sleeping, dreaming. When she wakes, she will be whole. And she will bear two marks."
Two Tressian soldiers came forward with a makeshift stretcher. I rose unsteadily to my feet, emotions swirling in my chest. "Take her to the palace. Lord Karov will make arrangements from there." One last imposition on his lordship's unexpected generosity, but I'd no doubts he'd rise to the occasion. Not in this.
I held out a hand. Elspeth regarded it with suspicion. Then her thin fingers closed around mine and I raised her to her feet. "Thank you," I said. "I already owe you so much. This is merely something else I cannot repay."
She stepped in close, so close that for a moment I thought she intended to embrace me, but she merely lowered her lips to my ear. "In all this time, has it not occurred to you that I might have been paying off debts of my own?"
Her voice was amused, though in a tired way, but that wasn't what caught my attention. That honour was reserved for the title she addressed me by immediately after, her voice so soft that none other than I could possibly have heard. At first I thought she'd misspoken, or was making some joke at my expense, but then she drew back and fixed me with a cool, clear gaze. I opened my mouth to speak, but the question was lost as a commotion erupted.
One of the graces was not as dead as we had supposed, and now burst into sudden life. Battering two praetorians aside, she ran headlong towards the stepping gate. Crossbow bolts sped past the fleeing serathi – creditable efforts, but wide of the mark. Adanika took wing, but for all of the Speaker of Truth's speed, she was too distant. A moment later, the grace was through the stepping gate.
We were out of time. Azyra would soon know what we were about. We couldn't fight our way across Skyhaven. I wasn't even sure that stealth would serve any longer, but if we didn't leave now, the other side of the gate would surely be held against us.
Tressia was coming to life around me. I heard the tramp of boots in nearby streets, and I'd just as soon be gone before Karov failed in his efforts to keep the square clear.
"Adanika and I need to go to Skyhaven now," I said, "before it's too late. The rest of you don't have to come. You've already done more than I can repay, and we can't win this through force of arms."
Elspeth shot me a look of pure contempt. The Tressians looked thoughtful, and Jamar...?
Jamar smiled and stared over my shoulder, back down the square towards the palace. "It's not my place to correct you, savir," he said politely, "but in this case I shall, nonetheless. We can win this."
As he spoke, I realised that the sound of footsteps on cobbles wasn't the surrounding streets coming to life. At first I thought Karov had rounded up some more soldiers, or perhaps even that Torev had at last returned from Halmede. Then I glanced at one of the Tressians, and saw the expression on his face. That wasn't the look of a man seeing comrades approach, but one who had lived through a nightmare but couldn't yet be sure he wasn't dreaming. I turned, already knowing what I'd see. The sight roused a smile from my lips nonetheless.
Sentinels filed into the square, not the handful I'd dared to hope might join with Zorya, but all of them. I was torn. I was glad to see the sentinels – inexpressibly so – but their arrival made me question my wisdom of attacking so soon. Had I waited, lives would not have been lost, and Emmeline would not have suffered as she had. I forced the guilt down. Madness lay upon that path. Zorya had said first light, and there was no way I could have known they'd only been delayed.
Tressians reached for their weapons as the sentinels converged, clearly not sure what they were seeing.
"They're on our side," I said quickly. "They'll not harm you."
Fortunately, the Tressians believed me, or were at least so intimidated that they did nothing to provoke the newcomers.
Zorya emerged from amongst her sisters. She wore a sword belt around her waist, but was otherwise still garbed as when I'd seen her last. Adanika and Elynna knelt in respect as she approached, and despite the seriousness of the day, I sensed the mischief Zorya was tempted to in that moment. Yet she merely bowed her head politely to her sisters of flesh and blood, and then turned solemnly to me.
[[They will fight. We will all fight.]]
Twelve
Zorya insisted the sentinels be first through the stepping gate. After so long at the heart of events, it felt strange not to be at the forefront of things any longer, no matter how much safer it would be to let Zorya's army take the lead. And take the lead they did, filing through the stepping gate in a calm and orderly manner. It took nearly half an hour for them all to pass through, time I used to organise my flesh and blood followers.
It was agreed that the surviving Tressians would stay behind, to prevent the curious or foolish following us to Skyhaven. Elynna would also remain behind, thoug
h this was little to her liking. she plainly felt that her part in this battle was not yet done. Adanika and I argued with her almost the entire time that the sentinels were filing through the stepping gate, and at last we were able to convince her to stay. I confess that I felt no great fondness for Elynna, but even so I couldn't countenance her dying uselessly on Skyhaven, which I was certain would be the outcome if she came with us, given the severity of her wounds.
In the end, Elynna only yielded when Adanika suggested that at least one serathi must survive the battle to come. I wasn't a complete fool. I knew many would die on Skyhaven – were already dying – but I found Adanika's certainty chilling. Elynna had nodded and fallen silent at that point, but I felt her eyes on me as I strode up to the stepping gate.
The Skyhaven I stepped into bore little resemblance to the one I'd left. The tidily-presented courtyard was a thing of memory. The planters were smashed, statues were toppled and shattered, and the gardens had been trampled. Two sentinels stood at attention to either side of the gate – guarding it, presumably, against the serathi.
There were bodies too; the first casualties of the fighting. The shattered form of a sentinel at the stepping gate's base. Her head was some distance away from her body, and stared sightlessly up at the sky. The broken remnants of three more lay where the courtyard opened onto the streets. Close by was the body of a serathi, a shivered spear in her hand, her armour rent and dinted. In the distance, the clamour of battle raged – the sound of sword upon sword, as well as the strangely musical sound of sword upon stone. The air was alive with the strident voices of the serathi, but if the sentinels made any sound or loosed any cry, I couldn't hear it.
One by one, my companions passed through the stepping gate to join me. Adanika came first, her face wary.
"It seems we have arrived just in time," she said. "Skyhaven is no longer in motion. Hopefully Zorya can keep the other serathi occupied while we reach Azyra. If she cannot..."