by J. B. Jenn
“More difficult?” Janessa shook her head at him. “My family might be dead and you’re asking me not to make this difficult?”
“Yes, my lady.” His voice was oddly soft. “We’ve all lost family and close friends.”
Janessa thinned her lips and closed her eyes. When she met Galtrand’s, she gave a sad smile. “Of course. I’m sorry. I… I only thought of myself. Forgive me.”
“We’ll leave behind the carriage. We’ll travel faster and easier without it. If it was an attack on Cascade and its ruling family, we’ll also be less noticeable.”
Janessa nodded. It was all she could do. There was a lump in her throat. She was afraid if she spoke, she’d break down and cry. She had to stay strong until she knew the truth.
Querra
She was hiding behind a partially destroyed building, catching her breath. The ceiling to the building was caved in. So were the north and east walls. For the moment, she was safe. As her back was pressed up against the stone wall, she hoped the group of winged monsters hadn’t seen her.
There were so many dead. So few had survived. The ones who had and were still in the city were trapped. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t save them all. The black monster just kept attacking.
Although King Delane had banned her from Kenokel, she had never gone far from the city. Even now, she was grateful he hadn’t banished her from the kingdom. When she had heard of the attack, she and her men had arrived within half a day. By the time, she and the Relentless had arrived, the city lay in ruins. Most of the soldiers had died or fled.
During one of the rare moments the black monster had stopped, she had risked peering around a corner at it. With the quick look, she had discerned it had horns on top of its massive head. Horns spiraled down from its chin. Its shoulders were wide and it seemed to have some kind of plate armor surrounding its body. It was the first time she could look at it. When it was moving, its form was nothing but a blur.
The moment it had turned toward her, she had cowered behind the wall. She remained there, barely breathing, praying it hadn’t seen her and the others with her. If it did, they were dead.
There was one thing certain, she and the other Relentless had to remain behind on the outskirts of the ruins. They had to rescue as many people as they could. It was dangerous and likely to take several of their lives, but those people had no chance without them. Some of the Relentless had already fallen from the odd magic coming from the black beast. Others had fallen to the smaller creatures in the city. They moved so quick, so quietly.
When she thought they were safe, she nodded to the two men with her to move on. Earlier, they had seen a small child in the building across the street. She was alone and trapped behind rubble.
Querra knew she wasn’t strong enough to move the stone trapping the child. The two men were. She’d provide a distraction for them. Hopefully, none of the other horned or winged monsters would come their way. She could only fight off so many. Their blood was also detrimental to weaponry. Her sword was nearly deteriorated beyond the point of being useful.
She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart. She darted out away from the child, stepping in sight of the monster. Something hit the ground behind her. It was enough to make her stumble. She continued forward, knowing if she didn’t keep moving, she was dead. The monster took the bait and followed her, knocking aside pieces of building in its way.
She ducked behind what used to be a church and prayed to the Old Gods to save her life. She had never believed in the new one most of Hartland gathered behind. She had never seen any reason to. There was no evidence He existed. There was plenty of the Old Gods. All one had to do was open their eyes.
When stone crashed down around her, she knew saving her life was something she was going to have to do. She was going to have to have faith the Old Gods would direct her in the right direction when They could.
Two of the smaller monsters came at her. One of them was flying toward her. Querra grabbed her sword and threw it with all her strength. It wobbled in the air, but landed in the monster’s shoulder, dropping him to the ground. The other one was nearly on top of her now, charging forward on four toed feet.
She grabbed for her dagger and jabbed it in his chest where a human’s heart was located. The creature roared and threw his arms wide, smacking her. It did little to slow him. Querra flew backwards, landing in rubble. She scrambled to her feet, feeling where several bruises would be. Turning toward the monster, she knew this was when and where she was going to die.
Two of the Relentless appeared in front of her, rushing from where they hid. They made short work of the two creatures. Blood splattered one of them. He howled as the blood burned him. The other man turned and helped Querra to her feet. She looked to both, thankful they had arrived when they had. She was also thankful the large one had lost interest in her.
Just as she turned away, one of the winged monsters shot down from the sky. It stabbed the man who had helped her to her feet through the back with a barbed tail. As the tail pulled away, it opened the wound further, pulling some of his insides out with it.
“No!” Querra screamed.
The monster flew off in the opposite direction. She watched the man fall to his knees, gasping for air. There was nothing she could do for hm. She rushed to his side anyway. She never made it. The other man grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“We have to leave. There’s no time to bring him with us. We all knew the risk the moment we looked upon the ruins of Kenokel. Come on. Most of the people have escaped. The other two men with us rescued the child. It’s time for us to go, too. We can’t save everyone. We’ll save even less if we’re all dead.”
Querra stared at the man. She didn’t want to leave him. She certainly didn’t want to admit defeat. The Relentless had taken heavy losses as they defended the citizens of Kenokel. It became obvious fairly early on, they couldn’t hurt the big one.
The odd thing was the large monster didn’t seem all that interested in them. It’d chase them for a short time. Once they disappeared from sight, the thing went back to destroying buildings and digging through rubble as if searching for something. It was why they had survived this rescue mission. She knew it meant something, but she wasn’t certain what it meant.
Maik
Standing out on the balcony of his room, King Maik stared out across the vast land of sand. His hands were folded behind his back. His sea green eyes saw everything, but at the same time, saw nothing. He had listened to all the disturbing reports concerning Kenokel. He prayed they weren’t true.
“What do you plan to do?” Isol, his cousin, asked from behind.
The man’s voice was almost disrespectful. Maik knew it was because the man resented him for being born in line of the throne. He glanced over at his cousin before returning his gaze back to the desert. The reports he had listened to were of death and heavy losses to the Cascade army.
All the reports centered on the same thing. Kenokel had fallen to some large, black creature within the matter of a day. There were reports of smaller creatures of various descriptions roaming the city as well. The reports said they had torn through the army and killed thousands.
He ran a hand through his black hair. He couldn’t imagine going through the terror they had. What concerned him was how easy the city had fallen. The soldiers of Cascade were known for their skills at war. It shouldn’t have fallen so easily.
“Send scouts.”
“Just scouts?” Isol scoffed. “You don’t want to send aid? From everything we’ve heard, they could certainly use our help.” He shook his head and muttered something under his breath.
Maik turned. “Send scouts,” he repeated. “Get a clear picture of what’s happening and then we can decide if sending people to aid them is the right thing to do. Otherwise, all we might be doing is sending our men to die.”
Isol clenched his jaw. He started to turn away, but stopped. “What of their king?” he asked. Ma
ik nodded for him to continue. “Surely if there’s a disaster as everything suggests, they’d evacuate their king. Wouldn’t they seek refuge here as you and King Delane have an understanding? What if the scouts were to find him?”
“Have them bring him back to the palace. We’ll offer all the people from Cascade everything available. They are people in need, just as we once were. Cascade was our only ally.”
“Might I suggest something?”
Maik looked at his cousin. Isol’s dark brown hair was slicked back. His brown eyes were angry. “Yes.”
“We should take this opportunity and seize more power for the Desert. By taking their king, they’ll have no choice but to hand over the kingdom to us. Cascade is in such a state of disrepair right now, let’s use it to our advantage.”
“I hope you aren’t serious.” Isol raised a brow. “Absolutely not. We will offer Cascade and its people what aid we can. That’s all we’ll do.”
Isol left, shaking his head. Maik turned back to the sweeping sands of the desert. More than anything, he was grateful his cousin hadn’t been the one to receive the throne. He was too ambitious. Too uncaring.
Maik sighed. He wondered what he’d do if the rumors were true. Somehow he had to find a way to defend the Desert and his people from whatever had destroyed Kenokel.
He needed to know more.
Mercea
Their path to Kenokel led them through the Spindle Mountains, which were snowy most of the year. Although there was a road leading them around the base of the mountains through a pine and aspen forest, Mercea had deviated from it. She had ignored the Seeress’s and Arem’s protests, feeling the road was watched.
The surrounding area was eerily quiet. Only twice Mercea had heard the fluttering of wings. As she trudged through the deep snow, she kept herself focused on her surroundings. Something was amiss. It was more of a feeling than anything else.
Rosha, the middle-age woman, followed her through the path in the snow she had created. The woman kept her cloak wrapped around herself. What concerned Mercea was the woman’s muttering. The howling wind drowned out what she was saying. Mercea shook her head. She couldn’t worry too much about it at the moment. They weren’t alone, and Arem was nowhere in sight.
“It’s freezing!” Rosha yelled through the gale shoving snow at them. “How much further do we have before we can rest and warm up?” She shuddered as another strong gust of wind shot past her.
“Be quiet.”
Mercea stopped and scanned their surroundings. She turned, looking toward Rosha before looking to the trees again, hoping to catch a glimpse of Arem somewhere. She was going to need his power. Although none of the soldiers here were the beginnings of demons like they were on the lake, they outnumbered her.
“We’re not alone.”
“What?” Rosha’s eyes darted about. “Where?”
“Quiet,” Mercea hissed, scanning the forest, trying to discern where they were coming from. There were too many trees and too much falling snow whirling around them to see a thing. “Run north. Keep running until you reach a tower. You might not see it at first. It’s protected by the Gods, but They will show you the way if They deem it necessary.”
“How many towers do the Servants have?”
“I said run.”
“What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me, foolish woman. My duty is to protect you. The only way I can do so is if you run. There are too many of them for me to keep my eye on you. Run and don’t look back.”
“Let me help.” Rosha scanned the trees.
“Do as I say.” Mercea shoved her forward.
The middle-aged woman looked reluctant to leave. Mercea shoved her again and watched her start to run. She disappeared among the trees and blowing snow. At least the partial blizzard would help conceal her and her footsteps. All Mercea had to do was keep these men distracted long enough for the woman to reach safety.
Mercea charged into the trees where she had caught sight of three men. There were more around her. She could hear them, even if she couldn’t see them. She held her beautiful, purple blade with a black and purple hilt at her side.
When she heard the man closest to her make the slightest sound, she moved. The man, a few inches shy of six feet, still half a foot taller than Mercea, turned toward her too late. The surprise on his face at seeing her was masked by a thick black cloth.
The blade sunk into his chest so quickly he didn’t have time to scream. His body hit the snow, splattering the pristine white with crimson droplets.
Mercea kept moving, using the pine trees as cover, hoping the howling wind was absorbing her hurried footfall. One of the three men she had seen turned toward his comrade. Mercea watched them from where she was hidden.
“Over here!”
Four more men tromped through the forest. As they gathered around the fallen man, several scanned the trees. Mercea threw two daggers. One of them hit a man in the spine. The other winged one of them in the shoulder as he turned to scan the area. Before the daggers found their mark, she had taken off running.
She didn’t make it far before two emerged in front of her. There were more here than she had thought. Mercea changed direction, barely squeezing between two leafless aspens. Despite the swirling snow, she could see a cliff just ahead. She started to change direction again, but couldn’t. There were more men coming toward her from that direction as well.
She slid to a stop at the edge of the cliff. It wasn’t a sheer cliff, but it was still steep and icy. Mercea spun, deciding to face the men here and hope they didn’t overwhelm her. She might be a Servant, but she was still vulnerable. She could still die.
The first four came into view. Their heads were wrapped in the same thick, black cloth as the first man she had killed. One of the men was the one she had winged with the dagger. Blood soaked the front of his cloak, only visible by the snow gathering around it. His eyes met hers. They were filled with hatred. As she scanned the other men, she saw the same thing.
She was in more of a predicament than she had imagined. Although her body was blessed with strength and speed, she knew it wasn’t enough to win this fight on her own. All she could do was attempt to take out as many as she could and pray Rosha made it to safety.
Rosha
She had run just as she was ordered to. As she headed north, she was curious to whether or not the Old Gods would allow her inside one of Their towers. She didn’t think They would. Surely They knew her plans.
Passing tree after tree, she fought the urge to look behind her. There was no way Mercea could take them all. Rosha shook her head. She shouldn’t have left. She might not get a better opportunity. Yet, Arem had put a small flaw in her plans. It was why she hadn’t acted. Shaking her head, she knew she should have stayed. There was too much that needed to happen.
Ahead of her, the trees had grown denser. She turned around, planning to circle back around to Mercea. She came to an abrupt halt instead.
There were men there. They weren’t supposed to be here. In fact, they weren’t supposed to be here at all. She hoped they hadn’t seen her. Those men didn’t know who she was. They weren’t like the others. They were her husband’s men. As she moved away from them, she cursed. This could ruin everything.
Attempting to go to the right, she found it was overgrown. She didn’t know how far the overgrowth ran or how deep, but she continued. She hoped there was somewhere she could squeeze by. Once she did, she could disappear from these men without using magic.
She never received the chance. Someone grabbed her arm from behind, twisting her around. The large, broad shouldered man wrapped one hand around her throat. It ended her startled scream. Rosha met his eyes. He let her drop with a triumphant laugh.
“Fortunately for you, the king wants you alive. He thinks you might serve a purpose.” He frowned at her amusement. “What?” Rosha continued to stare at him until he leaned down close. His breath was horrid. “What?” he asked again through clenched t
eeth.
“You have no idea who I am. If you did, you’d grovel at my feet, begging for forgiveness.”
His hand wrapped around her throat. She placed both of her hands on his single, large hand, but hesitated. There was magic here. Whoever was among these men was powerful. More than puzzling, it was hidden away as if the man didn’t want it known he was a wytch.
The man squeezed tighter. She went limp and he dropped her in the snow where her hands and feet were secured by two others. Rosha looked to each of the soldiers wondering who it was she had felt.
The large man leaned down, studying her. “Be careful with this one. She might be a wytch. She might be responsible for what happened at the lake.”
Rosha smirked at the man. He snorted and his fist connected with her face. Rosha fell back against the ground, knowing only blackness.
Mercea
The interrupted scream in the distance made Mercea’s heart race. They had reached Rosha. There were more soldiers in the mountains than she had counted on.
Mercea scanned the trees. Where the hell was Arem? Had he alerted these men to their presence? It wouldn’t surprise her. Wytches were selfish and desired power. They always wanted more of it. She had learned that the hard way. He had probably made some kind of deal with them. When she made her way out of this mess, she planned to hunt him down.
She scanned the area again. She didn’t see an obvious way out. At least, not a pleasant option. There was a steep cliff behind her and seven men she could see in front of her. More were hidden within the trees. She could hear them tromping toward her, crunching the snow beneath their massive boots.
“Remember, don’t kill her. We have her cornered. She has nowhere to go.”