by Thomas Green
Six thousand? I thought they would have two thousand men, at most three. With her chest tightening, Zerae gasped for air, taking long seconds before she calmed down enough to speak. “Have everyone enjoy their meals and drinks. I will prepare variant plans overnight, and we choose between them by the report of our morning patrols. Have the remaining scouts spread out through the night, so we have a warning in case we are found. Chloe, send some of your trackers to map the forests to find potential spots to break a camp if we need to move.”
“Yes, War Leader,” they said. Zerae sighed and left the meeting, heading straight for her tent. She didn’t undress before laying herself into her cot, where she took a soft sleeping drug to fall asleep, made a short prayer to the Goddess, and then focused on the Palai amulet hidden within her pocket to recite the incantation: “For my battle ends at dawn, the last dawn of my soul, the dawn of the thousand suns.”
***
She woke up in her soul chamber, seeing Lucas lying on the grass of her training grounds. He turned his eyes toward her. A blast of pure rage disintegrated Zerae, petrifying her as she sat on the bed. He sighed, and the feeling vanished. She drew a deep breath, reorganizing her mind to think straight.
Lucas cleared his throat, his voice controlled. “It seems you had delivered on your part while I have delivered on mine if that is what this meeting is about.”
Zerae took a few deep breaths to calm down. She had no idea who angered him so, but she did not want to be around the next time he met that person. “How have you done your part when the sea is blocked by the storm?”
“I have a ship capable of sailing through the storm, so I have used that one to handle the delivery of your prisoners.”
Of course, he has a ship that needs no sails. Zerae shook her head. “Anyway, I need to know where the entrance to the escape tunnel of Kaeby is and I need it now.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think I know that?”
“So far, you have known everything that was necessary, so I expect you to know this or have someone you can ask.”
“What do I get for doing it?”
Zerae shrugged, studying him. She looked for a weakness, an opening, something. There was nothing. “Name your price.”
“In six days from now, I will need archers in the north. I believe it should be within your scope of ability to make the northern Sil Haen force do my bidding for a battle.”
Zerae sighed. “You sure know how to abuse an advantageous position.”
Lucas smiled with no joy behind the gesture. “I don’t care. You have no option but to do as I ask. Do we have a deal?”
Zerae nodded, her insides clenching. “Yes.”
“The entrance to their escape tunnel is under the hill of their western fortress. There are three large rocks, the middle one has a mechanism to move it to access the tunnel underneath.”
“Of course you know. Can you wake me up by force?”
Lucas motioned his hand, and she fell through the ground of her soul chamber, descending through the darkness of the Void at a blinding speed. Her vision went dark, a light flashed before her eyes and the view of insides of her tent greeted her back to reality, seeing she sat on her cot, fully awake and covered by a cold sweat.
27
Zerae
After she commanded Leena to dream-walk, Zerae spent the entire night drafting her plan. She had no time to run it through anyone, so she figured it had to do.
Zerae headed straight for Astril’s tent, where she found no one. A moment of focus later, she caught moaning carried by the wind. She followed the sound and arrived at the correct tent. Inside, Astril and two Voidwalker warriors enjoyed each other’s presence in the cot.
Zerae stomped. “Astril!”
The Voidwalkers leapt from the bed, grabbed their clothes and dashed away.
Astril stretched, making sure Zerae saw all there was to see on her beautifully sculpted, naked body and turned to her with an innocent look. “I’m always ready for you.”
Zerae sneered. “Are you kidding me?”
“I needed to relax a bit before the big battle. You were planning, and Leena was eating, so I caught someone else.”
Zerae’s cheeks flared. “Can’t you hold your twat in line for a single night?”
Astril smiled. “I can, but it’s more fun not to.”
“You—” Zerae’s insides clenched, guilt wreathing her soul. Astril may have been overdoing it, but Zerae wasn’t the model partner. In the past week, she spent more time with James’ book than she did with her. And not for the lack of trying on Astril’s side. Zerae stepped to her and grabbed her head for an intense kiss. “I realize I haven’t had much time for you, but you could explore other ways of grabbing my attention than cheating on me.”
Astril clicked her tongue. “You have had zero time for me lately, so I reached for the well-proven method.”
Zerae’s rage subsided, replaced by the tight wrapping of guilt. “Come on, Astril, don’t give me this bullshit. I will make up for this all when we stop being at war.”
Astril shook her head. “There’s always something. You needed ten years off, then there were politics, then a small war, then more politics, then there was a kid you needed me to raise, now there’s a war and next up are more politics. You never have time for me.”
“I’m trying, really.”
Astril shrugged. “You say that all the time. I always believe you, and that’s where it ends. You never leave any time for yourself.”
As the burning anger wreathed her insides once more, Zerae snarled. “Or maybe, just maybe, you could stop being so needy.”
“I tried to be nice and said nothing past weeks. But I got the same in return, nothing. Being nice doesn’t work with you. Being mean, on the other hand, delivers immediate results.”
Zerae’s chin dropped. “Let’s focus on winning today’s battle.”
Astril grabbed her nape to force Zerae to look at her. “What did Mathilde tell you?”
Tears flashed in Zerae’s eyes, her voice stuttering. “That she will exile me if I don’t live up to my claim.”
Astril grinned. “That’s not bad, considering she will have you executed the moment we return to Voidspire, and she finds out what you had done.”
“Not for you,” Zerae whispered. “But I gave my whole life to the clans, to our home. I can’t lead any other life, do anything else… I have nothing else.”
Astril sighed, turning sad. “Yeah, I know.” She reached into the pile of her clothes and pulled out a wooden mask, one without any holes for the eyes, nose or mouth, a featureless wooden disc with leather straps. “She used to say that as well.”
Zerae stared at the mask, hypnotized. She knew it, for it belonged to their Queen, who wore it into battle. “Why do you have it?”
“She gave it to me.”
Zerae’s eyes widened, and heart stopped. “Gave?”
“I lied when I said I killed her. Thirty years ago, I let her go. I hunted a band of adventurers instead, arranged one of their heads to look like the Queen’s, and made Sibyl and Leena confirm my story.”
Zerae stood speechless, staring at the mask.
“Leena wanted to leave with the Queen,” Astril said, “but I stayed for you, so she stayed for me.”
This is what I had done to you. I forced you to stay in a place you hated, filled with people you despised instead of leaving with the ones you loved. I am so sorry, Astril. Zerae softly hugged her head, wanting to thank her, but not finding the strength to utter those words.
Astril relaxed into her arms for a long moment before she broke the silence. “We will win today, and tomorrow, and every day afterward. Just make sure you are winning for the right reasons.”
Zerae let her go so Astril could dress into her scale armor, throw the two falchions over her back and then fix the leather-wrapped spear over them. They left the tent in awkward silence.
The right reasons… was finding the Faceless Goddess one of th
em? Zerae wished she was sure. But she had little options but to do as her mother bid, and so they had fight and hope at least some of them would live to see the Goddess. If it was possible to find her to begin with. Outside, Leena joined them, her brown robes full while a wide pointy had sat on her mahogany hair, partially hiding her round face.
The scouts brought the expected reports of them being found. Zerae organized their force to head for the western fortress that loomed on a hill near the city.
If Zerae’s calculations were correct, the forces of Kaeby would need at least four hours to mobilize and march out, which should have been enough for her to take out this fortress. Zerae led them through the hills, arriving as close to the fort as they managed without being seen, crawling for the last few hundreds of feet. The grass was wet but fresh. Its wetness sharpened Zerae’s senses to being fully awake.
They reached the top of the hill and stared at the fortress on a hill hundred feet ahead of them. Its walls were tall and made of stone, its gates reinforced and closed, the banners weaving in the wind the colors of gold and blue. Around it lay smaller hills while beyond the fortress hid the city and a forest spread to the south-east.
With a motion of her hand, Zerae called Astril, Chloe, Hilmeria, and Leena to her. “Chloe, have your girls prepare the spell. When you are halfway, send word. Leena, once I give you the signal, break the gate so we can storm the fortress. Hilmeria, have the warriors ready to charge. We need to swarm the gate and force them to retreat into the inner keep. Astril, get to the walls of the fortress the second we start and kill any archers that come out.”
Everyone confirmed. Chloe walked to the Voidwalkers, who descended the hill and spread over the plain below. She organized her warriors to stand in a symbol of a flipped star and started incanting while she gestured wildly with her arms. Words Zerae didn’t understand echoed through the air, alien yet familiar. The six hundred Voidwalkers standing in front of Chloe repeated the chant after her and attempted to mirror her gesturing, akin to a twisted orchestra.
The alarm rang from the fortress while the men inside swarmed onto the walls.
Zerae watched the Voidwalkers continue with the spell as black smoke rose from them, forming a cloud above their heads, warding off the sun.
Chloe’s chant changed, and the cloud started slowly moving above the fortress. Seconds later, a messenger dashed to Zerae, confirming the ritual reached its half.
Zerae gave the signal.
Leena stood up next to Zerae while Hilmeria readied her warriors into a loose formation. Leena spread her hands, raised her staff and grey flame burst into the air, coiling and twisting before it formed a massive fist. She pointed her staff at the gate, and the fist blasted through the air. Bare dozen feet before it reached the gate, the flame solidified into stone, making the fist ram the gate open, sending a shower of splinters into the air before the stone turned to dust.
Zerae drew her executioner sword and motioned forward. “Charge!” She dashed ahead, four hundred warriors at her heels. Zerae glanced around but didn’t see Astril. Screams echoed from the fortress while the soldiers started forming a barricade inside the broken gate.
From the corner of her eye, Zerae glimpsed Astril atop the walls of the fort. Her swords were but a blur as she hacked her way through the archers who started shooting at them.
Astril was fast, but couldn’t get all of them, so a rain of arrows soon descended upon them. Zerae shielded her face with her sword while her coat protected the rest of her body. She heard the shouts of the warriors behind her as some got hit by the arrows, but she could do nothing else than keep charging.
Zerae arrived at the defensive line. She pushed all her aether into her body and sword, stepped in and swung in a full arc. Her aether blasted from the sword, throwing around men as if they were hay figurines. The warriors flowed into the hole in the defense line she created. Zerae panted for a moment, letting others take the lead before she dove into the battle. As her muscles screamed from the strain, she slashed around herself in massive swings, careful not to hit her soldiers. While her blade could not cut through the steel breastplates of the soldiers, it severed arms and legs.
Ignoring everything else, Zerae kept going to push her warriors to force themselves forward, to stop the soldiers from closing the formation. The festival of death robbed her of the sense of time. The feeling of guilt slowly flooded her veins. She wanted to be in the front line. She was supposed to. But she couldn’t. The one swing at the start was all the aether she had, making her weak. She hated the weakness, need to depend on others to fight her battles. As she kept swinging, her arms felt as if they would fall off at any moment. Pain burst into her body with every strike, but she did her best to ignore it. Her breath soon became heavy while her limbs seared with strain, barely able to lift her own sword.
She gritted her teeth and kept going, not seeing another end than fighting through this. The defensive line broke, and the men scattered, dashing toward the keep. Zerae supported herself with her sword not to collapse, panting and looked around.
Corpses littered the walls of the fortress while all the remaining defenders were gathering into the keep. Atop its roof, Astril was cleaving through the last of the archers while above her hung a massive, dark cloud.
Zerae took a deep breath to shout from the top of her lungs as all-freezing dread filled her veins. “Astril! Dodge!”
Astril looked down at her. At the moment their eyes met, the cloud contracted upon itself to produce a humongous bolt of black lightning. It struck the keep straight behind Astril in a flash of pure darkness. The world went dark, and the keep exploded, its stone bursting from its place, windows shattering, and wood breaking.
Zerae slammed her blade into the ground and knelt by it, using it as an anchor to withstand the shockwave. Its force felt like it would tear her flesh off her bones, making her tremble with pain.
The shockwave passed, and Zerae raised to her feet, the fortress but a shadowy ruin in a cloud of dust in front of her. With teary eyes, she cleared her throat to shout. “Tend to the wounded!”
Zerae rushed forward, her ears ringing, her body sore and stiff. Every step made her feel like she would collapse at any second. Where are you, Astril? Please make a sound, tell me you are all right... say something!
Zerae searched through the rubble. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her. Astril lay bent over a fragment of the wall, motionless, her blonde hair messed up and hanging over her face, her body limp.
No! No! No! No! No! Zerae blitzed to her and caught her in her arms. Astril did not move. Zerae shook her and cleared the hair off her face while tears filled her eyes. “Come on, Astril, wake up…. please.”
Astril did not move.
Zerae lifted her up in a hug, shaking her further. “Please… don’t leave me alone… please wake up.”
Astril did not react, and Zerae burst into tears, her voice stuttering. “I’m sorry I was mean… I’m sorry, just wake up… I beg you.”
Astril’s eyes flung open as her body sprung to life. “Ha! I knew you could say you were sorry!”
Zerae’s mouth gaped. “What?”
Astril hugged her tight. “I wanted to make sure you still cared about me.”
“Are you… all right?”
Astril released the hug and straightened, granting Zerae a smug smile. “Of course.”
While dust and dried blood covered her, Zerae saw no sign of Astril’s armor being damaged or blood leaking out from beneath its scales. Zerae found herself at a loss for words.
Astril smiled and cleared Zerae’s golden hair from her face. “Let’s go check on the others.” She supported Zerae from beneath the shoulder to help her move.
Zerae wanted to protest, but the scream of relief her muscles released as Astril raised her changed her mind. She wiped her tears, rearranged her hair and motioned Astril to take her back to the warriors. The Voidwalkers have rejoined them and were tending to the wounded. She approached Hilmeria, forcin
g out the most neutral voice she managed to produce. “Give me status.”
Hilmeria straightened. “Eight dead, forty-six seriously injured, and about three hundred lightly wounded.”
Chloe stepped to them with an awkward smile on her face. “I am sorry, but we messed up the strength of the spell.”
Zerae shook her head. “We all knew that was a variable. What are our casualties from?”
Hilmeria pointed to her side where a broken arrow remained stuck in her armor. “Arrows.”
Zerae nodded. As expected. Still, this was an incredible success, for about five hundred men defended the fortress. There were sure to be survivors, but they were in no position to fight them anymore.
One of the Voidwalker scouts dashed to Zerae, panting. “There is an army leaving the city, and it will be here soon.”
Zerae stretched her neck. “Hilmeria! Send your unit to proceed as planned.”
Hilmeria nodded, grabbed half of her warriors and headed off to guide them toward the secret passage into the city.
Under Zerae’s command, the rest of Sil Haen took their wounded and retreated to the southeastern forest where Hilmeria rejoined them, alone, so the information from Lucas was accurate. During their march, Zerae glimpsed the army of Kaeby, confirming her every fear, for it comprised about four and half thousand men who all wore the armor in colors of gold and blue.
Zerae led her force into the forest. Its thick walls of trees hid them from sight while the lush canopy above shielded them from the sun. Despite her having the Voidwalkers use every trick they knew to cover their tracks, the army of Kaeby was not giving up.
Zerae maneuvered her force through the woods, knowing their lighter armor and unnatural, inhuman stamina would prevail. Twelve hours later, they circled the forests twice and lost their pursuers.
Zerae sent her scouts to confirm the enemy positions while she kept searching for a spot to break camp. She did not like what they found until four hours later. She ignored the unhappy murmuring of everyone other than herself and settled for an elevated meadow for the main camp and a clearing before a hill containing a deep cave for the second camp.