"They're going to be deploying us," Matilyn said.
Sean frowned, "Where now?"
"We're going to Lamonte," Matilyn said, "Battle-Master Marius is transferring us to the 8th offensive brigade. We'll be serving under Commander Amaris."
"I think I've heard that name before," Sean said, "I just can't place it..."
"He's the brother to the other Amaris," Matilyn said, "The commander in the southern offensive base. We're going to the northern one."
Sean nodded.
"The thing is," Matilyn said, "We have to leave soon. They're only giving us three days to prepare."
"I see," Sean said.
"You're still not well enough to go," Matilyn told him. She didn't look as though she liked what she was saying, but she forced the words out anyway, "You're going to have to stay here, Sean."
"I can't," Sean said, "I belong with Redhorn."
"I know that," Matilyn said, "and if there was another way, I'd find it. But as it is, you're too injured. You can't be in combat yet."
"Please don't leave me here," Sean said.
Matilyn closed her eyes and then opened them again, determined, "If there was another option," she repeated, "But there isn't. I'm not speaking as your friend right now, Sean, I'm speaking as your commanding officer. Unless you recover in time, you'll stay here and be on defense with Commander Broggin's men."
Sean didn't try to argue, he could see how set she was on the decision. A hundred thoughts flew through his mind, the primary one being that he didn't want to be left behind.
"I'm sorry," Matilyn said.
"I know," Sean said. "Can you do me a favor though? Can you send in Sheldon?"
"Eldrin? Why?" Matilyn gave him a confused look.
"I need to speak with him," Sean said. "Please?"
"Alright," Matilyn said, "I'll get him. But he's not going to change my mind either, Sean."
"Just bring him here," Sean said, "I'll do the rest."
Eldrin hurried to catch up with Janice when he saw her walking alone, after her turn on watch was done. "Janice! Hey Janice! Wait up!"
Janice looked to see who was calling out to her. She frowned when she saw Eldrin and kept going. Eldrin sighed, but hurried to catch up with her. "Hey, I'm trying to talk to you."
"What?" Janice asked. "I'm on my way to see Sean."
"Well," Eldrin said, "I was coming to talk to you about Sean."
That stopped Janice in her tracks. "What about him?"
"Did you hear that Matilyn's making him stay behind?" Eldrin asked. "She said he's too injured to deploy with us."
Janice nodded. "I've heard," she said shortly.
"Well, you can't want him to stay behind," Eldrin said, "You're far too into him for that."
Janice sighed.
"It's true," Eldrin said, "I can see the way you look at him. It's the same way that I look at--well, look, I can tell."
"What's your point?" Janice asked.
Eldrin hesitated a moment, "Look, I know I haven't always treated you well in the past--"
"You could say that," Janice said dryly.
"You know," Eldrin said, "You make apologizing a lot harder than it has to be."
Janice shrugged.
"I know you're in a bad mood about Sean," Eldrin said, "That's why I'm here. If you would just hear me out..."
"Alright," Janice said, "Go ahead then."
Eldrin rolled his shoulders, ran a hand over his face, and sighed, "Well," he said, "I found out about this thing when I was young, right?"
"Right," Janice said, barely containing her impatience.
"It wasn't supposed to be a thing anybody knew about," Eldrin said, "I just had this thought once and I shared it with Father Ashbury and he told me that it wasn't something to even think about. But all the same, I knew it would work."
"What would work?" Janice asked.
"Well," Eldrin said, drawing out the word. "Well, see, Sean would be fine if he had unlimited energy, right? Then he could fight while wounded. See what I mean?"
"Seeing as he doesn't have unlimited energy," Janice said, "No, I'm not following."
Eldrin grinned. "He needs an amulet."
"An amulet?" Janice frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Okay," Eldrin said, "Come with me."
He took off in a quick jog towards his tent. Janice sighed, and followed, curiosity aroused.
Once he'd reached the tent, he stopped and looked back at her, "See, there's this thing you can make," he explained. "It's not something we're taught because of the, well, the reason is pretty obvious."
"What is it?" Janice demanded.
"An amulet," Eldrin repeated. "Think about it, Janice. What holds energy?"
She stared at him. When he just stared back, she sighed once more. "I don't know. Living things?"
"Precisely," Eldrin said, looking pleased. "Living things hold energy. The thing is, it's not just living things. It can be things that were once living and now aren't."
"Like what?" Janice said, "Like a tree branch?"
"No," Eldrin said, "I'm talking about people, Janice."
When she didn't immediately react, Eldrin let out a disappointed sigh. He ducked into his tent and came back holding a jar of ashes. "Do you know what this is?"
"Ash," Janice said.
"You know, for the smartest person in our training group, you sure are dense," Eldrin said, "It's ash, yes, but it's a special sort of ash. The kind of ash that could--"
Janice's eyes widened in sudden realization, "It was a person? How'd you get it?"
"I snuck some while we were burning soldiers," Eldrin said happily.
Janice took the ashes, staring at them, "That's disgusting, Eldrin."
Despite her words, she couldn't help the sense of fascination that overcame her as she stared at what was once a living person. "Seriously. Disgusting."
Eldrin shrugged. "Yeah," he said nonchalantly, "But it works."
Janice said, "So they hold energy. Because they were once alive."
"Yes," Eldrin said, "It took a little bit of practice to learn how to funnel energy into it,m but it works. I thought of the idea when I was younger--I thought it might help with long-term patient illness. But Father Ashbury forbid me to ever even talk about it again. But I remembered."
"This could work," Janice said. "If he carried the ashes around..."
"They'd get spilled that way," Eldrin said, now sounding like the impatient one. "No, what we need to do..." He held his hand back for the jar. Janice handed it over.
"I've been practicing with Tania," Eldrin said.
"Tania?" Janice repeated, "That fire manipulator in your squadron?"
"The very same," Eldrin said. "Now, hold out your hands."
Janice looked a little skeptic, but did as Eldrin commanded. He poured the ashes into her outstretched palms. "This might hurt a bit, but I'll be careful."
Eldrin let out a slow breath, and concentrated on the ash. It began to heat up.
"Eldrin, you're doing fire manipulation!" Janice exclaimed, surprised. "I didn't know you could!"
"Shh," Eldrin said, "I'm trying to concentrate." Despite his reprimand, he still looked extremely pleased. He focused again, and this time the ash began to melt together. Janice winced as it grew hotter and hotter on her palms. Eventually she had to drop the ash. By this time, though, it had melded together into a speckled looking rock.
Eldrin knelt down to grab it. "Do you have a necklace?"
"I have the one I'm wearing," Janice said, "It was a present from my brother. He told me to bring it, so I could remember him."
"That'll work," Eldrin said, "Give it here."
Reluctantly, Janice slid the necklace off. Eldrin glanced at the pendant at the center of the chain for a brief second before unclipping it and handing it back to her. He took the chain, and grabbed up the melted ash stone. He pressed the metal into the rock, using fire manipulation to heat them back together.
"See?" he said, holding up the
stone. It now dangled at the end of the necklace. "We can fill it with energy, and Sean can draw from it. At least till he's back on his feet."
"Does it really work?" Janice said. She sounded a bit awed.
"You tell me," he said. He focused on the stone, cupping a hand around it. It glowed briefly as his energy flowed into it. He handed it to Janice. "Just breathe it in," he told her.
Janice nodded, focusing on the stone. After a minute or so, her eyes lit up and she straightened. "It works," she said, "It really works."
Eldrin grinned. The next thing he knew, Janice was hugging him. He didn't know what to do, but carefully patted her back, "It's nothing," he said. When Janice pulled back, he saw that her eyes were a little wet. He pretended not to notice. "Come on," he said. "Let's get this to Sean."
Eldrin and Janice burst into the infirmary where Sean was sitting. Neither of them were surprised to see Matilyn talking to Sean.
"I'm sorry," she was saying, "I know you want to go, but there's no way that you're fit for travel. And asking for Eldrin isn't going to change my mind."
"Sure it will," Eldrin said.
Matilyn glanced back at him. She gave a tiny shake of her head, but Eldrin was grinning from ear to ear. So was Janice. This surprised Matilyn for a moment. She looked between the two of them, confused.
"No," she said.
"Yes," Eldrin argued.
"We have a solution," Janice said.
"We've already tried healing him together," Matilyn said, "Whatever wound he has, it's on the inside. He's barely fit to walk around, there's no way that he can fight like this. It'd be too dangerous."
"We're not going to heal him," Eldrin said. "Now, Sean, I heard you asked for me. Is there a reason for that?"
"I thought you might talk to Matilyn for me," Sean said, giving Matilyn a half-apologetic, half-defiant look. "I don't want to stay behind."
Matilyn shook her head, "I told you, Eldrin isn't going to change my mind."
"I will," Eldrin said. "Janice, if you could?"
Janice stepped up beside Eldrin. "So the problem," she said, "is that you're using all your energy trying to repair the wound. This leaves your body weak and exhausted. Matilyn's right--you're not really able to do much about that. It'd be dangerous for you to be out there."
Sean gave her a hopeless look.
"But what if," Janice said, "What if we could find a way around that?"
"How?" Matilyn asked.
Janice looked back at Eldrin, "It was his idea," she said.
"But you helped," Eldrin said.
"True," Janice said.
"What are you talking about?" Sean asked.
"We made you an amulet," Janice said.
Sean stared at her blankly.
"Look," Eldrin said, "It's really simple, honestly. It's this amulet we made. It stores energy in it. Energy that you can draw upon when you need an extra boost."
Matilyn blinked, "What? That's possible?"
"I didn't think so either," Janice said, "But we did it. We created one." She slid the necklace from her around her own neck and offered it out on an open palm. "It works."
Matilyn took the speckled stone and rolled it around in her fingers. She could feel the energy it held. She blinked, surprised. "How'd you figure this out?"
Eldrin shrugged, "I'm a curious person," he said, "I like to experiment. But give it to Sean. See if it helps him."
Matilyn handed the amulet over to Sean.
He held it carefully, as though afraid to break it.
"You have to draw in the energy," Janice said. "It takes a little bit of practice."
Sean focused on the stone, breathing in deeply. Matilyn couldn't take her eyes off him. He seemed to grow somehow when he drew the energy inwards; he sat up straighter, and some color came back to his cheeks.
"Wow," he murmured. He stared at Eldrin and Janice. "This is amazing."
Eldrin took a bow and Janice laughed.
"So you see," Eldrin said, turning to Matilyn, "He'll be able to keep up with everyone. We just siphon some of our own excess energy into the stone, and then he can use it as needed."
Sean looked over at Matilyn pleadingly.
Matilyn couldn't contain her amazement at the little stone, but a little part in the back of her mind screamed out against it. There was something off about the whole thing but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. She thought maybe she was looking for trouble where none existed.
"Alright," she said.
Sean breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you," Janice said.
"No," Sean said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Eldrin said, smirking. He elbowed Matilyn, "See, I told you I could convince you."
Matilyn rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said, "Let's let Sean sleep. Whether he has more energy or not, his body still needs to prepare."
Janice nodded, "I have to go check on my men anyway."
"I guess I should do the same," Eldrin said with a small groan.
"Yeah," Janice said, "You better check on Tania."
Eldrin flushed a dull red color.
"Tania?" Matilyn asked with a raised eyebrow.
"She's been giving him private lessons," Janice said. This time, she smirked.
Eldrin, though, didn't look amused. "It's not like that."
"Oho," Matilyn said, "Private lessons with one of your men. I wonder what you could be studying." She grinned at him, but he didn't return the expression.
Janice seemed to realize she'd caused Eldrin embarrassment because she quickly said, "It's just fire manipulation. I'm just teasing him."
"You're learning fire manipulation?" Matilyn asked Eldrin. She was surprised. He hadn't told her about it.
"Just the basics," Eldrin mumbled.
"Well, that's great," Matilyn said. "Are you any good?"
"He was good enough to make that ash into a stone," Janice said. Eldrin shot her a look, but Janice just shrugged.
"It's ash?" Sean asked.
"Oh right," Eldrin said, latching onto the question with a ferocity that surprised Matilyn, "Yes. It's ash. You're wearing a dead man around your neck, Sean."
Sean dropped the amulet.
"Oh, don't be like that," Janice said, "It works, doesn't it?"
Sean frowned, "It just seems weird," he said, "Kind of odd to be holding the remains of some dead soldier."
"Keep your enemies close," Eldrin said, returning back to his previous amused state. He winked at Sean.
"I guess," Sean said uneasily.
"Come on," Matilyn said, "Let's get out of here. I need to talk to Commander Broggin anyway."
"Lucas the doofus," Eldrin said with a cheeky grin.
Matilyn didn't look amused. "Don't call him that," she said, "He's a nice guy, really. I think he went out to bat for me during the tribunal."
Eldrin shrugged. "Well, come on then," he said.
Together, the three filed out of the infirmary, leaving Sean alone with his amulet.
Matilyn glanced over the troops that were gathered at the gates of Teirford. There were hundreds of men waiting for her direction. Eldrin and Janice stood with their troops, both of them looking excited. She saw Ryan Mattheus's men too, crowded in with her own. There were a few new squadrons deploying with them as well. Redhorn had grown.
"Remember," Battle-Master Marius said, "You're to go to the shore and from there you'll set sail to Lamonte. The northern post will be expecting you."
Matilyn nodded. "Yes sir."
"There's something else to remember too," he said, and he looked out over the troops too, speaking directly to them all, "You're going to be cold," he said, "and you're going to be tired, and you're going to miss home. Patriotism will mean little to you once you're out there on the field, watching your brothers and sisters get cut down by the enemy.
"So don't focus on patriotism," he said, "focus on the people that are standing next to you now. They're going to be more important to you than anything else. How you
act out there is going to determine whether they live or die. So take a long look at their faces, and remember that."
Matilyn saw her men exchange looks. Some of their smiles had faded, but others burned bright in the group. She felt her spirits lift.
Then Marius saluted the group, and as one cohesive unit, they saluted back. Matilyn wasn't sure the last time she felt so proud was. These were her men.
"Safe journeys," the battle-master said.
As Matilyn turned to lead her troops away, she caught Jonathon Lund's eyes. The commander stared at her for a moment and then stepped forward.
"Malevus," he said.
"Yes sir?"
"Gods have mercy on your soul," he told her, his voice constricted. He looked at her, and then at her troops, "Gods have mercy on all your souls."
THIRTEEN
No Better Company
ELDRIN CAUGHT UP WITH MATILYN AS THEY marched. He shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned at Matilyn, "Can you believe it?" he asked. "We're finally getting deployed. Are you excited, Lieutenant Malevus?"
"Yes," Matilyn admitted. Despite the Commander's parting words, she felt confident. She felt good. "I finally feel like we're doing what we're meant to do. Does that make sense? It feels great."
Eldrin stared at her for a moment before finally shrugging, 'Sure," he said, "If you ignore the parts where we'll be tired, hungry, injured, and homesick. Other than that, it sounds fantastic."
Matilyn laughed.
Eldrin put an arm around her shoulders, "Seriously, though," he said, "it's funny. I'm an officer and you're my commanding officer. It's strange, isn't it?"
"It's not that strange," Matilyn said, "Things haven't changed. Not that much. Not with us."
"Not completely, no," Eldrin said. He started to say more but before he could, Sean had jogged up to join them. He cleared his throat. "Lieutenant," he said, "There's a disturbance."
"What?" Matilyn said, "in the troops?"
"No," Sean said, "Up ahead. One of our scouts saw something--they're pretty sure it's Lamonte soldiers."
Matilyn became immediately alert, her eyes narrowing as she glanced a head, "I haven't seen anything."
"You might want to join the scouts," Sean said.
Matilyn hurried to follow him.
The Warriors of Valishna (Cartharia Book 1) Page 16