They left the hut, joined by Tyrell, and returned to the clan chief's building at the center of the settlement. Instead of taking a path back to the bedroom where Berig had awoken, they took a quick left, reaching the end of a hallway, where Lara knocked on a wooden door.
"Come in," Zak said from behind the door.
They stepped inside, where Zak sat behind a wooden desk covered with paperwork. That wasn't what Berig had expected. He'd thought they'd be uncivilized like the other clans.
Zak looked up. "Something wrong?"
"We need to talk to you," Lara said.
"I’m listening."
"I've read the Webs of Fate regarding the Wanderer's captured friends," Tyrell said. "If you don't send the Wanderer with the rescue party, it will almost certainly fail, and we will lose a lot of good men and women."
Zak ran a hand through his short black hair. "You're saying I have to risk the Wanderer?"
"It's inevitable," Tyrell said. "If he's going to become the hero we expect, he will do it outside of our protection. We must let him prove himself. Protecting him is foolish."
"I was beginning to come to that realization myself," Zak said.
Berig felt as if a massive weight had left his chest. "Then you'll let me go?"
"If Tyrell thinks it's best, who am I to argue?"
"I do think it's best," Tyrell said. "I also think his friends may be just as important as him. They are all Weavers themselves. I've rarely seen so many Weavers together. These people will have the power to alter the course of events when the Great War resumes."
Zak's face was lined with worry. "Then the choice is obvious."
"Is something wrong?" Berig asked.
"I already sent out the rescue party."
"Then we've gotta catch up," Berig said. "Before it's too late."
"I'm afraid it might be too late already."
Chapter 29: The Battle of Sierra City
Kara, Aren, and Lena emerged in a deserted alley. After spending so long in the tunnels, Kara was relieved to step out into air that didn't smell foul or feel oppressive. Sure, the city had its own disgusting smells, but they were nothing compared to those tunnels.
Even better, there were no monsters here. Wards were situated at the end of the alley, keeping monsters from appearing in the city.
"The attack hasn't begun yet," Aren said. "Let's find this sorcerer, and maybe we can get out of here before the fighting begins."
They stepped onto streets that were a chaotic mess. Soldiers filled the streets, warning citizens to take shelter in their homes. Kara didn't know what good it would do to hide from the Sunset Army, though she supposed it would keep people away from the worst of the battle.
The soldiers didn’t stay around to enforce their orders, which allowed Kara's party to head farther into the city, passing buildings made primarily of stone. There were a few wooden embellishments, but in a rocky land with little plant life, only the wealthy could afford to build their homes with wood.
The buildings showed more and more wood as they moved closer to the center of the city, following clean cobblestone streets. The chaos in the streets became less, as most of the soldiers had taken positions near the city's massive stone walls.
Nobody gave Kara's party more than a passing glance. Even those soldiers they passed were more concerned with defending their city.
At last, the castle came into view. Kara, Aren, and Lena reached a short bridge leading across a moat. Two guards flanked the gate at the end of the bridge, eyes narrowed as they watched the party approach.
"The city's under attack," said the guard on the right. "What business have you got here?"
Lena stepped closer. "Here to see Tobias."
The same guard examined Lena. "Wait. I know you. Name's Lena, right?"
"Yes," she said impatiently. "Now can we see Tobias?"
"He's leading the city's magical defenses," said the guard on the left. "I'm afraid he's too busy to talk to anyone right now. You got anything important to tell him?"
Lena shook her head. "Nothing that's more important than this battle."
"Is there some way we can help?" Aren asked.
"We'll take all the help we can get," said the guard on the left. "We probably have enough people near the walls. We'll need some people deeper inside the city, just in case the Sunset Army breaks through the walls."
"We'll do what we can," Aren said.
Lena narrowed her eyes. "I'll take any chance I can get to kill a few of those bastards."
The guard directed them to a nearby contingent of soldiers, and a few ordinary citizens, who were defending the interior of the city. The soldiers didn't even spare the party a second glance. Those soldiers needed all the help they could get right now.
"You think we'll win?" Kara asked.
"No idea," Aren said. "But we'll do what we can."
She leaned against him, hoping to find warmth and solidity—an anchor to keep her stable in a sea of chaos. Aren wrapped an arm around her, his touch comforting, but she could sense his anxiety, a horrible mirror of her own. They stood in a group of perhaps fifty people. No one spoke, and tension hung in the air. The streets had all but emptied of everyone who wasn't fighting. Kara couldn't see the walls and had no idea if the Sunset Army was attacking.
Eerie silence settled over the city as Kara broke free from Aren and paced at the walls of a large stone building. This would surely be her final battle. No one could elude death forever.
A low rumble came from the distance.
"That must be their siege engine," Aren said. He gripped her shoulder lightly.
The rumble continued, and Kara's tension became almost unbearable. Smoke towered in the distance. The nearby soldiers told them to be ready, but Kara was barely paying attention. She hadn't signed up to be part of a war.
"I'm not ready to die," she said.
Aren rested his hand firmly on her shoulder. "No one ever is. But I don't think we're gonna die today. This isn't the first time the Sunset Army's attacked Sierra City. They've never won before, and I don't think they'll win now."
Kara avoided his gaze. "I wish I had your confidence."
It felt as if time had stopped. More smoke rose in the distance, thicker and darker. Shouts became louder. Ominous cracking sounds accompanied the rumble.
"Sounds like we're gonna have a fight on her hands," Lena said, as if thrilled at the prospect. Kara couldn't understand how Lena felt that way. Yes, Lena had suffered at the hands of these people, but surely the Sunset Army wasn't entirely evil.
Kara had seen too much in her young life to believe that good and evil were simple. These soldiers surely had reasons they were fighting for their country.
A crack sounded in the distance, louder than ever, followed by a series of screams and shouts. The Sunset Army had breached the city's walls. Now they would fight in the streets.
Sure enough, a soldier sprinted toward them a few minutes later. "The Sunset Army has infiltrated the city," he said breathlessly. "We need everyone to defend the city!" The soldier collapsed against a nearby building. He hadn't removed his armor to run the entire distance from the wall to the castle.
"You heard him," Aren said. "Let's get moving."
The soldiers led their makeshift group of defenders toward the walls. They weren't quite sprinting, but the pace was fast enough that Kara tired.
It took a few minutes to reach the battle. The sounds of chaos were almost deafening. Magic crackled in the air. Bursts of fire engulfed soldiers on both sides. Lightning arced through the city. Somewhere in the distance, somebody was casting powerful spells. Kara watched in awe for a moment, then turned her attention to the fighting.
Soldiers were running every direction, slashing at their opponents, plunging their swords through whatever exposed body parts they could find.
Kara felt vulnerable without armor. "I can't be part of this battle. I won't last even a minute."
Aren nodded. "Then you should hang back and
let us use our magic."
Kara gestured toward the battling soldiers, who were still maybe fifty feet ahead. "Do you really think you can use your magic without hitting our allies?"
"You make a good point," Aren said. "Maybe we should stay out of this battle."
"I don't care," Lena said. "You can stay out of the battle if you want, but I'm fighting."
Aren gestured angrily with his arm. "You'll only get yourself killed."
"If I die, then so be it. But I'm gonna take a few of 'em with me."
Aren tried to say something else, but she dashed forward before he could. He watched her, chewing on his lower lip, then turned back to Kara. "She's made her choice. Let's hope she makes it through this."
The soldiers had all rushed forward to join the fighting, but most of the civilians hung back with Kara and Aren, watching the battle warily. It was one thing to say you'd defend your city when you weren't seeing the battle firsthand. It was another to stand strong against the enemy with no armor and no chance of surviving.
"That inn there has a balcony." Aren pointed up and to their left. "We can watch the battle from there."
Kara didn't want to watch the battle, but she needed to know Lena's fate. They entered the inn, which was packed with people who had taken shelter behind its sturdy stone walls. Kara followed Aren up the stairs and onto that balcony, perhaps twenty feet above the ground.
Lena was somewhere in the chaotic mess below, amidst the clinking and clanking of swords. Fire towered over some areas of the city, burning all the wood it found. Screams came from every direction. Kara could almost feel the pain of every fallen soldier. Their grunts and cries were sickening. How could people do this to each other?
It reminded her too much of Crayden. "This is awful."
"I almost wish I was down there fighting alongside Lena," Aren said. "I don't know. Maybe I'm too much of a coward."
"No, you're just a more practical person. As am I."
"I'm gonna miss her," Aren said.
"We don't know if she's going to die."
"You saw the look in her eyes. When she left us, she was prepared to die. She has nothing left but her thirst for vengeance. She'll take out as many of them as she can, but in the end, she'll meet her death."
Kara felt an upwelling of tears. "You don't know that."
"I think I've always known it would come to this at some point."
The sounds of battle continued below. The clinking and clanking of swords. The crackling and roaring of fire. The sizzling of lightning in the air. Even the low rumble of massive rocks shifting. It was wondrous. Terrible but wondrous.
Over time, the Sunset Army forced the Sierran army to retreat. They grew closer to the inn and eventually passed it. However, the fighting remained in the streets below.
"They'll worry about civilians later," Aren said. "Once they conquer us."
As the battle moved farther into the city, the flow of soldiers became thinner. Hundreds and hundreds of bodies lay upon the cobblestone streets, blood staining the ground near them. One of those bodies had to be Lena's.
"Why are they winning this time?" Kara asked.
"They've never attacked with numbers like this before. I don't know why, but they decided to put everything behind this war effort. What changed?"
"I don't know," Kara said, "but it seems like a strange coincidence to me. I show up in the Shadowed Land, and I'm immediately involved in the biggest war you've seen in a while. I mean, what are the chances of that?"
"It is a bit strange, I'll admit, but it can't have anything to do with you."
She leaned against him, feeling unsteady on her legs. "I just want this to end."
He wrapped an arm around her. "It will, in time."
"And then what happens?"
He ran a hand through his dark beard. "Then we see what they do with a city full of prisoners. Can't say I'm looking forward to it."
Chapter 30: The Sorcerer
Kara stood among the assembled patrons from the inn, Aren a grim presence at her side. Sunset soldiers had surrounded them, ordering everyone around.
The Sunset Army had surrounded the castle, while other soldiers patrolled the streets with swords, bows, and magical staffs. A few civilians had challenged the soldiers' authority. The lucky ones had received beatings.
"How can we find Tobias with all the soldiers around?" Kara asked.
"I don't know," Aren said. "Don’t know if he's even alive."
"We can't just stand here. We have to do something. Anything." Kara hated the desperation that had crept into her voice, but there was no fighting it.
They broke free from the group around the inn. Everyone seemed too stunned to note their departure. A few of the soldiers gave them sharp looks but didn't accost them. Still, Kara felt their eyes on her as she walked past them.
At least these soldiers seemed like professionals. For now.
As Kara and Aren walked through the streets, they passed the bodies of those who'd died defending their city. Blood had stained the cobblestone streets. Some of the bodies were missing limbs. Others had no heads. Kara and Aren examined the face of each fallen defender, expecting to see Lena. When they found her, Kara fell to her knees.
Lena had taken a sword through the chest. Blood had soaked her clothing, and her face looked pale and lifeless. Aren placed a hand on her forehead.
Her eyelids fluttered. "Aren, is that you?"
"Yes, Lena, I’m here."
"I feel so cold," Lena said. "We failed, didn't we?"
Aren stroked her forehead. "It wasn't for lack of trying."
"I love you, Aren. I always have."
"I know, and I'm sorry I could never return your feelings."
Lena’s eyes, glazed and unfocused, turned toward Kara. "Get her home, Aren. Promise me."
"I promise," Aren said. He cupped his hands around her face as her eyes closed and she fell still. He was silent at first, but then he began to sob. Kara understood his pain. He may not have loved Lena in the way she'd wanted, but he'd loved her as a friend.
Kara put a hand on Aren's shoulder. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
He stared off into space as if he hadn't heard Kara. "She didn't deserve this."
"No one ever does." Kara thought of her mother and father, who'd died in Crayden, thought of Tomas, of all the people she'd known in the Order. It didn't matter what world you lived in. Humans found ways to kill one another for the worst reasons.
Aren wiped the tears from his face. "There's no reason to linger here."
"If you want to abandon me now, I'll understand."
He frowned. "Why would I do that? I have nothing to return to. There’s no one left from my former life. I promised to get you home because it's all that's left for me."
"I feel like I'm bad luck. This all happened since I arrived."
Aren struggled to speak through his tears. "It's not your fault. Atrocities like this are only the fault of those who commit them. I will make them regret this." He began to sob again, looking at the ground. "What kind of fool am I? What can I hope to do against them?"
Kara didn't know what to say or do. Aren had always seemed so strong and capable, like a more rugged version of Ander. The strong leader. The man who could push his emotions aside and focus on the task at hand.
Everyone has their breaking point, she decided.
Kara leaned against him. "Maybe you can't make them regret this, but you can help me. I'm still here, and I care about you. You're a good man, Aren, and I'd hate to see you die in a foolish quest for vengeance."
Just like Nadia, she added silently. She hated being stuck in this place, hated feeling so far away from Nadia when Nadia needed her most. Would Kara ever know Nadia's fate?
"You won't see me die," Aren said, composing himself. "I'll get you home, and then I'll make these bastards pay."
"What's the point? You said it yourself. You have nothing left here. If you can get me home, then surely you can come wit
h me. Don't you want to feel sunlight on your skin? Don't you want to see a world of vast, grassy plains and seemingly endless forests? Before coming to this place, I never realized how beautiful my world is."
Aren got to his feet. "You're right. Vengeance is a foolish path." His voice was flat, however, and he didn’t meet Kara’s gaze.
Kara looked down at Lena's body, conflicting emotions running through her. She'd never liked Lena all that much, but Lena had been a strong woman, a fierce protector. However much her vengeance had blinded her, she'd been a good person deep down.
And now she was gone. Another casualty in a meaningless war.
Kara was sick of fighting, sick of people dying around her. When she closed her eyes, she could still see the fires in Crayden. She could still imagine her mother and father, their smiling faces, their steadfast support of her dreams and the Order's goals.
Now more faces flashed through her mind. Alia. Lena. Devin. How many more would die around her? What if Aren was next? Though she hated to admit it, she felt an attachment to him that she’d never felt in her life. She loved him.
It was strange how this thought had come to her just now. She'd never given much thought to her feelings about Aren, but as she watched his tears, his struggles, she knew her instincts were right. He was the kind of man she could love. In truth, she'd always wished she could have a life with Ander back home.
But he was a noble, and she was a commoner. Besides, she'd always thought Ander and Nadia would end up together. Now she had no idea about anything. The last few weeks had destroyed every vision she'd ever had of her life.
"I think I'm ready to go now," Aren said.
"But where are we going? We have no idea where Tobias might be, or if he's even alive." Kara felt a sudden rush of tears. "I have no idea how we're going to do anything. I feel like giving up."
Aren squeezed her shoulder. "We can't give up."
"You're right." Kara took a few deep breaths, holding back tears. "Maybe Lena has something written down about where we might find Tobias."
"Lena never learned to write. Even if she had, the kind of people she grew up with discouraged writing things down. She never told you, but she was quite a good thief before she decided to take her talents to Millersville."
World in Chains- The Complete Series Page 74