“This is so lousy,” she muttered as she handed the reins to the vampire, keeping her eyes averted. She had already experienced a plethora of emotions over Drake in the last two days and she didn’t feel like encouraging any errant feelings now.
Skye nodded at her as he reached up to ensure that his sword was secure in its sheath on his back. Ashlyn untied the hira shuriken and her sword from the back of her saddle and strapped them into the makeshift harness she’d made, feeling the reassuring solidity of the weapons against her fingers. She allowed herself a brief moment to wonder what had ever become of her favorite bo shuriken, the one that she’d lost in Storim so many years ago. Supposedly her father had it. If that was true, she definitely wanted it back.
Skye began to move, weaving his way through the trees in a quick, agile jog, and Ashlyn ran after him. They ducked behind trees as they moved, and fell into a slingshot pattern, with Skye moving forward to secure the first area, and Ashlyn running past him to the next after receiving the all-clear signal. It was something they’d done numerous times back when Lord Angelo was still alive, but Ashlyn had forgotten what an effective tracking partner Skye was. He’d gotten that way from all that DEMON training, probably, since most non-Toryns didn’t know the first thing about stealth and sneakiness.
They were moving to the western side of the island, very close to the beach, and as the trees began to thin out, Ashlyn became cautious, crouching lower when she moved and seeking cover more quickly. She glanced around the sparse forest, eyes searching for threats, but finding none. She turned and motioned to Skye that the way was clear, and he moved past her, his boots making no sound on the forest floor.
He froze about a dozen steps ahead of her, and ducked behind a large boulder. Ashlyn stilled, waiting for a signal. Her gaze caught his. He nodded slightly, confirming that he’d seen her father’s army, and motioned her closer. Ashlyn peered out from behind her tree before dashing to him, staying low and silent.
“I see the stragglers,” Skye whispered to her when she approached. “Is there a route that will take us to high ground at their flank so we can avoid being seen?”
Ashlyn frowned, pursing her lips as she tried to remember the layout of the island. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “It depends on the route they take. There’s some high ground further up but I doubt they’ll be going through the canyons. It would be too easy for them to get ambushed.” As she spoke, she realized that the path that her father’s army was currently on would eventually lead them to Toryn. “Should we send Drake back to the city?” she asked Skye nervously. “What if they’re planning an attack?”
At first he shook his head, but then he hesitated. “What do you think?” he said at last, and it became obvious to Ashlyn that he was trying to let her be the leader.
She glanced around the rock, noting that the last of the troops were nearly out of sight, and frowned. “Let’s follow them for now,” she said. “I guess if there’s a need later, we can warn the city. I’d like to get to my father before an attack on the city even becomes a possibility.”
Skye nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“We’ll…move up the line until we find my dad,” she said, a little uncertainly. “He’s the most important thing right now. Even if I see Kou, I don’t want to stop searching until I find my dad. Then we can regroup and…figure out what to do next.”
When they began moving again, Ashlyn made a conscious effort to take a path further east, allowing some space between herself and the army as she and Skye drew up alongside the marching soldiers.
She noted that her father’s army was in no particular formation, with some soldiers lagging behind and a few clustered together in tight groups. None of the soldiers appeared particularly lively or energetic, which might have been encouraging- except that she was exhausted, too. A few of them were lighting torches, perhaps preparing to march through the night.
One particular soldier caught her eye, and she slowed, recognizing Kou’s naked face amidst the sea of masked ninjas. He was riding a horse, one of just a few dozen mounted soldiers in the entire army, and his long hair was pulled back loosely, his features set in a scowl. Clearly he wasn’t happy with the day’s developments thus far.
Ashlyn crept closer, trying to see if one of the mounted ninjas was Lord Li. Even though their faces were mostly covered, she figured she could probably recognize her dad’s eyes. She could really only make out the eyes of those who were riding closest to her, and none of them seemed familiar, but that still left fifteen or so who were just too far away to identify.
One horse tossed its head and trotted a few steps, bumping into the horse in front of it and causing the second horse to pin back its ears and swish its tail angrily. The chain reaction ended there, but Ashlyn’s attention was focused on the lead rope in Kou’s hand- a lead that had previously been obscured by a horse. He was leading the horse of another ninja, but why?
She was momentarily distracted by a large fallen tree in her way, and hastily followed the trunk until she found a place she could duck under. When she glanced over her shoulder, she noted that Skye was following at a distance, close enough that she could signal him if she needed to. For being such a blockhead over romance, his intuition on the battlefield was surprisingly sharp, and right now she was grateful for it.
Ashlyn sprinted up ahead, trying to get a lead on Kou, then slowly edged closer to get a better look. When Kou drew near, she confirmed her suspicions- the masked ninja on horseback was definitely her father. She’d recognize those dark eyes anywhere.
He was slumped exhaustedly in the saddle, barely staying upright. The war was clearly taking its toll on him. Even more surprising was the slightness of his figure, the tunic doing nothing to disguise the angular cut of his shoulders and the thinness of his arms. Her eyes followed the lines of his torso down to his lower half, noting that his legs were particularly skinny. His knee-high boots swallowed up his calves with room to spare.
Her gaze lingered at his thighs, where ropes cut across his flesh tightly. Ashlyn frowned. Ropes? Was he tied to the saddle? Perhaps he’d been giving so much blood to the soldiers that he was too weak to sit in the saddle on his own strength.
Suddenly Lord Li fell forward, and he did nothing to stop his descent, simply falling against the neck of his horse. The horse didn’t falter, seemingly accustomed to the motion. After a long moment, Lord Li’s hands came up, weakly pushing at the horse’s neck in an attempt to lift himself, and Ashlyn saw with a shock that his hands were tied as well.
Her father was a prisoner!
Ashlyn’s hand flew to her sword, ready to yank it free and unleash on these monsters who would dare to imprison the Lord of Toryn, but Skye suddenly appeared next to her, his hand against hers. He shook his head and put a finger to his lips.
She trembled, staring at the swordsman furiously, wanting nothing more at that moment than to rescue her father from the clutches of the most evil man she’d ever known. How long had Kou been keeping him like this? Was this army extracting her father’s blood against his will? How sick was he? Ashlyn felt ill when she thought about all the time she’d wasted researching a Leadership Duel and arguing with herself over her responsibilities as Lady of Toryn, when all the while her father had been held prisoner, growing weaker every day.
With effort, Ashlyn lowered her hand, leaving the sword strapped on her back. In front of them, the soldiers marched, their footsteps drumming a rhythm into her conscious that served to slow the frantic beat of her heart.
She nodded at Skye to follow her, and then began retreating. Abandoning her father was the last thing she wanted to do right then, especially when her first urge was run to him and throw her arms around him- and then kill every single one of the monsters who had imprisoned him all this time. But she needed to regroup with her comrades and figure out a plan of action.
She and Skye reached Drake quickly, and each of them mounted their horses so they could keep pace with the army.
“My father is a prisoner,” Ashlyn hissed as Skye drew even with her.
“A prisoner?” In the near-darkness, Skye’s expression was almost unreadable, but his eyes were glittering. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I saw him- he’s tied to a horse and Kou is leading him. Skye, my dad is so weak he can hardly sit up. They’re draining him dry!” Despite the gravity of the situation, Ashlyn felt a sudden and profound sense of relief at the knowledge that her dad wasn’t the bad guy after all. There would be no Leadership Duel. Kou seemed to be the only enemy now.
“If we wait until they stop and make camp,” Drake spoke up from behind her, “it’s possible we could stage a rescue.”
There was a pause.
“It’s possible,” Skye said at last. “Not easy, but not impossible either. They might not stop to make camp, though. They could march on through the night.”
“Either way, we’ve got to get my father out of there. If we can get him and head straight back to Toryn, I think we’d be able to hold off my dad’s- Kou’s- army,” Ashlyn said. “Maybe if we got my dad on the airship and off the island, it would discourage them from attacking further.”
“You have the same blood,” Drake pointed out. “The only way that theory would work would be if you evacuated with your father.”
“I could do that,” Ashlyn said reluctantly. “I’d prefer not to. I don’t want to abandon the city.”
“You may not have to,” said Skye. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They’re slowing down.”
All three of them turned to look at the Toryn army, only visible by the lights of the torches they carried. It was obvious that the army was stopping. If it was to make camp, Ashlyn realized, this might be their chance.
“Let’s wait,” she said. “We can get closer once they’re settled and work out what we’re going to do.”
She halted her horse, who stood placidly and strangely content, despite the fact that they’d been riding most of the day.
“Has it occurred to you that this might be a ploy?” Drake asked. “Devlyn must know that we’re tracking him. He might have bound your father so that you would assume Lord Li is innocent and attempt a rescue.”
“I don’t think so,” Skye replied before Ashlyn could speak up. “You and I could be tracking him, but he has no reason to think that Ashlyn would. The wounds that she sustained would have been life-threatening in any other situation. It was only thanks to you that she’s all right.”
“Skye is right. No one but you could have possibly healed my ribs without killing me,” Ashlyn said, “and Kou has no idea how skilled you are with magic, so he probably thinks I’m still…incapacitated or whatever. Actually…that might be why he’s moving now. Maybe he’s hoping to attack Toryn before I get there.”
The three of them sat silently in darkness for a long while, as the torches of the army continued to mill around erratically. Ashlyn supposed it was fortunate that these soldiers weren’t very well-organized, but she wished they’d hurry and set up camp.
Her mind wandered, her thoughts straying to the tattoo she had removed from her ankle. Sometimes rash behavior was gratifying, but right now she felt pretty dumb. Her father was clearly not leading this rebellion, and Kou and Tag were clearly not her brothers. For all she knew, every member of the Li bloodline was still rigidly documented inside the scrolls in the gong library, and she’d scrubbed that tattoo off for nothing.
Leaving on her own was a poor decision, too, but in the heat of the moment, with Drake’s rejection still ringing in her ears, it had seemed like the right choice. Maybe if she’d stuck to the original plan and left Toryn with Skye and Drake in tow, she would have already rescued her father and reached the city by now. She felt stupid and foolish, but it was too late to change anything.
A tingle ran down her spine, and Ashlyn glanced up to see Drake watching her, his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
“They’ve settled,” Skye said before Ashlyn could react. “Ash, let’s you and me move in and assess the situation.”
She obediently dismounted her horse, handing the reins to Drake again. This time she met his eyes boldly, daring him to continue their earlier conversation.
“Be careful,” was all he said.
She followed Skye closely, keeping low to the ground as she inched forward. The darkness was a convenient cloak to their movements, but the army was unusually quiet, and Ashlyn had to take great care to keep silent.
The soldiers had camped as they marched, strung out in a thin ribbon along the path on which they had marched rather than grouping together. It would be more to Ashlyn’s advantage than Kou’s, because the soldiers would have difficulty making their way to the source of the battle if she, Skye and Drake were using magic to put barriers in their path.
Ashlyn and Skye had to move further up the line to find Kou again, but he was easily identified, removing his horse’s tack as other ninjas worked to erect small tents in the area around him. His movements were smooth and unhurried. Ashlyn found herself clenching her fists, angry at his casual attitude. She wanted nothing more than to inflict the same kind of pain and suffering on this man as he had on her father.
As she watched, two soldiers untied Lord Li and eased him down off the horse. His arms and legs were trembling fiercely, fingers curled like claws as he clutched his hands to his chest. Ashlyn’s throat tightened as she watched. She’d never seen her dad helpless like this before. The dread and pity that welled in her heart were nearly overwhelming.
The soldiers were not ungentle as they set her father on his knees, but they did nothing to help him as he fell forward weakly. The Lord of Toryn, face-down in the dirt, and these men were doing nothing to aid him. Ashlyn blinked furiously, trying her damnedest not to cry, and tapped Skye on the shoulder. He glanced back at her, and she motioned to him to follow as she retreated.
“What’s wrong?” Skye asked when they reached Drake, and Ashlyn shook her head mutely. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, couldn’t see anything except for her father, near death and being discarded on the ground like a piece of trash.
She took several steps away from Skye, facing the darkness of the night, and took one deep breath, then another. Acting on impulse was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. She would not let her dad down this time, not when so much depended on her ability to stay calm.
Determinedly, she turned and walked to Skye and Drake. “Okay,” she said. “I’m no tactical genius, but it shouldn’t be impossible to run in and get them stirred up to the point where they don’t know who to chase after I’ve rescued my father. I’m not even going to worry about Kou. Kill him if you can, but the objective here is to get my dad out. I’m going to run in and use lightning to fry as many of them as I can reach. Drake can stick with me as I go in and use whatever he has to keep the soldiers at a distance, then help get my dad up on the horse with me. We’re just not going to have time to tie him to his own horse so I’ll have to carry him with me. Skye, if there is any way you could open up- I don’t know, a ditch or something, maybe right behind us as we’re running, that would slow them down in a big way?”
“I think I can help before that,” Skye said, “using earth to create a protected path towards your father.”
She knew what he meant- raising a wall of soil on either side of her as she ran- but had never seen him use the magic that precisely before. “That sounds like a good plan,” she said. “If you think you can do it, I mean. I don’t want to ask you to be a superhuman here.”
“Aren’t I always?” Skye said with an easy smile, his teeth gleaming in the faint light. “This isn’t much different from what Drake and I did earlier when we were rescuing you.”
“I don’t like the term ‘rescuing,’” she said lamely, trying to preserve her dignity, but she was smiling too. “Oh, one more thing- if we get separated somehow, we meet up back in Toryn. No running around the forest searching for each other. It’s going to be too dangerous, and Tor
yn needs us if the army moves against the city.”
“You got it,” Skye said as he tightened the cinch on his horse’s saddle. “Are we ready to move?”
“Yes,” Ashlyn said, accepting the reins from Drake. She checked the cinch and then put her foot into the stirrup, taking a deep breath before swinging up into the saddle. She checked her sword and armlet, reassuring herself that all stanes were accounted for, and glanced at Drake, who was already astride his horse, waiting.
“Here we go,” she whispered, more to herself than the others, and nudged her horse with her heels. Fear was unfurling in the pit of her stomach, but she tried to tamp it down. Skye and Drake were with her- they would help her. They would save her dad. No need to be afraid.
She urged her horse into a gallop, clutching the reins in one hand and her shuriken in the other.
The soldiers heard Ashlyn and the others coming, but for some reason didn’t react immediately, looking up in the direction of the forest as the hoof beats resounded. The moment Ashlyn left the protective cover of the trees, she pointed her sword at the closest ninjas and cast her spell, too breathless to do anything but whisper the words as a lightning bolt hit the ground in the midst of the group, scattering them. She followed up with a wave of flame that roared through the frightened soldiers, singeing everyone in its path.
On her right, Skye used earth to literally flip the ground up beneath a large cluster of advancing ninjas, flinging them backwards and sending wet soil raining down on top of them.
She urged her horse on, seeing her father lying in the dirt ahead of her, seeing Kou struggling to calm his horse so he could climb back on. Ashlyn furiously threw an ice spell in his direction, but Kou managed to leap out of the way, although his horse reared up and tore its reins out of his grasp.
Ashlyn continued to pelt the soldiers around her with fire and lightning, working hard to keep her terrified horse under control amidst the chaos. For his part, Skye was making it nearly impossible for any other soldiers to reach them, raising high walls of dirt around their immediate area and boxing them in with Kou and a handful of ninjas.
Regret (Lady of Toryn Trilogy) Page 5