by Raine Thomas
But then, Layla was not going to survive the night and Saraqael’s daughters had escaped.
He supposed it made little difference. There were plenty of mentally-skilled Mercesti ready to replace Layla. And although he had planned on using the deaths of the sisters to provoke the battle, just kidnapping them had served the same purpose.
There would most definitely be a battle.
“You are sure they will not go back to their hidden base?” Baldemar asked.
At last, Grolkinei spoke. “They will not. They will not risk the same thing happening again. We are now more of a threat than they ever believed.”
There was a knock on the door. He waited as Baldemar opened the door and spoke for a moment with the messenger. Then Baldemar closed the door and returned to the table.
“Layla is dead,” he said tonelessly.
Grolkinei shook his head and frowned. “I told her she had been foolish to avow herself to the Orculesti.” Then he shrugged, feeling oddly charitable. “Well, she served an important purpose to our cause.”
“Are we heading out?” Angius asked.
“Soon,” Grolkinei said. “Very soon. The girls are half-human and breeding. They will sleep away the rest of the morning trying to find the energy to face us. We will finish outfitting our soldiers and then head out.”
His lips curved into a humorless smile. “I am certain we will achieve our victory before noon. They will probably still be tucked into their beds when we reach them.”
Chapter Fifty-One
The Estilorians, led by Saraqael’s daughters, greeted the Mercesti at the break of dawn.
They stood on the unforested side of the flat expanse leading to the Mercesti stronghold. Because Malukali and her most highly trained Orculesti sent out deceptive camouflaging thoughts to the Mercesti guarding the tunnel entrances, no one even knew they were there.
Skye, Olivia and Amber wore the special impervious armor created for them by the Lekwuesti. The fluid black material was so difficult to create, they wore only enough of it to cover their vital areas…high-necked tanks with short skirts. They also wore thigh-high leather boots to protect their legs. Skye wore supple black leather sleeves that covered the length of her arms, leaving only her hands and shoulders bare. Amber wore bracers on her forearms and wide metal bands around her biceps, and Olivia wore her special bracers on her forearms. They had all pinned their hair back into practical knots.
Skye also wore countless throwing weapons. She had eight easily-accessible daggers from her hips to her ankles and a few in more concealed places. She had throwing stars and darts hooked in the belt she wore around her waist as well as on the two weapon straps criss-crossed over her body. Olivia held her bow at the ready. The quiver on her back was full of arrows. Amber’s sword was strapped to her side and she also had a number of daggers at her disposal.
Beside them, their husbands stood equally armed. The Estilorians they considered family and friends waited around them, ready to fight to preserve what Saraqael’s daughters represented to them all.
And when Grolkinei emerged from the mountain, it was to the sight of them united against him.
Skye registered the almost imperceptible expression of surprise cross his features when his dampeners succeeded in dissolving the illusion and he saw them all standing near the mountain as far as the eye could see. Although she found it disconcerting to once again have silence in her mind rather than the low buzz of Caleb’s and her family’s thoughts, she had been prepared for it.
“Hello, Grolkinei,” she and her sisters said at the same time.
There was a pause as he and the soldiers around him absorbed the threat level. Then he smiled and settled his gaze on Skye.
“This is a pleasant surprise. Come back for more fun, have you?”
He was greeted by utter silence.
“Well?” he prompted. “We are not presenting a direct threat to any of you. Are you going to convert to Mercesti by trying to kill us?”
Although she and her sisters weren’t sharing thoughts, she heard Olivia pull an arrow from her quiver and Amber unsheathe a dagger even as she pulled a silver disc from her belt. They released their weapons at the same time.
Grolkinei didn’t move. The three missiles all struck some kind of barrier several feet before they reached him. He did glare at them, however.
“How about that?” Amber said. “We didn’t convert.”
“Guess you found us out,” he responded coldly. “We intend to kill you.”
“We’ve heard that before,” Olivia said.
“Yeah,” Skye agreed, catching his gaze. “It’s getting boring.”
He flexed his jaw. Then he lifted his hand.
They all knew what was coming. Olivia held her fist out. Skye turned and touched hers to it, just as her siblings did. Then Olivia and James turned and disappeared into the crowd. From the corner of her eye, Skye saw Grolkinei close his own hand into a fist.
The battle had begun.
As they had planned, Gabriel and Caleb turned with Amber and Skye and moved behind the front lines as Grolkinei issued the call for battle. Although the sisters were now highly trained and could hold their own in combat, there were fighters with many more years of experience who were more appropriate to lead the charge. So when the Mercesti began flooding from the mountain like fireants from a ruined anthill, they met a wall of Waresti, Gloresti and Corgloresti led by Uriel, Ini-herit, Harold, Hitoshi, Raphael and Quincy.
Skye had expected to be terrified. So she was surprised to feel quite calm as she and Caleb hurried to the predetermined location established for their battle position. The elders had very bluntly pointed out that Saraqael’s daughters were bait. They were what drove the Mercesti in their battle. So it only made sense to place the sisters in several different geographic areas to try and subsequently scatter the Mercesti soldiers.
Her location was on the far left of the battleground, several hundred feet behind the front lines. She stood with Caleb on a rocky outcropping shadowed by the mountain face. The landscape shone white due to the snow covering nearly every surface. Although the air was crisp and filled with white plumes from their breath, she didn’t feel cold.
She saw Malukali and Knorbis communicating with their classes even further back and to the center of the battleground. They were speaking out loud because the level of dampening in effect prevented mental connections. She knew without hearing them that the elders were reminding their classes to continue to attempt their various mental attacks, interceptions and protections, even though they were currently ineffective. They were again telling them how the fighters were going to target the Mercesti who had mental powers to try and lessen the dampening effect as the battle continued.
Scattered throughout the battleground were hundreds of the highest level Lekwuesti and Scultresti. Both classes were prepared to assist their comrades by creating or repairing armor or weapons or healing injuries. All of them risked injury or death themselves by being even remotely near the field of battle. Two weeks of cross-training had really only taught these non-fighting classes the basics in self-defense.
The last class participating in the battle, the Elphresti, was also strategically positioned. Unlike the others, however, they were on the high ground, prepared to evaluate the action on the field of battle and then convey their suggestions to the fighters. They would use the intercepted thoughts conveyed to them by the Wymzesti and Orculesti to aid them in their strategic planning.
As Skye saw it, they were poised for victory…if it wasn’t for the dampening.
Closing her eyes, knowing her sister couldn’t hear her, she still thought, Come on, Liv!
When Olivia and James turned from their siblings, they headed straight to their positions on the right side of the battlefield. Beside the forest, it offered them excellent cover.
“Look for Mercesti who aren’t heavily armed,” James said in a low voice as they ran. “The others will be trying to protect them.”
Using their power, they had bent some of the trees to create stable, raised platforms for standing on to shoot. They had formed as many of the perches as possible to house the most skilled archers among the different classes. Each of the stands was camouflaged by foliage and vines, but allowed a clear view of the battlefield. They intended to return the trees to their normal positions after the battle.
Aurora and Titan, still wearing their armor, stood beneath the stands intended for Olivia and James. The couple gave the cats quick pats on the head before turning to their stands. Olivia reached for the branch that would propel her up, only to be yanked from behind, whipped around and kissed soundly.
“I love you,” James said when he pulled back from the embrace.
“I love you, too,” she said, giving him a brief touch on the cheek.
Then they both leaped to their platforms. Small contingents of Estilorians—some from every class—moved to stand beneath her post as well as his. They stood prepared to defend, to hand up more arrows, or simply to offer any other assistance they could. She could only pray that wouldn’t be needed.
She positioned herself and indulged in a quick scan of the battlefield. How different and more intimidating it looked now that it was occupied by thousands of beings, she thought with a hard swallow. She made sure she spotted Skye and Amber.
Then she drew her first arrow and focused on drowning out the now incredible noise of battle.
Her first target drew her attention. It was a male with glowing red eyes who was focused on the far side of the battlefield, the area housing the Wymzesti and Orculesti. He was wearing armor but no other apparent weaponry. Hoping that Grolkinei was keeping the shielding to himself, she fought against her inherent qualms over aiming a deadly weapon at another living being and let her arrow fly.
Her aim proved true. He fell as the arrow pierced his eye and brain, the most vulnerable part of an armored Mercesti.
The moment he fell, a volley of arrows left the copse in which she stood. She was already nocking another arrow when that volley resulted in a number of Mercesti hitting the ground. She didn’t take long to find another target and fire her arrow. Another volley followed an instant later.
When she reached for her third arrow, she caught flashes of sunlight on something metallic from several of the cave entrances. She realized that Grolkinei’s archers were scrambling into position. The Mercesti hadn’t anticipated a battle at the mountain that morning, and thus hadn’t been prepared to defend that location. They were hurrying to correct that.
Turning, she shouted to her fellow archers, “James and I have got the dampeners—aim for the caves and their archers!”
Then she turned back around, found another target and fired. Even as that target fell, she pulled another arrow and nocked it, sighting the next one.
Watch for the archers, Amber, she thought.
And let her arrow fly.
Amber hated leaving the front lines. She wanted nothing more than to remain with the most skilled Estilorian fighters and take a stand with them.
But she understood and even agreed with the logic of moving her and her sisters to locations that would draw the Mercesti out of the mountain. So she hurried with Gabriel straight down the center of the mass of fighters behind them.
Much to her surprise, she found herself holding her hands up and giving fives to all of the fighters she passed, just like at the end of a softball game. Only this time, she was telling them “good game” before the “game” had even begun. She did this not of her own volition, but because all of them were reaching toward her.
She sincerely hoped it wasn’t the last contact she ever had with them.
They reached their destination and turned to face the battle. She had to pause to catch her breath as she scanned the field in front of her. The noise was monstrous.
She saw Olivia’s arrow fly. Saw the target Mercesti fall. And thought, Great job, Liv.
“What do you think of the name Clara if the baby’s a girl?” Gabriel suddenly asked from beside her.
Blinking in surprise, she glanced at him. “What?”
“You know,” he said, his eyes focused on the battle. “After Mrs. B.”
She had, of course, known he was referencing their human guardian. What baffled her was his choice of topic as they faced a flood of Mercesti heading eagerly in their direction. Although she wasn’t the most perceptive individual on the face of the earth, she understood Gabriel better than she knew herself. So she simply shrugged.
“Works for me.” She watched Olivia’s next shot and saw the target fall. “Clara Kate?”
“Perfect,” he agreed. They both heard a female voice shouting something indistinguishable above the battle noise and knew it was Olivia. “And if it’s a boy?”
Amber’s gaze scanned the mountainside, her instincts heightened after hearing Olivia’s voice. “Well, Saraqael’s a bit of a mouthful for a first name,” she said as she spotted the flash of metal from the caves that must have alerted her sister. “I’m kind of partial to Joshua.”
That brought him up short. Then his gaze filled with understanding and remembrance. “The Corgloresti who sacrificed himself to send you to the human plane as a newborn.”
She nodded as she watched Olivia’s third arrow fly. Then she shouted, “Heads up—archers in the caves!”
A volley of Estilorian arrows headed right for the caves, and Amber knew she had guessed correctly what Olivia had been shouting about.
Gabriel touched her arm and she looked at him. “Joshua Saraqael it is,” he said.
Emotion—unwanted but unavoidable—flooded through her at the look in his eyes. She fought it back and cleared her throat. Then she stopped focusing on the battle long enough to hold his gaze and said, “You know we’re going to live through this, right?”
“Of course I do,” he replied.
They were the last words they spoke before the sky above them filled with Mercesti arrows.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Grolkinei stood in the very same spot he had assumed the moment the other Estilorians appeared. He saw no reason to deny the fact that they had surprised him. Finding them waiting outside the mountain just as the sun breached the horizon had been quite unexpected.
But they were recovering well, he thought. He was rather grateful to Baldemar, who had suggested the implementation of the shield against projectiles, figuring there could be a few Estilorians hiding within the landscape in hopes of killing him from a distance with an arrow or similar weapon. The shield had been crafted by a converted Lekwuesti. Though it was invisible, it worked against all types of projectiles. It had been rather difficult to generate, however, and there were relatively few converted Lekwuesti in comparison to the fighting classes, so the shield currently only covered him and a five foot radius around him.
As far as he was concerned, that was enough.
He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised by the actions of Saraqael’s daughters when he challenged them. Watching them move so synchronously to draw their weapons had actually been rather awe-inspiring, especially when paired with the distinct lack of expressions on their Gloresti’s faces. Of course, he knew without reading it in their expressions that every one of them wanted him dead.
Well, the feeling was mutual.
He stood and watched as his first wave of soldiers encountered the Estilorians awaiting them. His soldiers would fall, he was fairly certain. Only a fool would send their best fighters in the first wave.
By the time his second wave entered the fray, the other Estilorian fighters would be wearing down, he figured, and his Mercesti would ultimately win the battle through stami
na and determination. Since the elders had entered the battle right away, he had no reason to believe his strategy was faulty. If they even had a second wave, he would be amazed.
He saw the single arrow fly from the right-hand side of the battlefield. He watched the first of his mentally-skilled Mercesti fall with an arrow right through his eye. It was a one-in-a-thousand shot from that distance. The Mercesti near the felled soldier looked down at him with amazed expressions. Grolkinei turned his gaze to the forest. An entire volley of arrows followed the first arrow, all of them striking the Mercesti he was using to subdue the other Estilorians’ powers.
“How do they know who to target?” Angius asked from his position beside Grolkinei. “They are going only for the dampeners.”
“Of course they are,” Grolkinei snapped as a second solitary arrow issued from the forest. He marked the location of its origins. “They want to be able to use their powers. Their archers are surely targeting those of us who are not fighting. That is what I would do.”
A second volley almost immediately followed the second single arrow. He watched his soldiers scatter with panicked shouts, shoving each other out of the way as the arrows neared. He set his teeth over the lack of discipline, but supposed he couldn’t expect more from his youngest soldiers with no real battle experience.
He said, “Fortunately for us, they cannot hit the dampeners still inside the caves.”
Baldemar emerged from the tunnel behind them. “Our archers are nearly in position, my lord.”
“Excellent.”
“When are we going down after Saraqael’s daughters?” Angius asked.
Grolkinei watched a third arrow issue from the same spot in the forest. Saw it hit yet another dampener through the eye.
Impossible.
“Shortly,” he said as another volley of arrows filled the air. “As a matter of fact, I believe a visit with Saraqael’s second-born is in order.”