by B. T. Narro
“They’ve begun to set up their ranks,” Jaymes said, handing Cedri his seescope. She looked through it as he described what she was seeing. “Our numbers are about equal now, and their strategy has changed. They’ve dressed cavaliers in their best armor and put them in front. They’re going to start the fight with a charge.”
There were hundreds of armored men getting their horses into position. Steel covered them from head to toe. Even the horses had chainmail over their heads, necks, shoulders, and chests.
She passed the seescope to Neeko as Jaymes continued.
“We don’t have enough armor or the appropriate horses for our own cavaliers to face them, so we need another method of defense against their charge. We have pikemen I can put behind the shield bearers. With our mages up front, we should be able to knock some riders from their saddles before our frontline is reached, but even then they will break through.” Jaymes paused, pinning them with his gaze. “I need to know how the three of you feel about stopping the cavaliers with pyforial energy and psyche.”
“We would be at the front?” Laney asked, void of nervousness.
“Yes, and at the center.”
“I should be able to throw them from their mounts,” Neeko said, “unless there’s more than two coming at once.”
“There will be more than two,” Jaymes said. “But you’ll have mages, pikemen, and shield bearers with you. I just need to make sure you’ll be useful against the cavaliers if I put you at the front.”
“I will be very useful against them,” Neeko said.
“I will as well,” Laney added.
All of Jaymes’ officers looked to Cedri, the commander last to glance over. She was still undecided and not nearly as confident as the pyforial mages. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to pain the men quickly enough or with enough force to make them fall off their saddles. The day before, she’d had plenty of time to choose each target.
Before Cedri could speak, an officer gestured at the enemy army and handed Jaymes his seescope. The commander peered into it and took in a breath. “It will begin soon. They’re falling into formation quickly.” When he lowered the seescope, his eyes were eager for Cedri’s answer. “Can you do what I need you to do?”
“Yes,” she answered without allowing herself to think about it further.
CHAPTER FORTY
CEDRI
Jaymes and his officers yelled instructions at the entire Northern army until they were loosely in their ranks. There were no gaps except where long pikes stuck out between shield bearers.
Cedri was in the second row. Laney was about twenty yards to her right with Neeko another twenty yards past her just like in the first battle. Across the burned and bloodied grass ahead of them sat her mounted targets: some three hundred men dressed in so much armor they didn’t look human. Cedri feared all that steel would make their bastial energy harder for her to grasp.
She swallowed nervously, trying to clear the lump in her throat. It wouldn’t seem to go down.
Jaymes didn’t rouse them with a speech this time, not when the enemy charge could begin at any moment. Then the drums began booming from the distance. Aggressive battle cries followed. Cedri felt as though she was holding her breath as she waited. She jumped as the first of the Northern drummers began, the rhythm quickly falling into place.
Focus, she told herself. Get ready. The mages among her, half of them women, stirred with uneasiness. Cedri was somewhat thankful her friend from the castle hadn’t been put in her group. She didn’t want to worry about her on top of everything else.
Finally the charge began, all cavaliers set into motion. The entire Southern army ran at the heels of the horses, so damn many. Could they all be stopped?
No, Jaymes had said they would break through eventually. It was up to Cedri and the others to stop as many as they could. Swordsmen were waiting behind her. Lives depended on her.
Focus, dammit. But the horses were unbelievably fast, already within fifty yards!
Jaymes gave the order for the mages to shoot. Cedri was blinded with an intense flash of light as fireballs shot out from behind and around her.
They rained down, dislodging cavaliers everywhere Cedri looked. But there were so many more left riding. Arrows darkened the sky, then another set of fireballs brightened it again.
The arrows were lost among explosions as all came crashing down at once. Cedri was forced to look away, the burst of fire too much for her eyes. But when she looked back, she counted nearly the same number of cavaliers coming straight for her.
Focus! The first one is in range!
She tried to lock onto the cavalier’s bastial energy, finding it in a sea of terror. She grabbed on and started to twist. A fireball shot out over her shoulder and struck her target, sending him off the saddle, limbs flailing. The horse whinnied as arrows took down the poor animal, piercing through its armor.
There were two more cavaliers right there. Cedri tried to pain the nearest one to her, but her spell wasn’t strong enough. The man was too filled with adrenaline, she realized.
Both riders crashed into the shield bearers. The line shattered, screams and bodies everywhere. Cedri ducked to avoid the wild swings of the cavaliers’ swords as they stormed past her.
With a sudden burst of anger, she turned and twisted one’s bastial energy into a shape she knew to cause immense pain. He stiffened with a yelp and toppled off. The other was too far, already wreaking chaos among the ranks.
With her fear noticeably gone, she trudged forward to face her attackers, lifting her arm to better aim her spell. She hurt two of the horses at once. They fell, crushing their riders beneath them.
But the third cavalier forced his mount to leap over his fallen comrades. It seemed as if she might have time to pain him before he reached her. No! Jump! She twisted his bastial energy anyway as she dodged out of the path of his horse. He tensed and fell on top of her.
He scrambled to find his knife, grunting in Cedri’s ear as she tried to squirm out from under him. Someone ripped off his helmet and stuck a knife deep into his temple. As Cedri kicked him off her, she could hear other horses storming past. She jumped up to find only three more cavaliers coming toward her…but with the entire army behind them.
The first horse fell to her spell, the cavalier unable to jump off in time as his mount rolled over him. The second one was even closer now, too close. Toppling the horse would mean her allies would be crushed. So she pained the rider instead. His sword fell out of his hand as he dropped, and his steel armor clanked as he rolled. The animal continued through the wide breach, sending soldiers scurrying out of its way.
But there wasn’t time for her to do anything to the third cavalier. I’m his target! she realized too late as his horse veered in her direction. She leapt sideways as someone beside her grabbed her arm and pulled. Her airborne feet slapped against the front of the horse, spinning her before she landed.
Disoriented, she got up, unsure which way she was facing.
“Kill the blonde sorceress!” she heard from her right.
Thousands of charging men were close enough for her to see the bloodlust in their eyes. They seemed completely different than the day before, now fearless. Another quick glance was all it took for her to realize she was somehow at the very front, with shield bearers to her sides. Everyone must’ve fallen back except her.
Overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, she backed away as she glanced toward Neeko and Laney to see who might be close enough to help. All of the Northern shield bearers stood steady while all the enemy cavaliers had fallen. Her allies were doing a marvelous job, but they were too far.
Unfortunately, the front line was completely broken through farther down, past Neeko and Laney, and it was the same case on her other side.
Backing away had given her just enough space to draw her wand and pull in bastial energy for one fireball before the attackers would be on top of her. Their clustering made aiming pointless.
She blasted th
em, the explosion making it impossible to determine who was struck. A couple of bodies lay in its wake as other men were stunned. But those along the edges, who weren’t affected, closed in rapidly almost as if in competition to see who would get to slay her.
Her ally archers and mages, who were at her side when this began, had fallen back as she should have. Her swordsmen were running to get in place, giving her no room to move behind them.
There would be a massive collision between both armies, and she was right in the center.
So she did the only thing that came to mind. She stood her ground, screamed, and used her mind to grab the bastial energy of every man in front of her.
Twisting all of it at once felt like trying to rip a book in half with her hands. The struggle exhausted her instantly, but she didn’t let up, even as she began to shake. Pouring in all of her might, she could feel their energy bending to her will.
Ten of them doubled over as if pelted in the stomach with a rock, the men behind them cursing as they stumbled over comrades.
Cedri’s body felt on fire from the exertion. It was like she’d strained every muscle to lift a horse. Fighting against dizziness, she tried to muster more energy.
It was no good.
Her allied swordsmen bumped her shoulders in their hurry to get in front of her, knocking her to her knees as she strained to find breath.
Shit, now I’ll never get up.
The great collision she’d anticipated finally occurred just in front of her, a cacophony of steel crashing and flesh ripping.
She’d managed to get on one foot when one of her allies was flung on top of her. He swung his sword to deflect an enemy blade Cedri could hear singing through the air. A boot swung out of nowhere and kicked her ally in the ribs. As he groaned, Cedri saw their attacker raise his sword and aim it at her comrade’s chest.
She reached out and pained him, sending him to his knees as the sword fell out of his hands, its pommel striking her ally in the forehead. Both men seemed too dazed to attack while Cedri used her one free arm to grab the knife from her enemy’s belt.
He didn’t seem to notice as he regained his strength, reaching for it only to find it missing. She jabbed at his arm, but he fell backward to avoid the attack.
“Get up!” she yelled at the allied swordsman on top of her, but he didn’t seem to hear her.
The enemy got to his feet and kicked his dagger out of her hand. But her allied swordsmen finally came to life, grabbing the man by his neck with one hand while looking for his sword with the other.
Their foe used both hands to get his neck free. Suddenly they were punching each other, each movement making Cedri feel as if her intestines were being crushed.
The Southerner head-butted her ally, either knocking him unconscious or dazing him too badly for him to move, his body now supple on top of Cedri as she continued to try to squirm free.
As the enemy seemed to be looking for his weapon, she pained him again. Her chest burned with each breath. Her head was so light she knew she would faint at any moment.
The spell only lasted the span of a breath. Then the man was back on his feet. He came to her side and kicked her in the forehead as she tried to grab his leg. He kicked her again and everything went black.
She tried to protect herself, but she was unaware of where she was or what her arms were doing.
Suddenly, the world started to come into focus again, her whole body in pain. The weight on her stomach and chest had doubled, and now her heavy head felt like it was full of liquid.
She had trouble with each breath, the weight on her lungs unbearable. But somehow she was no longer being kicked. All around her, men were killing each other and dropping like rocks. She could hear the thuds of their bodies deep in her ears as if she were underwater.
Finally, the ally swordsman on top of her stirred, gasping as if coming out of a nightmare. He groaned as he turned, his shoulder digging into her trapped left arm. He seemed to throw something heavy off him to the right, and the weight on Cedri’s torso lessened with great relief. Then he rolled off her the other way and the bright sun momentarily blinded her.
She found the foe who’d kicked her, a gaping hole in his back where a sword had passed through him. On her other side was her ally on his hands and knees, trying to push himself up.
She wanted to help him, but it was too much for her to even sit up.
Metal sang as it sliced through the air somewhere near her…and her ally’s head rolled into her shoulder.
This is how I’m going to die. There was some comfort knowing she’d done everything in her power. She only wished she had more time. There were still so many enemies left, and she didn’t know who would win.
Vaguely aware of her enemy lifting his sword to kill her next, she tried to roll. She wasn’t sure if she spun or if she remained still and the world rolled around her, but she was still alive a moment later. Had he spared her?
A multitude of screams rang out, one after another. It sounded like a person was dying for each breath she took.
“Cedri, can you get up?” Neeko’s voice sounded close and far away at the same time.
He’d asked her something, but she’d forgotten what it was.
“Leave me. I’m done.” He needed to save himself and finish this battle or her death would have no meaning.
“No you’re not.”
She finally had the strength to sit up. It was strange to find her arms were up protecting her head without her deciding to move them there.
Slowly, the spiraling shapes—some horizontal, some blurry—came into focus. The ground settled beneath her, and suddenly she realized she was sitting in the middle of what was still a massive battle.
Neeko stood at her side, too busy to help as he threw out his hands in opposite directions. His short swords followed his will, impaling two swordsmen rushing toward them.
How did he get here? Cedri couldn’t remember what she was doing only moments ago.
Suppressing her dizziness, she managed to focus her mind. But for each enemy she prepared to pain, one of Neeko’s swords got there first. He was a torrent of death, his blades swirling about as if caught in a tornado.
She glimpsed an archer drawing an arrow behind the still incoming enemies. He was too far for her to pain even if she had the mind to do it. As he drew his string, Cedri called out a warning. She ducked at the same time as Neeko and the arrow zipped over them.
He was Neeko’s next victim.
The need to survive fought against her throbbing head as she realized it was just the two of them.
“We have to fall back,” she told Neeko, who seemed too focused on killing as many as possible to realize the danger they were in.
“Can you reach those crosshands?” His swords cut through two men as he spoke.
It took her a moment to find the two charging foes wielding crossbows among the sea of enemies. They slowed, trying to find a clear lane so they wouldn’t hit any of their numerous allies. But Cedri didn’t need to wait, grabbing their energy while ignoring those in front of them.
She twisted, the motion easy now that she’d regained her strength. They disappeared among the crowd, though she could hear their screams over all others. As she held them in a state of agony, Neeko began to methodically cut down everyone who shielded them.
Some tried to dodge or swat the incoming sword with their own, but they couldn’t advance at the same time, so Neeko simply impaled the next nearest foe and returned to them.
Soon the lane to the crosshands had cleared and Neeko’s blades pierced them at the same time.
But it seemed as if there were always more to take their place. Cedri helped him by paining one man at a time—whoever seemed the most threatening.
She could feel that something wasn’t right with her mind for she often forgot where she was. It was impossible to determine how long she’d been there. It felt like it had been less than an hour since the battle began, but it was clearly evening now. There
was an enormous gap of time she couldn’t account for.
At some point, Laney had joined them, using her own sword to impale enemies as Neeko continued to do. “When did you get here?” Cedri asked.
“I keep telling you, Jaymes sent me! What’s wrong with her?” Laney asked Neeko.
“I think she got hit in the head before I got here.”
Cedri was suddenly exhausted. She was on the ground without remembering falling, her head throbbing, her lips cracked and bloody. Then she was in Neeko’s arms. He was flying with her. Oh, how she loved to fly. But she couldn’t seem to lift her head to see how high they were.
“It’s all right, Cedri. Relax.”
She caught a glimpse of the horizon, finding only the top of the sun. “Is it dusk or dawn?” she asked.
“Dusk. But the battle isn’t over.”
“Then put me down so I can fight.”
“You’ve fought all that you can.”
As intense pain filled her head, she realized he was right and let her eyes close.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
NEEKO
Neeko awoke feeling no pain, and a smile crept upon his lips. But then he shifted his weight to get up and a terrible ache ran through his body. The worst of it was in his chest. Some fool of an ally had gone into battle with a mallet instead of a sword and lost control of his weapon. It had spun out of his hand during a wild swing and struck Neeko just above the heart. Could’ve damn well killed him if it had been slightly lower.
Grunting, Neeko managed to stand. He checked the bruise on his chest and laughed at the absurdly dark color. But then he touched it and a hiss replaced his laugh.
His left knee buckled under the weight of his first steps, reminding him that he’d been kicked by an enemy swordsman who’d thrown his weapon at Neeko in desperation. The surprise had made Neeko lose his concentration, but thankfully the sword had missed impaling him. The enemy then leapt on him and a scuffle ensued. Cedri pained the foe, and soon the man was dead like so many others.