Blood Ties (Noble of Blood Series Book 2)

by Wright, A L

  Nikka’s hand squeezing his shoulder brought him back to reality. Hopefully she had been paying attention to everything that was being said. He could scarce remember a word.

  “The solution for this problem is quite easy, my old friend.” Yosan was saying. “We just need to fetch my old chamber.”

  “And we’ll discuss with my father about approaching the villagers near the Keep,” Nikka pitched in.

  “This would keep from taxing the system I have in place with the humans here in Noble’s Rest,” The Patriarch stated. He was currently sitting in his chair behind the desk, fingers steepled in front of him.

  “And we could approach the southern villages for volunteers once Friesa and Tynen awake and are finished with your chamber,” Nikka said to her grandfather.

  “My only worry is that our world will be overrun with Nobles by the time we finish this war that has not even fully started yet. We fought for the preservation of human life before, I would hate to see us end it in order to defeat our enemy again,” The Patriarch mused. “But if things are as bad as we fear, then we will need many Noble fighters at our disposal.”

  Victor spoke up. “What is the difference between now and then, my Lord?”

  “Then, the damnable creatures were concentrated in one place at a time, and at the end, in the Northern Reaches. And we had armies of undead behind us, fighting. Now the sightings of goblin hordes come in from every corner of the land, in large numbers. And we have no army besides our own. Split up the numbers we have now, and we will be spread desperately thin.”

  “And if the ancient one is still alive as I fear, then we cannot afford to split up and take him on,” Yosan added.

  “Ancient one?” Asked Nikka.

  Yosan ran a hand over his face and looked suddenly weary and old in spite of his magically-given youth. “He is what is called a wyrm. His burrows ran under the mountains of the Northern Reaches, and we thought then that we had finished him when we collapsed all the tunnels.”

  “Hielrich the Deep Dweller,” The Patriarch mumbled.

  Yosan fell into silence, reliving his dread of the creature that was just named. Victor could only give life to the old war in his imagination. He had never seen The Patriarch use his magic blatantly but knew that the man was strong and seemingly fearless. To see both of the warlocks lost in such a state of deep reverie made him nervous.

  Victor was not good with nervous. He was much better with actions.

  “My Lord. I believe first things must come first. Let us travel to the Keep and speak with Prince Dartein, and then gauge what sort of success we may have there with human volunteers.”

  The Patriarch stood. “Quite right, and well spoken. It is still early in the night, we could get a good start. I just have a few orders to leave with Vera.”

  Vera. Victor had had no idea what part the sly Noble woman played in the palace until now. Palace informant and spy was a great position for her. She definitely had the right personality for it.

  The Patriarch and Yosan shuffled out the library door to make preparations. Nikka snuggled into his side as he stood up and put his arm around her. As he kissed the top of her head she whispered.

  “Let us go confront my father.”

  She may be nervous about what Dartein would think of their union, but nothing in the world would keep him apart from her now.

  ---

  Two nights later they were riding across the plain just south west of the Keep. They were approaching the old structure when they heard yelling and the sound of metal clashing on metal. Fighting!

  Spurring on their tired horses they flew the rest of the way. As they approached they could see hordes of goblins pressing in from the north, with rangers, fighters and a few humans opposing them.

  Sheer numbers were against them and Victor could tell that the defenders were tired by their sluggish movements. Yosan had pulled ahead of their group on his large mount who never seemed to tire, and rode straight into the thick of the fighting.

  “He always was a show-off,” The Patriarch laughed and spurred his horse onward.

  Victor could see a faint bluish glow begin to emit around The Patriarch, and was able to see it still after Mortul drove his horse into the crowd of goblins chasing after Yosan, who now had a globe of blue light around him as well. The two blue glows stopped moving, and then suddenly flashed brilliantly, pulsing the glow outward through the goblins. Dozens of the creatures dropped dead in an instant, leaving the two warlocks standing alone once more, the blue light expired.

  Victor looked over at Nikka and saw that she wore the same slack-jawed expression that he was probably wearing right then. Their mounts had come to a stop with no direction from their riders. Their riders had been too distracted by the sudden and unexpected display of magic.

  Nikka looked over at him and grinned, then kicked her horse into a gallop riding after her grandfather, her path now clear of goblins. Victor was about to follow when he spotted Dartein next to the wall of the Keep, leaning over something. Trotting towards his Prince, he saw that what was on the ground was actually a very large man with blood pooling around him.

  “Victor, my friend!” Dartein yelled to him as he approached.

  Victor dismounted and grasped arms with his old friend.

  “I see you brought my daughter back home,” Dartein said, with a small smile. His smile never did quite reach his eyes however, as he looked back to the ground.

  “Who is he?” Victor asked.

  “Dead if I cannot find him any help. I am not a healer, though.”

  “I brought your father here, maybe he can help.”

  “My father?” Dartein said, looking suddenly distraught. Then his face relaxed and he said, “That flash of light was him, wasn't it? Maybe he can help. Please go and find him.”

  Dartein leaned back down to comfort the man as Victor wheeled his horse around and galloped away.

  Finding the warlocks was easy as smaller blue flashes in the night led him directly there. Victor now had his sword out and slashed at the occasional goblin, but never slowed to fight in his haste.

  “My Lord!” He called as he approached, hoping he did not get mistaken for a goblin. “Your son is in need of aid for a friend, can you help?”

  “Where is he?”

  “Over against the west wall, my Lord.”

  “Keep an eye on Yosan, Victor.” The Patriarch ordered as he galloped off of the field of battle, Nikka galloping after right on his heels.

  Nikka winked at him as she ran by, her eyes lit up like lanterns in the night. Not knowing what to think of it, Victor turned his horse toward Yosan and the few goblins that were left.

  Chapter 24

  Dartein had always thought that if he were to see his father again, he would feel nothing but anger and resentment towards the man. But as he spied him trotting towards him and Matten he only felt relieved. And a bit hopeful. He had come to like the passionate Matten, and truly did not want to see him perish.

  Both his father and Nikka quickly dismounted and leaned down beside him next to the large human cattleman. Before either he or his father could say anything Nikka had her hands out and hovering over the wound Matten had taken in his upper thigh. The goblin's knife had nicked the main artery and despite the tourniquet, he was bleeding out quickly.

  Dartein could not help but to notice that the nails on Nikka’s hands were suddenly long and pointed like claws. As he stared the claws receded back into her fingertips and were nothing but normal nails. He almost wondered if maybe he were imagining what he had seen until her hands started to glow a soft white.

  “There you go, Nikkola. Just like with the mare.” His father was murmuring to his daughter, encouraging her to continue whatever it was that she was doing. “Calm his heart first.”

  Dartein saw that Matten was now breathing normally, if still a bit shallow. The large man was no longer grimacing in pain, but was now relaxed and his eyes were heavy lidded. Nikka moved her hands back down to the
wound and gently pressed. Dartein expected Matten to cry out in pain, but his face remained lax.

  The intensifying glow from Nikka’s hand drew his attention back to the wound. Her hands now radiated with light and warmth and there was no longer any blood running from the wound. Dartein would have thought him dead if it weren’t for his steady breathing. All at once the light went out and Nikka sat back on her heels, sweat pouring from her brow. The wound was fully sealed and was merely red and puckered like a recent scar.

  “He will need rest and replenishment. The wound may be healed but he still lost a lot of blood,” Nikka said, looking up at him.

  Dartein continued to stare at her in astonishment, until she leaned against him putting her head on his shoulder. He threw his arm around her and squeezed tight. At that moment Victor and a Noble whom he did not know rode over to them. He squeezed his daughter one more time before letting go and standing up.

  “Victor, help me to get Matten here inside the Keep and comfortable,” Dartein said.

  “Oh Victor, you should have seen it. I healed his wound!” Nikka jumped up and hugged his old friend, surprising Dartein. And he was surprised further when Victor wrapped his arms around his daughter and kissed her on the top of her head.

  “You are amazing, I wish I could have seen it,” Victor said.

  Standing up his father said, “I am sure that before this war is over you will have seen more than you want of her healing powers.”

  Dartein was lost with everything that was happening around him, but figured first they needed to get Matten inside. He and Victor each grabbed Matten by the shoulders and hauled him upright, placing themselves under each arm and dragging him into the Keep.

  The battle over, the fighting human men joined their families in the great hall of the Keep where a large fire was already blazing. Upon seeing Matten being carried in by Dartein and Victor, some of the humans quickly made up a makeshift cot near the fire from blankets and hay. Dartein lowered Matten down gently to the bedding and then relinquished care of him over to his wife and the other women hovering nearby.

  Most of the humans were still nervous around the Nobles, but in the aftermath of the battle it was a fading notion. Although several of the fighting men were staring at his Father and the as yet unnamed Noble in something like reverence.

  He turned to speak with Victor but his old friend had already moved away from him and over to one of the large tables where his daughter sat, along with his father and the stranger. He stood still for a moment, observing, while Nikka moved over making room for Victor next to her. Then once he settled on the bench she placed her head against his shoulder.

  It seems her running off had finally tipped the scales, and Victor must have opened up to his daughter. He watched as the guard put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer against him. Dartein thought that maybe he should be angry with him for not speaking to him first.

  But of course Dartein had known what was between them already, even if they had not been forthcoming. No, he was happy for them both. Especially for Victor who had lost once before. At least he had been able to recover his heart. Dartein knew that his would bleed forever.

  Finally standing up and walking to the table, he was reminded that he was not the only one who had lost and never recovered. His father sat there stoically, conversing with the strange Noble while the wives of the fighting men brought them in a platter of freshly filleted beef and pitchers of ale.

  This was the first time Dartein could recall seeing his father so far away from the Palace. Knowing that he accompanied Nikka back safely to the Keep made him feel pangs of guilt for having kept them all apart for so long. It was probably past time to remedy that situation.

  Dartein seated himself next to Victor and was promptly handed a mug of ale from one of the women rushing around the hall. Not usually one for the human drink, he sat and sipped it quietly and contemplated all that had transpired over the last several days. In such a short amount of time everything had changed, turned upside down from how he had structured their lives nineteen years ago.

  The talking at the table quieted for a moment.

  “I never thought to see you out of the Palace, father.”

  Mortul swung his head around to take in his son.

  “I never truly have had much reason to leave it. Of course now things are quite different, and I have several reasons to be away.” He smile and looked over at Nikka. Looking back to Dartein, he continued. “Fortunately, I have a small handful of Nobles who can run things well in my absence for the time being.”

  “Then things truly have changed. I don't seem to remember you trusting very many with such important details before.”

  “Indeed. But things with the goblins are coming to a head, and are undoubtedly much worse than we previously thought. I've filled the Palace, our home, with the muscle needed to defend it. I've also cultivated a few of the more intelligent Nobles for roles to help in the front lines of the coming battle. I do not intend to be unprepared this time.”

  Mortul's magically enhanced youthful features took on a deep somber tone, making him look much older. It was quite obvious he was thinking of the past, of the Ancient War he had fought so long ago that had almost wiped out human life altogether.

  Mortul spoke up again, “My son, this individual here was there with me in the Ancient War, and will be invaluable to us and the war efforts here and now.”

  “You are Yosan, then? I had read the accounts written about the War, and had wondered what had become of you and Hudreia.” Dartein said to the other Warlock.

  “Yes, that would be me. Hudreia and I have wandered the continent for so long that much of it is a blur now. I intend to raise my Chamber from its resting place, so we can take up volunteers of humans to be turned. I believe you visited the site of the Chambers vault before?” Yosan replied.

  “Ah, yes. Yes I did. It feels like yesterday, yet it feels like forever ago. I was able to open the vault, but unable to move the Chamber.” Thinking of his failed attempt at recovering the only thing that would save his Josaleene made him feel the despair anew.

  “My condolences on the loss of your lady love. I lost my wife after the war was over, and I grieve for her still to this day,” Yosan said softly.

  “Twenty years, and it still feels like yesterday.” Dartein whispered.

  “'Tis but a fraction of the time that you will need to heal. Even after a thousand years, your heart will still break every time you think of her. I do not say that to cause despair, but to warn you. Make her loss your strength. Especially in the war to come.”

  Chapter 25

  The rest of the people seated around the table had taken in the discussion thus far quietly. But the talk of the grief over her mother's death was more than she could bear, and she could stay seated at the table no longer. Squeezing Victor's hand she spoke up in the brief silence that had ensued after Yosan's advice.

  “I would like to check on Matten, and see if there is anything I can do to help speed his recovery.” She swung her legs around over the bench, rose and quickly walked away.

  She was kneeling down by the man who seemed to have befriended her father in a very small amount of time, when she felt Victor kneel down beside her. Nikka was glad to have him there, he gave her strength and helped to calm her thoughts.

  “Are you alright?” He asked her.

  “I am. It is difficult hearing other's speak of my mother's death with such grief, when I never knew her to mourn her. I don't know any different from being here in the Keep with Father and you.”

  Victor put a large hand on her shoulder. His touch still made her heart race as it did the first time. The fleeting thought of their first embrace, their first kiss, flashed through her mind. Pushing it firmly away as a distraction, she looked down on her patient.

  Matten was breathing deeply, which was a good sign. Placing her hand upon his chest she could feel his heart beating faster than normal, trying to pump around what little blood
he had left. It was definitely enough to keep him alive, but he would have a long recovery of it. The idea came to her then, of how she had healed his wound and how she may be able to use the same strategy to rebuild his blood supply.

  Nikka placed her other hand on his chest, over his heart, and concentrated on the process happening inside. She could feel the blood flowing weakly through the chambers of the heart. Concentrating even further, she envisioned being able to see down to each blood cell and mentally challenged them to reproduce themselves.

  After several moments the trick in her mind started to work under her hands. She could both see and feel the blood reproducing itself, and the heartbeat slowed to a more normal rhythm. Looking up at Matten's face she could see color coming back to his cheeks and lips. She was so excited by this that she lost her concentration.

  “My dear granddaughter, it seems you have quite the raw talent as a healer.” Her grandfather's voice behind her startled her, as she hadn't heard him walk up.

  Turning her head upward to see him made her vision blur, and her head spin. Victor firmed up his grip around her shoulders, seeing her begin to fall aside. Nikka put her hands on her knees, closed her eyes, and willed the room to stop spinning.

  “Are you alright?” Victor's voice dripped with concern.

  “I am dizzy, but I think I am fine.” Nikka whispered.

  “She has a lot of power, and trying to learn to focus it can be incredibly draining. She should rest a while.” Nikka felt her grandfather's hand brush the back of her hair before he moved away.

  Victor stood up then and hauled her to her feet, holding onto her shoulders to steady her. He peered down at her intently, waiting for her to give a sign that she was okay. When she didn't say anything, he scooped her up and settled her against his strong, broad chest.