Altered Destiny (18 page)

After a moment of silence, all hell broke loose. Chairs scraped over stone floors as men rushed to the small annex to gather weapons and don their armor. Selia rose to follow then turned when a hand gripped her arm.

Matias held a shirt of worked metal links in his hands. “You’ll need this.”

She looked into his serious eyes and nodded before sliding the heavy garment over her tunic. A few swords remained unclaimed. She selected one and turned to leave.

A cold realization washed over her body. The Svistra were attacking! Jaden?

No. Focus.

Two soldiers standing at the fortress doors stared out into the night. She passed two other men at the door. If Nathan signaled a retreat, they’d fall back into the fortress. Theoretically Eagle Rock stored enough supplies to last until help arrived.

The night air felt soft on her face and ruffled her hair playfully, a sharp contrast to the clang of metal and thud of bodies punctuated by the occasional scream coming from the darkness ahead.

Her stomach knotted, and fear traveled her spine. The image of the painted Svistra flashed through her mind. This wasn’t a bar brawl. The Svistra were attacking.

She took a deep breath and stepped further into the courtyard. A thin layer of clouds obscured the starlight. Selia blinked to adjust her vision and then she saw them, flowing effortlessly over the outer wall like water and almost as seamlessly. Nathan’s defenses were like a child’s dam trying to hold back floodwater. The noise echoed behind her. The Svistra were attacking from all sides.
We’re surrounded
. One by one the torches blazing against the walls went out, leaving them fighting in almost complete darkness.

Advantage: Svistra. Damn.

She sensed a presence to her side and turned to see Nathan.

“You don’t have to do this. Stay in the fortress.”

Selia unsheathed the sword.

“Thought so.” His grin met his eyes. He pulled her close and kissed her hard.

Selia stepped back. Shock stole any other reaction she might have had.

“For luck.” Nathan grinned, pulled on his helm, turned and screamed, “Attack!”

With energy she wouldn’t have believed they possessed an hour before, Nathan’s men surged against the Svistra. She could almost picture the force that drove the Svistra back was not just physical but of the will. Nathan’s will. The enemy line faltered then recovered, answering with a war cry so savage and inhuman it chilled her blood.

Her lips still tingling from Nathan’s kiss, she joined the fray. Ahead, the shape of a soldier struggled against a Svistra. Selia brought her sword up and over to block the Svistra’s blade. When the Svistra turned to look at her, his eyes widened in surprise, and her heart skipped a beat. The face before her was painted yellow with hollow black cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. He yelled something swallowed by the drone of battle. As he turned she buried her sword in his stomach. Two more took his place.

She battled alongside those she’d been joking with moments before, finally understanding their desperate need to enjoy the moment. They existed knowing a battle was coming—not if, but when. If they lived every moment to the fullest, who could blame them?

Selia fought, moving steadily closer to the wall. She caught a flash of Nathan fighting a tall Svistra with a blood red face and golden eyes and faltered.
Jaden?
No. Jaden would not, couldn’t.
He’s a Svistra
. She blocked the sword arching toward her but pain streaked down her arm as the blade cut into her flesh. She focused on her newest attacker, blurring all other thought.

The clouds skirted across the sky, revealing the moon. Soft light washed the courtyard. She was surrounded by colorful demons. A few Svistra fought with their backs to her, but she could take advantage of their vulnerability. Two more Svistra kept her blade busy fending off their attacks. She got lucky with one, and he crumpled. Selia pulled her sword out of him as fast as she could and renewed her efforts against the other.
He’s defending but not attacking.
The thought sent a chill through her body.
I’m being driven.

Desperately she glanced at her surroundings. The battle continued. Her heart beat in her ears a dull roar that drowned out the clash of swords and screams of men and Svistra dying and killing. The Svistra around her were now two deep. The outer circle fighting off Nathan’s men, but the inner circle…

She met one Svistra’s gaze and knew. They’d come for her. He smiled, twisting his face into a parody of the gesture. She raised her sword to ram it down his throat but stronger-than-human arms grabbed her from behind. She aimed a kick between his legs, but the Svistra turned sideways, expecting the movement as though she’d telegraphed it.

She twisted and pulled to no avail. The circle of Svistra formed a bubble around her, bridging the short distance to the wall. A ladder snaked down from the heights.

“Selia!”

Nathan.
As she glanced in the voice’s direction, her captor threw her face-down on the ground. She closed her mouth but too late to avoid the taste of mud mixed with blood. A foot pressed so hard against her back her bones creaked. He yanked her hands behind her and tied them. With ease, he heaved her up. Her breath deserted her lungs as she landed on his shoulder.

A roar sounded in the midst of battle, and her heart sank.
Oren.
As her captor climbed the ladder Oren tore through the battle, throwing anyone in his path aside. Pride mixed with despair. He’d get himself killed.

“Oren, no!” she screamed.

He looked up, met her eyes and redoubled his efforts. Nathan’s soldiers scrambled out of his way. Oren had picked up a sword and surged through the enemy lines. Selia renewed her struggles.

“Shut up!” the Svistra growled in her ear. “A certain amount of damage is expected.”

When they dropped down the other side of the wall, the air once again abandoned her lungs as she came down hard on the Svistra’s shoulder. Seemingly without pause, her captor sped into the trees. Before the forest swallowed them, she caught a glimpse of tree trunks, about as thick as her thigh, stripped of their branches and leaning up against the fortress walls.
That easy?

After the second time Selia rolled hard to one side to unbalance the Svistra, he threw her to the forest floor. She had no way to soften the fall, and pain radiated from her shoulder down her arm.

He reached for her metal-linked shirt and grabbed it in his fist like it was cloth, to pull her close to his face. “Orders were to deliver you whole, but a lot of things can happen in the heat of battle.” He examined the surrounding forest. It was dark and silent.

She got the message. They were alone.

“I’d give up a lot of gold but, um.” He tilted his head and his eyes glanced down then back up her body. “If you want to make this interesting, I don’t mind, really.”

Selia fought a shudder. His gazed brushed her body like something unclean. She could die now or die later. Her self-preservation instinct kicked in. “I prefer the mundane.”

The Svistra snorted and took a drink out of a water skin then wiped it and offered it to her.

She stared. Was he attempting to be nice? She remembered the Svistra’s strange behavior when they brought her and Jaden into the camp. Was it a twisted form of hospitality? She almost laughed but knew it would sound more like desperate croak, were it to leave her lips. One look at the Svistra and all thought of laughing fled. Now she knew what the mouse saw before the owl swooped.

She nodded.

He held the skin to her mouth. The water cooled her parched throat.

Without a word he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like she was a piece of meat.
To him, I am
. He continued through the forest at a slow steady run.

Nausea rolled through her gut. “I can walk.”

He grunted.

The image of Oren plowing through the fight flashed across her vision. Was he still alive? And Nathan? She’d heard him call her name.
My fault. The Svistra formation, the ladder. The terror in Oren’s voice.
She couldn’t bear to think about it. There was nothing she could do for them anyway. She was on her way back to the Svistra camp, back to Jaden. No. Back to the commander. But why?

“So the attack was a ruse to get to me?” she tried. “Your commander must really like his virgins.”

Another grunt. “You, a human female, defied him. You don’t defy the commander.”

Okay, so it was personal. Jaden’s father must really be a piece of…but then, she wasn’t dealing with human emotion. “I…” She trailed off. What could she say?

“Silence, woman. You won’t beguile me like you did Jaden.”

Jaden’s name from the Svistra’s throat sent a jolt through her. She ground her jaws so she wouldn’t ask if he was okay.

Beguile?
She wouldn’t know how. In any other situation she might have laughed. She wasn’t exactly the beguiling type. Selia closed her eyes in an attempt to curb her thoughts, which seemed to be running a little faster than normal. But then what was normal when you were about to become a disposable gift to the Svistra high commander?
Appetizer? Main course? Dessert?
Did it matter?

She opened her eyes to the swaying motion of the forest receding behind her. She was definitely losing her mind.

Selia tried to focus. She still lay over the Svistra’s shoulder but they’d stopped moving. Had she passed out? A sour taste filled her mouth.
He drugged me.

The eastern sky promised a sunrise. How long? The next day? The day after? She wondered if she’d live to see another sunset. Or if she’d even want to.

“Very good, Sovas. Any problems?”

Selia closed her eyes.

“No, Commander.”

She felt a slight bowing of his head.

“It was as you said it would be. You were right, the inner defenses did not go all the way around the wall. We were able to slip between the guards and at night, the humans have no accuracy with the bow. They paid a heavy price. We did not need to enter the fortress. She fought alongside the men.”

“How many Svistra were wounded?”

“A few.”

“And the humans?”

“Taken by surprise.”

“She is undamaged?”

“I did not trust her to rope. I used rethorim. She’s coming around now.”

“Good. I owe you a reward.”

“I did not work alone, Commander. The others kept the humans busy so I could bring her here.”

Selia almost groaned. Honor among Svistra? Then his words replayed in her ears.
Kept the humans busy.
Was it possible they didn’t plan to slaughter everyone?

“Well done. The reward will be divided accordingly. Put her in the tent over there.”

Another nod and then motion. She strained to get a look at the commander without appearing to do so and failed.

The Svistra ducked then pitched her to the ground. With her hands tied she wasn’t able to break her fall and landed on the side of her face and shoulder. She struggled to an upright position, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, knowing she was lucky not to have broken her neck.

Without a word, her captor turned and left.

A heap of pillows occupied one corner, several baskets in another. Nothing that would serve as a weapon. She scooted closer to the baskets but with her hands behind her back, she couldn’t get the lids off. She tried to push one over; it was heavy.

“It’s rice. Hungry?”

Selia turned toward the voice. A Svistra, bearing a sarcastic expression perfectly matching the voice, stood in the entrance of the tent. It was the voice she’d heard earlier. This was the commander? She didn’t know how Svistra aged, but this one couldn’t be Jaden’s father.

He walked forward. Every instinct screamed he was dangerous, but there was something familiar about him. Fear iced her limbs. She was going to die, and it wouldn’t be an easy death.

“It’s better when it’s cooked, but help yourself.” With apparent ease, he kicked over one of the baskets, and a shower of golden grain caught the faint light as it poured out onto the dirt floor. She flinched, and the Svistra smiled. That’s what he had wanted. Anger replaced her fear.

“Interesting.” He approached and took her jaw in his hands, turning it first one way and then another as he would inspect a horse. He brought his face close to her neck, still holding her jaw in a steel grip. She braced herself. She wouldn’t give him the benefit of crying out. But he sniffed then sighed.

He pushed her away. “Virgin. He didn’t lie about that, but then it would have been obvious, and Jaden is seldom obvious.”

“Who are you?”

“She speaks.” The Svistra moved to the pile of cushions, drew one aside, threw it in her direction and settled himself on one of his choosing. “Sit.”

Selia hesitated. But her head ached, and she felt dizzy.

“It’s the rethorim, a mixture of herbs to help you…relax. It’ll wear off soon.” He waited, his eyes not leaving her face. His gaze sharpened, but his voice remained soft. “I don’t make suggestions or repeat myself.”

As best as she could, Selia rose and scooted onto the cushion. One wall of the tent now glowed with the emerging sun. She feasted on the sight. She’d never seen anything so beautiful as that golden hue.
It’s the color of Jaden’s eyes.
She blinked. If she got the chance, she’d never take another sunrise for granted.

She forced her gaze back toward the Svistra. He sat with the watchful ease of a predator sure of his prey. All the old warnings pounded into her head.
Never look a Svistra in the eye; never turn your back on one.
She swallowed and focused somewhere above the Svistra’s left shoulder. But as the light increased, her gaze was drawn toward his face. He looked like Jaden. His eyes were darker, definitely brown but with golden lights playing in their depths. In anyone else, she would have said they were beautiful. Could this be Jaden’s father?

He smiled. “He is my brother.”

“Jaden?” she said, before she could snap her mouth shut.

“We have a fraternal resemblance, I’m told.”