Child Of A Guardian And Of The Free (Book 3) (45 page)

Tiernan reached the far side of the field and stopped in front of Nandul.
Gilgarry held his breath.

‘
Throw him into the pit,’ said Nandul, with a malicious grin on his face. Four warriors came forward, caught Tiernan by his arms and dragged him away. Gilgarry watched closely as they disappeared into the trees to the North West.

‘
What pit?’
Milgorry frowned.
‘Callian, do you know what he’s talking about.’

Callian
made sure only his companions would hear his mind.
‘One of the warriors who took Tiernan was thinking of somewhere about a mile in the exact direction they were moving.’

‘
Now what should I do with the rest of you?’ said Nandul contemptuously. ‘You’re on my land.’

‘
Bring us Kelian immediately, or we’ll return all of you,’ said Callian unemotionally, ‘now.’

‘
Hmm...’ Nandul scratched his chin thoughtfully. ‘I don’t think so. Before I-’ His words were cut off as Callian let out a scream of fury and charged across the field, heading directly towards him.

*   *    *

Rezon paused beside his brother leaning against the outside wall of the little hut, appreciating the habit of the fallen to build their homes with a large separation of trees between each, as it had provided enough cover for him to reach this home undetected. He knew the woman Salia and her child Elysia were inside. He couldn’t sense if anyone else was present, though from Salia’s thoughts he was fairly sure she was alone. Leslie, disregarding the order to stay hidden, raced to his side and flattened himself against the wall beside Ben. Ben rolled his eyes. Leslie ignored this.

‘
Is she in there? Are we going inside? What are we waiting for?’

Rezon gritted his
teeth. ‘Yes. She’s in there. I’m just deciding how to get inside without getting them both, and probably you, killed.’

‘
Have you considered knocking on the door,’ said Leslie drily.

Ben laughed.
‘He may be onto something,’ he said and he pushed away from the wall and walked boldly to the front door. ‘After all,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘If there is anyone else inside, I can’t be sure they would even know who we are.’ He paused and knocked loudly on the door.

There was a moment
of silence and then the door opened a crack. A tall, fair haired woman pressed her eye to the crack and peered out at Ben.

‘
May we come in?’ he asked politely.

‘
Who are you?’ asked the woman, her voice terrified.

‘
I’m not going to hurt you,’ Ben began but the woman interrupted.

‘
You all say the same thing, but it’s a lie. I’ve been hurt, over and over again! Even now I’m pregnant no-one will leave me alone!’ She moved to slam the door shut but Ben simply placed his hand against it. Throwing herself against the boards had no impact. She fell back with a sob of fear and Ben pushed the door wide. There was no-one else inside the room. The woman was now standing in the corner of the room looking terrified, but resigned to her fate. She dropped to her knees with a strangled sob.

‘
I said that I am not going to hurt you,’ said Ben firmly. He reached down and dragged her to her feet.

‘
Then what do you want from me,’ she asked, looking stunned but still very frightened.

‘
My brother made a promise to your husband that he would bring you and your daughter home. His promise is also mine, as he is my brother. I want you to come with me.’

‘
Leslie! They killed him you know,’ said Salia miserably. She turned around and picked up the child who was lying asleep on a bunch of dirty rags. There was no bed in the hut just a few old blankets and Ben could see she had been sleeping on the hard floor next to her daughter.

‘
No. He’s not dead. They would have told you that so you’d lose hope. It makes it less likely that you’ll bother to attempt to escape.’

‘
Not dead?’ Salia’s face lifted for a second then fell once again. ‘I cannot believe you,’ she said hopelessly.

‘
Come,’ said Ben, taking her hand. ‘Before we walk out of here, I must ask you to do exactly as I say. We’re going south, then east and across the Ice Coast. I’ll find something warm enough for you to wear before we reach the ice. But you mustn’t hesitate and you have to act like a slave.’ He paused and frowned as he heard a grunt and a thud from outside. There was a scuffling noise then silence.

‘
Please, I want so badly to get away from here,’ Salia whispered. ‘I’ve seen the fallen torture their own people! There was a warrior they dragged through here only minutes ago. They tied him to that tree over there and then they...ugh it was terrible! It was horrible!’

‘
I wonder who he was,’ said Ben. ‘What happened to him?’

‘
They got distracted by something and left him there. He was bleeding everywhere but he didn’t even scream out at all! I cut him down and let him go. He ran away. You know what they’ll do to me when they find out don’t you?’

‘
I do,’ said Ben seriously. ‘Now remember when we leave here you need to act like you’re terrified of me.’

‘
I
am
terrified of you!’

‘
You won’t be when you see who’s waiting outside.’

‘
Who-’

‘
Come
now
, and don’t stop walking. If we’re caught, we’re all returned. Well, Rez and I will be returned, you and Leslie will be dead.’

‘
Leslie! Is he....’ She broke off as Ben pulled her forcefully towards the door.

There were
three bodies strewn across the ground around Rezon. He was poised in a crouch, with a knife still in his hand and staring into the trees. He raised his hand for silence.

‘
What happened?’
Ben asked silently.

‘
They came for Salia. She may be human and despised, but that hasn’t stopped anyone taking advantage of her.’

‘
I know. The poor girl is absolutely petrified.’

Salia followed Ben around the side of the hut and paused in shock as her eyes fell on her husband. Ben
’s hand clamped over her mouth as she responded to her natural instinct to cry out.

Leslie pointed to Rezon and then placed a finger to his lips. Salia
wriggled frantically and Ben released her. She ran to Leslie’s side, still holding their baby and they huddled together with tears of countless emotions. Eventually they broke apart and Salia passed Elysia to her husband. He hugged the little girl against his chest and cried silently.

‘
Les,’ Salia whispered, ‘I’m carrying a child. The fallen-’

‘
No!’ Leslie whispered with surprising force. ‘The child is mine! You were pregnant before you were taken! The child is
mine!’

Salia looked
at him with wonder. They both knew that this was simply not possible. ‘What happens when our child starts to...well...what happens if it starts reading people’s thoughts, or turns out to be evil? Les, these people are evil. What if this child turns out the same?’

‘
It won’t,’ said Rezon confidently, standing up and turning towards her. ‘Your child will be the product of how you raise it. Granted, it will be able to read your thoughts, and it will be faster and stronger than you might be used to, but something would have to go terribly wrong for a child raised with human love and compassion to turn against you.’

‘
But what will we tell the child, when he grows up?’ Lesley raised his hands questioningly.

‘
Tell him the truth,’ Ben said simply, ‘the entire truth. Now we have to move faster than you’ve ever moved before if we want to get out of here alive, so Rez will carry you on his back and Elysia in his arms and I’ll carry Salia. Let’s move!’ Without waiting for an answer, he scooped Salia into his arms, dragged her around his shoulder so she was perched on his back, and sprinted south.

*   *    *

Timbul easily overtook Callian before he reached the far side of the field. Arrows were flying and only their speed saved them. Three of the fallen made the mistake of trying to get to the cart where Kelian’s body lay, but fell as arrows from Milgorry’s and Araas’ bows punctured their bodies. Callian’s hand gestured towards the left and then the right and Timbul and Araas moved apart. Danil and Milgorry appeared either side of Callian. Callian could see the cart ahead where he was certain Kelian lay. He felt sure the King was unconscious, knowing Nandul would not want to make it easy for him to be found. He ducked under low branches and threw himself sideways, narrowly avoiding several arrows. Danil and Milgorry were still beside him, keeping pace and Callian could see fallen closing in all around them. He ignored them, trusting Danil and Milgorry to keep him alive long enough to get to Kelian. He caught Timbul’s thoughts and felt a moment of satisfaction. The brothers had spread far enough to have the fallen between themselves and Callian, on either side. Callian knew their chances of survival weren’t good, but he hoped they could keep the fallen occupied long enough for himself or Danil to take Kelian away. He felt a flash of grief as he thought of Tiernan and he wondered where the fallen had taken him. A part of him wanted to break free and go after him, to find him and free him but he knew that he could not. Even with Danil, Milgorry, Timbul and Araas, he knew he would be hard pressed to win this battle.

Timbul stepped forward with concentrated purpose, his sword in one hand and a knife in the other. As the warrior nearest to him lashed out, he ducked, dived past the man and slashed the back of his ankles with his knife, taking care to keep from injuring himself on his own sword. The man went down in a screaming heap and Timbul silenced him with a quick thrust of his
knife. He was glad there wasn’t anyone else too close when he tried that rather risky move. He dashed forward to meet two warriors who were rushing towards him. He paused and raised his sword, letting them come. They both slowed, and then they glanced behind to confirm that their comrades were coming to help, before leaping towards Timbul. The flat of his sword caught the first man in the throat, crushing his windpipe. The second warrior tried to change direction and take Timbul from the side, but the guardian’s hand flashed out, dropping his knife and making a grab for the warrior’s face. With a flex of his hand, Timbul crushed the man’s cheekbones and jaw, and then with a vicious twist, he broke his neck. He grabbed his knife from the ground and thrust sideways, managing to duck under a wild sword slash whilst taking another attacker in the stomach. He grabbed the attacker and threw him at a nearby tree, and the sound of his skull smashing was audible even in the foray. In quick succession, and apparently without a great deal of effort, Timbul returned three more attacking warriors with his sword before searching for his brother’s face. He found him and ran in his direction, arriving beside him just in time to see his brother pick up a warrior and smash him headfirst into the cart, breaking his neck. A measured blow of Araas’ sword left the warriors head in the cart whilst his body fell to the ground.

Araas
turned swiftly, expecting to be set upon once again, but the number of the fallen were diminishing rapidly. He could see Garran, who had circled to the far side of the battle and he was working his way towards him, with warriors falling on either side.

‘
Get him out of here,’ shouted Danil. With utmost care Callian reached into the cart pushing away the still-rolling head, and he gathered the unconscious body of Kelian into his arms. He gave a gasp of pain and shock as an arrow pierced him. A determined cry came from his lips and he managed to duck a second arrow but as he turned and ran the flurry of arrows was impossible to avoid. He didn’t look back. He pumped his legs forcefully, willing himself to go on, refusing to succumb to the pain and strange weakness overcoming his body. Danil barely had time to see where Callian went in the turmoil, his hands and sword were wet with blood and he’d taken a blade across his cheek. His heart froze as he caught sight of Callian disappearing into the trees on the far side of the field. Three arrows were sticking from the Guardian General’s back and even though he didn’t appear to be slowing down, Danil knew it was a matter of short time before he succumbed. Then Callian was gone and Garran raced after his wounded brother, and Danil knew it was time to face the one who was behind this horror. He pressed his way forward, intent on getting through to Nandul, who was backing away, defending himself from his own son. Danil stepped over the pile of bodies to which he and Milgorry had both added. There were only four warriors left facing Timbul and Araas and then suddenly there were none. Other than Milgorry and Nandul, who were facing each other with swords raised, Danil was the only person remaining in the trees and he knew many had deserted Nandul in the face of the guardians. He drew breath sharply as it occurred to him that he had no idea where Borgulnay and Gilgarry were. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t hear their thoughts. His heart sank, knowing they probably lay among the dead.