City of Blaze (The Fireblade Array) (44 page)

Morghiad was forced to jump down and face his enemy from the ground. He sliced the other man’s girths in a similar fashion, dodging his blows as they came down. His opponent must have been a full seven feet tall, for even Morghiad found himself looking up at him. The kahr clenched his teeth and drew his second sword. He sensed another soldier running to attack from behind and swung his blade back to catch him in the head. A soft, wet
thunk
accompanied the strike. The captain withdrew the blade and swung it counter to his other sword. The cross motion caught the huge man in the stomach, spraying blood over the captain. Morghiad pressed forward with another swipe, but the man countered. He met every one of Morghiad’s subsequent strikes, and the kahr began to wonder if he had come up against another Kusuru Assassin. That was until he made a fast slice at his enemy’s left arm. It cut clean through and sent the arm flying through the air. The huge man fought on, but Morghiad made multiple disabling slashes; until the old man fell. Morghiad stood above him to wield the final blow. He would be merciful in his speed. This man deserved as much.

“Little Kahr Morghiad,” the man whispered with a smile.

The kahr hesitated. “You know me?”

“You’re just like your father. Mother’s eyes... but you look like him.”

Morghiad frowned. These were mind tricks. “I look nothing like him.” He raised his sword.

The giant kept talking. “Nonsense. Same build, same grit. I’d know the son of Hedinar Kantari anywhere. Thought you were dead.”

The captain lowered his sword, but was forced to swing it as another soldier came for him. He beheaded his attacker with a single blow and looked back at his defeated opponent. “You are a prisoner of our army.” He pulled a nearby soldier out of combat and swiftly dispatched the man’s opponent. “Take this rebel here prisoner. See that he is well tied-up.”

“Yes, lord-captain.” The soldier dragged the severely wounded giant back towards the tunnel entrance.

He sought his horse and found him after cutting through a swathe of black-painted soldiers. Tyshar was too panicked to be ridden, so Morghiad sent him to the rim of the cavern with a slap on his hind quarters. He sensed Artemi was still cutting through bodies at speed, and she still had enough energy to fight on. His army were making excellent progress through the rogues, they had to capitulate soon. He chopped down more attackers and moved forward to the red fortress. A woman’s scream rang out across the cavern. Morghiad’s first thought was Artemi, but her fires did not tally with the noise. The other men looked around in confusion as they battled. Then his eyes fell on the source. A Calidellian soldier lay on the ground. The soldier’s sword had been cast aside by the opponent and her brown, chestnut hair fanned out from under the hood. Aval. How had she-? There was no time to speculate. He ran at her assailant and swung at him with his blade. The man jumped rapidly to avoid the strike and countered. Morghiad defeated him in three moves and kicked his lifeless body to the floor. He helped Lady di Certa up roughly. “What are you doing here?”

She blinked at him. “I know my way around a sword, lord-captain. I wanted to help.”

“You’ve put your life and the lives of everyone else at risk by coming here. Get out of my battle!” He pushed her away, and felt something cold press into his ribs from behind. Aval’s eyes bulged. He felt Artemi’s heart skip a beat. Had she been injured? He looked down to find the tip of a blade jutting from his chest. Thank Achellon it wasn’t her. Morghiad turned and fought his attacker. More men piled in to fight him. He couldn’t breathe but continued to swing his sword at them as fast as he could manage. The world turned to shades of grey as he spun and then the noises faded to silence. All he could see were moving shapes. His legs gave up on him, and Morghiad hit the ground.

Artemi felt every inch of steel as it penetrated his heart. She was powerless to help him as a crowd of rogue soldiers had surrounded her and were doing their best to keep her occupied. She had lost count as to how many there were. If she could blast a few of them away with Blaze they wouldn’t be a problem, but they kept piling in, one after the other. She hadn’t seen Beodrin in ages. Artemi knew there was only one course of action if she was to save her captain. As she whirled her blade between her attackers she delved deeply for the Blazes. This time she would have control of them.  Artemi channelled all of her anger, all of her desperation and all of her love into building a bridge to the torrent of Blaze Energy that hid behind the veil. She felt something give, and Blaze poured into her like a river released from a dam. The awesome power enveloped her and she began to form a complex shape from it, all the while slashing her blade at her opponents. It felt so good to wield. Fire shot out from her body in every direction, incinerating the crowd of men around her. Their burned corpses fell to the floor instantly. The rogue soldiers saw her step out from the smoking debris and, in tens, turned and fled into the catacombs that led from the chamber. She blasted a few more of them for good measure and then turned her attention to finding her love. He was not there. His river flowed... distantly.

“Artemi!Stop!” Passerid came running towards her. “Stop. You’re not ready.”

Artemi held onto the Blazes tightly. “They have him.”

The kanaala stopped in front of her. “He’s still alive?”

She reached out for him. His torrent of emotions had drained to a brook. She nodded. “Yes.”

Passerid took her by the arms. “You have to let go of that Energy now, Artemi. You’re too young yet. Please, let it go.”

The red-haired woman shook her head.

“He wouldn’t want you to risk your own sanity. Release it.”

She clenched her jaw. They were taking him farther from her with every second that passed. She had to get to him soon and this man was in her way.

Passerid shook her. “Artemi D’Avrohan, I command you to release the power you hold. That is an order!”

The wielder looked at him. She could crush the man like a fly if she wanted to.

“How will we find the captain if you’ve gone half mad?” he yelled.

“We?” She felt nauseous... and dizzy.

“Yes, you and I and whoever else is needed.”

Artemi gave in and let go. She felt so weak, like she had fought a thousand battles in a thousand days. She started to fall to the floor, but Passerid caught her. “It’s alright, my queen,” he said, “We’ll get him back.”

They had to be quick, she thought. They didn’t have much time.

When she came round again they were still in the caverns. A few of the wounded were being tended to against the walls. Silar was studying her intently.

“Saw you incinerate a few bad guys. That was impressive stuff, girl.” He smiled.

She looked around at the men. “We need to find him. Soon.”

“And we will, Artemi. But we can’t go charging into this maze without a plan. Though that’s exactly what we did to get here. We don’t even know how to get out of here yet.” He squeezed her arm affectionately. “And you need to get your strength back, too.”

Artemi tested her arms and legs. She felt absolutely fine. She stood and Silar rose with her, and together they walked between the men to a crowd that had gathered in one corner. Silar guarded Artemi as she made her way to the front, where a woman in a Cadran uniform stood. It was Lady di Certa. What in Blazes was she doing here?

The lady continued to speak: “I followed you with my hood raised, no one seemed to notice ...the kahr saved me. I was about to get my head cut off when he stepped in and slew my opponent. But just as he was telling me to go to safety... he -” she broke-off, and swallowed.

Artemi folded her arms and finished the sentence. “He got stabbed in the heart.” She was doing her best glower at the stupid woman, and hoped it looked suitably intimidating.

Aval turned to face her. “He died saving my life, child!”

“You do not speak to her in that manner here, Aval,” Silar said sternly. A few of the men nodded.

The beautiful dark-haired woman frowned as if an insect had landed on her shoe. “Why is this wi– this woman a professional soldier anyway?”

Artemi could contain her rage no longer. She slapped the darker woman, hard. “Your
idiocy
has endangered the lives of my brothers and has left my captain perilously close to death! If he dies I will hold you personally accountable.”

“Lord-Captain Morghiad is alive?” one of the men asked.

Artemi turned. “Yes.” Why did they seem so surprised? She could sense that the sword had been removed from his torso and that he was healing, but feared what would happen to him next. “We must find him quickly. I can locate him.”

Silar left her side to collect together the men he thought best for the rescue party and so Artemi was resigned to pacing rapidly among the men.

“Artemi?” A surprised voice stopped her in her tracks.

She looked to its source and saw a giant of a man, missing an arm and a leg. He was tied up with numerous belts. His eyes spoke of many years alive. Scarred Jarynd stood over him as his guard.

“Do you know me?” she asked, confused. Jarynd shifted his stance.

The big man smiled. “Ah, perhaps I am mistaking you for another red-haired beauty. Forgive me.”

Artemi sat down next to him. A thought occurred to her. “Could you help these men to find their way out of here?”

The vast man eyed her levelly. “You want me to help the enemy?”

“You seem nice enough.” She gave him her best smile.

He cracked a short laugh. “Ah, you women never change. Perhaps you can enlighten me on something. I saw your little display earlier and was wondering... why would someone with your... abilities throw your lot in with an army of Calidell?”

Artemi was happy to answer: “Because I made a promise to them, and because they are good men.”

He frowned at her.

“Why did you throw your lot in with this bunch of cave-dwellers?” she asked.

He thought for a moment. “Because an army of Calidell destroyed my home, my friends and my queen. Which brings me onto another point.” He twitched his stump oddly. “How did Morghiad come to be in your army?”

Artemi was taken aback. Was this some sort of espionage technique? Ask the obvious questions to reveal hidden relationships? Not that there was anything hidden about her and the kahr. She remained as impassive as possible with her answer. “Kahr Morghiad is our captain. His father, the king, appointed him to the role.”

The giant’s face contorted with confusion. Then something fell into place in his mind. “He is King Acher’s son?”

Artemi smiled. “Of course.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“No?”

“That lad was born to House Jade’an. Acher must have stolen him during the battle.” His square face grimaced. “It is the ultimate insult.”

She was not sure if the aged soldier had gone completely mad through his years of battling or if he was trying to tell her the truth. She decided to play along. “What battle?”

“Why, the battle of Gialdin! Good people fell in that battle, lass. Some of the best.” He winked at her. He was almost certainly insane.

Artemi pressed further. “And what relationship was the House of Jade’an to Gialdin?”

He frowned at her. “Don’t you young things read any more, these days? Queen Medea of House Jade’an ruled Gialdin. And your young
kahr
is her son. So you see. Acher took the city, he took the country and he took its only surviving heir.”

That was a very strange story to come up with. Morghiad already stood to inherit the lands of Gialdin upon Acher’s death. That and more. Perhaps this man hoped to create some sort of rift by proclaiming such a thing had happened. Artemi decided to be practical. “Well then, if he is your lost heir to Gialdin, why don’t you help get his men out of this hole in the ground?”

“Bloody blazes, Artemi, you always were a rock-in-the-grass when you wanted to be.”

Artemi was sure he was delusional. Jarynd kicked him, and she spied Silar heading towards her.

The blond lieutenant took a good look at the prisoner and offered him a polite nod. “We’re ready to go, Artemi.”

She rose and said goodbye to the insane giant. He gave her an overly familiar grin. It was time to find her kahr. She followed the course of his stream, and could sense that he was in pain; a lot of pain. “He’s that way.” She pointed to the area to the left of the peculiar red castle. “We must hurry.” Artemi ran to the horses they had assembled and jumped on Glacier’s back. She took Tyshar’s reins in her other hand and kicked her horse into a trot. Silar caught up to her. “Artemi, you need to stay in sight of the group. If we lose each other that’s the end. We’ll all get picked off like ants on a plate before we can find Morghiad.”

She nodded in quiet acquiescence. They should have let her do this alone. If only she hadn’t bloody fainted! Ten men followed behind them: including Beodrin, Orwin and Passerid. They passed the red stone structure quickly. It was a ruin: once home to some great king or queen, she thought, but now empty. Artemi followed the river-borne sensation of her lover’s pain through the twisting tunnels and as she neared him it came more sharply into focus. He was being tortured. As far as she could tell it was something metal being repeatedly stuck into his abdomen, but each time she found herself thinking of it she would kick her horse into a canter and Silar would have to rein her in. He was right that they had no idea what lay behind each corner, but she was so desperate to get to the captain. Artemi had to stop his pain, and wreak some revenge on his captors.