Island Shifters: Book 01 - An Oath of the Blood (22 page)

“It is so good to see you, Larkin,” smiled Kiernan, breaking the embrace to stare at her friend. “I have missed you so much, and I have so much to tell you!” Just like that, she was twelve years old again, anxious to share all of her secrets. She grabbed Larkin’s hand and led her to Beck and Rory. “Beck, I would like to introduce my friend, Larkin Malley. Larkin, this is Beck Atlan.”

Beck nodded politely, and Larkin’s face lit up in an admiring glance.

Kiernan stepped down one stair to ruffle Rory’s hair. “And, this little man is Rory Greeley.”

“Hello, Rory.”

Rory also nodded to Larkin.

“Well, well,” came a deep alto voice from behind Kiernan. “If it isn’t my little girl come home.”

Kiernan spun around.

“Miss Belle!” she yelled and ran up the stairs to bury her face in the ample bosom of the dark-skinned woman.

“Hello, child,” she said, rubbing the back of Kiernan’s long hair. “It has been much too long. And look at you! You are as thin as a reed!”

Kiernan smiled. “I have missed you, Miss Belle. Where is father?”

“Oh, that ole curmudgeon should be on his way. Let’s get you inside and cleaned up and fed first.” She gestured for Beck, Rory, and Bajan to follow. “You, too, Mistress Larkin. I know you won’t want to be away from Kiernan now that she is home.”

Kiernan ran back down to thread her arm through Larkin’s and sighed with relief. Beyond her greatest hope, the people of Nysa seemed genuinely pleased at her return. She wondered if they truly accepted that she was a magic user or if they just chose to believe that the rumor was untrue.

She stopped in her tracks when she noticed her father standing at the top of the stairs in front of the open palace doors. As soon as she saw the look in his eyes, she realized that her relief may have been premature.

Kiernan did not remember later if it was her magic that warned her or she had actually heard the thrum of the bowstring as it was released. Either way, a fraction of a second after noticing her father on the steps above, her head snapped to the right and she pushed Larkin to the side as she drew her sword over her back and swung it in a sweeping arc high overhead to cut the hurtling arrow out of the air.

Captain Nash, who was a step below Kiernan and her party, immediately shouted, “Assassin! The King!” The two Sabers who preceded the King out of the palace, crashed into him, pitching him backwards onto the marble floor of the foyer. The young Captain then flung himself down the steps and leapt onto the shooter, sending the second shot of the would-be murderer flying wide. The assassin fell to the ground and tried to shake the Royal Saber off his back, but Captain Nash’s knee between his shoulder blades kept him pinned down. Then, without hesitation, the Captain lifted the head of the hooded man with one arm and drew his knife across his throat. The man’s head thudded onto the cobblestones, blood spraying onto the ground.

When Colbie reached out and stripped back the hood, horrified gasps issued from those on the steps. It was a Cyman soldier, his one eye glazing over in death.

More screams suddenly erupted from the eastern end of the thoroughfare and the main outer gates. Kiernan’s eyes turned black.

Bajan! Hurry and find Rogan and Airron. Tell them to meet us at the entrance gate.

The Draca Cat hesitated.
I will not leave you.

Kiernan reached up and grabbed the enormous furry face between her hands.

You must. And as soon as you do that, I want you to stay and guard Titus. He must remain hidden. His life will be forfeit if he is discovered now. Do this for me, Bajan.

His life means nothing to me.

All life has meaning, Bajan. What kind of Princess would I be if I did not value life? It is my duty to serve and protect.

Yes, to protect the people of Massa.

To protect the innocent, Bajan. There may be a time when I will have to kill to protect the innocent, and I will do so without hesitation, but Titus has not proven himself my enemy yet. I must go. Please do as I say.

The Draca gave her a frustrated nudge and then sprinted toward the stables. Beck, who had been waiting patiently while she conversed with Bajan, grabbed her arm as soon as her eyes resumed their natural color and propelled her down the stairs.

Weaving through the pedestrians on the street, they arrived at the outer wall just as two soldiers threw open the iron doors to the city and frightened citizens began pouring through them in a panic from the marketplace beyond. Kiernan wanted the vantage point of the top of the wall to access the situation, so she elbowed Beck and ran for one of two sets of stairs that led to the gatehouses on either side of the doors.

The sentry standing guard inside at the top looked over as the door opened and immediately stood to block their way.

“Stand down, soldier, it is Princess Kiernan.”

His face registered shock and then he nodded respectfully to her. “Your Grace.”

By the fact that he did not kneel, she knew that the wall was now considered a battlefield. Soldiers did not observe propriety during times of war. His plain black uniform with red trim proclaimed him a soldier of the Iserlohn Army. “What is happening?”

“We are not quite sure, Your Grace, but I suggest you take a look.”

Opening the gatehouse door, she pushed through the assembled soldiers and scanned the open plains east of Nysa. As she suspected, there stood a host of Cyman soldiers. She heard a scuffle behind her and turned to see Rogan and Airron plow through the gatehouse door, followed by the irate sentry.

“It is all right, soldier,” said Kiernan. “They are with me.”

The soldier looked at Rogan and Airron for a long moment before returning to his post in the gatehouse.

“Where is Titus?” Beck asked Rogan urgently.

“Don’t worry,” said Kiernan. “I have Bajan guarding him to make sure he stays hidden.”

Suddenly, a thunderous roar sounded from beneath her and the wall trembled as Nysa’s Cavalry charged out through the open gates to offer protection to the people still streaming in from the marketplace. On the finest and fastest horses on the Island of Massa, the renowned regiment tore out onto the open grasslands in a flagrant show of strength and then reined their mounts to a dramatic stop, facing the enemy—a barefaced challenge for the Cymans to make a move.

“Princess!” barked a deep voice. “You should not be here right now! It is too dangerous. I will have one of the Sabers escort you back to the palace.”

Kiernan immediately recognized Bo Franck, Captain of Iserlohn’s main army, muscling his way toward her. Whereas Captain Nash was responsible for the protection of King Maximus and the royal family, Captain Franck was responsible for the defense of the city of Nysa and the land of Iserlohn. At age five, Captain Franck was the one to teach Kiernan how to ride her first pony and at the age of six, how to swing her first sword. He had spent countless hours teaching the young Princess the art of defense.

Kiernan smiled fondly. “I am not a little girl anymore, Captain Franck.”

He did not smile back, but said just as fondly. “To me you are.”

She reached out to grab his arm. “As your Princess and, more importantly, as a shifter, I am asking you and your men to stand down.”

The Captain’s eyebrows rose into his head. “We can handle this, Your Grace. We do not need magic to protect us. Never have and never will.”

She sighed and then asked, “Can you do it with no lives lost, Captain? Because we can.”

Her old instructor looked at her in assessment, and then nodded reluctantly. “As you wish.” He hesitated. “But, balls, girl, be careful! Your father will hang me by mine if you get hurt!”

It was hard to hold back her smile.

Beck growled next to her as a Cyman in the middle of the throng raised his arms and taunted the Calvary. Kiernan recognized him as the soldier they encountered south of Parsis. “It’s Teag,” she said. “He is the one leading this horde.”

Kiernan remembered the threat Teag issued to Beck just days before that one of them would not survive their next meeting. She made a promise to herself right then. Beck Atlan was not going to be the one to die this day. Not if she had anything to say about it.

Unexpectedly, Airron said, “I do not get this.”

“What don’t you get?” Beck asked. “I feel the same way but want to hear your theory.”

“Why are they here? If my estimate is correct, there are at most five hundred troops out here. How could they possibly expect to oppose Nysa’s armies?”

Kiernan shouted for a range finder to get a closer look. “Maybe they don’t mean to fight,” she said as a Saber immediately handed her a long tubular finder and she peered through the shaft. “This could just be a scouting mission. After all, Ravener probably does not know much about the capabilities of Massa’s militia.”

Beck ran his hands through his hair. “No. They will fight.”

Rogan looked surprised at his conviction. “Why do you say that? Does it have to do with the Cyman assassin?”

Captain Bo Franck turned to face them. “What the balls is a Cyman? Is it as big and ugly as the group sitting out there?” he asked, sweeping his hand out to the east.

“Yes, Captain, that is a Cyman,” replied Beck. “If I am correct, the host before us now is Ravener’s sacrificial lambs. He knows they will not survive this encounter with Nysa. I would bet that the assassin was not even meant to succeed in killing King Maximus.” When everybody looked at Beck in question, he continued. “Remember what my father said? Ravener specializes in terror. He probably feels that if he can frighten the people of Massa enough, they will do anything he asks. They will bow down to him.”

“Who is Ravener?” the Captain interrupted, looking at the shifters in confusion.

Beck looked at him. “A Mage over three hundred years old who wants to rule Massa.” He turned back to the shifters. “Although Ravener knows that the Cymans will be destroyed, he probably figures that they will at least take out a large number of Iserlohn’s forces along the way. In his mind, this would be a fair trade for the fealty of Iserlohn’s people. I also do not think it is a coincidence that Teag leads this force. He is being punished for not bringing back Titus as he was ordered. This is his death sentence.”

“Who is Titus?” asked Captain Franck.

“A Cyman soldier,” said Kiernan distractedly and then turned back to Beck. “So, the Mage is forfeiting this battle to win the war.”

“Exactly,” responded Beck.

Kiernan jerked as the familiar Cyman war horn sounded, and hundreds of Cyman soldiers began tearing towards Nysa, dust billowing behind them in a cloud.

The four shifters did not hesitate and leapt up onto the parapet.

“What about archers?” screamed Captain Franck. Immediately, the archers along the wall brought up their bows.

Kiernan shook her head. “Won’t work! They have skin as thick as a mantath!”

Captain Franck paced the length of the wall. “Stand down, soldiers! Stand down!”

Beck was the first to react by throwing out his hands and rippling the ground before the Cymans and sending the first line sprawling. The front line did not stand a chance as the forces behind continued to advance, trampling them to the ground.

Even though the Cymans were immune to the archers’ arrows that could not penetrate their thick skin, it was not so with Rogan’s arrows. The screams of soldiers and the smell of burning flesh filled the air as fire slammed into their ranks.

Kiernan cringed. This was nothing short of a slaughter. How could Ravener send his warriors to their deaths in this manner?

Yet still they came.

“Call in the Cavalry!” she shouted.

Captain Franck gave the order and the signal was sounded for the Calvary to retreat. They did so reluctantly, Kiernan noticed. These were soldiers trained to fight and a fight is exactly what they were looking for.

She looked at the frown on Beck’s face as he created a sinkhole and fifty Cyman warriors perished when they were buried alive. It was not easy to take a life, no matter how justified the act.

Airron’s black wolf slithered through the mounted troops returning through the open gates to shred warriors with his sharp claws and teeth.