Storms (Sharani Series Book 2) (34 page)

He urged Nabil to fly faster.

As they flew, other riders appeared on the horizon and moved to join them, shouting that they’d reached the clans and were directing them toward the old Aeril Warren. All, that is, except the ones following Maugier. Those refused to come.

Gavin ground his teeth together. Of course Maugier wouldn’t come. Stubborn, idiot, sands-cursed man. Gavin was half-tempted to go after them in that very moment, but then thought better of it. If he got these ones to where they could start getting out, he could go back with the aevian riders and begin relaying as many as he could. That is, of course, if the aevians could take the abuse. Already, Gavin could sense the exhaustion in Nabil’s wingbeats.

The Forbiddence grew large on the horizon, the sun low over its lip to his left. They were only a few short minutes’ flight away, close to the stoneway pillar. Gavin had signaled for Samsin to show them the way and the massive blonde Orinai had managed to direct his aevian into the lead. Once again Gavin was struck by the sheer height of the monolithic black wall. Had Samsin and Nikanor really managed a way through it? Doubt crept through Gavin and intertwined with the fear already there.

If Gavin hadn’t been looking right at the Forbiddence, he would have missed it, but as it was, he watched in stunned disbelief as a massive section of the Forbiddence simply crumbled and fell inward, leaving a gaping hole. Dust flew into the air in a great, billowing cloud and, even as high in the sky as they were, Gavin felt the concussive impact of the stone and the echoing rumble of the earth far below. The aevians shrieked and cawed and Nabil twisted oddly in the air, making Gavin grab onto the pommel. Mingled exclamations of surprise and fear rose on the wind behind him, only to be stifled by the echoing retort of the cascading stone.

Gavin swore. Behind him, Khari—at least, Gavin assumed it was Khari—whistled sharply to signal a descent. Gavin nudged Nabil with his knees and urged him onward, then noticed Samsin just ahead and to the left of him. Color had drained from the Orinai’s face, though his gaze and expression were intent and focused on the billowing dust cloud as it slowly began settling. The aevian he was riding responded to Khari’s calls and began to descend along with the others. Gavin hesitated, then edged Nabil down as well.

Nabil alighted on the ground alongside Samsin, and Gavin unclipped from the saddle and leapt to the ground. The Orinai had hopped out of the saddle in an apparent daze, for he was still attached to his saddle by a taut leather lead. One of Samsin’s hands was absently working back up the lead toward the saddle, but it wasn’t really helping.

Gavin hopped over and pulled it free.

“What is it, Samsin?” Gavin asked. “The other Orinai?”

Samsin nodded. “They must have been right on our heels the entire time,” he whispered. “But how did they know?” His voice trailed off as, emerging from the billowing dust cloud like blood from a wound, a vast army of red-clad archers appeared within the gaping hole which had been blown in the Forbiddence wall.

“Those who attain any of the third and highest of the Iterations are granted solace within the first hell, according to our beliefs. Though this scholar promised not to delve into religion, it is the driving force of the movement along the Iterations and the means by which the reincarnations of our former lives can speak with us in dream.”

—From
Commentary on the
Schema, Volume I

Lhaurel pushed through the throng of confused Roterralar, dread spreading through her like an icy torrent of water. Someone growled something at her, but Lhaurel ignored it and instinctively drew on her powers. She knew using her own blood would be counter-productive in the long run, leaving her weak after she released it, but she needed the extra strength and clarity now, in the face of what she saw unfolding before her.

Red-clad archers poured out of the gap in the Forbiddence like a bleeding wound. Here and there along the line Lhaurel could see larger men, ones with the same sense of solidity to their build and movements that Nikanor and Beryl shared. They fell into a posture that made them seem to merge with the stone of the Forbiddence itself upon which they trod. She recognized them, both from their similarity to Nikanor and her readings from the scrolls. Earth Wards. It must have been them who had brought down the Forbiddence. Lhaurel pushed passed the last stunned onlookers and broke into an open space for a few moments before coming up alongside Gavin, Samsin, and Khari. More archers poured down the gap. Now that she was clear of the press of aevians and people, Lhaurel realized that the gap was downward sloped, as if the army pouring into the Sharani Desert had to descend from a great height.

“Talk to me, Samsin,” Gavin demanded, his voice cracking like a whip with the urgency of his words. Lhaurel glanced sidelong at him, but her eyes immediately returned to the army. More warriors came down.

“Earth Wards,” Samsin said, voice soft. “Those there are Earth Wards. They’ll keep Beryl from blowing this place as long as the Sisters are here.” His voice caught at that, but Gavin made a pointed grunt and Samsin continued. “The archers are the Sisters’ Bleeders.”

“Bleeders?” Lhaurel asked. A small voice whispered in the back of her mind, telling her she already knew what he’d say. She had to hear it for herself though. Samsin turned to look down at her, his white-blonde hair whipping in the slight breeze and dancing across his regal face.

“They don’t aim to kill,” Samsin said. “They only want to wound. Anyone that gets hit by an arrow is drained instantly of blood by one of the Sisters. They call it justice and proof of their right to rule our religion and the Progressions.”

“What?” Gavin asked, though Lhaurel understood.

“They use the blood to fuel their power and then turn it against the brethren of the very men they killed. You get killed, literally, by your own blood.”

Lhaurel shuddered, remembering the Oasis, remembering the old man, moments from death, she’d been forced to use as a means to kill the genesauri. She remembered feeling Shallee’s pain, remembered the feeling of hundreds dying in the Oasis. How could those monsters feel all that and still act the way they did? Lhaurel felt sick and angry at the same time.

“What can we do?” Gavin asked, looking from Samsin, who had lost all the arrogance and condescension from his voice, to Khari. “What can we do, Samsin?”

Samsin shrugged. “There’s nothing you can do except sit here and wait for the Sisters’ judgment.” With that, Samsin turned and strode a short distance away, head bowed. He reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out a small round medallion before dropping to his knees in the sand. Behind Lhaurel, someone started to cry, which sparked others to join.

Lhaurel, awash in her powers, felt the fear permeating through the Roterralar like sand after a sandstorm. Even without her powers, Lhaurel was sure she could have felt the fear; it was that palpable.

Gavin looked over at Samsin, his mouth working, then back to Khari, who still hadn’t said anything.

The woman finally blinked and seemed to come to her senses. “Gavin?” she asked.

Lhaurel felt her inner calm, brought on by the powers she was holding, tremble and threaten to give way at the absolute despair and hopelessness in Khari’s voice. The Matron of the Roterralar was the rock upon which Lhaurel had built most of her foundation. Especially now, after everything that had gone on, Khari was the one person Lhaurel could always turn to. She was immovable. She was solid.

She’d given up.

“Gather everyone, Khari,” Gavin said, recognizing the need to take charge. “And move back. They’re not attacking yet.”

“Lhaurel can save us, like she did with the genesauri, can’t she?” Khari asked, looking over at her.

Lhaurel felt a rush of panic and a great weight settling on her shoulder. Gavin looked over at her as well, hope in his eyes.

“I—I don’t know.” Lhaurel stammered, honestly unsure if she could duplicate what she’d done. She didn’t even really understand
how
she’d done it in the first place. What she’d read told her that what she’d done was impossible, even for one of the Seven Sisters. “It doesn’t work like that. I mean, I can’t get it to do what I want when I want it yet.”

Gavin swallowed hard and made a good show of not reacting, though Lhaurel could sense his disappointment.

He turned to Khari. “Get the woman and children who can’t fight to the back. Get Cobb and some of the others to help you.”

Khari nodded absently and walked off, not a trace of hurry in her step. Lhaurel scurried over to Gavin.

“What do we do?” Lhaurel whispered. “There are only a few dozen of us and only a handful of mystics that can fight.”

“Are you sure you can’t?” Gavin made a vague gesture and Lhaurel shook her head. Gavin nodded again and his jaw firmed. He rocked his head back a few times as if stretching his neck.

“What do we do, Gavin?” Lhaurel repeated. “If we get a good plan going, maybe we can figure this out.”

“We’ll do what we can,” a voice said. Lhaurel turned to see the man she’d broken walking up behind her. His face was wan and his eyes wider than they should have been, but he suppressed his fear well.

“Who are you?” Gavin asked.

“Darryn.”

“Ok, Darryn,” Gavin said, turning to the man. “You’re a mystic, right? Gather the other mystics and meet me back here. They aren’t attacking yet, but we need to have a plan when they do.”

Lhaurel noticed he didn’t say if. Silently, she agreed with him, realization gripping her with shadowed fingers. She let her powers fade, feeling the latent exhaustion pile in. The pain in her leg returned and a throbbing headache threatened at her temples. Why now? Still, a small voice in her head knew a battle was coming. There would be plenty of time then to draw on additional fuel for her powers.
No!
No. She would never do that. Not again. She was not a monster. She was a Rahuli and she would fight and die defending them.

“I need at least two of you watching that army at all times,” Gavin said. “Cobb, you’re in charge of making sure the women and children are kept calm and they stay behind anyone who can defend them. Khari will help you with that.” The old man nodded, expression neutral, but his white hair was plastered to his face by sweat. “The rest of you I need to fly as many trips as you can out to the clans and bring as many of them back with you as you can before we lose the light.”

“What about them?” one of the men asked, jutting his chin toward the vast sea of red. His question was echoed in the expressions of everyone else in the circle, even Lhaurel, who had found a sword somewhere and belted it on.

“They’re not going anywhere,” Gavin said, resting a hand on the pommel of his greatsword, which he’d retrieved from Nabil’s back. “It’s nearly dark. Unless they have the ability to see in the dark, they’ll be just as blind as us. I don’t think they’ll attack.”

Gavin held the man’s gaze for a long moment, trying to convey as much confidence as he could muster. It was difficult, but he knew that’s what they needed.

Eventually the man nodded, apparently satisfied. Farah flashed Gavin a brief smile when his eyes passed over her, which gave him a small boost of confidence.

“Alright then,” Gavin said. “Let’s go.”

The majority of the group moved to leave, but one woman lingered. “What about Maugier’s clan?” she asked.

Gavin looked over at her and tried to not breathe a sigh of frustration. Maugier’s clan. Gavin still hadn’t figured out what to do about them. If he sent another messenger, they would just get ignored. He really needed to either go himself or have Khari go, but they were both needed here. Gavin pursed his lips and ran a hand through his dusty, matted hair.

“I don’t know. I hope they’ll come, but right now we can’t spare the men or aevians to go warn them or convince them to come. Everyone in the Sharani Desert saw the section of the Forbiddence come down. If they’ve any sense, they’ll come now.”

“I can go,” the woman volunteered. Gavin regarded the woman, noticing her trembling hands and the stony set of her jaw. Some of the others who had turned to leave turned back to witness the exchange.

“We need to save as many as we can,” Gavin said. “I don’t know if we can spare you. What connection do you have to the Maugier’s clan? Family?”

The woman nodded. “My sister and mother are with them,” she said. “Please.”

Gavin scratched at his chin. “Go. If you can’t convince him tonight, you get back here by first light tomorrow. If we’re still alive then, we’ll need you.”

The woman nodded and, to Gavin’s surprise, snapped a fist to her breast in a salute. Gavin nodded to her and she spun on her heel in the sand and hurried to her aevian. They were in the air in moments.

“What are the rest of you waiting for?” Gavin asked, looking around at the others. They broke apart immediately, even Cobb, who snapped a salute at Gavin, then left, leaving Gavin alone. Gavin looked around and frowned.
Where had Lhaurel gotten off to?
He searched the group, but didn’t see her. Instead, his eyes fell on Samsin, who still knelt in the sand a half-dozen spans away, fiddling with the medallion in his hands.

Lhaurel made her way through the mothers and children, careful not to jostle anyone. Not that it was hard to get through them. They made way before her easily. Her scarlet hair and nails made her easily recognizable and, even among the Roterralar, she was considered something of an oddity.

Lhaurel ignored them all, instead focusing her attention on finding Khari. Gavin’s plan was fine. It was probably even the right one. But what Lhaurel needed right now was a little stability, and that meant snapping Khari out of whatever stupor she was in. Thankfully, in such a small group, the woman was not hard to find. Khari sat in the sand alongside Shallee, the small former outcast woman nursing her baby as she carried on a running stream of one-sided conversation with Khari.

“I’m sure I don’t know what all is going on here, but at least we’re safe for now then, aren’t we?” Shallee said, smiling over at Lhaurel as she took a seat in the sand next to Khari. “I mean, there’s no sense getting all worked up about something that hasn’t happened yet, is there?”

“That’s right,” Lhaurel said, though her words sounded hollow in her own mind. “Gavin’s worked up a plan. We should have the rest of the clans here by morning. We’ll have more people to help us in the fight.”