Tears of War (65 page)

Kalila hung back from the battle that raged just beyond the cover she’d taken. The Defenders assigned to her stood their ground, prepared to die for the queen they’d sworn fealty too.

Looking over the blood soaked battlefield, she wasn’t sure they wouldn’t be called on to do just that. She glanced nervously at the sky through the branches over her head. If Sadira or Ranit caught sight of her…

The battle filled a massive area outside the Mallay gate. The smaller villages clustered near the city had been swallowed by it. Smoke billowed thick in the air as the villages burned to the ground. The Mallay itself was fully engulfed, the embers flying on the air and setting more fires. Her eyes burned and she held a cloth pressed to her nose and mouth. The stench of burned flesh choked the air as the Shadows carelessly burned enemy and ally alike.

The Guardians had ceased shooting flames at the boiling battleground, unwilling to burn their allies.

A strangled roar drew her eyes to the sky. In horror, she watched one of the larger Shadow Dragons rip out the throat of a blue dragon and drop the lifeless body onto the combatants below. Kalila’s heart stopped. A scream rang out over the battle rising above the din of the melee as Tania, the blue’s rider, threw herself recklessly at her opponents in an attempt to reach her dead dragon.

The heavy swung sword of a Kojen cut the dragonless rider down. Tears rolled down Kalila’s cheeks as blood sprayed through the air. Tania fell to the ground, her body trampled under the feet of soldiers from both sides as her sightless eyes stared at the sky.

Belan led the men of the Mallay in the only direction he could take them, straight through the middle. The men who followed him fought and died all in the hope of freedom from the Mallay and the Shadow Dragons. Many of the men were well acquainted with the quarterstaff and held their own fairly well. Only a handful of the men who had attempted to use swords were left.

As they cut a path through the battlefield, Belan prayed to the Fates they would meet no Kojen. The Fates weren’t listening. Belan took the throat of a Turindar soldier with his sword and turned to find a large group of Kojen wading through human enemies in their direction.

This would be the end, none of the men, not even himself, were trained to deal with this. He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. They would at least go down fighting. With a roar to the men behind him, he charged forward. They didn’t hesitate to follow him.

When they were almost within closing range when long, low-slung creatures that looked like wingless dragons swarmed over the Kojen, ripping the beasts to shreds. In seconds all that was left of the Kojen were dismembered scraps.

Belan had only a moment to stare stupidly at the blood soaked ground where the Kojen had been before the battle reclaimed his attention. He had to get what remained of the Mallay men out of this mess. The dragon-like creatures moved with them, keeping pace and helping to make a path. Whatever kind of dragon they were, Belan was glad they were here.

Kirynn carved through Kojen and human, taking both down without hesitation. She kept her mind closed to the sounds and smells of the battlefield. She welcomed each Kojen that dared approach her and felt nothing for humans that fell to her blade.

There would be no easy end to this battle. No fire weave that could save them. Too many friends were mixed with enemies. She fought with every expectation of death; this was not going to end well. Not that it mattered, if one had to die, this was the way to go.

A part of her mind remained locked with Syrakynn, if the dragon died, Kirynn would make sure she was only a step behind.

Vaddoc beat back Kojen with one sword while his other arm pushed a group of three children from one of the villages back a few steps. Their screams of terror blended with the noise of battle. He didn’t have time to comfort them. Vaddoc wove a heavy shield of light, altering it so Nydara and Paki would be able to get through it, and glanced back to make sure of the children’s position before throwing it up around them.

Nydara or Paki would grab the children as soon as they could. They’d already plucked quite a few women and children from the protective shields he’d put around them. Where the dragons took them Vaddoc didn’t know, somewhere safer than here he was sure.

He cut through another Kojen, the heat from the burning houses at his back. More children and their mothers fled in every direction. Vaddoc cursed under his breath and ran after a woman clutching a toddler and dragging a small child by the hand.

The woman screamed and stumbled as a Turindari soldier swung a sword at her head. Vaddoc deflected the blow, using his second sword to take one of the man’s legs off. He took only seconds to ensure the man wouldn’t rise again before throwing a shield around the woman and her two children.

Shouts pulled his attention and he turned to see several men from the burning village armed with pitchforks, scythes, and whatever else they could grab defending a larger group of women and children from Turindari soldiers.

Even as Vaddoc moved to help them, several of the village men went down on swords and pikes. One woman went wild as a soldier broke through. She grabbed a large pot and smashed the soldier in the face. He yelled curses as the clay pot broke on his face and helmet, and hot water scalded his skin. His yells didn’t seem to faze the woman; she snatched up a heavy rake and began to beat the man with it as she screamed curses back at him.

Another woman, emboldened by the actions of the first, grabbed a cooking knife and ran toward the downed soldier.

Vaddoc left the women to their battle and joined the village men, fighting alongside them. Little by little the line was strengthened as women joined them with whatever they could find that would serve as weapons.

Emallya fought against the Kojen. How many times had she seen battles like this? How many years during the War of Fire had her nose been filled with the stench of blood and death as the noise of combat raged around her?

A Kojen rose up against her and she took it down, ignoring the blood that splattered across the ground as it fell. A Hanoverian soldier yelled something she couldn’t make out as he attacked her wildly. In two swift moves she took his life.

Mernoth and Bardeck fought a few yards from her, the bond telling her they both had sustained minor injuries. She slowly began to shift position, working her way toward them.

Emallya felt it the second the sword plunged deep into Bardeck’s chest. Pain ripped through her and she faltered. Mernoth roared his grief and rage, the sound filling the sky. A hole tore open in her soul; it felt much like when she’d lost Rylin. Her swords dropped from numb hands. Heedless of the battle around her and the weapons raised against her, Emallya tried to run to her bondmate and the fading Mernoth.

Agony exploded through her as a sword slammed across her back. She landed face first in the field, muddied by the blood soaking the ground. Her head swimming, she looked for Mernoth. His great dark eyes were closed as the last of the golden color washed from his scales.

Maleena stood at the edge of a dense copse of trees, well back from the seething mass of bodies engaged in battle. One hand laid protectively over her belly as she concentrated on the battle. She’d promised to stay out of the fighting, but that didn’t stop her from participating. Her magic pulsed like a raging river inside her as she targeted groups of Kojen through eyes burning from the smoke, taking them out with weaves that burst every vessel in their heads.

She coughed several times and squinted at a group of close to fifty Hanoverian soldiers as they came near. Maleena wove a different weave this time and watched as they dropped their swords, their faces going slack as they fell to the ground, their soul shields crushed.

It wasn’t nearly enough. At least a thousand Kojen ripped through the human armies. Though the combination of forces fighting for Galdrilene outnumbered their counterparts, the Kojen mental attack devastated their ranks. Without the dragon bond or Border Guard training to protect most of them, it was no contest.

Nydara and Paki flew back and forth over the expansive battlefield, diving down and pulling as many children and women as they could from danger. The Mallay had been cleared, but the battle spilled well beyond the walls of the city and surged through the small villages near the wall.

Above, Shadow Dragons and Guardians fought a vicious war and on the ground magic weaves flew back and forth between the mages from both sides.

Mernoth’s grief filled roar tore across the smoke filled sky. Maleena turned to see Bardeck fall. Emallya tried to run to him and was struck down.

Oh Fates, no! Maleena surged forward only to be stopped by Amara. The Nagi refused to let her move forward. Amara had promised to guard Maleena and keep her away from the battle. Her heart broke as tears poured down her face. All she could do was protect Emallya from a distance and hope the woman lived.