The Battle Lord Saga 02 - Her Battle Lord's Desire (32 page)

yelled. Both Yulen and Atty raced over to where the man stood, showing them where he’d last

seen the creature.

Atty nodded. “I see him!”, and she looked down the arrow. A moment’s hesitation, and

she lowered her arm. “I can’t get him from here!” she cried out to her husband. “The trees are

blocking my shot!”

“He can’t get away, Atty!” Yulen started toward the ladder when she grabbed him by the

sleeve of his tunic and refused to let go. Both of them were thoroughly drenched and shivering,

with water sluicing over their faces. It was only because of the shielded lanterns still lit

throughout the compound that they were able to see each other at all.

“Where are you going?” she tried to shout above the pounding rain.

“Getting a horse and going after him!”

“No! They may be out there waiting!”

Her eyes beseeched him to reconsider. Yulen was faced with a monumental decision. “If

I don’t go, it could mean the end of Wallis!”

“Then
I’ll
get the bastard!” she screamed, and returned to where the sentry had kept sight

of the target.

The first arrow she’d launched at the Blood had done enough damage to slow the creature

down considerably. But now, after leaving the protection of the first growth of trees, the Blood’s

horse was taking off at a gallop into the open field beyond. The creature was barely managing to

keep his perch on top of the animal. Atty saw this as her only other opportunity to stop it.

Aerial flight was tricky. In the blinding rainstorm, it was impossible. Yet, neither would

deter her. Behind her she could hear Yulen’s affirmation of his belief in her, and it made her all

the more determined.

Raising the longbow to where it faced the low-hanging clouds, Atty pulled as far back on

the string as the weapon would allow. Her muscles ached from the strain, and for the first time in

her life her arms were shaking from the pressure. She aimed as true as her vision could guide her,

then let her instincts take over with their unerring accuracy. Beside her she could feel Yulen’s

warm presence like a calm, guiding force giving her the strength she desperately needed at that

moment.

She released the arrow, and every man watched as the burning shaft arched overhead,

over the trees, before it curved downward, picking up speed like a miniature fireball.

The arrow plowed its tip into the Blood’s back. Within the span of a dozen heartbeats,

the creature’s upper body was totally engulfed in flames. Seconds later, the conflagration had

spread to the horse’s back and was crawling over the rest of its torso as the animal screamed in

pain, but it continued running for the cover of the next line of trees, the still-burning body of its

dead rider slumped over its neck.

Every man watched in fascinated horror at the sight of the flaming horse before the

increasing storm and the cover of the forest finally swallowed it from view.

Yulen tightly held Atty as she trembled in his arms. He’d witnessed something he realized

no man would believe unless they had been there to see it for themselves. This time he knew

there had to have been more than just skill and ability behind Atty’s shot. There had to have been

a miracle. Holding her tighter, he whispered in her ear, “Let’s get out of this storm and get

warm.”

Nodding, Atty went down the ladder first and waited for him to join her so they could

return to their tent together.

“Hold it. This can’t wait.” Grabbing Atty’s arm, Yulen first retrieved his weapon then

directed her back toward the tree where his Seconds and their lieutenants were gathering to await

their next set of orders. As they approached the soldiers, thunder rumbled overhead, sending a

fresh deluge down upon them.

“We’ll meet at first light at the Council hall if it’s still like this,” Yulen yelled over the din.

“Mastin, make sure the compound is secured.”

“Already working on it, sir!”

“The rest of you, let the men know we’re heading back home at dawn.”

Even the lieutenants stared in surprise. Del Ray wiped his face with his hand, to no avail.

“May we ask why, sir?”

“I’ll explain when we meet,” Yulen told them, and dismissed them with a nod of his head.

As they began to disperse, he snagged Mastin by the sleeve and motioned for him to follow them.

Bedraggled but obedient, the Second bowed his head against the heavy rain as he followed the

couple back to the tent.

Ducking inside, he gazed in wonder as Yulen reached behind him to plant the sword back

into the doorway. Gratefully he dropped beside the brazier where Atty was stirring the coals,

replenishing the fire so she could add more bits of wood and build up the heat.

They all were dripping water from the storm that continued to rage outside the tent walls.

A large soft towel was dropped in his lap, and Mastin nodded his thanks. Presently Yulen sat

across from him. He’d doffed his tunic and was briskly drying off his head and upper body.

Unwittingly, Mastin’s eyes roamed over to the rear of the tent where he could see Atty

silhouetted against the sheer blue curtain separating them. She was also toweling off after

stripping down to the buff. A flush of heat rose to his face at the sight of her revealing outline,

the full breasts with their hard little nipples easily evident in the lamplight, and the Second quickly

averted his eyes.

There was a wide indentation in the pillows and blankets a few feet away, he also noticed.

They had been lying there when he’d summoned them. The realization made him blush even

redder.

“I wanted to go over a few things before tomorrow morning,” Yulen began as he combed

back his damp hair with his fingers.

“Speak louder! I can’t hear you over this rain!” Atty called from the back.

Chuckling, her husband answered, “Then we’ll wait for you!”

Mastin took his cue from the Battle Lord and divested himself of his tunic before wiping

himself down. Before he was finished, Atty joined them, having slipped on a cream-colored

gown. “Not fair,” Yulen told her.

Atty replied with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders as she began to unbraid her hair so it

would begin to dry. “If you want to go ahead and peel off your pants, feel free. Won’t bother me

none.”

“Not with company here,” he argued with a laugh.

“Suit yourself,” she smiled sweetly, teasingly.

“It’s all right, Madam,” Mastin began until he saw her warning look. “I mean Atty,” he

quickly amended. “Thank you for letting me share the fire. The men should have the temporary

shelters up by the time I leave here. And while I’m thinking about it, let me compliment you on

that incredible shot. I’m still in a state of disbelief, and I witnessed it!”

Atty graced him with a warm smile. “Thank you, but to be honest, I had a lot of luck with

me.”

“And that’s precisely why I asked you here,” Yulen slipped in. “We were damn lucky

tonight. I can already tell where we were the weakest. If that Blood had managed to return to his

ilk, we might have seen a return visit.”

“Do you think we managed to get all of them this time?” Mastin inquired.

“As far as I could tell, yes,” Atty answered. “Of course, with the rain and all, it’s hard to

be certain. Let’s just pray that the one that almost got away was the sole survivor.”

Mastin looked at the Battle Lord. “That thing knew your name.”

“Yes, and that alone spoke volumes to me,” Yulen admitted in a low voice. He threw the

towel around his neck and crossed his legs. He opened his mouth to say more when Atty

interrupted.

“Someone’s coming.”

That someone turned out to be MaGrath. “What the hell happened, Yulen? As if this

weather isn’t enough to cause a commotion, there are all kinds of rumors running rampant out

there! Half the compound is awake!”

Atty tossed him her towel as he crossed over to where they sat and found an empty space

to park. “We were attacked by Bloods,” she began.

“Bloods who knew me by name,” Yulen finished for her.

MaGrath gave him a wary eye. “They knew your name? Crap! Then that means they

know this isn’t your home compound!”

“Exactly.”

“And they know Alta Novis is presently without its Battle Lord.”

“Correct again,” Yulen replied tightly. “Which also means they know that at some point

we’re going to be leaving here to return to Alta Novis, which puts both Wallis and our troops in

grave danger while we’re on the road.”

“Not to mention Alta Novis,” Mastin added.

“We’ve been fools, thinking they were nothing more than deranged renegades and

nomads.” Yulen gave his wife a long stare. “Once again we’ve been mislead by others into

thinking of our enemies as non-intelligent beings incapable of rational thought.”

Atty reached over to touch his stubbled cheek. “It nearly cost us,” she softly said.

Mastin spoke out. “But Atty managed to stop the escapee from alerting the others.”

“Escapee? What escapee?” MaGrath laid the towel over his lap. “And what’s this I hear

about a miraculous shot?”

Yulen quickly explained, adding, “Which is why we need to start heading for home as

soon as possible. It won’t take them long to realize their surprise attack failed. What I can’t

figure out was why so few of them stormed the compound. Surely they saw the number of men

along the battlements. There were less than a couple dozen of them. The odds were stacked.”

Mastin snorted. “Sounds to me like a typical diversionary tactic.” He saw an eyebrow

raise on the Battle Lord’s face. So did Atty and MaGrath.

“Wallis isn’t their primary target,” Yulen gave voice to his thought process. “That force

we passed on our way here. They were amassing their numbers. There could well be a minimum

of a thousand Bloods out there by now, if not more. Winter’s coming, and they’re becoming

desperate to find enough provisions to supply them through the snows.”

“Where did they find enough supplies in the past?” MaGrath asked aloud. “Where do

these Bloods come from, anyway?”

“From the east,” Atty told him. “At least, that’s as much as we’ve been able to ascertain

from the signs we’ve come across in past years. Where they’ve stayed during the coldest months

is anyone’s guess, but it seems they’re migrating westward. Maybe even north to south. Who

knows?”

“Exactly. They’re coming across the compounds and finding them to either be easy

pickings, or too difficult a nut to crack. Mutah compounds aren’t as fortified as ours, so they’re

going to get hit more often.” Yulen wiped away a drop of water that managed to trickle down

the side of his face. “By the way, my love, next time you pin a potential prisoner, be sure their

hands are not within reach of you.”

Atty’s response was a rueful grin.

“But compounds maintained by Battle Lords are often bigger, and contain more materials

and goods and supplies and food,” Mastin pointed out. “Wouldn’t the risk be worth it to swarm

one of them?”

“Definitely. And that’s exactly the reason why we have to get back to Alta Novis as soon

as possible.”

MaGrath lifted his head as the Battle Lord’s unspoken words sunk in. “Oh, my God,” he

whispered. “All this time they’ve been deluding us into thinking one thing, when all the time

we’ve been playing right into their hands.”

“What do you mean?” Mastin looked over to see Atty laying a trembling hand on her

husband’s shoulder as she sought out his gaze. Yulen lifted his eyes to find her blue-gray ones

filled with fear.

“They deliberately drew us here to protect Wallis, leaving Alta Novis without me, or

Mastin, or my next two best men to protect them if they should attack. Because we were so sure

they wouldn’t go after the more fortified compound. I’ve been a fool, and I fell for their

trickery.” Taking a deep breath, Yulen said, “Their original target has always been one of the

major compounds. In our area, there’s only three; Alta Novis, Bearinger, and Foster City. Zane

has Foster City well guarded, which only leaves the other two. Verris has Bearinger up to my

specifications. What other compound is left?” Touching his wife’s cheek, the Battle Lord

continued. “They know you’re with me. They knew you were from here. That’s why they laid

siege to Wallis. That’s why they’ve continued to plague us with measly little hit-and-run attacks.

To keep us off-guard. To keep us focused here. They knew we’d come to defend Wallis. They

knew and planned to draw me away from Alta Novis so they could attack at its weakest moment.

Atty, that Blood wasn’t escaping to let the others know of our plans. He escaped to let them

know he’d made a mistake. He’d committed a critical error when he called me by name, because

he knew we’d be able to figure out their plan, and he needed to let them know we would put the

pieces of the puzzle together and finally guess what they would do.”

Mastin let out his breath in one slow four-letter-expletive sigh. “We
have
to get back to

Alta Novis before they do!”

“Yulen, can the compound withstand an all-out assault if we don’t make it in time?”

MaGrath asked. His fear for Madigan had intensified. To have finally won her after all these