The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (51 page)

Wisp rode over by her and squeezed Jala’s arm
lightly. “You did much better this time, nice trick with the
platform.”

Jala looked past her to where Valor sat
silently with one hand resting on his sister’s corpse and a look of
silent rage on his face. “Not good enough, I had planned to rescue
both of them,” Jala said quietly. She looked away from the knight
and back out the gate, her eyes searching the crowds once more.
Where are you
? she asked, sending the words to both Jail and
Marrow.

Looking for Kellis. Close the gates I’ll
contact Sovann when I’m ready to rejoin you
, Jail responded,
his voice sounding distracted.

Right behind Finn, wondering why in the
bloody hell you aren’t sealing the gates before the angry mob looks
this way
, Marrow responded.

Jala turned to study the ground behind Finn
and frowned in confusion. She saw no signs of her Familiar
anywhere. Turning her head she searched the nearby alleys and
streets frantically.

Remember this moment the next time you say
the Blight hides better than me
, Marrow said smugly as he
dropped his camouflage and his form became visible near the stones
of the wall. He had blended so perfectly with the stones she had
looked right over him.

“Let’s seal the gates Neph. I contacted Jail
and he says he will let Sovann know when he is ready to come back.
He is hunting at the moment,” Jala said quietly. Dismounting from
her horse she moved up to stand beside Neph and blended her magic
with his for the casting. At their command stone began to form in
the opening archway of the massive gate. Neph guided the magic
building layer after layer, until the opening was fully sealed.

“A mage can dispel it, if they can manage to
find a mage stronger than the two of us together. I don’t think
they will have much luck with that while the Barrier is up.
Nonetheless …” Neph’s voice trailed off as he raised a hand toward
the stone and glyphs began to appear in the smooth sides. “We will
leave a few traps and a few alarms. If anyone does try to breach
it, I will know.”

“Now all we have to do is worry about them
climbing the damn wall,” Finn grumbled, his eyes roving the massive
walls that lined the district.

“I put wards up on them that should make that
a rather difficult job,” Sovann said from near Wisp. Jala looked
over at the mage in surprise and blinked stupidly. She hadn’t even
noticed him approach and he was barely five feet away from her.

No wonder you couldn’t spot me
, Marrow
said with a snicker.

“Will the alarms be enough or should we post
guards as well?” Jala asked, looking around to all of her
companions for opinions.

“Leave it at just alarms for now. I don’t
know that we have any outside this circle that I would trust to
guard me,” Finn answered and the others nodded their agreement.
“For now, let’s get back to the house and make arrangements for
getting Wisp and Valor out of here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Valor said firmly,
his voice cold and firm.

Finn turned and regarded his friend with a
frown. “Val, you have to,” he insisted.

“Let’s get back home before we argue about
this. No need to let prying ears overhear how much we all fight
with each other,” Neph suggested and turned his horse toward the
stable.

“I agree with Neph on this. Let’s get to
safety and we can discuss things,” Jala said with a nod and
remounted her gelding. She motioned to Finn to join her on the
horse.

“We aren’t done with this,” he said to Valor
and climbed into the saddle behind her.

“I’m not leaving until I see them dead,”
Valor replied grimly.

None of them needed to ask who. It was
obvious by the grief written on the knight’s face that he meant
those that had murdered his sister. Jala lowered her head as they
rode back to the stable and wondered if Finn could have done the
job better alone. Her method had cost so many lives. The images of
tangled, bloody bodies filled her mind and she let out a long sigh.
It was good that she was used to nightmares. She had no doubts that
her actions from today would haunt her dreams tonight.

Fionahold

Symphony watched the preparations around her
with a heavy heart. The courtyard of the Fionahold was filled with
warriors. With every barked command from Lutheron, her dream of a
bloodless victory grew fainter. Of course with Sanctuary under the
Barrier there was no hope of calling a vote. Even if she could have
called for one, though, three of the High Lords she was depending
on were unable to leave their lands.

The last word they had received from Glis and
Arovan had described a living nightmare, and now Faydwar was
infested with the Blights as well. It wouldn’t be long before they
moved into the Firym lands, and still they had no way of knowing
how to stop the creatures.

Shade’s attack on Eldagar had been the only
true victory they had to speak of, and that was not a victory they
could repeat. It had only worked because the creatures were
infesting a city. On open ground such an attack would be
pointless.

“What’s wrong?” Remedy asked her quietly. She
turned to look back at him and smiled faintly. It was nice to hear
him actually talking. Lutheron had brought him back days ago, but
this was one of the few times she could remember him actually
speaking to her since his return. She wasn’t sure if she had done
something wrong, or if it was from his capture, but he certainly
wasn’t behaving normal.

“I feel like I’m watching the end of
everything,” she said sadly, turning her gaze back to the warriors
in the courtyard. Lutheron was working on dividing them into strike
forces now, and the courtyard had been broken into four groups. She
didn’t know any details of the plan other than they were going to
retake the city of Sanctuary. Lutheron said they had a contact in
the city helping, but he wouldn’t say who, or how they were
helping. Such things were becoming far too common in the Fionaveir.
It was as if no one trusted anyone anymore. First, it had been
Shade and Charm refusing to share their plan, and now Lutheron was
doing the same.

“They are retaking the city. It has to be
done, Sym,” Remedy said and moved to stand beside her. “We have
allies that are trapped in there as well as the children of our
allies out here. We can’t just leave them to rot.”

“It will be the first battle in the war I
have been trying to avoid,” Symphony replied. She watched Vaze move
forward from the crowd to stand by Lutheron. He stood taller than
Lutheron and had a deadly reputation as a fighter. Yet he still
treated Lutheron with utmost respect, despite the fact that he was
a council member himself. Vaze leaned over to whisper in Lutheron’s
ear and she wondered if even he knew the plan. Lutheron had named
Vaze one of the strike leaders so surely he must. She watched
Lutheron nod in response and then return to his task of dividing
the forces.

No one asked her opinion on anything. They
hadn’t even consulted her about retaking the city. All of them
claimed it was to secure her power so she could lead, but she was
beginning to wonder. If they didn’t consult her now, how would they
treat her later? Would she simply be a figurehead to them?

“There is no other option but war now,
Symphony. They took that choice away when they captured the city,”
Remedy said with a sadness in his voice that echoed her own. “With
the Blights only hitting our side though, I don’t see how we can
win. We are already so weak before it has even begun,” he added
with a sigh.

“That’s why I say the end of everything. We
will fight and we will lose. I see no other way. We are drastically
low on power right now and we have to focus on the Blights rather
than the enemies we need to be watching,” Symphony whispered so
only he would hear. It wouldn’t do for those getting ready to fight
in her name to hear her speaking this way.

“You don’t know that yet. Our enemy doesn’t
have the unity that we do. There is a slim chance that they will
turn on each other before this is over,” Remedy offered, though he
didn’t hold much hope in his voice.

She shook her head slightly and sighed again.
“They will tear each other apart over our corpses, but not before
then. They are too close to victory now and they know it. In
another three months our contracts of peace with the mercenaries
end, and I don’t think either Kithvaryn or Graves will renew them
with so much profit to be made by killing us instead.”

“Things could change. Do not give up before
we have begun,” Remedy urged and draped an arm across her
shoulders.

She looked up at him gratefully and smiled.
It was the most contact he had offered in days. Leaning her head
against his shoulder, she inhaled deeply and nodded. “I’m sorry, I
should have more faith. I know how good the warriors before me are
and I should offer them the respect they deserve, not condemn them
to failure. Not all our allies are out of the game yet either. We
still have Oblivion, Firym, and Merrodin.” The last she added with
a heavy heart. They had planned on a vote from Jala and nothing
more. The girl had no resources or power beyond a voice at the
council. If it came to war, Symphony knew Merrodin would be a
casualty.

“I don’t think any of them heard you speaking
of failure and I swear to not repeat it to them,” Remedy said
quietly, his voice going oddly soft at the last.

Symphony squeezed his hand and smiled up at
him. “I know you won’t, Remmy. I never worry about talking to you.
I know you hold my secrets and keep them safe,” she assured him and
went back to watching Lutheron.

A cold feeling was settling in her stomach as
the preparations grew closer to an end. It took her a moment to
identify the emotion as dread. It wasn’t something she was used to
feeling. With war looming though, she knew it would be a constant
companion from now on. Without thinking, she squeezed Remmy’s hand
again. Between his friendship and Faramir’s advice, it might be
enough to keep her sanity intact through the trials ahead.

* * *

Shade watched Remedy quietly and smiled as he
noticed him in conversation with Symphony. He had been too quiet
since his return to Fionahold and Shade took it as a very good sign
to see him talking now. Turning his attention back to the crowd
around him he studied the tall man near Lutheron. He couldn’t quite
place the man’s Bloodline, but he was Elder Blood.

He remembered seeing the man at the council
meeting he had attended. He had been dressed as a noble then. Now
he stood in polished black armor that seemed sculpted onto his wiry
frame. There didn’t even seem to be seams to the armor. It looked
as though someone had coated the man in molten metal and smoothed
it over his flesh.

By just clothing standards they seemed two
different people. The man at the council had seemed slight and
refined rather than wiry and intimidating. The hair and eyes were
unmistakable though, and he had no doubt that this was the same man
from the meeting in the darkened room. No one else he knew had hair
that color of grey. It wasn’t the salt and pepper that came with
age but rather a solid color like polished steel. His eyes were
what held Shade’s attention, though. He had thought they were black
at first, but when the light had struck them he had realized they
were dark purple. The color reminded him of Jala’s, though hers
were a lighter shade, closer to violet than purple.

His attention moved past the man’s features
to the leather harness that crossed his chest. Several daggers hung
from it across his chest and four swords were attached in the back.
He could see two ornate sword hilts pointing up above his shoulders
and two that hung upside down with the hilts just barely visible
near his hips. He wore a standard sword belt as well with two more
swords hanging from it. It seemed beyond excessive to Shade and he
couldn’t fathom why the man needed to carry six swords as well as,
only the Aspects knew, how many daggers.

“Hey, Charm,” he said softly. The rogue was
lounging nearby, leaning against a wall with a sprig of dry grass
dangling from his mouth. He raised an eyebrow in question at
Shade’s voice and turned to regard him with pale grey eyes. Shade
grinned at the relaxed posture. It was rather nice to see Charm
when he wasn’t screaming in anger or terror. “Can you tell me why
that guy looks like a living weapon tree?” he asked, motioning
discreetly toward the man.

“That’s Vaze,” Charm replied around the grass
stem as if that explained everything. He started to look away but
Shade waved a hand to hold his attention.

“That doesn’t explain it to me, Charm. I’m
new here, remember. I don’t know who Vaze is,” Shade said with a
shrug.

“That is Lutheron’s protégé. He carries all
of those weapons because he fights with all of those weapons. It is
truly a spectacle to behold, but then you will get a chance to see
him in action. We are in his strike force,” Charm explained and
started to turn away again. “He is also Jala’s Uncle from what I
understand from the quiet whispers,” he added, almost as an
afterthought.

Shade gaped at him, then glanced back toward
the warrior. “Does Jala know? I think she believes all her family
is dead.” He spoke softly, not wanting anyone else to overhear
them.

“They might as well be. Vaze has been here at
least three hundred years and considers his only family to be the
Fionaveir,” Charm replied with a shrug. He hadn’t bothered to keep
his voice low and Shade glanced back to Vaze and Lutheron again to
make sure they hadn’t overheard. It wasn’t that the topic was a bad
one. He simply didn’t think they would consider it any of his
business.

His attention was pulled away at the sound of
commotion on the opposite side of the courtyard. Several men were
breaking up a fight, from what he could tell. From what he could
see, the combatants were a slender Firym and a much larger blond
man that was Delvay by the look of him. The Firym was dressed
simply in the typical vest of his people and a pair of leather
pants. He had no swords on, that Shade could see, but still he
fought against those that held him to rush back in at the larger,
armored foe. With a quick look at the Delvay man who had to be near
six foot eight and towered over those that were attempting to
restrain him, Shade decided it wasn’t a fight he would have picked.
The Delvay was armored in thick leathers and heavy chain and had an
axe across his back that looked big enough to split a dragon’s
skull. The blond man wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth and
spat in the Firym’s direction.