The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (56 page)

“They called you back from Glis for this?”
Shade asked a bit incredulous. While capturing the city was
important, the reports from Glis suggested they couldn’t spare
anyone from the fighting.

Lex shook his head and the light in his gold
eyes seemed to dim a bit as his expression grew somber. “No, I’m
uh, I’m here for reassignment. Everyone else in my squad is dead. I
was the last one. So I’m back here until Lutheron can assign me to
another battle squad. We were with Sebastian’s forces near the
Arovan border awaiting re-supply.” Lex rubbed his face and leaned
back against the wall beside Shade.

“Sebastian Blackwolf is dead?” Shade asked
quietly. He had heard about Chastity Blackwolf’s death earlier in
the week. Apparently Jala had started a riot over Chastity’s
arrest. Their child was apparently missing as well. So if Sebastian
was dead it meant Glis no longer had an heir. If High Lord Nicoli
fell in combat Glis was as good as done. Without a high lord, Glis
would be another neutral territory like Merro had been or the
Greenwild still was. If there was anyone left alive there, when it
was all said and done, of course.

“The last I saw of him he was slumped over
his saddle with an arrow in his back. I was trying to get Leah to
safety at the time so I wasn’t close enough to see if he still
lived,” Lex replied, his voice faint and subdued. He glanced over
at Shade and flicked a finger toward the cigarette that was burning
forgotten in his hand. “Have you got another one of those? I
haven’t had decent tobacco in weeks.”

Shade nodded silently and handed his friend
the cigarette case. The news about Leah’s death was a shock to him.
She hadn’t even been Fionaveir and he hadn’t realized she had been
involved in the fighting. He knew now wasn’t the time to push the
topic with Lex though. Lex had been very close with his twin
sister. As well as his friend seemed to be handling it, the wound
was still too fresh for conversation. “An arrow in his back, eh,”
he said finally to steer the conversation further from Leah.

Lex nodded slowly and took a long drag from
the freshly lit cigarette, seeming to savor the smoke. “First time
I’ve ever seen an arrow in a Blight ambush. Funny, I haven’t heard
any other reports of them being used either. From all I’ve seen the
Blights don’t use weapons other than the ones they are born with.
I’ve seen one or two of the smarter ones use magic, but never
weapons.”

“Can’t say that I’ve ever seen them use
anything made by us. They travel naked and seem to shun anything
manmade,” Shade said in agreement. “That makes three of our allies
hit this week, Adana Firym, RenDelvayon, and now Sebastian. If I
were Nicoli Blackwolf, I would be checking all of the shadows
before I slept at night.”

Lex chuckled darkly. “Would take a braver man
than me to tackle Nicoli Blackwolf. Have you ever actually met the
man?”

Shade shook his head slowly. “I knew
Sebastian a bit. He seemed nice enough, though he had no love for
me. My last name of Morcaillo kind of branded me from certain
social circles.”

“Sebastian was nothing like his father,” Lex
said firmly. “Sebastian was touched by the wolf. Nicoli is like a
wolf in a man’s body. When he moves it’s like he is prowling and
when he watches you, you feel like prey. He is refined and dresses
nobly. Hell, he even wears plate mail in battle, but still there is
something about him that is positively feral.”

More forms had filled their area of the
courtyard and they both grew silent as Vaze approached. Moonlight
glimmered off the man’s black armor as he moved.

“What exactly is that he is wearing?” Shade
asked quietly. He had wondered about the armor since the first time
he had seen it. He had never seen anything like it, not even in the
Arcanetech classes at the Academy.

“Shadowsteel,” Lex answered in a hushed
voice, his eyes on Vaze. “He is the last of the Lords of Shadow,
though he is a bastard of the line. I think that is the only set of
Shadowsteel armor left on Sanctuary,” Turning to Shade he motioned
toward their commander. “Have you seen him fight yet?”

Shade shook his head slowly. “Charm said I
should watch him. Though I must say I’ve been to the Spring Games
enough to believe one sword slinger is the same as the next.”

Lex snorted in amusement and shook his head.
“Not true,” he said simply and turned back to watch Vaze as the man
moved among them inspecting armor and weapons. He barely paused as
he passed by the two of them, simply nodding approval at their
gear.

“I’ve never even heard of the Lords of
Shadow,” Shade admitted, once Vaze was well past them.

“You won’t either. They were omitted from the
history books after they fell. No one talks about them. As far as I
know they had no allies at all in Sanctuary,” Lex explained.

“Because they were absolute bastards,” Charm
said conversationally as he dropped down from the wall to land
beside the two of them. The rogue was dressed in mottled grey silk
and even his blond hair was covered tonight.

“Goswin wasn’t too sweet either and they are
still in the history books,” Shade pointed out.

Charm shook his head lightly and sighed.
“It’s a prison, Shade. Everyone here is a bastard in one shape or
form. There are no good guys in Sanctuary. The Veyetta were
frightening enough though that even the Morcaillo steered clear of
them.”

“Veyetta?” Shade asked, unsure if it was the
house name or the races.

“House Veyetta. Our noble commander is Vaze
Veyetta, though he doesn’t use the surname. He was born three days
before his House fell. His mother died in childbirth and Lutheron
stole him just before the city fell. So, by rights he is the last
Lord of Shadows even though he is bastard born. Only a few
Fionaveir actually know where he is from, though. He is wise enough
to keep his origins secret. As I’m sure you will be doing in the
future as well,” Charm explained.

“If everyone steered clear of them, how did
they fall?” Shade asked.

“We will be going in secretly. The Justicars
outnumber our full attack force four to one,” Vaze said loudly.
Shade watched the man, wondering if he had overheard the
conversation and had chosen that moment to speak to end it. “There
will be four staging points. Our goal is to secure the inner city.
Lutheron has ordered no quarter in this fight. If they raise sword
or spell against you, kill them. They will not show us mercy, so we
will show them none. Some of you have separate assignments. If you
see one of your brothers or sisters depart silently do not draw
attention to them. If you have not been given a special task, then
your only duty is to fight. We leave in five minutes, be ready.”
Vaze nodded to them as he finished speaking and moved away from his
group to confer with the other strike leaders.

“I would be one of those ‘leaving silently’
individuals, so please ignore me once we arrive in the city,” Charm
said with a smile to both of them.

Shade nodded quickly. his eyes on Vaze’s
retreating back. “I guessed that. He is gone now, so answer my
question. Who killed them off?” he asked quickly and motioned for
Charm to speak.

Charm snorted in amusement and shook his
head. “Such a child,” he said in amusement as he studied Shade’s
impatient expression. “The Stormlord finished them off.”

“Arovan? But they never attack anyone,” Shade
objected. thinking Charm was joking.

Charm shook his head again and laughed
softly. “Never taunt a Firym, never anger a Delvay, never cheat an
Avanti, and never underestimate an Arovan,” he said in a tone that
suggested he was repeating a well-worn mantra.

“What’s the one for Morcaillo?” Shade asked
curiously.

“Never taunt, anger, cheat, or underestimate
a Morcaillo,” Charm replied, with a smirk, earning a frown from
Shade.

“I believe the coined one is ‘Never trust a
Morcaillo’,” Lex corrected quietly. “I judge by the individual,
however,” he added with a smile to Shade.

“All of the houses have one of those?” Shade
asked, amazed that he had never heard them before.

“It’s a Fionaveir thing, and yes they all
have them. You will hear them all before long I’m sure,” Lex said
and then stood from the wall as Vaze returned. “Should be a damn
good fight. I’ll finally get to see your sword skill at something
other than sparring,” he said with a grin and clapped Shade on the
shoulder.

“Should be,” Shade agreed quietly, wishing he
had the enthusiasm for the coming fight that Lex was showing.
Unlike everyone else here, he knew their enemies too well. For his
entire childhood he had dined with them, played with their
children, and then dealt with them as a Lord himself when he ruled
the Morcaillo district of the city. The battle lines had been drawn
evenly between the houses with the exception of Delvay and Seravae
who were yet to commit fully to either faction. With the way
everything was split, Shade was on the opposite side of everyone he
knew.

“We go now!” Vaze called loudly and magic
washed over Shade as the translocation spell took effect. The
courtyard faded to darkness to be replaced with the whistling of
arrows and screams of his comrades.

Still reeling from the magic, it took Shade a
long moment to realize what was going on. A hand shoved him roughly
to the side and he stared in surprise at Lex who was deflecting
arrows with his sword. “Fight, Shade, they were waiting for us!”
Lex yelled.

Shade blinked once in response and quickly
drew his swords. It took him a moment to get his bearings. They
were south of the market near the Greenwild gate. Archers lined the
walls and rooftops on three sides and a battalion of Justicars
filled the street beyond. Two of the roads had been barricaded
hastily with wagons, forming a neat box to trap them.

“Fight!” Vaze bellowed to those still too
stunned to move. Darkness welled around the commander’s head,
forming a helm that solidified like his armor. He drew his blades
from his hips and charged toward the waiting Justicars. As he ran
the shadows around him blurred again forming twin echoes of his
body. Shade watched in fascination as shadowy arms drew the swords
from his back. It was like looking at three of the same man
standing in the same spot. At times there seemed to be just one
body and then Vaze would move quickly to strike and the mirror
images of himself would twist in a different directions. Six swords
danced from the same body and the Justicars reeled back from the
assault.

“Shade! Fight!” Lex yelled again and Shade
shook his head quickly, embarrassed by his own lack of action.
Arrows still rained down on them with deadly precision and it
seemed as though the majority of the Fionaveir were centering on
the wall of armored enemies.

Putting his swords away quickly Shade stepped
back against a wall and called on his changeling abilities. It was
clear where he would be the most use to his comrades. He searched
the nearby walls for a quick way to his enemies as his body shifted
over to that of a Blight. With the Blight camouflage up he climbed
quickly and closed on the first archer. It wasn’t an honorable way
to kill, but then neither was shooting them like fish in a
barrel.

An explosion sounded as he reached the top of
the wall and a wave of fire rose high above the city near the
Academy. Not just us that was ambushed then, Shade reasoned as he
recognized the work of a Firym. That was pure fire that had risen,
not Hellfire such as the Rivasan used. Likely it had been Havoc
removing the archers from his area in a less subtle fashion.

Turning back to the Archers before him Shade
drew a dagger from his belt. As he drew the blade across the man’s
throat, Hemlock’s offer to train him rang in his mind. This wasn’t
Assassin’s work he told himself firmly. This was necessary no
matter how wrong it felt. There were Fionaveir dying below from the
arrows these men were shooting, and more would die if he tried
killing them honorably with swords.

He moved to the next Archer quickly before
they had a chance to realize someone was killing them off. The man
glanced over his shoulder as Shade approached and with a moment of
disgust he realized he knew the man. He was from house Avanti and
Shade had drunk with him a time or two. Swallowing his growing
revulsion Shade drew the dagger quickly across the man’s throat
before he could call out.

Another explosion split the night as the gate
of the Merro district exploded, sending shards of rock and dust
high into the air. Shade paused in his grisly work long enough to
watch riders emerge from the cloud, running hard for the center of
the city. The dark wine colored hair of the lead rider was
unmistakable and Shade had to fight back the urge to call out to
Jala as she rode past.

“Fight on, push them now!” Vaze bellowed as
the battle below him thickened. The Fionaveir were hard pressed and
out-numbered and couldn’t afford any distractions. Pushing thoughts
of Jala away, Shade turned his attentions back to his own work.
With luck, he would get a chance to speak with her after the city
was won.

A scream sounded below and Shade glanced down
long enough to see yet another Fionaveir fall to a Justicars blade.
If they won, he amended and prayed that Lex was still among the
fighters rather than one of the corpses. He didn’t have many
friends left and the thought of losing another made his task a
little more bearable.

Sanctuary

Flames from the burning buildings lit the
streets in a hellish glow. Jala gingerly stepped over a
blood-covered corpse, her eyes scanning the empty streets for
anything living. They seemed to be the only thing still moving in
this part of town, however.

Ahead of her Marrow paused to sniff the air
and then continued apparently satisfied. His muzzle and sides were
stained red with blood. That, combined with the firelight glinting
on his gold eyes, made him seem a creature straight from
nightmares.