The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (12 page)

The mists parted revealing hundreds of forms.
Most were ghostly and translucent, but some held the solid form as
Axis himself did. They moved forward quickly swarming around the
horse and all began speaking at once in a range of voices from
yells to harsh whispers.

“I hope you are really inventive with names,”
Valor whispered as he shifted again in the saddle.

“Me too,” Jala replied quietly. She had never
expected there to be so many. The sight both impressed and saddened
her. To have so many to help them breach Death’s city would be more
than she had possibly hoped for, but to know so many had been
utterly forgotten by everyone was incredibly depressing. “One at a
time please, I cannot understand you all at once.” She spoke loudly
as she carefully swung down from the horse. Valor dismounted
quickly as well and stood by her shoulder, keeping a close watch on
the dead surrounding them. She wasn’t sure what exactly he planned
to do against so many, but she knew if any of the Forgotten moved
against her, he would fight.

The dead grew silent and then all began
speaking at once again. With a sigh, Jala held up a hand for
silence and the air grew still once more. “You, tell me your story.
Not all of it, mind you. Tell me what you remember best about the
sunlit world,” she said as she pointed to the blond haired girl
with the cold blue eyes.

“I remember pain. I remember yelling. I
remember cold, hunger, and dark rooms,” the child hissed, her gaze
unwavering on Jala.

Bloody hell
Jala thought as the child
stared up at her with those hate filled eyes. There was no good
name for such memories so she chose the first one that came to mind
from the child’s words. “I name you Misery for your suffering in
the world above and thus I will remember you,” she promised and
hoped she would never have to remember another child in such a
fashion again. “You. Tell me what you remember best,” Jala said
motioning to a slender woman with dark hair and darker eyes. It was
going to be a very long night. Of that there was no question.

Merro

Sunlight filtered down through the clouds
granting feeble warmth to the day. Emily moved to sit on the edge
of the flat roof and watched the people below scurry about their
errands. The town itself had grown considerably in the short time
they had been here, but still there was so much to be done before
the snow fell. With a silent sigh Emily turned her gaze toward the
northern road, hoping, but not truly expecting to see Jala
returning. Sunlight flashed on the hillside and she froze, thinking
her eyes were playing tricks on her, showing her what she wished to
see. Valor’s armor flashed like that in sunlight. Leaning farther
over the edge she focused her vision, willing to see the flash of
light once more.

“Well this pair doesn’t work,” Sovann said
with a disgusted sigh behind her. There was the sound of him
sorting through his bag and more mumbling.

Emily ignored him and continued staring
hopefully toward the distant trees. Another flash came followed by
several more. Faint shapes were visible now, just coming down out
of the trees. Far too many to be Jala returning, her hopes sank
even as her curiosity grew. “Sovann,” she called quietly.

There was a heavy sigh behind her. “Well this
pair doesn’t work either apparently. Unless you are no longer on
the roof, that is.” Sovann grumbled followed by the sound of him
shuffling through his possessions once more.

“Sovann,” Emily called a bit louder, her eyes
still intent on the approaching soldiers. There were more visible
now and judging by the speed they were progressing they were
mounted, though they were still too far away to tell for sure.

“Well at least you are still here,” Sovann
said with a sigh. “Two more pairs to go and then it’s back to
drawing board for both of us.

Emily turned with a disgusted sigh to stare
at the mage as he pulled a pair of goggles on. The lenses were
shaded so dark she doubted he could see the sun if he stared right
at it. The lenses themselves were not the project however, the
runes carved into them were. Those combined with his magic and her
blood had been what they had spent countless days attempting to
perfect. “Sovann!” Emily snapped loudly, attempting once again to
get his attention. When he was focused on his work it was like
talking with a wall.

“Emily! They work!” Sovann crowed happily,
still oblivious to her attempts at gaining his attention. “I see
you perfectly. You are right on the ledge. Well not perfectly, per
say, but I do see you! Emily, why are you not wearing clothing?”
Sovann’s voice trailed off into puzzlement with the last but he was
still staring right at her.

“Sovann! If you can see me then look at what
I’m pointing to!” Emily snapped and whipped her arm in the
direction of the approaching soldiers that were close enough now to
tell that it was far more than a patrol.

“Actually I can’t see anything other than
you. I made the lenses dark enough that I wouldn’t be distracted by
others while attempting to see you. You didn’t answer my question
however. Where in the bloody hell are your clothes?” Sovann said,
his voice holding more distress than she thought was actually
called for over such a trivial thing as clothing.

“Jail said I should be comfortable and I am,
but Sovann take off the damned glasses and look at the northern
road,” Emily said in exasperation as she turned back to scan the
town for Neph. By the calm mood on the streets no one else had
noticed the approach yet.

“Soldiers.” Sovann said in a stunned voice as
he moved to stand behind her. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?
Neph must be warned, go find him quick.”

“And Jail wonders why I wanted to knock you
in the back of the head,” Emily grumbled as she stood and dropped
down from the ledge of the roof. There were only a couple of places
Neph was likely to be at this time of day. Without so much as a
glance behind her, she sprinted toward the closest of them.

“I said, raise the god damned timber, not
drop it on my fucking head,” Neph snarled ahead of her and she felt
herself break into a smile. While his constant snarling did make
her want to knock him in the head as well, it did make him easy to
find. She slowed as she rounded the corner and paused long enough
for Neph to secure the beam of the house into place with his magic
before moving up behind him.

“Neph,” Emily whispered, trying to get his
attention without alarming the men working with him on the
construction.

“I’m busy, find Jail,” Neph grumbled
quietly.

“Jail is with Wisp in the fields while she
restores the land. This requires you, anyway,” Emily replied in a
slightly louder voice and jabbed him in the back with a talon to
emphasize her point.

“Everyone take a break, there is something I
must attend to,” Neph said loudly to his work crew. “Like breaking
your damned finger. Now what is more important than this?” he added
in a much softer voice as he turned away from his men.

“There are soldiers approaching from the
north. I have no idea whose they are but there are a lot of them,”
Emily explained quietly.

Neph’s expression changed at once. With a
muffled curse he dropped the blueprints he had been holding onto a
stack of wooden beams and moved off quickly toward the northern
side of town. “How many would you estimate?” he asked quietly.

“Well over a hundred, all mounted,” Emily
replied without hesitation. Normally the fact that he knew she was
still around would have annoyed her into sullen silence, but
somehow it didn’t bother her at the moment. Perhaps it was simply
her preoccupation with the soldiers approaching, or maybe Jail was
right and she was getting used to Neph’s personality.

“Did you see any banners?” Neph asked, his
strides lengthening as they grew closer to the northern road.

A small crowd was gathering at that end of
town. The soldiers were close enough now that the sound of hoof
beats and clanking armor echoed through the streets.

“By the size of the dust cloud, I’d say we
are looking at close to three hundred, if they were riding two
abreast? Were they?” Neph said, a bit distracted as he shook his
head at the gathering people. “Idiots, if it’s a hostile force they
have lined themselves up for the slaughter.”

“I didn’t see any banners. They weren’t
wearing red and gold like the Avanti. They wore silver armor and
yes, they were riding in two ranks,” Emily answered quickly before
they reached the onlookers. Once they were among the people she
would have to fall silent again. After seeing Devony’s fear at her
disembodied voice she didn’t care to think how the average citizen
might react. Devony was Elder Blood and should have been used to
the unusual simply from the amount of magic she had been subjected
to in her life. The majority of Merro’s common folk had witnessed
very little magic and had a plentitude of horror stories about the
Blight infestation that would guarantee her a painful death if they
found out about her.

Neph pushed his way through the crowd and
came to a stop near the edge of town. “Bloody hell,” he whispered,
though she wasn’t sure if he was actually talking to her or
not.

“What? Are they hostile?” she asked,
practically breathing the words in his ear to keep from being
overheard by the closely gathered people. Neph absolutely despised
it when she used a mind link with him. It didn’t seem to bother any
of Jala’s other companions, but Neph hated it.

“Worse. They are Arovan. Why are they here
now?” Neph grumbled in a disgusted voice as he watched the column
shuffle to a halt just outside of town.

“Valor’s knights, I would imagine by the look
of them,” Sovann said as he pushed his way through the crowd to
stand beside Neph.

“So it would seem,” Neph grumbled.

A woman dismounted from one of the lead
horses and handed her reins to her companion before turning to
approach them.

“Brings a whole new meaning to breastplate
doesn’t it,” Sovann said quietly as the woman drew nearer. Emily
snickered quietly while Neph simply glared in response.

The woman was quite favored by the gods if
the shape of her armor was any indication of her true form. Though
covered with dust from the road the armor was obviously of fine
make with intricate details tooled into the polished silver. She
removed her helm and shook out long chestnut hair as she drew
close. Stopping several feet away she bowed her head in greeting
looking between Sovann and Neph as if she was trying to determine
who to address.

“Welcome to Merro, Lady knight,” Sovann said,
and bowed his head in return.

She smiled and seemed relieved that he had
chosen to speak first. “Thank you. I am Bridgette of the Order of
the Phoenix here to report to Lord Valor.”

“Sorry, he isn’t here.” Neph said curtly, his
eyes scanning the knights lining the road behind her. “From what I
understood, he was expecting a thousand knights. Are there more on
the road behind you?”

Bridgette blinked, looking first to Sovann
then to Neph, and shook her head slightly. “No, I’m afraid this is
it. Pardon, but did you say he isn’t here? We were informed that
Lord Valor left the city of Sanctuary for this land over a week
ago. We set sail the very day the word was received.” She spoke
politely, but Emily could hear dismay clearly in her voice.

“I’m afraid he is in hell at the moment. Who
is in charge of the knights currently and why aren’t there a
thousand?” Neph replied, ignoring her distress as well as the
expression that crossed her face with his newest words.

“I suppose I would be in charge at the
present time. Most of the division requested reassignment when they
learned what our orders were to be and who would be in charge.
Given the current state of unrest in Arovan most preferred to
remain fighting at home. The three hundred and forty-seven left in
this particular division are the less desirable, I’m afraid,”
Bridgette explained, looking desperately toward Sovann as if she
hoped he would show some sign of superiority over Neph and take
control of the conversation.

“Less desirable? Explain.” Neph snapped, his
eyes flashing back to her.

“The craven, the lazy, the dishonored. May I
ask exactly who you are and what exactly you mean by Lord Valor is
in hell?” Bridgette said with a bit of bite to her own voice.

“Oh, this could get good,” Emily whispered to
Neph, whose expression darkened further.

“Which are you?” Neph asked, raising an
eyebrow and ignoring her questions completely.

“Pardon?” Bridgette replied sharply.

“Craven, lazy, or dishonored? Which are you?”
Neph asked, speaking slowly as if to a thick witted child.

“Dishonored I would suppose, I left my
position with my own regiment to join this one. I’m afraid my
superiors were not pleased and my current rank reflects that
displeasure,” Bridgette snapped in response as she shifted her
position to rest one slender hand on her hip, her eyes narrowing as
she glared at Neph. “Now my answers if you please?” she said in a
voice that was close to demand.

“My name is Nephondelvayon. I am currently in
control until High Lady Merrodin returns from her quest with Valor
in hell,” Neph replied sweetly, then turned his attention back to
the knights.

“Of course. A Delvay. That explains it,”
Bridgette sighed and relaxed her posture as if there was no point
in fighting any longer.

“I’ll ignore that remark,” Neph grumbled,
still searching through the knights as if looking for a familiar
face. “You say they are mostly culls. Can you name three in that
mix that are worth their salt?” Neph asked in an almost
conversational voice.

“Savy, that’s the woman holding my horse
currently. She is probably the best lance among them all. Noble.
That would be the dark haired man just behind her, and Foster, the
blond man on the black mare three ranks back,” Bridgette answered
without hesitation.