The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (63 page)

“Where is Jail? Maybe he can scan the minds
of the Avanti commanders before we attack,” Jala said quickly
before Valor could fasten his helm in place.

“Jala they will be protected from that,”
Valor said with a smile and winked at her. “Have I ever failed you
before?” he asked with a grin.

Jala shook her head slowly and let out a long
sigh. “No, and I trust you Val. I just have a very bad feeling,”
she said softly.

Valor pressed his horse closer and smiled
down at her. “We can’t just sit here, Jala. I agree it looks too
good to be true, and it probably is. You have to have faith that I
can handle whatever they throw at us and I will have faith that you
are back here waiting with your magic to support me,” he said in a
voice pitched for her ears alone.

“Val…” Jala began but let her voice trail
off. She wasn’t sure what she had been about to say, anyway.
Swallowing heavily, she nodded and gave him a forced smile. “Kick
their ass,” she said at last and nodded, her gaze going once more
to the Avanti side. Whatever it was, she would find out soon
enough, and Valor was right. They couldn’t simply sit there.

“I’ll bring the Soulblades forward,” Jexon
said with a nod as he turned his horse and rode back into the ranks
of the army.

“I don’t like nice Jexon. It makes my skin
crawl,” Neph said quietly as he watched the Lord ride off.

“Rather unsettling,” Badger agreed. Leaning
over in his saddle he kissed Jala lightly on the cheek and smiled
at her. “It’ll be fine Curly. Your knight knows what he is doing,”
he said in reassurance as he turned his own horse. “Gotta get the
militia ready,” he said as he kicked his mount into a trot.

Jala glanced at Neph before turning back to
watch Valor ready his knights. When they had come to Merro they had
been considered misfits. Now, however, she saw the backbone of her
forces. In every fight so far it had been the knights that had led
the assault. Valor rode through the ranks nodding to some and
patting others on the shoulder before moving forward to take his
position in front. “Why does he always have to lead?” Jala
muttered

“Just a guess, but I’m going to say it’s
because he’s their leader,” Neph offered with a smirk. “It’s Valor,
Jala. He is too stupid to stay some place safe. Have you ever once
seen him look for the safest place? No he is always right in front
in his shiny armor practically begging to be killed,” Neph added
rolling his eyes at her.

“He is fearless,” Jala agreed, her eyes still
on the knights. They were an impressive sight. There was no denial
there.

“No, I said he was brainless,” Neph
corrected, then turned to watch as Wisp led her archers past and
began to position them on either side of the field. “Almost go
time,” Neph said flexing his fingers. “Where the hell is Jail?” He
asked, shifting in his saddle once more to look behind them.

“I haven’t seen him all morning,” Jala
admitted, though that wasn’t unusual lately. Jail drifted through
the camp constantly using his mind fog to keep others from noticing
his presence. “I haven’t seen Ash either, now that I think of it,”
Jala added with a frown.

“Come to think of it, where is Sovann? What
the hell? Did they all desert and we just now noticed?” Neph looked
over to her, his gaze leaving the archers, a look of question on
his face. “Sovann is always with Wisp, but I don’t see him there
now.”

Jala’s frown deepened and she shook her head
and shrugged. “I have no idea Neph,” she admitted, her attention
returning almost at once to Valor’s knights as the Soulblades
joined the field.

Across the battlefield she could see the
Avanti archers moving to the front as they prepared for the coming
charge. Closing her eyes tightly, Jala whispered a prayer to War on
Valor’s behalf.

“Merrodin!” Valor bellowed and she could feel
the ground shake as the warhorses thundered across the field. Her
eyes opened and she watched with held breath as the Arovan cavalry
closed on the Avanti. The air filled with arrows as the enemy
archers loosed, but as Valor had told her his wind spell kept any
from hitting the Knights.

Jala have you reached the Avanti camp
yet
? Jail’s voice broke through her mind and she barely
registered the words as her eyes followed Valor across the field.
The knights on either side of him had branched out to form a wedge
formation that would break through the enemy’s lines with ease.

We are engaging them now. Where are
you
? Jala responded half-heartedly. The pounding in her chest
increased as the knights reached the half-way point of the
field.

Do not engage them
! Jail bellowed in
her mind as Valor’s horse faltered in its charge. Jala’s heart
stopped as two more of the Arovan horses fell as the ground split
open under them. A dark form rose from one of the chasms. The
creature was immense in size, bigger even than Valorous and built
like a wolverine. It launched itself onto the closest knight with
ripping claws taking the warhorse and its rider down into the pit
it had sprung from.
Do not engage them
!
Jala, did you
hear me
?
They have the Warrens mercenaries with them,
Jala
! Jail screamed in her mind.

Too late
, Jala replied numbly, cutting
the mental link as she frantically searched the field for Valor.
She couldn’t even see a glimpse of his purple armor in the chaos.
Her father was rushing forward with the militia to try to lend what
help he could, but it wouldn’t be enough. A flash of purple caught
her attention and her eyes locked onto what remained of Vanguard.
The horse was lying too still, its body halfway into one of the
tunnels. “Valor!” The scream tore from Jala’s throat and her heels
were in her horse before she fully registered what she was
doing.

Chaos rose on all sides as she maneuvered her
frantic gelding through the crevasses and screaming horses trying
desperately to reach the last place she had seen Valor. Her horse
snorted and jumped to the side, nearly unseating her as the ground
before her split open. Barely registering what she was doing, Jala
launched a Windscythe spell into the face of the creature lunging
toward her. Its skull split as the spell hit it, showering her with
hot blood. The creature’s rider threw himself from the animal as it
fell back into the depths, but Jala was too far past to worry about
him. The militia would have to deal with the man.

“Valor!” Jala screamed again as she dropped
from her frantic horse beside the pit where Vanguard had fallen.
With her heart pounding in her throat she searched the ground,
terrified that she would find his body, but he was nowhere to be
seen. Snarls erupted from the tunnel below and Jala dropped down on
the ledge and slid into the depths without hesitation. The chaos of
the fight above faded and she could barely make out the form of one
of the wolverine-like beasts as it slashed viscously at a knight.
Calling on her magic once more, Jala sent a lance of ice through
the beast pinning it to the tunnel wall. The creature snarled and
convulsed trying to free itself, not seeming to understand it was
already dying. Moving forward quickly, Jala knelt down by the
knight, but he was already past any healing she could offer. The
man’s chest had been torn open as if he hadn’t worn armor at all.
Standing, Jala moved quickly down the tunnel desperate to find
Valor. The shamans hadn’t been at the fight yet. She had no way of
knowing if they were holding the souls of her fallen or not. If
Valor was already dead, there was a very good chance that his soul
had already been claimed by Death.

The sound of fighting ahead sped her steps
and Jala broke into a run, fighting back the urge to call his name
once more. Turning a corner she nearly tripped on a body of one of
the knights and stumbled hard against the wall. Her breath catching
in her throat, she pushed from the wall and barely ducked the sword
blow that was aimed for her neck. Spinning back she pulled on her
magic, forcing spikes of rock straight up from the earth beneath
the mercenary. The man screamed and struggled to free himself from
the stone before his strength failed him. Jala started to move past
when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Spinning
back she called on her magic once more and barely managed to
contain the spell as she recognized Marrow and Emily. The two
Bendazzi moved silently up beside her, barely sparing a glance for
the dying man skewered before them.

Warning. Just a little warning before you
go charging off into the middle of hell
, Marrow snarled in her
mind.

“I can’t find Valor,” Jala breathed, her
words choked.

Emily moved forward, her head shifting one
way and then the other ears twitching as she sensed the air.
This way. He is wounded
, Emily said quickly as she moved
forward deeper into the labyrinth of tunnels.

“How wounded?” Jala demanded trying to keep
her voice low despite her panic.

He is bleeding. I can’t tell you more than
that
, Emily answered quickly, her head low to the ground as she
ran.

They passed two more dead knights and what
remained of a warhorse before the sound of fighting rose once more
in the tunnels.

“Bloody die already!” Valor’s voice echoed
off the tunnel ahead accompanied by the ringing of steel.

Not bothering to waste time on caution, Jala
sprinted forward, her magic already rising as she rounded the
corner. Valor stood with his back to a wall facing off against one
of the mercenaries and the massive creatures they used as mounts.
The creature was limping heavily, nearly dragging one leg behind
it. Turning at the sound of her approach it snarled and
charged.

The faint flicker of black caught her eye as
Emily launched herself fully onto the creature’s head, her hind
legs raking viscously down its neck. A blur of white passed, Jala
on the other side as Marrow joined the fight, and Jala turned her
full attention to the mercenary. Her choices of spells were limited
with him standing so close to Valor. She couldn’t risk anything
hitting the knight. From the looks of him he was already too
wounded. She settled on a spell and focused on the man’s armor. It
was mismatched chain and plate, but it would suffice. Within a
breath the armor had changed from the dull grey to glowing red as
the metal heated with her spell. The mercenary fell back, dropping
his sword, a strangled scream rising in his throat as the metal
shifted from red to white and began to melt, fusing to the man’s
skin.

Pushing off the wall, Valor drew his sword up
for a deathblow as pain shot through Jala’s back. Stumbling forward
she whirled searching for her assailant as another gash opened down
her side nearly gutting her. “Blight,” she screamed to Valor as she
fumbled for her glasses. There was no way she would reach them in
time though and she knew it. Another slash tore across her neck and
she managed to pull back just enough to save herself from a slit
throat. A grunt of pain erupted behind her, but she couldn’t spare
a moment to glance back to Valor. Her fingers finally closed around
the glasses and she tore them from her pocket, spinning back again
and hoping she was dodging the right way. She had limited ground to
move, though, with the Bendazzi still fighting the Warrens creature
and Valor apparently still fighting behind her. Red hot fire
exploded through her stomach as she finally managed to get the
glasses on her face. Numbly she stared into the face of the Blight
just inches from her own before slowly dropping her gaze to the
clawed hand that was buried in her guts. The creature smiled at her
his face, so perfectly human, as he slowly retracted his claws from
her stomach.

“Jala!” Valor’s hoarse cry rose behind her as
the Blight shook its head at her sadly and brought its claws down
hard across her face.

“Here, drink this,” a soothing voice
whispered above her. Eyes still closed, Jala allowed herself to be
lifted as a cup was settled against her mouth. Cool liquid touched
her lips and she struggled to swallow. The liquid burned down her
throat and Jala coughed in protest. She felt the bed shift beneath
her as someone stood.

“Is she going to live?” Jexon’s voice rose
softly from somewhere nearby and Jala struggled to force her eyes
open.

“Kendry did quite a bit to heal her before
she ran out of energy. With me attending her though, not a chance
in hell.” The voice no longer held anything soothing about it. “The
Bendazzi is out. Do you want to finish him or shall I?” the man
asked, his voice sounding eager.

“Go ahead. I have no interest in the beast,”
Jexon replied in a bored voice.

“No,” Jala said desperately as her eyes
finally obeyed. Her limbs felt sluggish beneath her as she
struggled to sit up. Blinking to clear her vision, her eyes sought
frantically for Marrow. A tall slender man with a charming face
stood over the sleeping Bendazzi, a slender blade held at the
ready. “No,” Jala repeated, the word choking as her throat
tightened.