The Brightest Shadow, page 23
"My name is Celivia. I don't know who you are, but things are looking a lot better than they were this morning."
"I'm Slaten."
"You said that already, but pleased to meet you. Now, what's going on?"
Slaten swallowed, trying to regain his focus. "Keval is under assault to rescue everyone within. To join an army led by the Hero. As in, the one from the Legend."
She raised pale eyebrows at him and Slaten shrugged.
"Uh... it might be easier to just show you."
~ ~ ~
Though the upper corridor seemed completely empty, Tani remained tense until she had confirmed there were no more Deathspawn lying in wait. The battle on the ground floor had been over quickly, but it left her nervous.
She'd had the advantage of surprise, but the warrior she fought had still struggled a long time before going down. Without Efeinas there, they would no doubt have been overwhelmed. Having to rely on him troubled her deeply and she tried to set that thought out of mind. What mattered now was rescuing the other warriors.
The first two cells were empty, but the third held a burly Coran man with a scar across one torn ear. He was wrapped in several chains that had him bound in the center of the room and he scowled when he saw her. She raised her hands to show him the keys, guessing at them until she found the one that fit the chains.
"Your friends are here to rescue you. They're fighting outside, ju-"
"My friends?" His voice was rough and he coughed several times, then glared at her again. "Who the hell are my friends?"
"The Hero?"
"From the story?"
They stared at each other blankly. Tani felt a slight sense of discomfort she couldn't quite identify and almost considered not releasing him. That would have been cruel after coming in with the key, however. Tani found the lock and undid it. She started to unwind the chains, but the man growled and began twisting them off himself.
Since he didn't seem friendly, Tani moved on. The next filled cell held an old Coran man with his hands bound and a bag over his head. He smiled at her once she removed the bag and was much more cooperative. Tani left the room in time to see the first man lope down the corridor and disappear into the stairwell. She had a feeling that he had no intention to help and that she wouldn't see him again.
There were only two more filled cells, then the one at the end of the hallway. There were still two keys left unused, and her first guess was wrong. She wondered if she had missed a cell, but one of the keys was small and different than the others.
When the door swung open, she hesitated at the sight of the man on the other side. She wasn't sure how to identify him - his skin was nearly as dark as Eraes', but his hair hung flat on his head. The stranger thing was that he had been chained to the ground in kneeling position with his arms behind his back, bound in some sort of steel apparatus she hadn't seen before.
He smiled when she saw her, his dark eyes kind. "Hello, child. Are you here to help me?"
Tani felt a moment of shock when she heard him speaking Nelhae - with a strong accent, but grammatically perfect. She moved in, still surprised, and used the cell door key to unlock the chains while she considered what to say.
"Yes, I am here to help you. Why are you here?"
"I met with a mansthein commander who chose to imprison me. I thought that cooperation would be the better path to choose, but alas, they have bound me quite well."
With the chains unlocked, the man stood, but his arms were still tightly restricted behind his back. He turned around and she saw more clearly: his arms were forced straight at an uncomfortable angle by a box of steel bars. They dug into the skin of his muscular arms. The whole contraption had multiple locks that the small key seemed to fit. Each one loosened the bars only slightly until at last the apparatus fell apart.
"Ahh, that is better." The man slowly moved his scarred arms in a circle, from his hips to over his head, and brought them to nearly touch each other just in front of his stomach. He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes to smile at her. "Thank you, child. I am Jaer... of the Khalen Salenkh, you might say."
"I am Tani of the Nelee. I am glad to help an honored warrior far ahead of me." She was sure that he was strong. Aside from his body, only somewhat diminished by the captivity, he had an aura of calm that she hadn't felt since her master. "If I may ask... do you know anything of the Hero?"
"Of the Legend?" Jaer blinked at her as if considering an entirely new piece of information. "No, I do not. Why do you ask?"
"I am here with him. I was told that all the prisoners here were warriors of his who were captured by the Deathspawn."
"I see. I am afraid that someone was mistaken. The prisoners in this place were moved here from various locations, and though I was isolated, I believe they were imprisoned for many different reasons. It is possible, however, that some of them were indeed captured allies. Based on the curses, I believe there were more Corans as of late."
"Thank you." Tani smiled at him, then abruptly realized that she was letting his calm aura make her complacent. There was still a battle going on outside. "I am sorry, I must go and assist my allies."
"I will accompany you to see this battle. Perhaps it would be faster to move from the roof? There is a ladder on that side."
She saw that he was right, a rough ladder near the stairs that lead up through a hole. The Catai must have come through it, but it hadn't occurred to her to look for his route. Tani moved toward the ladder and Jaer followed with smooth strides. His arms trembled slightly, but his legs did not appear to be stiff from the forced kneeling. Tani considered him thoughtfully.
"You identified yourself as Jaer of the Khalen Salenkh. I do not believe that is a group of Rhen."
"No. I am originally from Eltar Trathe, but I have spent many years of my life here. Though I have not had the pleasure of meeting many Nelee, I have met others who speak the same tongue."
She wanted to ask him more, but she had reached the ladder and was out of time. Climbing it as quickly as possible, Tani found herself on the roof. It wasn't very high, so the sounds of the battle struck her immediately. Though some had fallen, the fighting still raged just beneath her.
Her instincts brought knives to each hand, but she couldn't throw, needing time to translate the violence into anything meaningful.
The Hero and the Catai still traded blows away from the rest, the stampede having passed by. Near the outpost, the humans seemed to have gained the advantage, but Deathspawn fought viciously with their backs to the wall. She spotted Melal lying on his back, crying out and clutching his blood-covered shoulder.
Slaten fought near the main line, staying back from the main melee and confronting those that tried to break out. His movements seemed strange until Tani noticed how his pants clung to his back leg - the way he was favoring it, they must be drenched with blood.
Strangely, there was a strikingly beautiful woman fighting beside him, though very cautiously. Tani tried to place her origin and couldn't, though her hair could have been Estronese. She had an alluring confidence to her eyes and Tani would have looked more carefully in other circumstances.
Realizing that she should act instead of merely watching, Tani moved to the edge of the roof and released her first pair of knives at a Deathspawn moving to flank Slaten. When the Deathspawn dropped Slaten hesitated a moment, tracked the knives, and gave her a grim nod. Tani noticed that the woman tracked the knives even faster and cast her a neutral glance before returning to the fighting.
Tani tried to hurl several knives into the main mess of Deathspawn, but they struck a wooden shield instead of flesh. For the first several she thought it was a coincidence, then she realized that the warrior was actually moving to intercept her knives, without looking. Not only had he managed to block her throws, his shield moved like a living thing, fending off the weapons of multiple Coran fighters.
He lunged forward, his shield slamming into the group. Several of the Coran men went flying backward, but as soon as the Deathspawn extended himself, Tani hurled a single knife with as much strength as she could manage.
Somehow he managed to bring his shield back around, knocking her knife out of the air. But the wild movement of his shield left him open to several other warriors, who lunged in and dealt fatal blows. Other Deathspawn counterattacked and some of the Corans dropped, but with the shield-bearer down, the Deathspawn line began to fall apart. Tani kept her last knife and her sickle knife in hand in case something went wrong, but felt as though her chance to make a difference was past.
Her eyes drifted up and she watched the Hero as he fought with the massive Deathspawn. The size difference between them was dramatic, so she expected him to be dodging around his larger opponent, but to her surprise he held his ground. Somehow he matched the enormous iron cudgel blow for blow with his sword alone.
The battle didn't seem to make any sense, forcing Tani to calm herself and try to analyze the sein of the two. Even from a distance, mint burned in her nostrils. It was obvious that the Catai warrior was strong, his blows far from slow despite their force. The Hero was also strong, but his sein...
In one sense, it was glorious. Every time she had smelled sein in her life, regardless of the source, the scent had been the same mint. But the Hero... his power was different, a pure smell that reminded her of so much more than home.
And yet on another level, she failed to understand him. The Catai might be a Deathspawn, might have killed her in an instant, yet when she saw his power she felt a common connection between them. In sein, they stood within view of one another, even if on opposite sides. But the Hero's power... it was something beyond her, something alien that seduced and repelled.
All at once, the beauty of their flashing movements ended in a brutal crunch as the cudgel came down on the Hero's head. He slammed into the ground and Tani flinched.
The world itself grew dim. Though the sun burned overhead, she didn't feel its warmth. For a moment, Tani felt as though she should do something, should act, yet she did not know what to do.
And then that moment was past, the sun blazing down with stunning intensity. She actually staggered back, half-blinded but struggling to see. In front of the Catai, the Hero was climbing to his feet. His head and upper body should have been crushed by the blow, yet he looked only beaten, not broken.
Roaring something, the Deathspawn descended on him, swinging his cudgel down with fatal force.
The Hero moved toward him, a shadow of light dissolving into the bright grass and the sunlight. He swept forward past the cudgel too quickly, his sword flashing through the Catai faster than Tani could see. On the other side he straightened, extending his sword to the side so that it shimmered in the light. She was captivated watching him, noting that though his white tunic was still stained with blood, his injuries seemed noble. Standing firm as the victor, he was the picture of heroic defiance.
Behind him, the Catai's stomach had torn open, his guts spilling out onto the ground.
The massive Deathspawn took a step back, staring down at the injury. His cudgel dropped and he tried to grasp his own intestines, as if he could place them back into his body. That muscle-bound body didn't seem so intimidating anymore and disbelieving fear filled his face.
Then the Hero's blade stabbed through the Catai's neck and he sank to the ground. Pulling the shimmering blade out of the Deathspawn, the Hero raised it overhead and shouted out a wordless cry of victory. It was immediately answered by the remaining human warriors, who surged against the surviving Deathspawn. Already demoralized by the loss of their leader, they died quickly.
"I do not believe this is a place for me." The voice came from Jaer just beside her, but it seemed to reach Tani from a great distance. She turned to him slowly, struggling to focus on his face. He watched the scene below with a somber expression, then turned his eyes toward her. "This is not a place for you, either, but I believe you will stay."
"I... I have to. My friends are there. We... we need to..."
"I understand." Jaer placed a hand on her shoulder and it felt warm. Real. She managed to focus on him, his gentle dark eyes watching her with concern. "Please be safe, Tani of the Nelee. My business does not take me far from here, but I do not know if we shall meet again."
With that, he turned away and gracefully leapt off the side of the building. Tani watched him go until he disappeared into the grasses, then the fuzziness crept back into her mind.
The sun felt so hot beating down on her. Everything was so noisy. She hadn't used much sein, yet she had pushed herself in the short fights. Tani shook her head as she went down the stairs to meet the others, trying to clear her mind. By the time she reached the bottom she felt slightly more focused, able to enjoy the fact that they had been victorious.
All the warriors on the ground were in an exultant mood, but Tani couldn't help but notice the injuries. Many had large cuts and some had lost limbs. Those who had come out of the cells were not doing well, everything they had endured while imprisoned catching up to them.
The Hero stood at the center of the celebration, clapping men on the shoulder and giving wordless encouragement. Slaten sat grimly at a distance, checking his leg, but most were jubilant. The only exception anywhere near the Hero was Veron. She drained the jug at her side to the last drop without taking a breath, then she tossed it aside and focused on him.
"What now?"
The question seemed to surprise the Hero somewhat, but he turned to her with a smile. "For now, we celebrate. We have won a great victory over the enemy."
"I mean after that. We have enough supplies if we loot the fort, but how far can we get with injuries like these? And some of the Deathspawn got away in the stampede. If they bring reinforcements, where the hell are we going to hide, out here?"
"Do not fear, Veron." The Hero put a hand on her shoulder and smiled gently. "We have won a great victory and taken another step in the path of the Legend. All will be well."
When he spoke, Tani believed him. Everyone was still bleeding and her head was aching and she didn't understand how it could be true, but she believed him.
Chapter 15
-
"Master Yanumi, old friend, we must meet. I know that you enjoy denying the wisdom of masters, but now that the time comes that we need to deny them, you are silent. Please, you must know the tribes will not listen, and I trust you do not believe that we can simply ignore this threat. The Deathspawn are unlike anything we have ever faced before and they will require our full attention. We need you to take on a leadership role now."
- letter signed by Master Omunelor of the Nelee
-
Another report from the Expanse. Kolanin brushed aside the other papers that had appeared on his desk, picking up the small scroll with a brown seal. Traditionally the brown seal was used for matters of low importance, but now...
He read over the contents slowly, sat down, and read over them again. Violence in Keval, the soldiers there slaughtered almost to a man. Again the hero was implicated, though accounts varied. Still no word of the young warriors he'd sent out.
Kolanin dropped his head into his hands and tried not to think about everything at once. Why hadn't they listened to him when it came to Keval? He had told them it was foolish to place so many prisoners there, that it would just draw attention from this hero or the Coran resistance. Yet the decision had been made from higher up the chain of command. Usually they respected his judgment on local matters, but not this time.
To avoid thinking about other matters, Kolanin began sorting the other scrolls that had arrived. Blue seals for mercantile affairs, though not all in Bundlin cooperated with that system. Red for the military. Kolanin began looking through those, hoping for no more bad news.
Aryabaus was building his forces again, preparing them for a southern invasion. There was a suggestion of training them by dealing with problems in the Expanse, which would mean a bunch of thugs rampaging through small Coran towns and pushing out Rhen tribes, possibly riling the Helsuu. Kolanin took a long time carefully drafting a letter trying to convince him this was the wrong decision from a purely military standpoint.
Did he believe that, though? Kolanin set down his quill and just sat back, staring out the window. There were some who said he was growing soft, he knew that. Others who might support him but said that the experiment with humans had been tried and failed. Maybe they were right.
Not that he believed that it was futile, not really. But the fact that Slaten and the others had gone missing still gnawed in his stomach. Based on what Bardel had reported, it was possible that they had been killed by bandits. That would be a bitter end for so many promising young warriors, not to mention their guest from Teralanth.
But it was also possible that they had fled or turned against him. If even the youngest refused to work with him, then perhaps his efforts really were futile. Kolanin realized that he had been staring at the papers on his desk for some time without accomplishing anything.
Would he just sit here, reading reports of everything collapsing around him? Kolanin smiled bitterly and got to his feet, resolving to do anything other than remain in his office.
Cries of alarm sounded from outside.
Without hesitating, Kolanin sprinted from his room to the balcony and vaulted over the side. While moving over it, he located the source of the confusion and pushed off the balcony, leaping over the river toward the square on the opposite side. In the air he identified humans scattering and soldiers moving in.
While still in midair, he realized that it wasn't the emergency that he'd feared. Both the humans and soldiers seemed shocked, forming a ring that identified the source clearly. There was a man standing there, wearing the robes of the Voidwalkers - not a uniform he'd seen in some time, but it looked like they hadn't changed in the years since he left Orphos.
