Foretold (Daughters of Saraqael Book Three) (38 page)

James leaped from his platform the moment the noise below caught his attention. He nearly slammed right into the cats as they started to make their way up. When he glanced around and saw Olivia facing Baldemar, his Gloresti energy surged.

As Baldemar’s sword came down toward her neck, Olivia suddenly extended her wings and flew backwards, out of his reach. James realized the dampening had been at least largely lifted even as he pushed past Olivia, keeping her behind him. His sword came up and connected with Baldemar’s in a screeching clash of steel. The tendons in his neck and arm stretched taut.

He didn’t have to parry again. No. He wouldn’t give the Mercesti commander—the heartless creature who had cut his wife until she nearly bled to death—a chance to raise his sword again. With skill enhanced by his innate Gloresti sensibilities and cold, righteous fury, he slashed again and again, hacking through Baldemar’s defenses. They moved deeper into the forest, away from the supporting Mercesti force.

And when he had worn Baldemar down enough for him to make a mistake, James took his head.

He turned and ran back to Olivia before the Mercesti’s corpse had hit the ground. He found her kneeling beside Alexius. The fighters around them had managed to fight back the rest of the Mercesti for the moment, so he gauged that she was safe enough just then.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
He took a cursed dagger for me.

Crouching, he saw that the dagger she spoke of was protruding from beneath Alexius’ arm. James guessed it had hit an organ, possibly a lung. The Waresti second commander wasn’t speaking. He was too busy fighting the pain from the curse. He wasn’t one of those who had been around the night before to get immunized.

I’ve already sent out a thought to Amber
, Olivia thought.
She can heal him.

James nodded. They both heard Caleb convey the thought that he and Skye were with Knorbis and Malukali in the mountain tunnels, divulging Grolkinei of more of his dampeners. James couldn’t help but worry for his siblings. Theirs was an extremely dangerous mission.

Alexius let out a sharp cry of pain and dug his fingers into the ground. Blood seeped from between his lips. It was more black than red. Olivia gasped.

I have to try and heal him
, she thought, looking at James with swimming eyes.
There’s no way to know how long it will be until Amber gets here. Can you help me?

Of course.

And as the battle raged, they worked to save the Estilorian who had saved her life.

Amber and Gabriel moved with the flow of the battle. It was slowly pushing toward the contingents of Wymzesti and Orculesti. That was when they noticed that Knorbis and Malukali were also missing.

Guess that’s how Caleb and Skye got up there
, he thought.

She raised an eyebrow when she realized she could hear his thoughts again.
And it appears to have been an excellent move.

He didn’t bat an eye when her thought reached him. He was too busy fighting off an opponent. This one was at least marginally more skilled than some of his predecessors. It took almost thirty seconds for Gabriel to kill him.

Amber, Alexius needs you!

She heard the thought, and although her instinct was to wonder how on the entire Estilorian plane she was going to get over to her sister through this horde, she thought,
Okay, Liv. I’ll get there as soon as I can.
Her eyes turned to the air, which had suddenly filled with Estilorians. Flight would be extremely tricky.

Come on
, Gabriel thought.
Let’s start heading that way.
When a Mercesti body fell from the sky not even five feet from him, he silently added,
On foot.

They saw Harold and Hitoshi nearby and passed Ini-herit and Uriel, as well. They moved as swiftly as they could, not bothering to fight if it could be avoided. And then he suddenly stopped.

What is it?
she thought.

His gaze moved to the mountain.
Grolkinei is nearly to their position. I heard Malukali.

There was a brief pause as they both absorbed this. They looked at each other.

You have to go to them
, she thought, even as he thought,
I have to go to them.

She knew there was no other choice. Malukali and Knorbis had to get back to their classes, who were now becoming encircled by Mercesti. Caleb and Skye were far too young to face down an elder of Grolkinei’s power, even with the benefit of commanding holy light.

And although she wasn’t one to typically think this way, it simply felt fated.

I love you
, he thought. Ignoring the fighting around them, he reached out to touch the side of her face.

I love you, too
, she thought.
Now go finish this.

Grolkinei didn’t speak when he entered the tunnel. He just held up both hands as he landed. The blast of power he projected threw all of them to the ground. Skye slid fifteen feet and hit a wall. She heard thuds at other points in the tunnel and guessed Caleb, Knorbis and Malukali had been similarly affected.

She knew he was going to kill them all.

Rolling to her feet the instant she could get them under her, she turned to see Grolkinei advancing on Knorbis with his sword drawn. The Wymzesti elder wasn’t moving. She started running.

“No!” Malukali cried. She was much slower in getting to her feet than Skye had been and was too far away to do anything. Any mental attacks she may have been attempting didn’t appear to be affecting him.

Caleb had been thrown the farthest, not having hit a wall, but instead having coasted down the tunnel after being hit. He threw a dagger as he also scrambled to his feet. It hit the shield still surrounding Grolkinei and fell harmlessly to the ground. Without so much as a hitch in his stride, the Mercesti elder pulled back his sword arm with the intent of thrusting down toward Knorbis’ neck.

Malukali screamed.

Skye extended her wings to increase her speed. She flung a pellet of holy light at Grolkinei and succeeded in turning his attention from Knorbis. He spun and sliced his sword toward her instead, trying to stop her progress.

The weapon whistled harmlessly through her left wing.

“Skye!” Caleb shouted as he ran.

He knew her intentions. She was sorry for it. Sorry for the pain she was going to cause him in that split second of time. But she wasn’t going to let any of them die if she could prevent it. So she threw her arms around Grolkinei even as he recovered from his failed strike.

And the next instant, she was in the torture chamber with him, alone.

Amber turned when Gabriel departed and continued toward the forest. She noted many glances from both friend and foe taking in the fact that she was now without her Gloresti.

The first unfortunate Mercesti to cross her path after she watched her husband leave died before he even fully raised his weapon to strike. The second one didn’t last much longer. She cleaved a path using her fear and her anger to drive her.

And then she found herself surrounded by Mercesti. Rather than grow concerned, she smiled fiercely. Making sure there were only enemies around her, she extended her wings. When they advanced as a group, she focused her energy on solidifying her wings and then performed a perfect pirouette, just as Skye had taught her.

The resulting carnage was something to see.

Alexius is okay, Amber
, Olivia thought shortly thereafter.
James and I were able to heal him with Zayna’s help. We’re heading back up to the archery platforms.

Good job, Liv
, Amber returned as she retracted her wings and stepped out of the circle of bodies lining the ground. She quickly engaged another opponent in battle.
Gabriel’s gone to help Caleb and Skye. I’m going to head toward the Wymzesti and Orculesti. Do what you can to cover them with your arrows.

She turned after dispatching her opponent. And then her instincts had her diving to the ground and rolling.

The cursed sword that had nearly taken her life months before whistled harmlessly overhead.

“Cowardly even for you, Angius,” she said as she easily returned to her feet and slashed toward him with her own sword.

His scarred features twisted into a grotesque grin as he deflected her strike and attempted one of his own. “I had to determine how much your abilities have changed since we last faced each other.” His gaze moved to her waist, lingering on the notable roundness there. “Your style was bound to have changed in recent months. If I had managed to kill you just then, you would not have been worth fighting.”

“Oh, I can assure you,” she said as she held her sword poised and ready, “you’ll most definitely think this fight wasn’t worth it when I kill you.”

He brought his sword up and attacked. She deflected, matching his rapid movements with instinctive precision and insight heightened by her months of training. When he realized he wouldn’t get through her defenses that way, he attempted to speed up his timing. She paced him. They circled each other, their arms and swords blurs of movement. The Estilorians surrounding them seemed to sense the power behind the battle. They instinctively cleared a path as the two opponents slashed at each other.

She got in a hit to his bicep and another to his forearm. Neither strike slowed him at all. His sword caught the edge of her hip, but her armor protected her.

“You have definitely improved,” he said, still wearing his malevolent grin. “How exciting.”

Her instincts saved her again when another Mercesti tried to grab her from behind. She sensed him an instant before she would have been distracted enough for Angius to score a hit. Even as she bobbed and jumped lightly to the side to evade the grab, she watched the Mercesti fall, his head at an unnatural angle. Harold stood over the body with no weapon handy besides his own two hands.

He raised an eyebrow. She gave him a nod. She had this. He returned the nod and then focused on keeping anyone else from trying to give Angius an unfair advantage.

The Mercesti commander was persistent, she had to give him that. He was also fresh into the battle whereas she had been fighting for some time. She could admit that her sword arm was tiring. And when his sword flashed close enough to her head that the blade grazed the tip of her ear, she experienced her first surge of doubt.

Then she felt the next level of dampening fall away. And she smiled even as sweat dripped down her temples. She watched his grin fade when he registered her reaction.

“In the end, it will come to good versus evil,” she quoted. “Your cursed sword failed to kill me. Let’s see how you fair against mine once it’s imbued with the power of good.”

And extending her blessed sword, she brought forth holy fire. It scattered any Mercesti within a ten-foot radius. Even Angius hissed and lifted an arm in a futile attempt to shield his eyes from the pure light.

He never stood a chance. She shattered his sword with her very next strike. And when she went in for the kill, she couldn’t help but get the sense that he was getting exactly what he’d expected.

Grolkinei staggered, disoriented. He had watched his blade somehow miss Skye’s wing and strike the rock, had felt her grab him…

…and then he was standing in the torture chamber.

He lost his balance and fell to one knee. She collapsed beside him. After another minute, he realized she had teleported them.

“That is quite the incredible ability,” he said, turning toward her. “It was rather brave of you, too. Especially since it appears you cannot defend yourself and have no energy left to command your holy light.”

She lie motionless, her eyes glassy and her breathing uneven. He reached out to touch her.

Before he could, there was a flash of blue light that had him throwing his hands up to shield his eyes. He rolled from her and regained his feet, looking at her with confusion. She was still on the ground, but now standing in front of her was a nearly transparent male with flowing white hair.

“You will not harm her so long as I am here,” the male said in a calm voice.

Pulling a dart from his belt, Grolkinei threw it at the image. It sailed right through him. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “How do you expect to protect her when you are not solid?”

“I have faith.”

Sneering at that, Grolkinei lifted his sword and advanced. He swung toward Skye, ignoring the image. But when his sword reached the male’s form, it suddenly collided with something solid.

The image had transitioned from air to ice.

As Grolkinei stumbled back from the failed blow, he watched as the ice shaman faded back to its more ephemeral form.

“You should turn from your course,” the image said as fury coursed through Grolkinei.

Skye moaned and lifted her head, blinking as though to clear her vision. Then she closed her eyes and appeared to center herself. She glowed light blue. When she again opened her eyes, she no longer looked weary. Her gaze widened when she spotted the image. The male exchanged a look with her. Grolkinei guessed they were communicating silently.

He threw out another wave of his power, sending her sailing backwards into one of the tables of tools. She cried out in shock and pain. The image remained.

The air was suddenly freezing. Grolkinei could see his own breath. The transparent male once again shifted to a more solid ice form. Then he suddenly shot forward like a strong wind, barreling right into Grolkinei and knocking him down.

Cursing, Grolkinei rolled back to his feet. He had lost his sword and swiftly picked it up. When he looked toward Skye, she was standing and studying him warily. Her spirit guardian stood in front of her.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said. “You won’t win. You won’t kill me or my sisters. I don’t understand why you want to, anyway. We didn’t do anything to you.”

“You are simply a means to an end.” He eyed the guardian, considering his strategy. “I do wish you had opted to join with me. I still believe we would have made quite the pairing.”