Island Shifters: Book 03 - An Oath of the Children (37 page)

Alric
lifted his hands to address the gathering.
“I ask again!
What have the Massans done except save the lives of Ellvinians?” He pointed to Tatum and his parents. “Look at this family! They have been reunited in health because of the Massans!
What kind of people are we to arrest those that come to our island with
such
kindness?”

Jarl’s face
mottled with anger
as his motives were called into question so publically.

“Papa, lift me up,” Tatum asked his father.

The big man
stood and
did as
his son asked.
“This man,”
Tatum
said
in a shaky voice, pointing back to Beck, “not only saved Mama and so many others, but he also saved my life.”

“What happened to you Tatum? Where have you been?” someone from the crowd asked.

Tatum choked back a sob.
“I…I
was shot in the back with a quarrel from a crossbow.”

“What?”

“Who would do such a terrible thing?”

Tatum waited until the crowd grew silent once again. “I will tell you who. It was
Premier
Bane.”

Beck was just as stunned by the admission as the Ellvinians.

Tatum
looked at his father.
“I’m sorry, Papa, but my curiosity got the better of me
again, and
I heard something I shouldn’t have.
So, the Premier
waited until my back was turned, shot me, and dumped me in the swamp and left me for dead.”

The crowd erupted in
horrified
gasps and murmurs of disbelief.

“It is
the truth,” Tatum said softly.

Even Jarl seemed
shaken
by
the news. “Why would the Premier perpetrate such a heinous crime? Against a child?” the Second asked, voicing the question on everyone’s lips.

“I thought about that
when
I
was in the swamp and I think it’s
because he did not want me to tell people about the
blood.
The Premier said that the people would not con…,
aye, that’s it,
condone,
his methods.”

The wave of murmurs turned into outraged shouts.

An Ellvinian male stepped out from the crowd. “Why should we be surprised? Hendrix Bane has
done nothing for the people of Ellvin. He bathes in the draught while innocent women and children die of starvation every day!”

“Not only that!” one shouted out. “I have heard that he is
already
dabbling in the blood!”

“The blood? But, how?”

Beck had had enough. “By killing Massans, that’s how!”

“He is right,” Alric told the crowd. “The Premier has been keeping the Vypir alive all these years
and plans to use it to milk the Massans of their blood.”

Beck held up his hands to quiet the
vociferous debate set off by Alric’s words.
“I realize
that
you have issues to resolve
amongst yourselves, but
you will have to do it on your time, not mine.
My family
is in danger from your Battlearms
and this Vypir creature you created, so I am leaving this island right now.
If you want a fight, so help me I will give you one, but we have done nothing but show the Ellvinian people respect and
compassion.”
His furious eyes scanned the crowd. “Tell me
what it will
be,
because I have
important matters
of my own
to attend to.”

Commotion in the back caused a gap to open in the gathering of people. “You shall have your
fight, Mage
Beck!”

It was Hendrix Bane and he walked behind four Battlearms prodding Airron, Melania, Rogan, and Janin
ahead of them.

“Oh, this is ridiculous.” Beck stepped forward,
flicked a wrist
and the four fighters
cried out as they
were lifted off the ground. Invisible bonds that no one but Beck could see, slithered over the Elves and pinned
their arms and legs
tight to their bodies as they hung suspended in the air.

The crowd backed away with frightened screams.

Rogan
snapped his bindings with a quick flame.
“Well, I could have done that!
I was waiting for the signal. You know,
a nod of the head or
a
coded word. You
do
remember
gooseberry
, don’t you?”

Beck ignored him while Kiernan hurried over to help him untie the others.

The Premier waved his arms about. “Emile! Battlearms! Where are all my Battlearms?”

A bespectacled Elf next to the Premier coughed. “Uh, you sent them to Massa, Your Eminence.
There are only a handful of fighters left on the island.”

Hendrix Bane turned to the people of Ellvin. “Don’t just stand there! Get them!”

Tatum’s father, Cullen, was the first to respond, his face a thundercloud of rage. “No! This is not our way! We do not shoot children in the back and we do not kill innocent people who
are here to help us!”

“Here! Here!”

The Premier swung his elaborate robes as he raced toward the crowd. “Don’t you understand? We can have the blood again! That
is
the Ellvinian way!”

“The blood?” Cullen responded with disgust. “If drinking the blood makes you so despicable that you start killing innocents, I will drink the draught!”

“Take these people into custody!” the Premier raged.

“No!” Cullen shouted.
“You are done, Hendrix Bane. We renounce you as our leader!”

Roaring
applause rippled through the bystanders.

Hendrix stumbled back in shock.
“What?”

“Go find a new place to live out in the countryside. If you so much as step a toe in
this city
or seek to rise to power
again, you will be
executed.” Cullen turned toward Jarl. “That goes for all the Seconds as well. The Ellvinian people will elect new leaders to help us recover from this dismal moment in our history.”

“You will be sorry!” Hendrix screamed at him.

The big man towered over the Premier. “You will be the one sorry if I ever see you again. For what you did to my son, you are lucky I don’t snap your neck right now. Now, go!”

The Premier looked around wildly for a shred of support, but found nothing. Finally, he gathered up his robes and,
chin held high,
walked
away.

Cullen glanced at Beck and gestured to the hanging fighters. “Master Beck, if you will be so kind?”

Beck waved a hand and the Elves dropped to the ground.

Cullen stalked to the fallen fighters.
“Where are your loyalties, Battlearms? With Hendrix Bane or the people?”

They did not hesitate to answer. “The people.”

“Good. Please escort Hendrix Bane, his Adjunct and Second Jarl to the city outskirts. When you are finished with that task, round up Seconds Anah and Balder and deliver the same message.”

“As you command, Cullen.”

Beck started toward the pier
at a brisk pace. “Please come
with
me, Cullen!”
he shouted over his shoulder.
When the dark Elf fell into
step beside him, he asked. “How many Battlearms are in Massa?”

“Almost
all of them.”

“Give me a number.”

“Twenty
thousand.”

Beck’s
newly repaired heart skipped a beat.
Twenty thousand enemy fighters and a blood-sucking beast stood between him and his children.

“Let’s move!”

C
HAPTER
30

T
HE
S
HORT
S
TICK

The black tide that raced forward seemed unstoppable. Kellan’s heart hammered in his chest at the
sight of the dark Elves flowing toward them.
He
jumped
up onto the
parapet and searched out Kirby Nash. “Captain!
There’s no more time!”

The Saber Captain gave him a grim look and flew into action,
ordering the defenders into a protective
perimeter
around the fleeing citizens.

Kellan understood
the meaning behind Kirby’s
look. The defenders
were going to die. They had
no chance to survive the battle at the gates. With only five shifters, five protectors, two Draca Cats and
the sixty or so men and women from the mayor’s estate who refused to leave the fight, they would be
crushed underneath the onslaught.
While he hoped fervently that they would be able to get the citizens out
before the bloodshed began, there would be no such hope for the
defenders.
It was a foregone conclusion that all who stayed behind
to hold the gates, were sacrificing
their lives to allow the people of Northfort time to
escape.

Kellan swallowed.

He would willingly give his life in protection of the people—that was never in question.
It was just that he did not
wish to die with so much uncertainty
surrounding
the fate of his family. Kane was still out there somewhere. Kenley was facing who knew what kind of danger in Callyn-Rhe and his parents were in the hands of the enemy.

But, there was no further time for reflection
as
the first Ellvinian fighters appeared at the north end of
the city square.
More than half of the citizens were through the gates
as
the Massan defenders raced to close with the
advancing
host.
The Ellvinians did not bother to establish a formal
line of attack and the two opposing forces clashed with
terrible
force. With no room to bring weapons to bear, brutal
hand-to-hand combat
ensued and the grunts and screams of men
filled the air.

Kellan looked for an opening, but the close quarter fighting made it difficult to direct his magic at the enemy.
A quick glance
at Jala
where she stood
along the wall,
told him
she was having the same difficulty.

Fortunately, Izzy could act and she did. Kellan heard
petrified
cries
coming
from
directly
below and looked down. Three black wolves from the Grayan Forest were slinking their way in through the horde of people storming out. Muzzles lifted in bone-chilling snarls, the three wolves burst out of the crowd and attacked.

Although, not quite as large as the Draca Cats, their formidable skill at
pack
killing wrecked havoc among the Ellvinians. Sharp canines sunk deep into flesh and ripped apart throats.

A hole opened up in the fighting as the Elves scrambled to flee the wolves, and this allowed one
of the Battlearms
to
brandish his sword and sink it between the ribs of one of the wolves. The animal
fell to the ground with a yelp.

The
wounded cry sent the other wolves into
a frenzied fury and they
tore into the enemy with
even more ferocious
abandon.
Several Elves brought their bows up and slammed arrows into the animals, but even with multiple shafts sticking out of each of the wolves, they continued their deadly slaughter for many minutes before finally going down.
In the end, the wolves
killed at least forty Elves. Considering the
Ellvinian
numbers, it was but a very small dent in their armor, but it did give the
enemy
pause at the powers of the shifters.

“They’re through!”

Kellan
peered over the wall and saw the
gates
close
on the last Massan.

The attack of the wolves caused the Ellvinians to give
ground as officers bellowed, bringing their fighters into
cohesive battle lines. The defenders, already exhausted and bloodied fell back to the gates for a moment to catch their breath.