Embers of an Age (Blood War Trilogy) (16 page)

A cry erupted near the ditch. There was a sudden gap in the line of the Yviri forces as a Hull crested the ditch. It swung its arm into the ranks and swept a number of the warriors into the trench. Their screams rang against Arrin’s ears, the crunch of violent death following after until the screams dropped away. Warriors pressed forward and sent the Hull tumbling back into the hol
e to repair
the line.

“We cannot hold them much longer,” Hardin said with rigid certainty in his tone.

“Will you lead us through the desert, Braelyn,” Arrin asked her
.

“You don’t
know what you ask. You will lose many on the journey.” She stared off to the south as though seeing the Funeral Sands in her mind’s eye.
Her hand caressed the O’hra that crossed her chest.

“We will lose all if we remain here,”
Arrin
countered.

She turned her eyes to
him
after a quiet moment.
“Then if that is what I must do to earn my way home,
s
o be it.”

“How do you
propose we get
there?” Kirah’s wide purple eyes gave emphasis to her question.

“If Ah Uto Ree is blockaded, then we drive south through Tolen. If they are under siege by the Hull, they will not notice us. If not, they no doubt know of the battles going on and will gladly offer us passage as we intend to take the
fight
to the Grol.”

Jerul sighed and turned to Hardin. “Gather the Velen and bring them here.” He pointed off to the battle. “This is as good a place to cross as any.”

“You would have us abandon Vel?” The Yvir asked.

“
If we stay, we die, as do the Velen in our care. That suits no purpose save our enemy’s.
We have need of an army to fight the Grol, and these people,” he gestured to the group, “
will provide our warriors with Sha’ree magic to counter that which
the beasts
stole from Ah Uto Ree. Without the O’hra, we will never reclaim our homeland
or know peace in Ahreele
.”

Hardin stood silent a moment, staring at Jerul. At last, he seemed to come to a decision. “
You
offer
us
sour
choice
s
, brother.
I will bring the Velen and prepare our people to retreat.” He looked to the looming Hull. “I fear we will have little time to gather supplies.” Hardin grunted and ran into the village, disappearing behind a cluster of huts.

Once Hardin was gone, Kirah looked to Arrin. “You said nothing o
f the possibility of the Hull fo
llowing us into the Funeral Sands.”

“I don’t believe they will,” he answered. “Given the capture of Zalee and the push of the Hull toward Ah Uto Ree through the fonts, it stands to reason this battle has something to do with the Sha’ree and the Yvir and Velen were simply in the way. All of our encounters
since Hespayr
have sprung up to block our path to
the Sha’ree homeland
. By driving south and passing through Tolen rather than risking setting foot near
Ah Uto Ree
, I believe we will escape any further confrontations with the Hull or Ruhr.”

“But not with the creatures that roam the desert,” Braelyn added.

Arrin gave her a feral grin. “One battle at a time
, woman
.”

He
turned to watch
as Hardin led a cluster of Velen out of the village. Their dark faces were
sick with fear. They hung close to one another, their voices filling the air with muffled uncertainty.
Arrin turned back to the group
with a sigh
. “Let us make ready to go.
I foresee a long journey ahead.”

Ellora trudged through the heavy water that grasped her
ankles
at every step. Her head hung at her chest to avoid the constant drip of moisture that snaked its way down the
tangled
strands of her hair. She was soaked. Only the warmth of the makeshift rain pattering down around them made it less than the miserable affair it could have been.

The prince and his men strode easily, their booted steps seeming to slice through the water without effort. The rest of them weren’t so lucky. Several times Olenn had turned to threaten Malya and her family for moving too slowly. Ellora cursed the prince inside her head, imagining leaping upon his back and riding him down into the murky rainwater where she would hold his head under until the last of his foul breath left him. Each time she would glance up at his back, her disappointment would return. It was only a dream. He walked ahead, alive and unperturbed by her bitter thoughts.

She glanced to the boys and saw they were holding up well. It hadn’t been them slowing the group, but their father. Falen’s injuries seeped and he shivered as he tried to keep pace.
Malya slowed to help him along. The children slowed with her. The walk against the water’s grip was trying enough, but to add Falen’s wounds to the effort must have been horrible. How he managed to keep the pace he did was due to nothing more than determination. Ellora saw it etched in the lines of his face, the narrow stare of his eyes. He didn’t dare fall behind and leave Malya and his boys to the mercy of the prince.

Her eyes on the royal family, Ellora alm
ost didn’t notice Olenn had stopped
. She
pulled up
just short of running into his back. A muttered apology sputtered, she drew back as the prince and the soldiers out front stepped to the side of the canyon. Olenn’s swung away in a grandiose gesture, motioning to the way ahead.

“And here we have the kind souls grateful enough to provide me with the means to revenge Lathah upon the Grol.”

Malya gasped and
Ellora
saw
Falen dr
a
w her closer.
T
he boys’ eyes
went
wide and
she turned to see what they looked
at. She regretted it instantly.

Dead men lay in the water. The bodies shifted slightly under the motion caused by the rain, but it was clear they had been there a
while
. The bodies were bloated and gray, the exposed skin waxy
and deformed
. The couple who lay face up stared with bulbous, black eyes over swollen cheeks.
Their faces were covered in blistered growths that seeped a pale yellow fluid that stained the water in a growing aura around their bodies.

Ellora looked away from their ruined faces, her stomach churning.
Their way
of dress was strange. They wore fur in layers that seemed ill-suited to the temperatures near Lathah.

The slicing sound of unsheathed steel drew her eyes to Olenn. He held a sword before the assembled captives. Its blade was an obsidian darkness that seemed to absorb what little sunlight reached into the canyon. Ellora felt a metallic bitterness in her mouth as she looked at the sword, her stomach tight.

“I don’t know where these men came from, but they are clearly not Sha’ree.” He nudged one of the bodies with his
boot, sending a wave of yellow
pus floating across the water’s surface. “They look Lathahn despite their odd outfits, but I’ve never seen any of our people with such amazing weapons.” He shifted the sword and a quiet hum pulsed against Ellora’s ears. “This sword is magic, as are those we found on the rest of the corpses. With these, we can challenge the Grol on equal footing and root them from our land.”

“You think a dozen swords will defeat the Grol?” Malya asked.

Olenn grinned. “I don’t intend to kill them all, dear sister. I intend to rule them.”

The princess stared at her brother without speaking. Ellora wonder if he was insane.

“They’re nothing but beasts. They rut and feed and piss in the dirt like dogs. And like dogs, they follow the biggest, meanest mutt in the pack.” He grinned at his soldiers. “I
intend to be
that mutt
; the alpha.”

Malya matched his grin. “You will need to get very close
to pull off such a bold move
. I would love to see you try.”

He shook his head. “
It
is easier than you might think. I have
already
come to terms with the lead dog of their army. The next time he stands face to face with a Lathahn messenger, he will be under the impression he delivers the means to lure your precious Arrin out into the light. He will greet the messenger with open arms. That messenger will be me.”

Olenn sheathed the black sword and grasped the metal belt buckle at his waist. The silver circle came away in his hand and split at one end. It snapped straight and grew longer without a sound, producing a blade about a foot in length. It shimmered with a greenish light.

“This one is magic, as well.
I sink it into the eye of their leader, this Vorrul, and the
whole pack drops to their knees
.” He laughed. “It helps that I’ll
have an army of Lathahns at my back.”

“That will be even more difficult seeing how you left our…
your
people to rot in the clutches of the Grol.”

“You underestimate me, as father always did.”

Malya snarled at the mention of her father. Falen gripped her arm tight as she threatened to launch herself at her brother.

Olenn only grinned wider. “
I have already arranged their freedom. We will
either
return to Lathah to find
the
people loose of the beasts’ shackles and eager for
Grol blood, or I will free them when we arrive
.
Either way,
I will provide them the opportunity
for revenge
, and when I have defeated the Grol, I will set them to work on rebuilding Lathah. Armed with the magic of the beasts, we will never again suffer the indignities of defeat.”

Ellora saw the uncertainty in Malya’s eyes
as the prince turned away and waved them onward with a laugh
. She knew the princess couldn’t tell if her brother lied or told the truth, but it didn’t matter. Malya had no place in Olenn’s
new
world
and Ellora wondered what would happen when they returned to Lathah.

Whatever the prince’s plans were, there could be no doubt it would not be what was
best for Malya and her family…
or Ellora, for that matter.

The room had grown cold, and Domor shivered. His wrists had been bound together and his arms pulled tight over his head with yet another of the huge woman’s silver chains. His feet had been left untied, but the awkwardness of crouching did little to alleviate the throb in his muscles and the tight binding, which sent tingles dancing down his arms.

Hours earlier, he had been taken from Zalee’s side and marched into another
smooth,
stone-hewn room. This one was far larger
, dozens of horse-
lengths in each direction
. Stacks upon stacks of bright metals sheets lined
the
room. Their faces reflected the flickering light of the sconces set down the length of the wall. The temperature inside was frigid despite the torches. Domor shivered and glanced about once more, as if seeking some tiny something
he hadn’
t seen in
all
the time spent chain
ed to the wall
.

Unlike the first chamber they had been taken to, this one had no door. It opened up
directly
into the gray corridor
beyond the large archway
. He had cast furtive glances into the adjoining caverns as he was brought here, but there was nothing save more of the metal sheeting that filled th
e
chamber.

At the far end of the room was a strange arrangement of stone carvings whose purpose he couldn’t understand. A large stone shelf protruded from the wall,
covered in tools he had no understanding of. Set beside the table
was
what looked like a
wide
horse trough carved
above
the
floor
. Grooved channels ran to and from the trough and circled back on each other, but he saw nothing running in their
lengths.

As he pondered the devices and hoped the Hespayrins hadn’t built them for the torture of innocent Velens, he heard the heavy steps of someone coming toward the room, a soft, shuffling sound sounding with it. He glanced at the doorway to see Illraine step inside. She dragged Zalee behind her. Domor fought the urge to turn away when he saw her.

The Sha’ree had been beaten
horribly
. If she still lived, it was nothing
short of miraculous.