Embers of an Age (Blood War Trilogy) (18 page)

Arrin glanced over his shoulder as they trudged on.
Cael lurked a short distance behind him. His frustration was etched into his face and he avoided meet
ing Arrin’s eyes. Though he
meant only to keep the boy alive, he knew he had wounded Cael’s pride. Cael
knew fear but he
was no coward and longed to prove it. Arrin would owe him an apology when there was time, but the boy needed to be alive to hear it.

No time to salve Cael’s feelings, he shifted his gaze to the others.
The Velen people appeared defeated despite not losing a single member of their village. Their dark faces expressed their weariness and sorrow. The Yvir helped them forward, staying close and pressuring the Velen to keep moving. Arrin kept glancing back as they traveled on, the speed of their passage slowed to
meet the pace of the non-O’hra-
wielding survivors. He growled low, voicing his frustration
at the delay
.

“They mourn the loss of their blood-companions,” Jerul said as they walked, offering an explanation for the slowness of their journey.
“They will not be given the opportunity to prepare the bodies
and it vexes them greatly
.”

Arrin nodded to the warrior, feeling a pang of guilt for his lack of patience and compassion.
There was simply no place for it now.
“I understand,” he replied, “
but
I do not wish to bury anymore of your people or mine.” Kirah set a hand on his arm and squeezed
to rein in his frustration
.
“We must carry on.”

“I
,
too
,
understand.” Jerul looked back to the struggling crowd that followed behind. “I will do what I can to speed them.” He dropped back and spoke to the nearest of the Yvir.

“You will need more
men
than this if you intend to defeat the stone creatures,” Braelyn told Arrin as she came to walk alongside him.

Grateful for the bluntness of her candor, Arrin nodded.
“I agree. That is why I believe we should take the battle to the Grol first before attempting to fight the Hull.”

“You expect the Yvir to wait before trying to reclaim their land?” Kirah asked.

“
I don’t believe we
wi
ll need to fight to reclaim Y’Vel and Vel. The Hull
are moving
on to Ah Uto Ree and
will
abandon
any of the
land
s
they’ve conquered
, for the moment, at least
. The
ultimate
battle will be in the Sha’ree homeland
,
from what I can determine
,
but that matters little at this point
.
For now, our fight is in the Funeral Sands.”
He pointed ahead.

“What of the training the Sha’ree offered? Can we defeat the Grol without it?” Kirah continued.

“I believe so. The Grol are hardly a competent military force. They are succeeding on the merits of the O’hra
and their numbers
. I don’
t feel we need to be at full strength to break their will. However, I suspect we will lose many of us in the fight and will
still
need the Lathahns and Pathra if there is to be any hope of winning through to the end where the Hull and Ruhr await us. Worse still, the sands will
likely
take their toll before we even reach the Grol.”

Bra
elyn looked to Arrin. “You are
correct. The desert is dangerous. There were a multitude of creatures that sprang from the
earth
as I ran past with help from the O’hra. I do not relish going back.”

“Nor would I expect it of you were it not
for the sudden uprising of the Hull and Ruhr. I know well enough how it feels to be kept from home and family, and I wouldn’t wish
such
upon anyone. With the creatures blocking the north and Ah Uto Ree, it feels as though we are being forced to confront the Grol
and ignore whatever machinations have set the Hull loose upon Ahreele
if we are to have any hope of victory.”

“The Sha’ree should be able to defend their land,” Jerul said as he returned to the conversation.

“Perhaps, but I don’
t believe so,” Arrin answered. “They would not have gathered us if they felt confident in their abilities. The Hull are a thousand times the threat the Grol represent. Whatever the purpose of the Hull and Ruhr assaults, I feel we are soon to see the end of the Sha’ree if we cannot amass an army large enough
,
and with enough power
,
to repel them.”

Kirah sighed, running he
r hand across her furred scalp.

“My people will fight until none stand,” Jerul told them, puffing his massive chest out.
The purple veins stood out bright.

Arrin acknowledged the truth of the warrior’s statement with a nod. “Let us hope we don’t require that sacrifice.”

Jerul’s words to his people had worked to speed the Velen, and in turn, the Yvir. The travelers closed on Arrin’s back
as he spoke
. He looked
at them
and gave an encouraging smile he didn’t feel. Though he wanted nothing more to believe the warriors
who
followed could reach the mausoleum and obtain the O’hra and lead a successful push against the Grol, he could not help but see disaster and death ahead.

As he led the army into Tolen, Arrin thought back to his exile. The bitter, black feeling of despair that crawled inside him now was so much like that which accompanied him on his long walk through the gates of Ahreele. As he set one boot before
the
other, he could see nothing but a bleak future
ahead
.

Ellora stuck close to the royal family as Prince Olenn led them through the maze of tunnels and out through the massive door that had blocked their passage when they first tried to escape the city. Despite all that happened and the nature of her return, she couldn’t help but feel happy at being back in Lathah. It had been her home her entire life. She’d known nothing else.

As soon as they had cleared the outer tunnel and had slipped onto the Crown, however, she knew immediately it had changed. Her home, such as it had been, was ruined. The tangy scent of smoke clung to the air, intermingled with dust. Rubble covered the cobblestone streets and massive stone blocks were piled just a short distance from where they had entered the city.

“The spire,” Malya muttered as they were led into the dusty streets.

Olenn’s gaze followed the wreckage, his eyes growing wide. “It seems there will be a need for reconstruction
,
”
he said with a quite chuckle.

Ellora drew her eyes from the mountainside where the spire had once stood and traced its length to the wall ahead where it had fallen. The Crown wall had collapsed beneath it, but the debris held the remnants of the tower in the air. The wall of the First beyond had weathered the impact and still stood. The spire creaked ominously above as the stones threatened to break loose.

“Perhaps we should
move along, sire,” one of Olenn’s men prompted. The prince didn’t argue.

The group skirted the carnage and slipped through a hole in the wall that led to the first. Down below, Ellora could see funnels of black smoke rising into the air across the various levels. None seemed to have avoided damage. She looked to Malya and saw the sorrow in the princess’ eyes. She gazed about as they traveled through the deserted levels, dodging debris and smoldering craters. The further they went along, the lower Malya’s shoulder seem to sink. Falen shambled along beside in an effort to comfort her, but Ellora could see the princess was inconsolable.
This had been her kingdom as much as it had been her father’s. To see it torn asunder must have been horrible.

Ellora turned her focus back to Olenn as he brought the group to a halt. He scampered up a stony hill of wreckage that climbed the side of the Fifth and peered out across the city. His head swiveled for a moment, and then
steadied
as he found what he was looking for. He remained silent for a short while before finally scampering down the makeshift hill and returning to the group.

“
The Grol have perhaps one hu
ndred beasts here to guard their captives
.” He smiled to his soldiers. “I think it’s time to cement our position amongst the people. Let us go.”

He waved the group forward and they circled around and through the remaining levels until they stood on the Ninth, just a short distance from a massive hole that had been blown through the front wall.
Rubble filled the level, pieces of homes and shops scattered about the Ninth and casting shadows over the group as they passed. Ellora felt a cold sickness settle into her stomach as they marched by the
wreckage of the orphanage she’
d called home. Wooden pillars rose from the ground like the ribs of a skeleton, but all the flesh of the building was gone. Charred black and buried in detritus, it had been wiped from existence. Ellora’s eyes were locked on the ruin as they walked on
.
She only tore
her gaze away when the building slipped
from
the
line of
her
vision.
There was nothing left but memories.

They continued on until the prince raised a hand. He
turned to Malya. “Let me be clear, sister.
Our
people lie just a short distance beyond the wall. I intend to slip into their ranks and free as many of the men as possible and lead them against the Grol.” He drew up close, his
soldiers
holding Falen in place. “Whatever you
might
think of me, be warned
, s
hould you
draw attention to us, I will leave you and your family
,
and all of your beloved subjects
,
to the mercy of the
hungry
Grol. Do you understand me?”

Malya stared a moment,
her eyes wet with her anger,
but
she
acquiesced, nodding.

“Good.” Olenn turned to the men guarding the royal family. “Hold them here
until we have killed the Grol
. I will decide what to do with them afterwards.” He waved to the rest of his soldiers, and the force crept off toward the hole.

Ellora stood silent as the soldiers encircling her
followed
after the prince, leaving her standing
alone
a few feet behind the royal family. All eyes were on the prince and his men as they
slipped from the corpse of the city and went out to battle the beasts
.
Ellora scanned her surroundings and spied another hole through the far wall across the Ninth. It stood near the front gate, just a short distance from where the people of Lath
ah were being held by the Grol. She could see them milling about beyond the makeshift doorway.

An idea called to her
.
She let her gaze flit back and forth between the disappearing entourage of the prince and the broken wall.
If there was a chance at escape, for any of them, it was now. She might not be able to convince anyone the prince had taken his sister captive, but she could certainly show them. She just needed to get away first.

Ellora waited until she was sure Olenn
was
too far to turn back and too close to the Grol to risk exposure. She looked to the guards surrounding the family and saw they had yet to even
glance
her direction since the prince left. With a quiet breath to gird her courage, Ellora cast one last glance at Malya and her family and ran.
It sickened her to imagine what they might think of her, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

She darted off across the rubble, lifting her feet high to keep from clacking stones together. The guards must have heard her
, regardless
. They spun and one went to shout but another
hissed him to silence
.
None followed.

Ellora grinned as she ran, putting more and more distance between her and the soldiers. They didn’t dare call out or threaten for fear of giving away their prince
’s stealthy advance. Ellora
felt confident they would do nothing to the royal family with
out
Olenn there to dir
ect it. And though she wished no ill upon the people of Lathah, preferring their freedom to enslavement, she couldn’t help but hope Olenn died in his assault.

No certainty of that, she slipped thro
ugh the outer wall and stepped
onto the field outside of Lathah. She could see the prince and his men from where she stood. They slipped amidst the captives, cutting men free and drifting on to do it again, gathering a small army as they went. The Grol milled about on the other side of the gathered Lathahns. They stood close and menacing, but they appeared almost uninterested in the captives, and she could see why. The people looked forlorn, broken. They stood in tight groups, shuffling their feet, but offering
nothing in the way of resistance.