Embers of an Age (Blood War Trilogy) (8 page)

Uthul donned a number of the O’hra before he could hesitate. Their power quickened his pulse as the magical tools drove their tendrils into his flesh
and filled him with the
holy
blood of the goddess. He roared as the energy he’d been so long without flooded through him. The pressure welled inside and he felt the warm stream of tears on his cheeks, t
he magic almost overwhelming
. His breath clutched at his lungs.

When at last he could breathe, he gathered his things and hooked the bag to his waist once more. The climb to his perch had been torturous, but he relished the journey back down, eager to feel the O’hra spurring his body on. He glanced at
the ruined city
once more and charted his path. Though he felt a measure of guilt at leaving the people of
Lathah
in the hands of the Grol, there was no time to free them from their captivity.
His mission would serve their needs if he were swift.

His course plotted, he wound his way down the mountain face
and
circle
d around
to the south of the fallen city where he might avoid the beasts left behind and skirt the
wreckage
of Fhen as he made his way home. He prayed that Zalee had already returned, safe and whole with her charges.

To avoid further encounters with Yviri forces that might bring the whole of the nation down upon them, Zalee led the group through the shadowed fringes of the Dead Lands. The choice set the travelers on edge
, night having fallen before they reached its gnarled tree line
.

Arrin watched as the Sha’ree forged ahead, keeping her distance from the gathered O’hra the group carried. She’d said little since their departure from Lathah
, driving forward with a dogged pace.
Arrin ha
d taken up
a position at
the rear to keep an eye on the group. None, save perhaps Jerul, had experienced forced marches such as this. Arrin knew the O’hra would keep their bodies going, but he worried for their spirits. Traveling in the darkened forest could rend the courage of
even
the bravest warrior.

He looked to Cael now and again
as the night stretched on
to see
that
the boy seemed to handle the journey well. He strode beside his uncle
with a protective mask etched across his features, his hand clutched tight about the small bag that held his golden rod. The Velen looked far less confident
, as he had the entirety of their travel
s
. He started at every noise and plucked at the hem of his sleeve as they ran. His pace slowed and sped at random, the rest of the group adjusting to stay together.

Jerul ran at the Velen’s back, occasionally speaking words of encouragement and setting a
supportive
hand on Domor’
s shoulder
as if to press him forward
.
Kirah hung close to Arrin’s side and held her silence.
Arrin was grateful they’d not encountered any of the creatures that lurked within the forest. He’d heard them growling and
moving
about in the distance, but they’d given the travelers
fair
space, perhaps sensing the concentration of
magic in their midst
.
Whatever the reason, he was glad to see the flickers of
dim
light through the thinning canopy that signaled their departure from the woods.

Zalee burst through the tree line and disappeared for a moment, those ahead doing the same until Arrin pressed through the crowded shrubs and stepped out into
the gloomy light of dawn. The group came to a stop, the sudden shift of terrain breathtaking in its bleakness.

Dark and massive mountains rose up in the horizon. Their jagged peaks jutted into the sky and cast a pall of blackness over the l
and.

“We’re not going there, are we?” Domor asked, his long, thin finger pointing to the mountain range.

Zalee shook her head. “No
, that is the seat of Hespayr
.
We have no business there.
From here
,
we will skirt the line of the Dead Lands
all the way
to Ah Uto Ree.
We will be amongst my people soon.”

Cael grinned and even Domor appeared to relax. He pulled his eyes from the oppressive mountains and cast them across the dark soil of Hespayr. The Velen adjusted his robes and breathed a loud sigh. “Then let us be on our way.” He moved up alongside Zalee. “Will there be wine?”

The Sha’ree glanced
expressionless
at the Velen and stared
for
a moment before nodding.

“It calms him,” Jerul added, a broad smile on his lips.

Cael chuckled
loudly
and
Kirah shook her head
, but even she couldn’t hide her amusement
.
Arrin grinned at the boy,
his
humor contagious.

“It was an honest question,” Domor told Cael, frustration framing his features. “Our supplies were lost on our way to Nurin.”

“There will be wine, Velen, and food
,
and soft beds, if you’ll only get to enjoy the
ir comfort
for a short while.”
The wisp of a smile seemed to play across Zalee’s lipless mouth. She turned away and waved them on. “Let us hurry and find Domor his wine
lest our world end and he remain sober
.”

Arrin watched as the group started up, shifting to a run as the Sha’ree darted away.
An
uncomfortable grin still stretching his cheeks, Arrin
nudged the Pathra
forward
and
followed after.

The dark soil crunched beneath their boots as they left the moist dirt of the Dead Lands
behind
. Even with the O’hra working to quiet their passage, their footfalls could be heard rising up through the morning air. Arrin cringed at each
step
, the cluster of them sounding as one long, drawn out
crackle
that seemed to hover about them
as they raced across Hespayr
.
The noise reached into the Dead Lands, provoking answering calls from the
tangled
dark
ness
.
Kirah caught
Arrin’s
eyes and motioned toward the woods. He nodded his acknowledgment.
Faint movements in the trees told
him
somethin
g t
raveled parallel alon
g
their path within the shadowed forest.

He looked to the group and saw that Cael and Domor were oblivious to the sound, but Zalee cast furtive glances over her shoulder when their eyes were
n’t
on her. Jerul also kept his sights on the trees, one
hand
on the hilt of a sword at all times.
As they ran along, the flitters in the
woods
growing more aggressive, the warrior urged his blood-companion forward with subtle encouragement of the fine wines that lay ahead. It kept the Velen at his pace.

They ran for hours across the black earth, the mountains looming over their left shoulder the entire way. Arrin had grown accustomed to the grinding crunch of their heels and the rustles in the trees, so it took a moment for him to realize the creatures of the Dead Lands had gone silent; not a branch stirred. He looked to the woods, ahead and behind, seeing nothing in their shadows.

“Wait,” he called, his sword drawn into his hand.
Kirah dropped into a crouch at his side.

A
crack
like thunder broke all around them, the blackened soil flung into the air
to
cascad
e
overtop. The ground rumbled beneath. Arrin covered his eyes to shield against the raining stones
and heard Zalee shriek. He looked to see her flying towards the group, a shambling wall of stone standing before them where there
had been
nothing but open space a moment before. He reached out and grabbed ahold of her shoulders as she neared and let her momentum spin them around, setting her on her feet at the end of the
revolution
. She nodded in thanks, the left side of her face swollen and already showing signs of
bruising
discoloring
its natural green.

Domor screamed and stumbled back, Cael and Jerul following after. Arrin looked past them to the see the creatures that had sprung from the earth
to ambush
them. His breath caught in his lungs. They were Ruhr; nearly a dozen of them.

Little larger than a Lathahn male, their bod
ies were
made entirely of pliable stone
, which
shifted and bent as easily as flesh, allowing the creatures to move and act as any other mobile being. They charged forward with a speed belying their stone forms.

“Cael, Domor, get behind me,” Arrin yelled as he leapt to meet the advance. He willed his collar to life and felt its strength imbue his limbs, and hoped it was enough. Though he’d bested a Hull o
nce, the larger, slower child
of the Ruhr, it had been alone and slowed by its mass
and dull wit
. The Ruhr before them were swift and
intelligent and
held the advantage in numbers.

Kirah loosed her javelin and it
clanged
off the chest of the first Ruhr, crumpling the point and sending it careening into the woods. She drew her sword and moved off to flank the creatures.

Arrin
ducked the first of the line, its stone arm whipping past overhead, and darted left to put its stone body between him the creature’s companions. Crouched at its side, Arrin uncoiled and lashed out. His sword struck the hip of the Ruhr. The steel shrieked as it sunk into the rocky hide, cut a gash little more than a few inches deep. The Ruhr stumbled slightly as Arrin pulled his blade free, but it gave no
other
reaction to being struck. Its featureless face turned toward Arrin as it swung its other arm.

Arrin
leaned
away
and Zalee closed on the Ruhr, her silvered blade cleaving the creature’s arm off at the elbow. It tumbled away and kicked up a cloud of black dust as the Ruhr shifted to go after the Sha’ree. She drew it forward a step and Arrin buried his sword in the back of the Ruhr’s head. It reached for Zalee, dragging Arrin
behind it,
his boots digging into the dirt, and then tumbled forward. Its weight pulled Arrin’s sword free just as another of the stone beings came at him.
He stumbled away to escape its attack.

A white and purple blur crashed into the Ruhr and knocked it aside. Off balance, it kicked up puffs of dust
, stomping its feet, as it tried to right itself
before toppling onto its side
and rolling to its back
. Jerul stood hunched before the line of Ruhr, his shoulder scraped and bleeding from the impact. He held his jagged swords out before him.

Kirah clashed with yet another of the creatures, her blade ringing
against
its arms and casting off sparks that showered her
in a golden rain
. Her speed kept her just out
of reach of the Ruhr’s counter
attack.

“We can’t fight them like this,” Arrin called out as he moved alongside
the Yvir
. He glanced about the barren field and saw nothing he could use to strengthen their position.

Zalee came to stand beside them, her finger pointing past the Ruhr that closed upon them. Arrin’s gaze followed and he saw more of the stone creatures rising up in the distance.

“They block the way to Ah Uto Ree,” Zalee said, disbelief in her
trembling
voice.

There was no time for Arrin to reply. Another of the Ruhr leapt forward and
the travelers separated to make
its approach difficult. They worked well together, each warrior versed in tactics and combat, but Arrin knew they fought a foe too powerful to overwhelm even with such skills. The Ruhr closest charged in to grab him
,
but
he faked right and darted left. The creature fell for the feint and its stone fist
struck
empty
air. He cast a furtive glance
at the one that had fallen to see it still lay upon its back, struggling to rise.

Arrin was in the air
without a thought
.

The heels of his boots crashed into the upper back of the Ruhr. Its weight forward, the Ruhr went down without a fight, Arrin riding it the entire way. The creature crashed face first into the earth and Arrin leapt free, rolling to his feet and turning to face the remaining Ruhr. Seven still stood, those in the distance drawing closer. Those nearest were unrelenting. They raced forward again.