By the Sword (19 page)

Then, he ran at her.

The forceful clang of their swords pierced the crisp night air. She attacked him with a series of thrashes. He blocked them all, but he had no opportunity to use a single counter attack.

“You’ve improved since our last duel,” he said.

“It was far easier for you to beat me back when I had been fighting other warriors for hours on end!”

“Good,” he said. “I did not neglect the rest of my dinner for an easy kill.”

Kill? That’s what you think.

He swung his sword toward her. She leaped out of the way, spun around, and placed a high kick into his chest. He stumbled backward.

Jalarn came at her with a powerful round of swings. It took all of her strength to block them. His intensity had increased. They fought back and forth for several minutes.

Some of the bushes around them began to rustle.

Talya’s pulse raced.

Is it more Malinorians?

Three large millipede-like insects scurried out and rushed between Talya and Jalarn. He severed one of them with his sword. The other two disappeared into the darkness.

Talya breathed a sigh of relief. It could have been much worse.

Jalarn stalked toward her again.

Talya blocked his swing.

“Just so you know, I have already spoken with the giants,” she said.

“You lie.”

Their swords collided. She dodged to the left and grazed his upper arm.

He cursed.

“They are on their way to join my army right now. So, it looks like you wasted a trip.”

So the little wretch had beaten him to the punch. She must have used some kind of trickery from her God – it was the only explanation. How else would the formidable men, known for their independence, join up with a random army without some kind of force? The reason no longer mattered. The bottom line was that Ittonifer would not be pleased
with him
.

Enraged, Jalarn swung his sword at the girl, but she blocked the attack. He needed her to be dead so that he could plan his next move.

I need to get my men together and go after the giants, but she won’t die! She hasn’t even weakened.

Jalarn lunged at her again with enough force to sever her slender torso in two, but she jumped to the side more quickly than his eyes could follow. As he rushed past her, she struck him with a forceful back kick that sent him face first into the dirt as his sword plugged into the ground.

Chapter Twelve

Jalarn got back up quickly. He gripped the hilt of his sword and yanked it out of the earth. His fury grew by the second. He could easily cast a spell that would make her freeze in place or become pathetically weak, but there was no pride in that. That was not the way he fought one on one.

It should not be this difficult to finish off this skinny excuse for a warrior.

She stood there, waiting for his next move. Her hands gripped the hilt of her sword. He could see it in her eyes, in her stance – the desire to conquer at all costs. He needed more of her sort in his army.

Then, she let her guard down like a fool. Something else stirred in the bushes nearby. She looked away from him for a moment.
So typical.

Jalarn ran at her with full speed, bent on finishing her. A large blur from the brush caught his attention. Jalarn stopped cold as a snarling lion jumped in between them. It was facing Jalarn. The beast was nearly as tall as he, and it was more powerfully built than a bull.

Jalarn held his sword out in front of him, trying to ignore his pounding heart. He kept an eye on the animal’s throat.

The lion licked his chops
and
crouched, ready to attack. Jalarn braced himself as the animal leaped and slammed into him.

The lion wailed. Jalarn’s sword had penetrated deep into his shoulder.

Jalarn rolled over, got up, and leaped away from the lion’s massive paws. He slashed at the animal’s shoulder.

The beast roared and came after him again.

Jalarn stabbed him, but it seemed to only strengthen the lion’s resolve to kill him. Every time he went for the lion’s throat, the animal blocked his sword with a great swipe that could have torn his arm off.

Jalarn exhaled. This was a test of his strength by the prince.

I won’t let you down.

Talya stood, frozen in place, as Jalarn took on the raging wild animal. She never would have imagined that a lion so large existed. The Malinorian general fought with full force, but the lion was much more powerful. She wanted the pleasure of killing Jalarn herself, but now she might never have that chance.

And then the lion will come after me.

Talya knew that she should run, but she did not want to. Not yet. She needed to see Jalarn dead first. Or watch him conquer the lion.

The large beast had Jalarn pinned under him now.

Jalarn freed one of his arms and thrust the blade of his sword straight through the big cat’s chest. With a loud cry, the animal slapped Jalarn in the head, rolled off of him, and lay still.

Jalarn did not move. Sword out of reach and unconscious, he was powerless against Talya now.

And the lion is dead.

Talya swallowed. The moment had finally come. She was going to kill Jalarn. Her heart pounded as she walked over to him. She wanted to see the face of her well-skilled foe before she ended his life.

She crouched down to remove his mask. He moaned as his eyes fluttered open.

Talya held her sword at his neck.

“Do not move!” she demanded.

She yanked off his helmet
and t
he moonlight highlighted his angular face. His piercing eyes glared defiantly back at her, but he did not say a word.

Talya had not expected him to be so young. He had clearly killed many innocent people to obtain his rank of general at
such a young age
.

Talya stood and gripped the hilt of her sword. This was the moment that she had waited
for ever
since the battle at Cardamon.

Jalarn looked beyond her in a confused daze. He got up on his knees, looking rapidly in several directions, and then stared up at the sky.

“You promised me that I would never fail if I served you,” he said. “I gave you my all! I don’t understand…”

His eyes returned to hers. There was fear in them now.

“Do it now,” he said.

As he spoke, Talya noticed the scar above his left eye.
His tousled hair.
The wide, green eyes.

A chill ran down her spine.

It was
him
– the boy from the visions. But he was older
.

It can’t be!

Hands shaking, Talya sheathed her sword.

Jalarn stared at her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I can’t kill you,” she said.

Did I just say that? Yes, yes I did. I can’t kill him! He is the boy.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. An eerie silence surrounded them, and Talya’s ears rang.

Now what am I supposed to do?

Talya backed away, but he held her gaze.

This was the second part of the mission.
God wanted her to be rid of her desire to kill Jalarn.

The nearby bushes rustled and deep, loud voices filled the air. It was the Malinorians
this time
.

Talya spun around and bounded through the forest, trying her best not to be caught by the vines that seemed to drape everywhere. She almost tripped over a fallen branch.

Her mind raced
as she ran
. God had sent her to show mercy on Jalarn.
Ittonifer’s left-hand man
, of all people
.
She never would have imagined in a million years that she would spare the man that she wanted to kill most of all.

She would never forget the look on his face for as long as she lived. It was the look of a hopeless soul about to die. It was the same look that Waltez had given her.

Talya’s stomach knotted.

I really have been a monster.

She ran into a giant spider web. Its silky fibers stuck to her hair and clothes, and she stopped for a moment to brush a big piece from her eyes.

Talya ran with all her might
, but someone
was catching up to her. If they caught her, she was dead.

I would rather be mauled by a lion
than be slain by a Malinorian!

A swift blow smacked her in the back of the head, and she fell into a world of black.

Still dazed from being tossed around by that lion, Jalarn
got up and
ran after his men at a slower pace than he wanted to. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself to run faster, angry that a stupid beast had nearly finished him.

His men were standing over the girl. She was on the ground.

“Is she dead?” Jalarn asked.

“No, I didn’t club her good enough,” said one of his men.

He patted his weapon, and the others joined him in a loud chorus of laughter.

Jalarn removed the man’s mask and punched him in the face. That wiped off his incompetent grin pretty quick.

Everyone froze and stared at their general.

“There was no order to kill her. I want her alive. Have I made myself clear?”

The knights looked among themselves in confusion.

Idiots.

“Yes, Sir,” they said at last.

“Good.”

A piercing whinny broke the quiet.

Jalarn spun around. It was a horse. Two of his men were attempting to subdue her.

It must be the girl’s.

The animal reared up on her hind legs and knocked them both over.

“Incompetence will be rewarded with death next time,” Jalarn muttered.

One of them lassoed her with a vine.

Jalarn approached the beast and noticed her wings. She was a Malinorian-bred mare. A Pegasus. How in the world did a knight from Sanctus obtain such an animal?

That’s not the only question I would like an answer to.

He looked at the unconscious sword maiden. They would never catch up with the giants now, and it was all because of her. But she had spared his life. He needed to know why. Then he would kill her.

A scroll peeked out of her left-side pocket. Jalarn took the rolled paper, curious as to why she would have carried it with her.

“Carry the girl back to camp.
The giants are long gone.
We will return to Malinor tonight.”

*****

It had been a rigorous afternoon. General Edandir was confident that his knights were more than ready for the battle.

The soldiers rushed to the meal house, ready to devour their evening meal. The general decided to stay back for a while.

As Edandir practiced a couple of different swings with his sword, he thought of Talya. He had heard tales of vicious giants eating any unfortunate human that dared to enter their forest.

There was still so much left unsaid between the two of them.

Edandir shook his head. He was such a fool. He needed to pray harder than he ever had before. That night he would devote his time to the Lord. He would become more like a general worthy to lead a God-serving army.

“General?”

It was Tanel. Seeing Talya’s best friend made Edandir miss her even more.

“Before dinner, I was hoping to go over my sword fighting technique. I was wondering if you would show me the ones you use the most, Sir.
If it would not be too much trouble.
”

“Yes, of course.”

*****

Ittonifer felt uneasy as he put away the spell book that he had been studying. He had a strange feeling that Jalarn might not persuade the stubborn giants in time. His nephew was the one that the prince willed to take Ittonifer’s place after he died. Surely that meant that he would not fail this mission.
More than one failure in a week would not be acceptable.

Ever since Jalarn was a lad, he had demonstrated power. Ittonifer had used Jalarn’s mother’s death as a means to fuel the boy’s anger and hatred, which had formed him into the superior fighter that he was.

His nephew possessed not only physical strength, but he was quickly becoming skilled in the dark arts. Malinor would be in good hands when Ittonifer left the world to join his lord at last.

The door of Ittonifer’s study creaked open and then slammed. He heard Naeshi’s heavy footsteps as he entered the room.