Rise of the Shadow Warriors (21 page)

Chapter 26

Gornan. They came from everywhere until Shaina only saw a sea of green intermixed with the blue. One of the monsters charged Alin and the youth had no chance as the Gornan clubbed him on the head. Alin staggered as he turned to defend himself. Another swing of the rough club and he fell to the ground.

“Noo!” She screamed.

Shaina slit the throat of the Aerilian in front of her searching out Justan and Luka as she made her way toward Alin. Both fought with their swords against five blue warriors but at least they pulled on the shadows. Arms and legs blurred while they battled as both men kept close to one another. Heart in her throat, Shaina’s gaze scanned the growing numbers. They were outnumbered and all because Bjorn had set a trap and she and Argan had fallen for it.

Argan. She’d sent Argan after Bjorn but she didn’t see her husband or the arrogant prince anywhere. Shaina had to find him. 

“Looking for your husband, Shadow Queen?”

A blue warrior confronted her before she’d taken two steps. Shaina recognized a few of the Aerilians from the days of their alliance with her father. This one hadn’t changed at all. Still cocky.

“Move, Braiz.” Shaina didn’t have time to deal with him.

His grin was pure evil. “He’s dead. The warrior you took as Shadow King had his head crushed by a Gornan club.

She refused to believe him. “You lie.”

“He followed Bjorn as we planned.”

Shaina choked but forced back the anguish his words caused. “Not true.”

Braiz held his sword out before him with both hands, its point aimed at Shaina. “Very true Queen of the Olak’din.”

“You shall pay.” She’d make all the Aerilians pay.

A roar lit up the camp. Heads turned and Shaina shivered in spite of herself. A new group of warriors stormed into the middle of the fighting. Deadly swords cut through any who stepped in their way. Bare-chested men with long hair flowing about their faces stampeded through. Kabanian Warlords, Shaina realized as they advanced in a show of strength she couldn’t help but admire.

“Kabanians can’t save you,” Braiz said but she heard the slight tremor in his voice.

“Maybe but you won’t live to see.”

He grinned, the jagged peaks of his teeth giving the gesture a macabre appeal. “Would it help to know your husband cried for you and died like a babe on his knees begging for his life?”

Argan would never beg but each word slammed into her with dagger sharp accuracy. Fire poured through her pores, breaking her skin out in a cold sweat. Shaina called on her gift. She reached beyond the shadows that responded to her cry. She reached deeper than she ever had before except that one day long ago when a boy had tried to take what wasn’t his. Shaina pulled on the darkest aspect of her power as her mind slipped completely into the gray void.

When she spoke, her voice echoed in layers with the power of her ancestors. The sound crashed through the air waves causing those nearby to scream as their eardrums burst and blood leaked from them. “You will all die today.”

She tossed her swords into the muck of the ground and called on the true Shadow Warriors to rise once more.

***

“Get up, Argan!”

Argan blinked. Mud and grass filled his vision along with a pair of black leather boots. He rolled to his side, mentally groaning at the pain in his head and leg.

“Warlords do not give up.”

Familiar orders and commands filtered through his brain. Hands helped Argan to his feet and he came face to face with his Overlord. Argan stumbled before righting himself. Vaan grabbed his arm with a rough yank. Sweat drenched his Overlord’s skin giving the greenish-blue armor covering his torso a faint sheen. Argan had to blink to clear his wavering vision.

“Shaina,” he managed, swallowing thickly. “What has happened to Shaina?”

“Follow me.” Vaan stepped over the body of the Aerilian prince and another blue warrior. Both bore savage wounds that attested to his friend’s rage which contributed to their death.

Argan chased after Vaan, his head aching but nothing would keep him away from Shaina. He’d fallen for the trap and the Aerilians had been waiting for them. His stomach curled in knots at the strategic error that could cost him. “Tell me now, Vaan. Is my bride well?”

Vaan spared him a glance as they raced back toward the sounds of fighting and shouts of pain. “Yes, but the Gornan have joined the fight. The encampment was overrun when we arrived.”

Argan came to a complete stop at the sharp pain in his chest. Four against such numbers did not bode well. “The Olak’din who came with Shaina and I? Are they still alive?”

Would their shadow fighting skills have been enough to help them hold out before Vaan and the others had arrived?

“For now.” Vaan paused on the outskirts of a scene that brought to mind nightmares.

Bodies of both Aerilian and Gornan littered the ground. Justan danced around in a blur of shadows against a Gornan. To Argan’s relief, he caught sight of his bride. Shaina had tossed her swords to the side as she faced an Aerilian. His heart froze in his throat. Not because he thought the warrior would get close but because of what happened next. Dark spears of smoke surged from her chest, arching her backward. Shaina’s scream was one of rage and remorse.

“You have a tougher battle. Get to your bride.” A stream of blood dripped down the side of Vaan’s right ear.

The air charged with powerful bolts of energy that sent a wave of trepidation through Argan.

“Hurry,” Vaan shouted over the clang of steel and metal. “What she seeks to do will have grave consequence.”

He had no time to ponder Vaan’s words or Shaina’s actions when shadows exploded from her mouth. Argan couldn’t believe what his eyes beheld. Row upon row of men formed from the depth of the shadows she created. Violent winds ripped around him. With a rough swipe he cleared his vision.

A small group of shadow men surrounded Shaina. He could barely see her at the center of the vortex. Her arms extended toward the sky. For a moment, Argan thought Shaina saw him. Glimpsed his way but then she flung her head back and screamed again except instead of sounds of rage more shadows spilled from her mouth and the warriors she created leaped into action as if released from hidden restraint.

Vaan turned in his direction, knuckles tight around his sword. “Your woman needs you. Go to her while we hold them back.”

 Argan took a deep breath and offered his friend a respectful bow. This wasn’t the first time they’d rescued one another. “Thank you.”

Now to get to his bride.

Hands slick by sweat tightened on the hilt of Argan’s sword as the battle raged around him. Shaina stood at the center of the maelstrom. The Aerilians were easy enough to handle. His fellow Warlords moved through the blue warriors with trained efficiency. Fenal gripped them all but through the haze of anger Argan noted the unwavering efforts of the Gornan. The hulking creatures fought with mindless determination and it took his brethren twice as long to bring one down.

“Kiel move!”

Vaan’s voice thundered across the blood-soaked field. The younger Warlord dodged a battle axe aimed for his head and kicked out with a booted foot. Justan raced across the distance and slid on his knees. He sliced upward with both swords in an X formation between the Gornan’s spread legs. The brutal move brought the green beast to the ground. Justan leaped to his feet and swung the sword in his left hand in a deadly arc, his right arm followed the same deadly path. The Gornan’s head toppled to the ground.

Vaan rushed over and shouldered the young Shadow Warrior aside roughly, saving the young man from the Aerilian dagger spiraling in his direction. The blade missed him by inches. Justan nodded thanks to Vaan and ran toward his next opponent.

“Kabanian. You should have stayed out of this fight.”

Argan turned to face the new threat hindering his need to get to Shaina. He’d have to trust his friends would survive the night if Shaina didn’t kill them all. “I am Shadow King. This
is
my fight,” he declared proudly as he hefted his blade.

The Aerilian’s lips lifted in a snarl. Argan lashed out and raced toward Shaina before the body dropped dead behind him. Instinct saved him seconds later as Argan crouched low and dodged the erratic swing of another enemy. Air whistled above his head and the loud grunt of the one who had attempted to end him.

Argan rose. The Aerilian circled him and twirled the hilt of his sword. Well used to such distracting fight techniques, Argan kept his gaze on his opponent.

“Shaina C’Err has brought you and your warriors to your death, Kabanian.”

Argan’s lips curved upward. His voice dripped with menace when he informed the hapfe dung of a known fact. “Lest you forget, we are Kabanian Warlords not mere warriors. We do not fall.”

The blue face blanched. Fenal exploded full force and Argan’s vision misted.

***

The misty form of the Shadows warriors she created battled fiercely around them but Shaina controlled them with a mere thought. She eyed the new invaders. The Warlords had come. Men Argan called friends. Brother. They came to aid Argan because he had asked on her behalf.

Too late.

Pain attempted to rip through her heart but she blocked the feelings. She never wanted to feel again. Shaina cocked her head to the side as she considered how to crush her enemies. She would preserve the Warlords. They meant something to Argan who in turn had meant something to her. Turning back to the Aerilians and the remaining Gornan, Shaina unleashed the full force of her fury. She had nothing and no one to lose. They took away her husband. Her bonded mate. Now she’d take from them. The flow of power consumed her. She relished the darkness and succumbed more of her essence to the raging forces.

***

Power shimmered over the clearing affecting everyone and everything down to the blades of grass on the ground that trembled beneath the weight of Shaina’s gift. Argan studied his bride. He didn’t know how he’d get Shaina to hear him over the howling of the shadows. There had to be some way he could get through to her. He sheathed his sword and forged a path around the melee. His fellow Warlords fought madly in the thrall of battle rage. Blood sprayed and someone screamed behind him. With his heart pumping, Argan blocked the familiar sounds. Blocked his own lust to succumb to battle rage as he forced back the affects of Fenal. His task was greater. What he needed to do would determine if his fellow Warlords and Olak’din walked away with breath left in their bodies.

As Argan got closer he drew to a halt and stared. Shaina’s hair streamed about her face, eyes swallowed by the shadows she controlled. Her body jerked. Spasmed. Face contorting with pain as more shadows spilled from her. If she continued at this rate he’d lose her. Argan stiffened and ran the last few feet that separated them. One or two of the macabre shadow creations around her jerked in his direction then ignored him to slice bodies in half with shadowy hands morphed into the shapes of blades keeping Shaina untouched at the center.

Argan reached for her, his hands cupping her delicate jaw. “Shaina.”

She stared at him blindly.

“Shaina,” he repeated in a harsher tone but got no response. The silver depths of her eyes were empty.

Argan stepped closer until their bodies touched, every inch of him aligned to her front. His fingers speared the red waves flowing about her face as he tipped her face up to his. Lowering his head, Argan kissed her. A soft, gentle pressing of his lips to hers.

“Hear me bride. See me.”

She blinked and inky black swirls darkened her eyes into soulless pits. He would not lose her.

“No,” he snarled. “I refused to let you go. You will know me, bride. I am yours, Shaina and you are mine. Come back to me.”

This time when he kissed her, he kissed her with all of the love he held in his heart for her. The laughter she shared with him, the joy she brought to his life. Everything was better with Shaina at his side.

Argan pulled back and opened his eyes. “Please.”

“Ar-gan?”

The broken whisper cleaved him in two.

“Come back to me,” he demanded.

 “Argan?” Smoother but filled with confusion as the shadows in her eyes lightened.

“Yes.”

“My Argan,” the cry burst free and her eyes gleamed bright silver as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Yes. Your Argan.” Unmindful of the tears in his eyes, he held her tight enough to lift her feet from the ground.

When a scream roared behind them, Shaina jerked in his arms. She turned left and right taking in the devastation she’d caused. Shadows battled around them, leaving dead bodies in their wake as they made their way through the field unmindful of who fell beneath their shadow weapons. “W-what’s going on?”

Argan tipped her face back to him and kept his eyes on hers. “You must call the shadows back. The Gornan and Aerilians are defeated.”

More than defeated if the sounds of death meant anything.