Sorceress (Book 2) (31 page)

Sensing the bond, Kayleigh saw spurts of life from Iarisha’s side. The bond started knotting on its own, but stopped after a second. Then, it started again, in fits and spurts as she worked feverishly, feeling the life of the unicorn hanging in the balance. There was pressure beneath her eye and she opened them to see Lynch using her empty vial to collect Kayleigh’s tears. Lines of wetness ran down the woman’s cheeks as well.

Another set of false starts pushed at the bond as their combined magic reacted erratically. There was a sudden gust of wind that swirled around them sending straw into the air and causing the stablemaster to retreat.

The unicorn stirred and snorted loudly. “C’mon, Iarisha! That’s it! Help me save you.”

The bond reacted, meshing and coming together. Kayleigh threw herself down on top of the unicorn’s bruised and battered frame and grabbed on for all she was worth.

Squeezing her eyes shut did nothing since the blinding light of the bondspark shimmered in her mind and dazzled her.

For the second time in only a few minutes, Kayleigh gasped for her own breath as she continued holding onto the female unicorn. Looking up, she saw the expressions of Lynch and Sheppard. The captain nodded her head slowly and her friend grinned at her.

“She’s going to make it,” Kayleigh stated, partly to convince herself.

“Well done, Kayleigh,” Lindsey said.

“Yes,” Lynch said. “You’re getting better. There’s hardly any damage to the stables. Smart move breaking your bond with Rheysurrah outside.”

Kayleigh smiled at the rare praise and focused on her new unicorn, trying to see what could be done to help Iarisha.

“She needs water and some blankets. Could someone get those for her? Also, please make sure Rheysurrah is okay. I’ll check on him in a little bit, but right now she needs me.”

The woman divided up the tasks and brought the things Kayleigh requested. All the while, Kayleigh stayed draped over the four-legged body and whispered reassuring phrases to her new unicorn. Before too long, both drifted off to sleep.

“It is as we feared,” the Seeress said, coming out of the stall after conversing with Kayleigh’s new unicorn. “She confirmed what the other told me in Salif. Ian seeks to open a pathway to the Nether Realms. The tainted one, Danella Lynch, has been ordered to unleash the barbarians on the northern kingdoms. Unchecked, they will lay waste to towns and the crops in that region, upsetting the balance and spreading starvation far beyond those lands. New pathways are open to me now and I have seen the city of Pinella held by their forces.”

“We must take this new information to the High-King,” General Jyslin said.

“I will do it,” Duchess Tomas said. “I need to contact my husband and rally our reserves. Lady Kayleigh, give my love to my children and tell them all to be careful. And that goes doubly so for you Naomi. I feel that tomorrow evening will be your best chance for success.”

The woman embraced the general before making her way toward the dock. General Jyslin turned toward Kayleigh and said, “I understand your path back here was not easy. How is your new unicorn?”

“She’s recovering and will be ready to travel. Will we take the Portal?”

“No,” General Jyslin said. “The Portals leading north are not near Pinella. It will be quicker to ride, but my original idea of having you and a few others travel north must now be revised. What of the unicorn you broke your bond with to save the female?”

“He’s relatively healthy, ma’am. I see signs of the wasting beginning again. As long as we find a rider for him soon, I think he’ll be fine.”

Kayleigh didn’t have to have the skills of a seer to know what was about to happen.

“I will ride him,” the woman said.

“I … I need some time to perfect the process,” Kayleigh stammered.

“If I were ten years younger, would you still need this time?”

“Ma’am?”

“My question is irrelevant,” General Jyslin said. “We’ve already sent word to the Council of the involvement of the Nether Realms based on what we learned in Salif and the troops are already moving south and west. We will have very little to send north. I cannot ask the young women on this island to march into battle, if I will not take that risk myself. You are the only one who can make this possible, Kayleigh Reese. I could order you, but you could refuse. So, I will ask you as someone who knows what it feels like to lose a bond, for your aid.”

Kayleigh thought about General Hawthorne’s words and weighed them against the savages in the northern kingdoms. She remembered the faces of the villagers in Miros after the Yar raid.

“I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, child,” she said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have much to prepare for and I should try to fit in some rest and meditation before tomorrow evening.”

The woman straightened, becoming taller with newfound strength, and a look of resolve in her eyes. Meghan Lynch, the only other human present, moved closer to check both of them over. The small group of unicorns, including Iarisha, conversed in a rapid series of nonverbal communication mixed with snorts and neighs.

“That was considerably more violent than I remembered,” the rider said, before reaching over and stroking Rheysurrah’s mane.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, child, for the first time in a long time I can say that and truly mean it. I cannot begin to thank you for this.”

Kayleigh confessed, “General Hawthorne asked me to talk you out of this. She was worried you wouldn’t survive, but after all you’ve done for me, I couldn’t refuse you this.”

Naomi Jyslin smiled at Kayleigh and embraced her. “Althea is very protective of me, but you understood my position. To have this again after so long is a blessing from the Goddess. You have a precious and unique gift, young lady. Promise me that no matter what else occurs in your journeys you will do your utmost to see that no other unicorn must suffer death because their rider died.”

“I will, ma’am.”

“That is all I can ask of you,” the woman said and reached skyward with the hand that wasn’t touching Rheysurrah. A shimmering dome of hardened air appeared overhead and the regal old lady smiled. “I was worried I’d have to get a crash course in fire magic.”

Slowly the old woman climbed into the saddle with a look of profound joy on her face. “Captain, Kayleigh, I’d be honored if you would ride with me. By the time we reach the main building on the other side, the entire school will be in the dining hall. There is much to do and hardly any time to do it in.”

General Jyslin kicked her unicorn into a fast gallop, leaning forward and remembering what it felt like to ride at such a pace once more. Kayleigh on Iarisha managed to keep up, but Captain Lynch and T’rsa fell quickly behind and they waited for her for over two minutes by the entrance. Captain Sycroft waited at the double doors with her unicorn, clearly stunned to see General Jyslin in the saddle of a unicorn.

“It’s a miracle. I’m glad it worked,” the third year commander said and saluted.

“I am as well, but it’s really because of Rider Reese.”

Kayleigh didn’t miss the falling expression on the captain’s face. The general had a way of saying a single sentence that carried paragraphs of meaning behind it.

“Rider Reese,” the captain said. “I apologize for my rash actions and the harm it could have inflicted upon you. My poor judgment nearly prevented the scene before me and, on my honor, my life, and that of my unicorn, it will not happen again.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Kayleigh said, trying to be gracious, despite being slightly choked up and conflicted over her feelings toward the woman.

The general reached behind her head and undid the ties holding her hair, allowing the long, flowing mane of straight white hair to cascade down to the middle of her back and framing her light brown skin. It reminded Kayleigh of the portrait in the woman’s office…done by her mother’s hand.

“Open the door, Heather. I’d like to address my students from the saddle as befitting a Battle Maiden.”

The doors opened and there were shocked gasps as the general rode in. Rheysurrah’s shoes clattered against the stone floor. Kayleigh and the two captains followed slowly behind her amongst the crowd who stood and watched a legend, now seated upon a unicorn, riding amongst them.

The general stopped at the table by the main stage where the staff stood and saluted. She beckoned for the three of them to line up beside her and the four unicorns turned as one to face the student body. Someone began to clap and it spread like wildfire until it the noise was a roaring ovation that lasted a full two minutes before the general raised her hands.

“Be seated, my sisters,” she said. “I have news, both good and bad.”

“You’ve heard the rumors of a war in the West. You’ve probably pried enough details from your fellow students who had the misfortune of ending up in the middle of the conflict to have a good picture of what is happening out there. Two days ago, the bulk of the King’s Battalion along with elements of the Eastern Battalion deployed to link up with General Hawthorne’s forces. Along with the thousands of soldiers provided by the Council of Kings, they will turn the tide in those kingdoms currently under attack by our enemy and I ask for a moment of silence and prayer for their wellbeing, along with our sisters in the West, wherever they might be at this time.”

There was a long pause as the faces of Sandra Townsend, Penelope Garrett, and Amanda Edwards flashed through her mind. General Hawthorne had kept the two in Salif to continue treating Garrett and because Edwards had suffered side effects of her temporary enslavement.

“Thank you. We ask that the Goddess and her daughters watch over them. Now, word has arrived only yesterday that our sisters in the North are under attack by the barbarians known as the Yar. With everyone else heading for the front lines, there is no one left to come to the aid of those fighting in the Northern Kingdoms. I am going to ask for volunteers…”

Her words were cut short by the sounds of benches sliding backward as the entire assembly came to their feet.

Naomi Jyslin shook her head and clasped her hands to her chest. “Oh, my precious warriors, you honor me so!”

There was another ovation. When it ended, the General continued, saying, “Still, allow me to finish. I will ask for volunteers from the third, fourth, and fifth years to form a provisional battalion. Lady Tomas has pledged that her husband will meet us with two hundred horsemen to bolster our ranks from her kingdom. There will be another one hundred coming from Rosha. We will be tasked with breaking through the Yar forces and reclaiming the areas they have taken. I cannot ask you to do something I’m not prepared to do myself. I and several of your instructors will lead you. Those that remain here will continue to train and learn under Brevet Major Sycroft. If you are not asked if you’d like to volunteer, do not be disheartened. You must work harder than ever. We will need you soon - too soon I fear. The threat is real, as is the danger.”

The city of Pinella’s sprawling courtyards, sleeping populace, and only marginally alert guardsmen never saw its sudden and complete conquest coming in the predawn hours. That much Majherri knew. The “bounty hunters” who had passed through the area previously had returned with their quarry – a group of Yar barbarians who had sheltered the bandits responsible for killing that nobleman they’d spoken of during their earlier visit. They were in a rather festive mood and seemed quite happy despite the loss of some of their numbers in the mountains.

From the perspective of the city dwellers, other people killing the Yar was a wonderful concept. Majherri heard several people say similar comments. The citizens of Pinella were far enough away from the mountains to be concerned about the threat of raids, but since the Duke claimed the lands to the north, they’d seen many of their soldiers die protecting those “people who choose to live up there.”

The captain of the guard graciously allowed the travelers to use the jail cells to hold these heathens for the night. The bounty hunters were very grateful and placed two of their own outside those bars to not trouble the town’s militia any more than they already had and even offered a barrel of spiced mead they’d taken when they caught up with that scum. His men gave a playful nudge when their captain seemed quite taken with the pale skinned brunette as the two retired to the man’s private quarters.

While the city dreamt, a shape took to the sky, leaving a man seeing through blackened eyes to carry out her will. Majherri watched it as he stood in the midst of the horses. The rope that should have secured him to the hitching post was forgotten. The giant hawk landed at the jail, meeting up with several who had just emerged. The great bird hopped onto the man’s padded shoulders and grasped his harness with her talons. Beating her wings furiously, she struggled to get the man airborne. Moments later, Danella’s hawk was joined by the large owl also struggling against the weight of a human.

His rider, Orgo, Kuresh and Kraise would strike at the sorcerer who ruled this city and use their beastly forms to overrun the small castle by entering through the bedroom window of Duke Castor. The hawk, the serpent, the beast, and the owl - in a fair fight, even Orgo’s powerful serpent might not be enough to tilt the balance in the Yar’s favor against a sorcerer and his guards, but Danella’s plan could not even be remotely described as fair. It was an ambush and a slaughter before their victims could wipe the sleep from their eyes…a brutal scheme from a woman who no longer possessed a shred of compassion.

The rest of the plan reinforced her savagery. The other chieftains, with the exception of the hydra, would slay the guards who didn’t succumb to the tainted mead and secure the gates with the rest of the nomads. What would a bored soldier standing on the walls do when suddenly faced with a timber wolf the size of a small pony or a mountain lion driven by a human intellect? What could men staggering out of a guardroom, wondering at the ruckus do when they saw a mammoth bearing down on them? Those that arrived at the mustering point would find the captain telling them that the battle is lost and that he’s ordering surrender.

A squad of unicorn lancers were stationed in Pinella. Slorn, in the form of his four headed hydra would descend on the unicorn stables while their riders rested inside. Even if their riders reacted quickly, they would find Majherri. Much to his horror, the tainted unicorn would be right there with Slorn to help the first of eleven slay every unicorn and Battle Maiden he found.

Majherri did his best to simply execute the plan and not think about what he was doing as the slumbering city woke to panic and chaos.

The strategists said the Yar were too stubborn to put aside their differences to work together. The chieftains believed themselves too valuable to participate in battle and risk their lives in anything but their ritualistic combat that no one outside those savages understood.

None of those so called experts would have conceived that all eleven of those chieftains would be in the same place, exposed, and supported only by a handful of warriors, who weren’t even Yar.

... And that was primarily why Pinella fell. The rest of the tale involved the screams and blood of men, women, and unicorns. The cost for the invaders was minimal. Five nomad warriors died and the new chieftain of the Snow Cats was seriously injured and barely clinging to his life while the other chieftains nursed numerous minor wounds.

Even Majherri wasn’t untouched as he limped through the streets. A sword wielding Battle Maiden left a nasty wound before he finished her. He’d tapped into enough of his own magic to burn the wound closed, but the stinging tenderness gnawed at him with every step he took as he patrolled the empty streets.

At the main gate the hydra, flanked by two nomad bowmen, sat on his haunches and dared anyone to approach. Danella circled overhead and would screech if she saw anyone who needed to be dealt with. The two other gates were also blocked by the Yar chieftains as the black warning pennants flapped in the wind, alerting travelers of a false outbreak of disease in the city.

Yesterday, Pinella had four aviaries where the public could send messages to other towns inside a cylinder attached to a bird. All the city could claim now was several burnt out buildings and hundreds of birds killed directly by the flames or smoke.

Kraise, the owl chieftain had left, flying north to meet the hundreds of warriors covering the distance between the mountain range and Pinella. The Yar infantry were to bypass two villages and one town on the way to Pinella. Its capture cut off those settlements from any help. They would be easy pickings and likely offer surrender in an attempt to receive more favorable terms.

People stared at Majherri from open windows while he roamed the streets. Danella had once more removed the illusion-creating reins from his head. They saw the black, riderless unicorn moving by them. Some pointed and others closed their shutters. Their reaction, combined with the soreness from his injury, placed him in a foul mood.

Turning right at the next juncture, he began making his way down the side street. That was when he saw her.

The building was a small, squat affair - the kind that one or two people at most could live in. He noticed the sign proclaiming artist for hire and then saw the face peering out at him.

No!
He couldn’t unsee the human female any more than he could prevent Danella from discovering this encounter.
She can’t be here!

Unfortunately, for the both of them, he stared back at the face of the woman who claimed to be Brenda Reese, Kayleigh’s mother. The only solace he could find in that moment was that he knew the orders Count Darius gave Danella demanded the woman be returned alive. His rider would not kill the woman with the true name of Brianna Nolan-West, but that was not a guarantee that the woman would not suffer at Danella’s hands.

“I was honestly hoping for more out of you, Lady Nolan-West,” Danella said, surveying the result of the punch she’d delivered to the woman she’d just knocked out of the chair.

“In that case, you’ll have to accept disappointment,” Brenda Reese replied, using the tips of her fingers to wipe away the blood on her lips. “I haven’t gone by that name in a long time.”

Majherri could not have hidden the knowledge of the woman’s presence. Instead, he brought it directly to Danella’s attention, along with the reminder that Count Darius wanted Kayleigh’s mother alive.

“Put the noblewoman back in the chair,” she said to the bewitched captain of the guard. The man woodenly responded.

“Interesting spell you’ve got there,” the captive said. “It feels rather dark. Ian’s taught you a few of his tricks, I see.”

“Oh, I’m much more than that,” Danella replied.

“No, I don’t think so. He toys with women. I should know better than anyone else,” Brenda Reese said. “If you believe you can simply lay claim to him, you’d be as deluded as I was all those years ago. At least I was young and foolish. You’re just foolish.”

Danella snarled, “If I were you I’d choose my words with more care.”

Kayleigh’s mother was unfazed by the threat. “I survived Ian trying to kill me, though at a great cost. I will not cower before the likes of you. Of course, you realize if I still possessed my magic that this conversation would be much different. Count yourself lucky in that regard.”

His rider raised her gloved hand once more, cocked and ready to strike another blow, but stopped short, toying with her prisoner. “Don’t be so certain, milady. Duke Castor and his family had access to their magic for all the good it did them. I am beginning to think that most of the power you ‘true mages’ claim is based more on bluffs.”

Placing her hands on her hips, Danella leaned forward and taunted, “Maybe most are just glorified tricksters and fakirs, who are at least honest about their limitations. Then again, what’s the point in debating this with a burnt out husk such as yourself? Why you can’t even conjure a simple flame can you, milady? Even the tricksters and the fakirs would look down on you in scorn. Come to think of it, maybe I should perform my little trick on you and turn you into a good little thrall. We could have so much fun together.”

Majherri could do without Danella’s behavior and snorted loudly.

“Is this really necessary?”
he asked.
“She’s not exactly a threat.”

“Oh, you silly unicorn! I am taking it easy on her, Majherri. Nothing’s broken yet, though she might have chipped a tooth. Besides, I only want useful slaves. This woman – whatever she chooses to call herself – is completely and utterly useless.”

“Majherri? My daughter’s unicorn was named that.”

“He was never her unicorn!” Danella shouted. “Your daughter…your daughter…she’s only alive because the count wishes it. She tried to steal him from me, that little bitch!”

“You know that’s not true,”
Majherri said.

“It’s true if I say it’s true.”

“Just saying the words does not lend truth to them,”
he retorted.

“You keep defending her, but she’s out there riding a different unicorn. She doesn’t want you anymore, just like she doesn’t want anything to do with her mother!”

Danella spun away and stormed out of the room, before yelling, “Are you coming?”

Majherri glanced back at Kayleigh’s mother and sadly bowed his head, following his rider into the hallway while the nomad standing guard in the corridor closed the cell door.

Careful not to give voice to his concerns, he thought,
I may have overestimated the influence the Yar spirit has on her.

Instead he asked,
“Did you find the information you wanted to know?”

Majherri’s question caused Danella to sigh loudly as they rode slowly down the street. “No, I forgot to ask how the count survived. Perhaps I should go back?”

“I doubt she’d willingly tell you anything now,”
Majherri said. The sun approached the peak in the sky. Despite being a northern city, it was quite warm outside. The guardsmen were ordered by Danella’s thrall to guard the marketplaces against the few people that ventured out.

“Well, I like a good challenge,” she answered with a feral grin. “After all, our warriors are still two days away. I need something to keep myself occupied.”

“Do you truly believe this city can be held?”

“It depends on what the opposition is. A large enough army can break even the mightiest of fortifications. We didn’t have to destroy the walls, so it is really a matter of making this city more effort to take than it is worth. As the army belonging to my liege threatens other lands, we may even be able to peel away some of the nearby cities when they know that the Yar are his allies. Some won’t have the necessary spine to fight a war. Surrendering to us might be an option easier for their leaders to accept.”

“Unless the Yar prove to be savages in their treatment of the people they conquer. Have you considered that?”

“I have, Majherri. I just don’t think it’s a top priority at the moment. I recall that you used to have such contempt for the city dwellers. Something about choosing to live behind walls and not out in nature. So, I find it odd that here you are begging on their behalf for tolerance and a gentle hand.”

The unicorn snorted and said,
“Though I do not care for how they live, I do not wish them ill.”

“In that case,” she said, “I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens when all those barbarians get here.”

The unicorn snorted and swished his tail. Danella was becoming increasingly deceptive. The orders Count Darius gave were vague. He wanted her to make the Yar a threat. The taking of this city accomplished that. From there Majherri wasn’t certain what she would do next and that worried him.

“Are you enjoying being Queen of the Yar? Is it all you hoped it would be?”
Majherri asked.

“It works for the time being,” she answered, pleased that her cryptic replies were annoying him.