Tears of War (46 page)

Sehlas raised his eyebrows. “The approach of one of these Shadow Riders is a source of humor?”

Kalila turned to him, her emotions now held under tight control. “I was telling myself that now wasn’t the time for fear and then realized when a Shadow Rider is coming it is the exact time to be afraid.”

Shrieks of pain and terror echoed down the corridor from the inner courtyard. Kalila straightened her back and squared her shoulders. “It would seem our ‘visitor’ has arrived.” With far more bravado than she felt, she turned and walked toward the cacophony beyond the doors at the end of the hall.

The mages fell in around her as the Defenders placed themselves as a living shield in front of her and the mages. She paused when they reached the doors, took several deep breaths, then motioned the Defenders to open them.

Ranit crouched in the middle of the inner courtyard; despair and darkness rolled from under her outstretched wings. It was stronger than Kalila remembered. Ranit had matured in the last year and a half, and the blackness that accompanied her attested to it.

Kalila’s eyes roamed the courtyard. What she could see of it around Ranit churned her stomach. Several men lay in heaps of blackened, blistered skin. Green flames licked up one side of the courtyard wall, burning the stone as if it were wood. On the ground, several charred corpses lay. The stench of burning flesh and bone filled the air as the acid-like fire consumed them.

Lord Haden and his retinue cowered not far from the keep doors. She shot him a disgusted look. This was how he would have ruled Markene in a time when Shadow Riders had returned? Cowering in the corner at the first test of his backbone? She turned her attention back to the horror wrought by a single Shadow Dragon.

Several more bodies lay in the center of the courtyard mere inches from the tips of Ranit’s wings. Each one was sliced neatly in half. Kalila swallowed the bile that burned the back of her throat. It looked like the kind of damage the edge of a Slide would do if one wasn’t careful.

Fear clawed at Kalila’s insides as she regarded the woman standing in front of Ranit. “You are not welcome here, Sadira,” she said, relieved that her voice betrayed none of the terror pooling in her limbs.

Sadira walked slowly forward, her eyes narrowed as they swept the Defenders and mages. “So it’s true. I wasn’t sure how much I believed when I heard you were trying to steal my throne from me.”

Kalila lifted her chin. “The throne was never yours. It is mine by birthright.”

“Birthright?” Sadira spat. “I was the first born to the king. It’s
my
birthright!”

Kalila felt a tug on her magic as Katian linked their power together. A strong wall of air came up around them though she knew no one else could see it. She focused her attention back on Sadira, carefully avoiding looking at Ranit’s face. That ugly thing’s eyes haunted enough of her nightmares; she didn’t need to see them again in real life.

“I will never let Markene fall to you, Sadira.”

A cloud of oily black shadows flowed from Sadira’s hands and came up against the shield of air. They slithered across the surface of it and Sadira laughed. The sound of it made Kalila’s skin crawl.

“Really? This is the defense you offer Markene?” Her dark eyes flashed with a malignant light as the shadows started to ooze through the shield.

Every scar on Kalila’s body burned and itched as they remembered their touch. Sadira smiled as more tendrils broke through the shield and trailed through the air. “Your mages aren’t stronger than me, little sister. Not even when they are linked.”

“They aren’t the only mages here, Sadira. It seems that magic is something we have in common.”

Sadira’s eyes narrowed as more shadows slipped through. “It really doesn’t matter now, does it?”

Arryn glanced back at Kalila. “Lift the shield enough for us to get through. We can’t defend you from behind it.”

Kalila shook her head slightly. “You can’t protect me from this. She would kill you before you took two steps and enjoy every second of it.”

The first wave of shadows had nearly reached Kalila and the mages when an arrow flew through the air and thudded into Sadira’s back. She stumbled forward then looked down at the point protruding just below her left breast. Sadira turned with a hiss and looked at Ranit. “Take care of that.”

The black turned and set one of the gate towers on fire. Screams from inside it poured into the courtyard. Kalila watched in helpless rage as the tower and those inside it burned. Ranit’s fire had engulfed the entire structure; there was no chance for escape. Someone in that tower had given their life in defense of hers.

Sadira coughed and blood splattered her lip. She sneered at Kalila. “Another time sister.”

Ranit turned back to her rider as the tower blazed and Sadira pulled herself into the saddle, grunting and smearing the black scales with blood. Ranit opened her mouth and green flames poured out. Kalila instinctively cringed, waiting to feel the burn. She glanced at Katian. Sweat rolled down the other woman’s face as she struggled to hold the shield against the strength of the dragon’s fire. A lesser mage wouldn’t have been able to hold it, but Katian was strong in her magic.

The fire suddenly stopped and the black leaped into the air, her wings working in quick, heavy bursts. Out the corner of her eye Kalila saw several whirlpools in the air. Just as Guardian dragons erupted through the Slides, a pool of darkness swirled and opened. Shryden and Nydara both sent walls of flame at the Shadow Dragon. A shriek like the sound of nails across metal filled the air as the black dove into the dark opening and disappeared.

Katian let the weave go and slumped against the wall behind her. Kalila swayed slightly, feeling the backlash from the shared power. Sehlas steadied her. Within minutes the walls of the courtyard were groaning under the weight of seven dragons. Kirynn covered the burning wall and tower with weaves and the green fire finally sputtered and died.

The riders dismounted and followed the stairs down from the wall walk. As they approached, she heard Mckale. His eyes dulled to an iron-gray, he scowled at Maleena. “What was that? I told you to hang back.”

Maleena laughed softly. “That was Nydara’s doing, not mine. She is her own being. You know how strong her feelings are about Shadow Dragons. Besides, I was safe with her.”

“It was too dangerous,” Mckale growled.

Maleena patted him on the arm. “I’m pregnant, my love, not broken. I can still handle myself and my dragon.”

Mckale gave her a look and Kalila had the feeling Mckale would prefer to keep Maleena wrapped in swaddling and stuffed into their lair in Galdrilene for the duration of the pregnancy.

Kellinar nodded at Katian as he approached. He looked at Kalila with a wry grin. “Less than a month and already getting into trouble I see.”

She smiled back. “I’m trying. Sorry I couldn’t cause trouble sooner.”

His ice-blue eyes danced as he chuckled. “Between Kirynn disappearing and Sadira coming here, I’m starting to think I will never make it to Trilene.”

Kalila looked around at the riders. “Why so many of you?”

Maleena smiled. “Lalani’s distress and need came through quite clearly. However, it didn’t tell us how many Shadow Riders we would be facing when we arrived. Thankfully, it was only one.”

Kalila’s hands started to tremble now that the danger was over and she wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. Drawing a shaky breath she glanced around the courtyard. “Thank you for coming as soon as you did. Katian was doing her best, but Sadira is so strong. If it hadn’t been for someone in the gate tower putting an arrow through her, I don’t think you would have arrived in time.”

Vaddoc frowned. “You need more protection.”

Kirynn nodded. “I think I know a couple of younger riders who could be stationed here, one of which who would do well with a little more responsibility. They are young to be fighting mature Shadow Dragons, but they would only need to hold them off long enough for us to get here.”

“Who?” Mckale asked. His arms were crossed over his chest and he still looked irritated, but the iron-gray of his eyes was slowly fading back to silver.

“Loki, for one. That boy needs direction, something to point his young energy at.” Kirynn held up a hand to stop the protests easily visible in the eyes of the others. “He may be young, but we can’t keep him on apron strings. He’s a fully-fledged Dragon Rider. The sooner we start treating him as such, the sooner he begins to act like it.”

Kellinar nodded. “I think you’re right, but he hasn’t completely recovered from his folly yet.”

“I know,” Kirynn said. “Jocelynn and her green Adirynn, along with Varnen and his blue Abrax can also come. Loki will come once he is healed. That would give a couple of mature riders to help.”

Kalila stared at them. “You would be willing to station Dragon Riders here?”

“We have to,” Taela said, her eyes sad. “We can’t leave Markene like this. In fact, I would suggest we station two or three in Haraban as well. They don’t even have a Spirit mage to summon help if they need it. We’ll have to talk to my father, of course, but I doubt he would object. Tallula and Tania can go to Haraban with their dragons.”

Mckale nodded. “That will only leave Toren, Belynn, Nolan, Brock, and Sumara at Galdrilene since their dragons have barely taken their first flights. Or in the case of Toren, too young to fly at all.”

“Galdrilene has survived before with nothing but young dragons,” Vaddoc said. “Besides, Bardeck and Mernoth are there and they handle all of the training.”

“And Emallya,” Maleena added.

He inclined his head toward her. “And Emallya when she is not off trying to save future riders or mages.”

Kirynn looked at Kalila. “Vaddoc and I will let Bardeck and Emallya know. I imagine it will only be a couple of days before we Slide them here.”

Kalila took a deep breath and felt some of her tension fading. Markene would have definite protection. The Shadow Riders were still a major threat, but her nation wouldn’t be helpless. Now she could concentrate on finding who was causing so much trouble in Markene. She didn’t need a faceless traitor tearing things apart again.

Kalila smiled gratefully. “Thank you for coming to our rescue and for providing a safety net for us.”

Serena laid a hand on her arm. “We are Guardians, this is what we do.”

Kovan looked up from the maps on his desk as Fonja knocked lightly at the open door. He scowled. He hadn’t called for the servant this evening. There was too much to do even if bedding down with her for a night sounded better. She never tried to fight him; in fact, she was quite willing and uninhibited which suited him just fine. He was not his father. He wanted a bed partner that was willing and enjoyed herself. Fonja gave him that, and in return, he was gentle with her.

“What do you want, Fonja?”

She shuffled nervously in the doorway, making no effort to come into the room. That wasn’t like her. Outside of the bed, she was always meek and withdrawn; however, she never acted afraid of him. Of the others yes, but not of him. Impatience shot through Kovan and he slammed a fist on the desk, feeling a flash of anger at the way she flinched. His mother had flinched like every time his father slammed a door or hit something.

Kovan ground his teeth together and tried to keep the anger out of his voice. “What is the problem?”

Fonja finally looked at him; her eyes were wet with unshed tears. “I’m…I’m with child. I wasn’t sure…for a long time.”

Kovan froze. With child? He couldn’t…wouldn’t be a father. His magic rose up, swift and strong. A simple weave and he would kill the baby and end the pregnancy. No child was going to turn him into his father. He would end it right now. Kovan stood abruptly and his chair clattered to the floor. She flinched again, terror pooling with the tears in her eyes.

He strode around the desk, grabbed her by the upper arm and hauled her down the hall toward the kitchen. When they reached it, he shoved her forward. She stumbled a few steps into the room and turned to stare at him.

“Pack some food.” He was growling at her but he didn’t care.

Fonja clutched her skirts and stared at him unmoving. “Damn the Fates to the void!” Kovan stormed into the kitchen after her and grabbed a burlap sack off a shelf. He yanked it open and shoved fruit, bread, cheese, and whatever else he could stuff in it, no longer sure exactly what was in the bag.