The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (61 page)

“Seize him!” Jexon bellowed from the ground,
his voice distorted by his broken nose and bleeding lips.

“Uh, beg pardon but who exactly are you
telling to seize him, Milord? We knocked your two guards out cold
and disarmed them when the Commander moved toward you and the rest
of us were cheering him on and hoping he would kill you,” Noble
said with amusement in his voice.

“That’s not entirely true. I wasn’t cheering
I was holding a sword out in offering in case he wanted to use
something other than his fist,” Foster objected.

“There is nothing to seize him for. He hasn’t
committed a crime,” Jala said quietly as she healed Valor’s hand
and stepped back from him. Looking down at Jexon she shook her head
slowly and smiled. “Valor is my Warder, remember? He was simply
doing his job and protecting me. Unlike you, Jexon he does his
duty,” she finished.

Jexon struggled to sit up, his face still
filled with anger. Raising one arm he wiped the worst of the blood
from his face and staggered unsteadily to his feet. “I was trying
to protect your lands you stupid little bitch. We were outnumbered
we had no choice but to find terms with the Avanti.”

“And yet we won,” Jala pointed out coldly,
her eyes narrowing.

“Against an army of rabble. That was nothing
more than show. They will send true soldiers against us now.
Before, they were just bluffing. Now they will attack in truth,”
Jexon snarled back in disgust.

“Then I suggest next time you actually
fight,” Jala returned, then turned toward Jail. “Take my husband to
the healers, Jail. I have no energy to spare to heal his wounds,”
she ordered and turned back to look over the battlefield. “Father,
have our dead and wounded cleared from the field. I will see to
them as soon as I have the prisoners situated,” With one final
glance at Valor she moved to stand in front of Cassia once more.
Looking down, she stared at the woman and shook her head slowly.
“This isn’t salvation, Cassia. This is a delay. Valor stopped me
this time, but if you so much as whine in my presence, he won’t
stop me a second time. I promise you that,” she whispered, her
voice pitched just loud enough for Cassia alone. “Valor, set your
own guards on the prisoners and Jail will question them when he has
time. I don’t want any of Jexon’s guards watching them at any
point.”

“As you say,” Valor agreed with a sharp nod.
“Jala, are you truly planning to raise all of the fallen?” he asked
as she moved toward her horse.

“Every last one of ours. Death will get
nothing from Merro,” Jala promised as she swung into the saddle
once more. Her eyes fell on the dragon’s corpse once more and she
paused before turning to tend the dead. “Valor,” she began as she
calculated the exact size of the beast.

“Yes?” Valor asked, glancing back from his
place beside the prisoners.

“Are dragons edible?” Jala asked
thoughtfully.

“What?” Valor and several of the knights
echoed the word their voices filled with disbelief.

“It’s that or horse meat. We are low on meat
and the army could use the protein. I’ll leave it to Arovan to
decide what is in the stew tonight,” Jala said calmly as she turned
her horse and rode toward the waiting dead.

The Greenwild

Rain poured down from the sky in steady
waves. Glancing to her side, Jala gave Valor a suspicious look. The
knight was drenched from head to toe, his fine cloak hanging from
his back like a wet rag, and yet he had a smile on his face. He had
been a steady companion of hers since the first battle, and that
had been days ago. Now, finally, they had the Avanti forces pinned
down again and Valor was in the best mood she had seen since before
Finn’s death. She wasn’t entirely sure why, either. It was pouring
down rain and the Avanti had the higher ground.

“It’s not me,” Valor said casually as she
continued to watch him. He didn’t bother to look her way. She had
been giving him glances all morning and he knew well enough she was
wondering if the weather was his doing.

“Well, can you at least stop it?” Neph
demanded from her other side. The Delvay was doubtless more
uncomfortable than either of them considering his leather armor and
lack of a cloak.

“Does leather armor shrink when it’s wet,
like boots do, Neph?” Valor asked in a voice that was far too
innocent.

“I would guess Neph’s is enchanted, isn’t it,
Neph? Oh, wait, that’s right, the Delvay put the wards of
protection on themselves, not their gear,” Jala said slowly as she
grinned at Valor.

“I’m not amused,” Neph grumbled, his gaze
shifting past them to where Jexon and his officers were discussing
the pending attack on the Avanti. “Think he is actually going to
fight this time?” Neph asked with a sigh, his gaze slowly moving to
the hillside where the Avanti waited.

“In this weather, I doubt he attacks today.
Only a fool would rush uphill in a rain storm to attack enemy
forces. The footing alone would guarantee defeat,” Valor said with
a sigh.

“Maybe you could do something about the
weather then!” Neph snapped, a bit sharper this time.

“It’s not a weather spell I can simply break,
Neph. This is a natural storm. If I alter the weather it is going
to be a major casting on my part and I’d rather not waste the
energy until we know what is going to happen with the Avanti,”
Valor replied with a sigh.

“It looks like they’ve finally decided
something,” her father said from behind her and Jala looked up to
see Jexon riding toward their group.

“He is smiling. That isn’t a good sign,” Jala
muttered sourly. She had done her best to avoid Jexon over the past
few days, but in the evenings it was impossible. For the first few
days after the battle she couldn’t even bluff him with a threat of
magic. Everyone in the entire army knew how drained she was after
raising the dead. It had taken her wearing the veil once more to
hide the bruises and keep her friends from killing the bastard. She
couldn’t afford for Jexon to die now though. She needed his
soldiers and she wasn’t sure if Ash had strong enough loyalty to
take control of the forces entirely.

It hadn’t been until the rain had started
that she had finally abandoned the veil once more. There was
nothing to ruin a good mood quite like being slapped in the face
with wet silk every time your horse took a step. Fortunately, her
energy was strong enough once more that a quick healing had
eliminated the possibility of problems.

“We will attack today. I don’t want to risk
their getting reinforcements while we wait for the weather to
improve,” Jexon announced as he stopped his horse beside her own.
“My Soulblades will be useless afoot on this ground for the first
engagement, as will the Archers. Valor, you will get a chance to
prove your name today. Take the hill and hold it until our
remaining forces can join the battle,” Jexon said with a smile.

“You want him to lead a mounted charge up a
muddy hill?” Badger demanded, sounding as furious as Jala felt.

Valor shifted in his saddle and looked at the
hill before glancing back at Jala. His eyes met hers for a long
moment before shifting back to Jexon. “I don’t follow your orders,
Spook,” he said softly then looked back to Jala once more. “Do you
want the hill, Jala?” he asked.

Jala searched Valor’s face for any sign of
doubt before shrugging lightly. “I don’t have much use for a hill,
Valor. I would like their commander and their banner though,” she
said with a confidence she didn’t feel at all.

“Didn’t you just say the footing alone would
guarantee a defeat?” Neph asked dryly.

“For Jexon. Not me,” Valor returned with a
smile and dismounted. Tossing his reins lightly to Badger he pulled
his signet ring off his finger and dropped it down into the muddy
ground. “Valorous, come,” he commanded and the air above the signet
began to coalesce at once.

The last time Jala had seen the Arovanni, his
coat had been the grey of snow clouds. This time when the horse
formed, his coat was as dark as the spring storm clouds above them.
Snorting loudly, Valorous danced back as Valor retrieved his signet
from the ground. Standing once more he bowed his head to Jala.

“One banner and commander coming up, Milady,”
Valor said as he swung into his saddle and turned his horse toward
his waiting knights.

Jala watched him ride off and then turned to
Jexon, her eyes locked on his face. She kept her expression
neutral, though the hatred she felt at the sight of him was
difficult to hide. “Once again you manage to avoid fighting. How
exactly did you attain your position as Lord Reaver?” Her voice was
as cold as the rain.

“By leadership,” Jexon replied sharply and
gave her a disgusted look. “A General does not fight among the
commons. He leads from the back where he can see every move that
must be made.”

“A good General doesn’t send a cavalry charge
uphill on muddy ground,” Badger growled behind her and Jala smiled
at her father’s words.

“That could go both ways. Perhaps I was
testing Valor’s leadership to see how foolhardy he is,” Jexon
began, a cold smile forming on his lips. “I’m afraid you won’t have
your knight to hide behind much longer,” he added in a softer voice
as the Arovan cavalry turned toward the hill and the waiting
Avanti.

“Can I kill him now, please, Jala?” Neph
asked, his gaze locked on Jexon. “If you let me, I swear I will be
nice for the rest of the year. Consider it an early name day
gift.”

Shaking her head slowly, Jala smiled and
turned back to watch the knights as their horses broke into a slow
gallop with Valor at the lead. “Valor will take the hill and I will
have the banner as well as the commander within the hour,” she said
smugly.

“You are just a big a fool as he is if you
believe that,” Jexon said with a shake of his head and then fell
silent as Valor’s company of knights divided into two columns.
Bridgette led the division that turned to the east while Foster
seemed to be in command of the western riders. Valor himself
remained in the center, his Arovanni dancing under him as his
riders took their positions.

“What the hell is he doing?” Neph muttered
beside her.

Jala shook her head slowly but remained
silent as she watched Valor lift one hand toward the sky. The
steady rain began to slacken as the wind grew stronger and the sky
above darkened. To the east, Jala could see several of Bridgette’s
riders holding hands outstretched toward the distant hill while in
the west Foster and several of his knights mirrored them.

Lightning cracked through the sky as the wind
above the hill began to increase. She could see tents breaking
loose from their stakes and horse lines scattering as the animals
panicked. Valorous rose on his heels, slashing at the air with his
front hooves. A cry of challenge burst from the Arovanni’s throat
as Valor increased his magic, urging the wind to greater speeds.
The clouds above the hill continued to swirl faster until the
barest tip of a funnel could be seen dropping from the sky. Magic
surged from the knights on the east and west and the entire hill
trembled as they sent their magic into the earth itself. Lightning
flashed again, illuminating the massive wind funnel as it settled
to earth directly in the center of the Avanti camp. The sheer
destruction of the storm was awe inspiring and Jala sat in mute
fascination as horses, men and wagons were all ripped from the
earth to disappear into the tornado Valor had called down. The
faint echo of screams could barely be heard over the roar of the
wind. Another loud crack shook the air, but this time it wasn’t
thunder. Once more the hill trembled, as cracks in the earth broke
open around the encampment.

With the combined efforts Valor had
effectively cut off all means of retreat the Avanti had. They were
left with only two options. Face the wind or the chasm below them.
Unless, of course they had mages among them, and if they did Jala
had seen no evidence of their magic. As far as she could tell they
had eliminated all of the mages from the Avanti forces in their
first conflict. There had been no Blights at the first battle so
Wisp had used her archers to good effect on anyone that even
attempted a spell.

The entire assault lasted only minutes, but
when Valor finally allowed his arm to drop the hilltop was clear of
anything living. Turning his horse, Valor rode back to her,
stopping just before he reached her. With a faint smile he held his
hand up above his head and Jala watched in amazement as the Avanti
banner fluttered down to his waiting grasp. She could just imagine
the sort of control it required to guide the wind currents of a
storm such as he had summoned enough to carry a banner to an exact
location. Lowering his arm he held pushed his horse forward another
two steps and held the banner out to her.

Jala stared at him with a smile and slowly
shook her head. To everyone watching, Valor looked as fresh as he
had before the fight, but she could see the exhaustion in his eyes.
She knew exactly how much the display had cost him. Closing her
hand she summoned a mage stone filling it with her own power as she
took the banner in her other hand. Leaning forward she grasped his
hand in thanks and as subtly as she could she slipped the mage
stone into his palm. “Thank you, Valor,” Jala said as she sat back
in her saddle once more, the Avanti banner resting across her
leg.

“I’ll have what is left of the commander
delivered if you like. You never specified you wanted him alive,”
Valor said with a smile.

“No that’s quite all right. I’ll have Ash
find his soul and see what we can gain that way,” Jala said,
quickly shaking her head at the suggestion. Above them the clouds
were beginning to clear as the storm clouds dispersed.

“There you go, Neph the rain is gone,” Valor
said with a faint smile and glanced back to his knights. “I have to
see to my men, Jala. I will catch up with you soon,” he said as he
turned to rejoin the Knights of Arovan.