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Lady Shang Keladry
Sorrel Rowan
Chapter Twelve: For the Love of Your Land
Kel faded through the silent forests, her feet making no sound as she walked through dry leaves sprinkled to catch out the enemy. She was wearing hunter green tunic and breeches, and Yamani style soft shoes. Alone, she continued through the trees, unarmed except for a brace of throwing stars secured to her leg.
This scout had been causing the archers trouble - he was protected by magic. And he stood in the way. The few times they had dared a shot, it had veered off course and the scout hadn�t raised the alarm simply out of luck. Neal had told them someone would have to get in close to stop him. Neal, Dom and the others watched from the trees as Kel slipped under the rock he was on top of, totally hidden by the emerald green forest.
She appraised the scout with professional efficiency. He wasn�t foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog, the way they did when they said they were possessed by war demons. Yet. He did not appear to be holding on to this sanity for much longer.
She wasn�t entirely comfortable with murdering this man in cold blood, but she stiffened her resolve by thinking that it would probably be a mercy to him.
He didn�t even know Kel was there, scant feet below him, looking coolly over his cheap sword tinged with rust, his arrows - the fletching peeling already, and his bow - the wood cracking and creaking as he strung it, then threw it down in disgust.
The horn he was to signal an attack with lay on the rock within a hands reach of him. She had no way to get behind him, he had chosen a position where an enemy could only attack from the front, but he could see all around. To do this, he had to sit at the front of the rock.
She knew what she had in mind was risky. Dom and the others watching from the trees would probably give her a scolding when she got back, needless risk yada yada.
But that was the danger, the horn. The man would be no challenge, but he must not get an arrow, scream or horn call into the air. What she was thinking was the only way to silence him quickly, although it would leave her instantly in danger, and she was the only one with the necessary speed and independence from weapons.
Moving slowly so he would not hear or be alerted, Kel slipped a hand to her leg and loosed the brace of throwing stars - they were no use here. They fell noiselessly to the undergrowth.
Cat quiet and lightening quick, Kel placed two hands into a crevice on the rock and vaulted effortlessly and soundlessly onto the flat rock. The magic that no longer protected him must have warned him. Just as she knew he would, he whirled around, sword in his hands and swung at her neck.
Kel ducked the swing, performing a sweeping kick that sent the horn onto the floor of the forest, ten feet below. As the Scanran opened his mouth to scream, Kel reversed her leg and kicked under his guard, then punched him in the throat, crushing his windpipe as he reeled.
Jumping down from the rock, carrying the dead scout, she covered his body and all evidence he had existed with leaves, before melting into the trees and shadows.
Ten Minutes Later
�All the scouts are taken care of,� Neal�s voice said through the amulet Kel wore.
�Thanks,� Kel replied heaving a sigh of relief. �All right, everyone check in. Positions, ready?�
�Kings Own, ready to go,� Dom�s bodiless said, as clearly as if he stood beside her.
�Infantry group two, in position and prepared.� That was Brookwell, ever the stickler for formality.
�Riders are go, just say the word, Kel,� Evin�s cheerful voice replied next.
- Okay, Kel, whenever you want - Daine said in her mind. She would fly above delivering orders and giving reports, much as she had done at Port Legann - only as an eagle and not on a dragon.
�Ready with reinforcements,� Alanna said, disgruntled. The Kings Champion had not been happy when she had ordered by the King to command the extra force, but had calmed down when Kel had pointed out that they would be needed at some point.
�Infantry One are ready and prepared,� Kel finished. �At my command, you all know what to do.�
�Hold it,� Dom broke in suddenly. �Where�s the princess?�
�She�s resting. She wanted to help, but her magic is still locked up and it costs her to do anything with it,� Neal provided from base camp.
�Any other questions?� Brookwell asked, his voice tense. �We have to do this now, before someone checks up on the scouts.�
�The sergeant is right. One final check in, then we go on my command.� They all checked in, and Kel waited for the right moment, that instant that the enemy would be blinded by the rising sun in their eyes and at Kel�s back.
Raising her arm to the soldiers on the front rank, Kel spoke to the other men through the amulet, knowing they would be doing the same.
�Charge.�
Dom led his Own to attack the siege engines, while Evin attacked with the Riders on the other side of the engines. Caught between the Own and the Riders, the men arming the engines immediately formed a back to back formation.
The Scanrans were outnumbered, but had the advantage of a strategic position.
Dom hoped they could hold them long enough to stop them from bombarding the castle, Kel and Brookwell.
Kel led the infantry charge on foot. She had left Dancer at base camp, knowing a horse signifies an officer - and officers get shot first. She didn�t want to be an easy target.
Besides, she preferred fighting on the ground. It was more difficult to tuck and roll while mounted. Now she was armed, not only with her throwing stars but with long throwing knives on her wrists (concealed) and a long, thin blade that she wore across her back.
She had decided not to use her glaive, it was too heavy and large for a running battle.
Like the soldiers, she held a shield, which she knew she would drop the moment they engaged the enemy - she wasn�t a knight, and didn�t normally use a shield as part of her weaponry.
Running towards the startled Scanrans, Kel smashed shields with the first Scanran she met. Thank Goddess they don�t have archers anymore, she thought, remembering the wolfish grins of the Riders after taking their crossbows to the enemy the night before.
Letting go of her shield, she grabbed his with both hands and rammed it into his chin and drew her sword from the scabbard across her back. It was a knife thin blade made of Yamani tempered steel and it was heavier than it looked.
The dazed Scanran also had drawn a sword, his a broadsword. The two met body to body, and Kel saw his eyes widen when he was the one forced to his knees.
Kel automatically ran him through and sheathed her sword, turning to throw a dagger into a Scanrans back, evening up the odds for a Tortallan. Then another Scanran came at her with a mace, and another from the opposite direction with a staff.
Kel ducked, helping the staff wielder over her head and swept her foot around to trip the mace man, knocking their heads together with a sickening crack when they stood up. They fell.
Whirling again with a round house kick, Kel found herself against another opponent. Looking around, she knew they needed reinforcements, and then turned back to her enemy, hearing Brookwell�s battle cry as they charged into the other side of the main infantry.
The Scanrans were now caught in a pincer.
Dom and the Own retreated as the Riders set the blazebalm below the engines. �Okay Neal, whenever you�re ready,� he said to his cousin as the Riders also retreated.
The Scanrans had not given in easily, but they had eventually fell, fighting to the death rather than suffer the dishonour of capture.
Rather than warn his fellow Own members, Neal simply murmured into the amulet.
The engines exploded with a gigantic blast of green and- what was that colour?
The one that now danced viciously around the edges of Dom�s vision, almost blinding him? The ground shook for a second, throwing everyone to the ground.
�Neal, what in Mithros� name was that?!� Dom shouted at his cousin, still unable to see through the pretty neon colours.
�I- I don�t know,� he replied obviously shaken.
The ground rocked in a faraway haze of emerald. That would be the blaze balm, Kel thought. She reached onto the magical tie that Alanna had anchored in her mind. Wanna join the fun?
�We asked you to blow up the engines, not the entire fief! Slate�s are probably falling from roofs in Port Leg-� Dom sputtered, furiously picking himelf up.
�Shut up, Sir Domitan,� a lilting voice said tartly.
�Princess Jodanyai?�
�I wanted to lend a hand, your cousin didn�t have the strength to finish it,� she said firmly. �Do you know how tiring blaze balm is?�
�Fine, whatever!� Dom muttered darkly, turning to survey the battle scene.
Kel�s troops were in the thick of battle, slowly closing a vice on the Scanran infantry between her and Brookwell.
Alanna�s cavalry had intercepted reinforcements coming to aid the Scanrans, and that eagle could only be Daine.
She flew towards him, her mind voice full of panic, carrying through the amulets.
-There�s another entire column of Scanran infantry coming!-
Kel punched and blocked automatically, frantically thinking. Using the mental tie to Daine, she called out her to the others. Dom, how much blaze balm do we have? Do we have any of their catapults left?
�Plenty of the balm left, but only two catapults - what�re you thinking?�
Dom replied through the amulet.
Drawing a dagger and slashing a Scanran throat, she tucked and rolled below a manic sword thrust, stabbing him in the back as she surged to her feet. Brookwell, you and I signal a retreat, get our people as far back as possible. The Scanrans are in a tight formation, so they can�t break and run. Catapult the blaze balm into the centre of that formation.
There was a shocked silence at the brutality of Kel�s suggestion. Then Alanna broke in. She�s right, do it now! None of us like it, but it�s the only way to even the odds!
Daine swooped in from another look at the relief column headed towards them. -Kel, your brother will do what he can, but he can only give you four hundred men. Even if the blaze balm works, I don�t think that�s going to be enough!-
Kel swore, turning the air blue and fighting with a renewed ferocity. We have to do it anyway! Dom, get that blaze balm ready. Brookwell, sound a retreat on my command. Evin � we�re counting on you to catapult it. Wait until we�re out of the way. Neal, Jodai, you�re listening for my command.
-I�ve just told you�re brother to keep his people inside. I�m heading for the Own- Daine reported. Kel was relieved, that meant Daine would be out of the way. She would�ve hated to see Numair�s face if Daine had been killed by accident.
Dom also swore and ran with his squad and the Riders to their stockpile of blaze balm, loading it onto the catapults, aiming for the cluster of Scanrans and tensing for release. �We�re ready, Kel!�
Kel didn�t reply. She spun with a final slash and unhooked the horn from her belt, calling the retreat. A moment later, she heard Brookwell do the same. The soldiers broke and ran.
Once the Tortallan�s were clear, Dom signalled to the catapult crews. �On three � one, two, three!�
The deadly jelly flew through the air, turning into a fine mist as it reached its peak in its flight. �Don�t worry, it�s me, I�m spreading the word,� Jodai said grimly through the amulet. �Neal�s almost done it, I�ll be doing it myself this time.�
�Okay, Jodai it�s about to touch them � go when ready,� Kel said softly into her amulet, her voice carrying an unspoken apology.
The flash this time was like a new sun being born in the valley. It was electric white and very bright, the purest white colour of Jodai�s magic. It spread in a shockwave, the explosion echoing off the valley walls, filling the entire valley for a muted moment. There was an instant of silence, then the valley vibrated with sound.
All that remained of the soldiers in the valley was their bodies, looking as though they slept.
Everyone stared in shock and horror at the massacre in front of their eyes. They had been enemy soldiers, yes� but no one was remotely happy at the slaughter of human life that had had to happen.
Then Kel snapped to attention. Yelling magically and physically, �We still have a relief column to deal with, get moving! On the hill top, now!�
Two hours later, Kel and her troops were again pressed to the wall, only this time they were out of blaze balm and reinforcements. The relief force had an advantage � metal devices with blades in every possible place that had cut a swathe through their forces.
They were chewing them up and spitting them back out in pieces that would fill a matchbox. It was taking ten men to take on one of the killing devices, and it was close even then. Add to that the ordinary soldiers� they knew they were losing.
Suddenly, the Scanran retreat call sounded, and the machines turned tail with them. Every Scanran soldier was running towards the tree line, the Tortallans nervously looking at the sky and the area for the sort of attack that they had performed earlier.
Nothing came. Kel, Dom and Alanna � who had been fighting together in the centre of the battle � ran to the hill.
The Scanran�s were galloping away at top speed, and then Kel saw � then her ears rung, eyes widened and her knees gave way. She would have fallen if Alanna hadn�t supported her.
�No,� she whispered.
A figure in white was astride one of the horses in the forefront of the Scanran retreat. Her hair shown silver in the midday sun, flying behind her as she galloped away. A part of Kel�s mind boggled that it was only six hours since the beginning of the battle. She turned and waved to the party watching.
The distance was too great to shout, if Kel could�ve gotten another word out past the lump in her throat.
A gentle hand pushed Kel�s sweat and blood soaked hair back from her face, a hand Kel could not see.
�Don�t worry about me. You were losing, so I had to do something, but I couldn�t break the barrier they put on me. I couldn�t help with magic, I�m only just getting this spell out.
I gave myself up.
I couldn�t let you lose anyone else, not after seeing how hard you fought. They don�t know I can still do magic � I�ll break down this wall slowly.
I won�t forget my promise to you.
I hope this isn�t goodbye, Kelli.�
�I won�t either, Pip,� Kel choked out in her mind to the white angelic presence that was disappearing over the hill.
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