An idea came to him. Chion, how is the Ai doing with the illusion? Is she showing signs of strain?
Lara answered instead, Neither look particularly worried.
He considered different scenarios as he watched warrior after warrior trudge down the stairs. Chion, ask the woman’s bondmate whether she can manage two illusions at the same time. As he waited, Skye let his fingers drift across Eiren’s right ear, keeping his impatience reined in.
She can. However, the more complex the illusion the more likely it will fail. She also will burn through her energy faster.
Skye nodded, though Chion couldn’t see him, and calculated the next best move. As soon as the last Malirran enters the tunnel and moves away from the trapdoor, we must shut the door before we can begin our assault.
Eiren asked, Do you not think the Malirrans will shut the door behind them?
I wouldn’t, Skye said. The rest of the Malirran army will wait for word of their success. The two officers will post a guard at both the bottom of the steps and above ground.
A tricky situation, Chion hummed. Allow me to speak with Ulami’s Ai.
Ulami? Skye asked, running through the names of the Kurites he had memorized. Oh, the woman charged with maintaining the illusion for us, he answered before Chion could respond.
Indeed. Give me a moment.
Skye tapped his fingers against his thigh. Lara, I need you prepared to emanate a feeling of fear or panic when I give the signal. If we are to thin the Malirran ranks, we must coordinate our part of the assault simultaneous to when the pakas release their screams and roars.
He could almost feel Lara’s mind racing with questions, but her assent came through the bond. Chion’s presence filled the link. Ulami can provide a distraction ahead of us, though she admits the fake wall we currently hide behind might disappear. She can manage two illusions at the same time, but only if she does not lose her concentration.
Skye considered the ramifications. The Malirrans’ attention will turn to the distraction, giving us a short time span to kill the guards and close the door. We will already be on the move, so losing the barrier is not as much of a worry. Let her know to be ready when I give the order. Tell her Lara will release fear into our enemy, and the pakas’ screams will echo through the tunnels.
Done, Chion replied after a heartbeat.
The stomp of feet trickled back to where they waited. At last, two burly Malirrans came down and leaned against the wall, watching as the rest of their fellow warriors marched down the long tunnel.
In the common trade language, a booming voice came down from above, “Anything?”
The darker-skinned man of the two looked up, squinting. “It does not sound as if the Kurites have learned of our presence. Send a runner to the king, tell him the city is ours.”
The one still leaning against the tunnel wall and holding the torch muttered something under his breath to the other Malirran.
With a nod, he yelled up the staircase, “Vicor, we’re closing the trapdoor. The sunlight is playing havoc on our night vision.
“Understood,” came the brusque reply. Through the open doorway, the sound of footsteps diminished until Skye could hear nothing from above.
Eiren whispered with triumph, One less thing that must be dealt with, My Lord.
He glanced down at her and sent his bondmate a grim smile. Chion, tell Ulami not to worry about the distraction. We might need her magic later. She can drop the wall illusion as soon as we move forward. Focusing back on the two guards only a number of strides away, Skye ordered, Tell them to prepare. Tell them all, Chion.
Lara whispered, Give the word, I’m ready.
The Tal’Ai warriors leaned forward in anticipation, the humans’ weapons raised to attack. Pakas flexed their claws and their tails whipped back and forth.
When the guardsman turned to face back toward the tunnel after shutting the door, Skye said, Now, Chion.
Although he didn’t feel Lara’s magic, the Kurites around him tensed, freezing in place, before, as one, they relaxed and ran forward. The Ai beside him kept their pounding feet silent, and Skye felt the thrill of battle pump through his veins. A wide grin stretched across his face.
The two guards died without knowing they were prey, taken out by two, well-placed arrows. Even expecting it, the screams of the Tal’Ai pakas sounded eerie as they bounced from tunnel to tunnel.
Somewhere ahead, there is a Tal’Ai with the ability to amplify noise, Eiren informed him as she matched him stride for stride.
His rearguard followed the scent of smoke with ease, the pakas sneezing at the stench clinging to their noses. Despite the Ai dropping his sound dampening magic, their slow jog through the tunnels was near silent, only the clink of metal on metal and the thud of heavy feet reached his ears.
Opening himself to all his magic, Skye pulled out the salient information by sheer force of will. Without the mirrors, agony knifed its way into his skull, growing with every moment he left his mind exposed. He yelled aloud, “Chion, the east post is calamity. The Malirrans are scattering. Tell Motei, the officer in charge of the easternmost post, to push forward to flank and crush them. We cannot leave any Malirrans in the tunnels.”
Chion’s growl filtered back to him. Confirmed. They are spreading out to catch any strays.
Skye didn’t bother to answer, too focused on what lay ahead of them. He warned, yelling to ensure everyone under his command heard him. “Two to three Malirran troops are staging a retreat. The two Tal’Ai wings have them penned in the large intersection ahead, but they’re outnumbered.”
The Ais around him tucked their chins and sped up their pace. The two archers nocked arrows, keeping the bowstring loose, coordinating their action with the bounce in their step. Skye was impressed; they matched Dane in skill.
Noticing the fighting ahead take on a frantic overtone the closer they came, Skye stumbled. Eiren shortened her stride to stay by his side, her eyes focused on their target.
What were the Kurites doing? They fought like undisciplined novices, throwing weapons and kicks with a desperation he failed to understand. This was not the same fighting he’d witnessed during in the practice yards. Despite the pain shredding his brain, he sought the reason. With a loud gasp, he screamed, “Solara, pull back, pull back! Pull your magic back. Chion, stop her.”
Although Skye’s attention was primarily on the oncoming ambush, he noted Chion edging Lara to the side, and their speed slowed. Within a blink of an eye, the Kurites fighting ahead regrouped and tightened their lines. Their weaponry took on the skill of trained, experienced warriors once again.
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The rearguard all turned the last corner, and red, orange, and yellow light greeted him. One more turn, and they would slam into the small battle.
Wait, if he could see with his eyes, so could the Malirrans. Right before Lara and Chion entered the fray, he ordered with a scream, “Douse the flames. Douse the flames.”
Someone in his group, Skye didn’t know who, called out, “Dispatch the men holding the torches.”
The two archers and their respective Ais dropped back to take a stand just inside the large dome-shaped intersection. Without pause, they released arrows, hitting their marks on the first attempt. Right before the arrows hit, Skye saw that the Kurites engaging them peeled away, leaving the Malirrans open. With battle screams and roars announcing their presence, his small force entered the fray, giving some of the Kurites a short respite before they rejoined the battle.
Soon, the other archers targeted the men holding the torches. One by one, the firelight blinked out. Some torches were stamped out by the fighting bodies. A few of the fallen were lit on fire, and their screamed mingled with the chaos around them. Though he wanted to join the battle, he kept Eiren’s prudence for his safety in the forefront of his mind. He kept his shield arm up and his sword in his grip, but he stuck to the outskirts. Eiren crouched next to him, her wary gaze watched the action with a continuous snarl. Skye blocked out the battle happening in front of him and started to stretch out his senses to see if any other units needed warning.
My Lord, Eiren warned.
Skye snapped his eyes open, remembered most of the light was gone, and shifted his mental mirrors to see what he had missed. Exhaustion and pain dragged at him, and Skye worried he wouldn’t last until the battle was over.
A paka dodged a dagger by a hairsbreadth before joining him. Ai, I just received word that one of the Malirran officers you described is dead.
“Here?” Skye asked, never taking his magic off the battle.
No, in the next intersection. My packmate’s Ai delivered the death blow after receiving a wound of his own. After giving his report, the paka disappeared back into the fray.
Locating Chion and Lara in the bloody mass of bodies, he smiled. They fought back to back not too far from him, cutting down the enemy with precise, economical strikes. In the growing darkness, the Malirrans scrambled for purchase, their fear growing with every man that fell. The enemy was unfamiliar with fighting a beast with sharp teeth, claws, and intelligence, and it showed. The Kurites used their magic when possible, giving them additional leverage against a foe that still outnumbered them by at least a dozen or more.
Except the slaughter wasn’t all one sided. His magic took a mental tally of the pakas and Kurites on the ground, either dead or too injured to continue their assault.
Skye gritted his teeth, detesting the sharp edges that left gouges of fire in his skull. “Watch over me, Eiren. I must check on the others farther away.”
Of course, she said, sounding offended that he would even ask.
Searching along the path, he checked each intersection then the tunnels that branched out from there. He was too far away to see the larger battle taking place, but the outposts had cleaned up the few Malirrans who had escaped from the main regiments.
Skye, Eiren screamed, sounding as if it wasn’t the first time she had called his name.
Before he could open his eyes and bring his magic back in, the air around him changed. By reflex alone, he brought his shield up, blocking a weapon he couldn’t yet see. With a strength borne from years of practice, he drove his sword in the direction of the strike, and his weapon skewered a shorter man in the stomach. The gurgle reached his ears at the same time as his brain processed what his second sight relayed to him. Snarling with fury, his gentle paka had turned into a powerful protector. Even after the second man fell beneath her teeth and claws, she pounced on him, scoring jagged streaks across the Malirran’s face, neck, and chest.
Skye cudgeled the man still alive on the end of his blade with his shield. The strength behind the blow he dealt deadened his forearm, but the move slid the Malirran off his sword, the man’s weight doing the rest of the work. With a sucking sound, the body hit the ground.
“Eiren, he is dead.” With one last swipe, she jumped off the body and checked him over. “I’m fine,” he assured, and glancing around, he gestured, “and look, our part of the battle is over.”
Rest, Skye. You do us no good if you cannot even walk on your two feet. I will stand guard beside you, My Lord.
It was as if Eiren’s words freed his hold on his Lan’Ai magic. Skye released his magic with a groan, sidestepping until he could lean against one of the tunnel entrances. He needed a little time for the pain to lessen. He closed his eyes.
Perhaps I can locate the Ai who had the ability to boost your energy, she offered, her voice tinged with worry.
Without opening his eyes, Skye frowned and said in a low voice, “He and his Ai died in the battle, My Lady. Otherwise, I would have already asked him.”
Oh, no. So many of our magic users died, she said with a long sigh. We could ill afford to lose the small number we have, yet it could not be helped. We have saved Luthis, protecting Kurites is the ultimate duty all Tal’Ais learn when they bond.
“No,” Lara yelled, her horror lashing out to every single Kurite and Malirran in the intersection.
Skye straightened and looked over at the scene in the shadows of the glowing embers, the last remnants of the fires that once burned. A man held a Malirran by the back of his armor and his hair. A paka stood posed to slash the man’s arched throat. The defeated man whimpered, “No, don’t kill me. Don’t kill me, please.”
“Our orders are to kill those attempting to retreat,” snarled the man, his words coming out in puffs from maintaining his grip on the struggling Malirran.
“Only if they don’t surrender though, right?” Lara asked. “From what we learned, Kureto has never butchered Pyrannis before.”
The paka glared up at her, My friends bled to death on the ground we now stand upon, and you stand up for them?
Chion hissed and jumped forward to defend Lara. In the swirling fiery remains, both pakas snarled at each other, the black swaths across Chion’s white coat a bloody reminder of what they had survived. The others started murmuring, watching the tableau before them with worry and fear.
Without backing away, the slightly smaller paka returned his gaze to Lara. In a tone that conveyed his honest belief, he said, As the Goddess’s Chosen Lady, you should rejoice in their deaths. They came to take what was not theirs. If that does not persuade you, perhaps this might. We have no way to move these people, and we cannot leave the enemy in the tunnels. There are too many villages that do not have the benefit of guards to protect them. The army that isn’t made up of Tal’Ais are not here; they are marching to flank the Malirrans above even now.
The reasons the paka gave, though valid, did not lessen the horror that beat at Skye through his bond with Lara. He was sure that Chion also felt it. His snarl timed perfectly with Lara’s next statement.
“I will not be party to such a dishonorable deed. They surrendered. I have faced evil, felt its oily substance against my skin. I have experienced what evil feels like when I surrendered to it in an effort to save myself. These men,” she pointed at the Malirrans kneeling amongst the bodies, “are not evil, or even bad men. They simply followed their king’s orders. The King and his officers, only those men must die, even if they surrender. No, the God and Goddess would never praise such an act you want to commit.” In the burning embers, Skye watched as Lara crossed her arms, unmindful of the dark blood covering her skin and clothes.
The Malirran cried out, “Please, I surrender.”
In a lowered voice, the paka repeated, Our orders are to kill every Malirran, Goddess’s Chosen. His head flicked back and forth between Lara and the Malirran whose life was in question. The conflict the paka felt was evident to everyone who looked on. No one spoke up as the tension stretched out.
“If you commit this act against a man who has surrendered, you are no better than the Malirran king. I thought Kurites were better than this.” Lara shook her head. “Do not let the heat of battle change you into something you are not, please.” She lifted a hand to cover her heart. In a quieter voice, she turned her back to the Kurites. Looking at Skye with a sorrowful gaze, she whispered, “It hurts to feel the life pop out of existence. I can feel their terror, Skye.”
Chion pressed against her in silent support, and Eiren looked up at Skye with beseeching eyes. Skye kept his face devoid of any emotion, knowing that both Kurites and Malirrans looked to him for the order that would decide their enemy’s fate.
He couldn’t take her confession or her silent plea. The pain in her statement mirrored the agony in his head. He needed to take control of the situation. Yelling out, his voice roughened from giving orders over the sound of battle, he ordered the man holding the Malirran by the throat, “Stop. The Goddess’s Chosen has spoken, and we will follow her wisdom. Enough blood has been spilled today. Find a way to tie our enemy up. Search them for weapons.” He’d let the council decide what to do with their prisoners. At least their blood wouldn’t coat his fellow warriors’ hands.
Yes, sire.
“Yes, Ai.”
The relief he heard in their responses told him he had done the right thing.
Lara released a sob before turning her attention back to the injured. He and Chion watched the Tal’Ai pair walk away, making certain they did not attack Lara.
On her way to help Lara, Eiren said to Skye, This is twice now our bondmate has saved Kurites from committing a terrible act. There is no doubt the Goddess chose her champion wisely.