Chapter 5 #4
Two more paladins rounded the other side of the tent and raised their spears at him.
As he calculated just which spear to allow to run him through and which he could dodge, he heard Aurora’s gut-wrenching scream.
His magic burst from him as if a dam had broken.
Between breaths, he grabbed the spear aimed at his throat and shoved it aside.
Two more pinned him in his sides as he tore the spear from the paladin’s hands, pulling the paladin as well.
As they tore their spear tips from him to stab him again, he launched the spear into the unarmed paladin’s open mouth.
Before the next could raise the alarm, he closed the distance between them and gutted the paladin with his sword.
The next plunged his spear into Theron’s leg, but it was too late—his magic broke the paladin along his weakest points.
The man collapsed. As he inhaled to scream, Theron stabbed him in the neck with his blade.
Theron pulled the spear from his leg and healed himself as he tore open the tent with his sword. The high priestess would die tonight, no matter what it cost him.
That’s when he saw it—Aurora’s vision.
Blood and death and smoke choked the air. In her vision, Aurora stumbled through debris and fell onto a corpse—a slain nobleman with fine clothes. The exact same clothes the nobleman who’d demanded her vision was wearing. A dark thrill went through him. Lord Bacus would not have long to live.
But as the vision continued, Aurora looked up. Stentor raced through the camp, cutting down bandits until his use of fire made him a beacon. Arrows stuck the bastard like a wild boar. The next bandit who raced through the camp trampled the body.
Another small victory. Yet the vision wasn’t over, even as Lord Bacus raced from the tent, ashen-faced and screaming at his aide. The same bandit turned his eyes on Aurora and began the charge, his blade raised high.
“No!” Theron shouted.
It was too late. Warning cries went up through the camp as Aurora’s vision ended. Blood pooled beneath her as the mind’s eye stone slipped from her limp fingers. She slumped in her seat as clerics gasped and jumped out of his way. The army healer leapt aside as Theron wrapped Aurora in his arms.
He filled her with his magic as her heart stuttered in her chest.
“Stay with me!” he shouted at her.
Theron worked to staunch the flow of blood as the scent of smoke grew acrid. The raid was happening this very moment. If her vision was of this night, then he had precious few moments left to make her well enough to flee the danger.
“Paladins, to me!” Orithyia called.
Despite it all, an ugly laugh escaped him. There would be three fewer to protect her now that he’d killed them. If he survived, he would pick the rest of them off and leave her undefended.
“Defensive formation! Get Her Holiness to safety!” one of the few paladins left called as they surrounded the old snake with their shields.
The clerics swept from the tent and ventured into the chaos outside.
Theron dared not move until Aurora’s heartbeat was stronger, until she could breathe without struggling.
Merciful Triad, but she was so small and fragile.
How could they think to butcher her like this, not once but twice?
! Sweat beaded his brow as he did everything he could to drag her from death’s maw. Rage choked him.
“Fight it, my little fairy. Fight as viciously as you fight me!”
But as flames licked up the sides of the tent, he feared his time in relative safety had run out. Aurora cradled in his arms, he raced from the tent and out into the melee.
Chaos was too tepid a word for it. The bandits were meant to attack and raid the baggage, but this lot seemed to fancy themselves an invading army.
They raced through the camp on the backs of lopers, tossing lit torches at every tent they could find and cutting down all who fled.
The soldiers were putting up a good fight in spite of what he’d done to them today, but it seemed their own mounts had run off. The lot of them were sitting ducks.
Theron looked for the red or gold flags that would mark the only havens in this bloodbath.
He caught sight of the red first and started running, holding Aurora close to his chest. With his magic swirling through every inch of her, she was beginning to rouse.
Hope blossomed in his chest in time with dread.
Because in her vision, he’d not been there as she stumbled amongst the carnage.
He only hoped she would find the red or gold tents in time to be saved.
“Aurora? Aurora!”
She opened her eyes, groaning as he leapt over fallen tents and broken bodies.
“Listen to me. You need to find the red or gold tents. Do you understand?”
She looked past him, unseeing, her eyes fluttering shut.
“Damn it! Aurora, you need to wake up!”
The sound of hoofbeats began drowning out the screams. He turned, but it was too late. Theron threw Aurora from his arms as the loper reared up. Raising his arms in defence, the last thing he saw was the sight of the loper’s hoof as it collided with his head.