Chapter 8
“How did they manage that?” Ruven asked in disbelief. They stood staring at Casyl. He looked like a man who hadn’t slept in days.
The tent was organised chaos, with armour and weapons cluttering every corner. A large map was spread across the table. Amelia studied the little pieces depicting people and creatures.
“They’ve got a Mind Warper,” Casyl replied.
Danae gasped. That must have been bad.
“I guess that makes me your temporary second,” Ruven said.
Casyl whipped his head towards Ruven, his gaze sharp.
“Hey.” Ruven put his hands up. “I said temporary. We’re going to get him back.”
“How?” Danae asked.
“That’s why we’ve brought the girl, right?” Ruven glanced between Amelia and Casyl.
She flinched as though struck. What did they imagine she could do?
“How did they capture him?” she asked instead, hoping to deflect the attention.
Casyl turned and began pacing around the tent. She’d never seen him like this.
He swept his raven-black hair back. “We were in battle. We’d been fighting since the early hours.
Their side was taking hit after hit. We had the advantage.
” He paused, collecting himself. “And then the Mind Warper arrived. I saw the fighting thicken around Tharos and his battalion. By the time I realised they were being targeted, the signal to retreat had been sounded, and Tharos’s banner fell.
I did not know that they even had one on their side. ”
“What is a Mind Warper?” Amelia asked.
“Dangerous,” Danae said. “They must be powerful if they could control Tharos.”
“I’ve not seen one in battle for centuries,” Casyl said.
Centuries? Just how long did these fae live?
“And you know Tharos is alive, how?” Ruven asked.
Casyl marched from the tent and through the camp in a rage. The storm clouds followed him. Amelia struggled to keep pace.
He stopped near the edge of the last tents and pointed towards the enemy camp. “They’re goading us.”
Casyl’s pain was clear. She was surprised that it bothered her.
She squinted. In the distance, a man had been tied to a pole in the middle of the enemy camp.
“How can you tell he’s alive?” Amelia asked them.
“Our vision is better than yours,” Casyl said.
“So, what’s the plan?” Ruven asked.
“Take me with you,” Amelia said.
They all turned to her.
Was she doing the right thing? She couldn’t take it back now.
“This is what you’ve been training me for, right?”
Casyl frowned, considering.
“What if they know she’s here?” Danae asked.
“I’m sure they do,” Casyl said. “That’s why Tharos is still alive. But we can’t leave him.”
“Are you sure?” Casyl turned to Amelia.
If she could help to save Tharos, that would be one less death on her conscience.
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“It’s getting dark. We need to prepare. Find Amelia some armour and a weapon. Oh, and Ruven, you’re staying here.”
“Like hell I am!” Ruven shouted. She’d never heard him so much as raise his voice before. “He’s like my brother. I can’t just sit here.”
“Like you said, you’re now my second. That means you’re in charge of the army whilst we’re on this mission. If anything happens to us, you need to take charge,” Casyl said, grabbing Ruven by the shoulders. “That’s an order.”
*
Casyl helped Amelia dress. His hands were gentle as he fastened the armour onto her. Neither of them spoke. The silence felt strangely intimate.
He tightened the leather strap across her ribs, and she flinched.
His hands stopped immediately.
“Is it too tight?”
“No.”
She realised he wouldn’t continue until she told him to.
“It’s fine.”
He continued fastening the straps.
“Are you nervous?” he asked.
She nodded, expecting him to mock her.
“Good. It means you understand what’s at stake.”
“Are you?” she asked.
He stopped fastening the straps. “Nervous? More than I was before you offered to come. You don’t have to, you know.”
“Would my ability help?”
“More than it would hinder.”
“Then I’m coming.”
They crept through the darkness, skirting the forest’s edge as it descended from the hills.
Both camps were based high on opposing hills, while the fighting took place in the valley below. The enemy camp blocked access to the mountains. The terrain favoured whichever side held the higher ground. Retreating uphill left soldiers exposed and easily cut down as they fled.
They’d found Amelia some leather armour and had removed anything from it that would make too much noise. They carried daggers, and Casyl had a short sword strapped to his back.
The grass shimmered under the moonlight as it stirred in a gentle breeze. The enemy camp was up ahead, tents scattered and guards walking the perimeter, alert for intruders.
Casyl led the way ahead of Amelia, with Danae following. They were practically crawling in the long, dancing grass when they reached the base of the enemy’s hill.
Casyl looked back and signalled for them to wait. He went ahead alone, snaking through the grass towards the lone guard watching the camp.
The silence pressed against her ears. They’d been told to bolt if the alarm was raised. She waited for Casyl’s signal.
Casyl reached up and seized the guard’s leg. The man crumpled as he dragged him into the long grass. He signalled for them to come.
They approached the camp cautiously. When another guard came into view, they dashed towards the back of the nearest tent.
In one quick movement, Casyl sliced through the tent with his dagger and slipped inside to slit the sleeping soldier’s throat.
They crammed inside whilst Casyl peeked out from the front entrance.
Amelia glanced at the soldier. Blood poured from his wound, soaking his bed. She’d seen bones and ancient remains, but she’d never watched someone die. The man hadn’t even opened his eyes. She pressed her knuckles to her mouth and forced herself to keep moving.
This wasn’t training anymore. Her fear would get them all killed if she didn’t control it.
From the tent entrance, they could see Tharos suspended above the centre of the camp.
The camp was quiet, most of its occupants asleep apart from a handful of guards. Was this a trap? Or were they expecting a full mounted assault to rescue him?
They ran from the tent, sticking to the shadows, entering tents to dispatch sleeping soldiers if they needed to, until they drew closer to Tharos. They hunkered down in the shadows and watched as four men stepped out of a large tent.
“Bring him down,” one of the men ordered. He wore a chain-mail robe beneath a tabard.
Two guards stepped forward and used the rope to lower Tharos to the ground.
“Remember, I want him kept alive, Zandhro,” the armoured man said. The man was tall and built like a bull, with gold-plated armour and a long red cloak that blew behind him as he turned and walked off into the camp.
Was that the other king?
They watched as Zandhro walked over to Tharos, who now lay slumped on the ground against the pole. His wrists and ankles remained tied to it.
“Do you think they’re coming for you?” Zandhro asked, smirking.
“I hope they do. It would save us an entire war.” He looked down at Tharos, who was barely conscious, then knelt and lifted the prisoner’s chin.
“Awake,” he commanded, and Tharos’s eyes rolled back before coming into focus.
Zandhro laughed. “Your powers won’t work on me, I’m afraid, not whilst I control them. ”
That was the Mind Warper. He had Tharos’s mind and powers under his control. There was no way they would have captured Tharos alive otherwise.
“Let’s see what you know,” he said, unsheathing a dagger. “I can’t see into your mind like your king can, but I can make you tell me.”
Amelia froze. The armoured man had ordered Zandhro to keep Tharos alive, but how much pain did the Mind Warper intend to inflict?
“It’s a shame that torture is forbidden. It would make things so much easier. But that would make us as bad as you,” the Mind Warper said.
He cut Tharos’s hands free and passed him the dagger.
Tharos took the dagger and turned it on himself. His hand shook as he raised the blade towards his eye.
“Where are you keeping the girl?” Zandhro asked.
Tharos pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. It was the most control he could exert over his own body.
“Well, I suppose you only need one eye,” he said.
Casyl turned to Amelia, unsheathing his sword. “Now,” he ordered.
They ran out of the tent towards Tharos and the Mind Warper. Her pulse hammered. What was she doing? She was an archaeologist.
The Mind Warper turned and jumped back as Casyl reached Tharos first, kicking the dagger from his hand.
Casyl faltered, struggling to raise his sword, and the Mind Warper used the hesitation to draw his own.
The two guards came rushing at Casyl. Amelia stood for a moment, unsure of what she needed to do. Clasping her hands, she focused her mind on the Mind Warper. She felt his power through faint vibrations in the air and willed it to stop.
He turned towards her in confusion, which gave Casyl time to raise his sword against the approaching soldiers.
“She’s here!” the Mind Warper shouted into the camp. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” he yelled at her. “They will destroy everything!”
His words broke her concentration.
Soldiers spilled from their tents, struggling into armour and drawing their weapons. They were vastly outnumbered.
Danae grabbed one of the lit torches and threw it on the ground. The fire rose like a ring of death, guards falling into it, screaming as their skin burned and bubbled in the flames.
The alarm was sounded, and men came running from every direction.
Amelia ran over to Tharos to untie his feet and help him walk as Casyl and Danae fought the soldiers and the Mind Warper.
Horses stormed into the camp. She heard battle cries and steel clashing against steel as Ruven led their army to attack the enemy camp.
“Here!” she shouted to Ruven.
Danae cleared the surrounding flames long enough for Amelia to help Tharos reach Ruven. Tharos mounted behind him.
“Go!” Casyl yelled. He’d killed two of the soldiers and now faced off with the Mind Warper.
His sword danced through the air, meeting the Mind Warper’s sword again and again, but as the Warper’s power returned, Casyl began to slow.
Amelia’s presence prevented the Mind Warper from using his full power, but her focus was slipping.
Two soldiers rushed through the gap in the fire, and Danae spun to face them.
The Mind Warper regained enough power to momentarily freeze Casyl, then slashed his sword across Casyl’s torso.
“No!” Amelia yelled, running towards them. She lunged at the Mind Warper’s back, forgetting all of Ruven’s training, and plunged her dagger into his neck. They fell together to the ground.
He rolled on top of her, his weight crushing her. The gurgling scream bubbled from his throat along with the blood, drenching her. She thrashed, freeing herself as the taste of his blood nauseated her.
Casyl stood, holding his side, blood pouring from the wound.
She got up and ran over to him.
“I guess this time you saved me,” he said, staggering. Amelia caught him, stumbling under his weight.
Danae came running over to help. “Let’s go!” she said, her face splashed with blood.
She cleared a path through the flames, and they ran past the fighting. The fire was spreading throughout the camp, and men who weren’t part of the battle were fighting the fire with buckets of water.
They heard the signal for retreat as Ruven came galloping back with spare mounts. They mounted the horses and bolted for the safety of their own camp.
They’d done it; they’d rescued Tharos. It had all happened so quickly.
Medics were ready when they reached their camp, and Danae and Ruven helped Tharos and Casyl down from their mounts.
“I’m fine,” Casyl said, holding his wound, batting Ruven away.
“You can barely walk, you moron,” Ruven retorted.
Amelia flinched, but Casyl only let out a bark of laughter before sinking to the floor. Ruven and the medics carried him inside.
“Are you hurt?” Danae asked Amelia.
“No, I don’t think so.” She stopped to inspect herself. It was difficult to determine if any blood belonged to her.
The adrenaline was fading, and the memory of the men burning to death in Danae’s flames took over her mind. She could still smell the burned flesh in the air.
She staggered towards the side of the tent and doubled over. Danae came over and patted her back, holding Amelia’s hair out of the way. “It’s normal the first time you see battle,” she said. “It will get easier.”
She didn’t tell Danae that it wasn’t the fighting that had made her sick, but her torturous flames that had scalded men, blistering their skin. How could she be so unaffected by it?
Ruven emerged from the medical tent and led her over to Casyl’s tent. Once they were inside, she collapsed onto a chair.
“Here,” he said, passing her a goblet. “It will help.”
She snatched it out of his hand and gulped, washing the memory of blood from her mouth.
“All of that was over me?” she asked. “Why don’t you just give me to them?”
He looked at her sadly. “Get some rest.” He walked back out of the tent.