Embers of an Age (Blood War Trilogy) (11 page)

Ellora watched as the princess fought against her captor, and then went still. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at her brother. “What do you intend?”

“Only to be the hero of
my
people, and rebuild Lathahn as
my
kingdom, at last
, as it always should have been
.” He started off down the canyon. “Be
smart
and perhaps I
will
let you and your family live
long enough
to see my heroic climb to the throne
of the people’s hearts
.”

Olenn
laughed and walked off. Hi
s boots stirred the gray water as he stomped along, the rest of the group pushed to keep pace by his men.
No one said a word.

The Ruhr clung to their heels. Arrin wound his way through the thick brush of the Dead Lands
with Jerul bounced mercilessly across his shoulder.
The warrior grunted
even in
unconsciousness, but still
he
hung limp. Arrin
guided Cael, who ran before him, with shouts of direction to keep the boy on
the same
path.
Kirah
stuck
to the space between them.

Arrin
knew every time his voice rang out,
it
made it harder to lose the Ruhr in the blackened forest
, but h
e had no choice
. I
t ground upon his sense of survival.
The only comfort he drew from the pursuit was that the normally fearless creatures of the Dead Lands
seemed to want no part of the Ruhr. What few beasts Ar
rin had seen in their flight had run
fo
r the shadows to be out of the
way.
Though Arrin lagged behind,
Kirah was close enough to the boy to defend him should anything find its courage.

Arrin
steered
them
south and east, in hopes of slipping through the woods and into Ah Uto Ree at its border near Y’Vel, but
the thickness of the forest
forced them
to flee
further south than he intended. Through the shadow
s
, Arrin spied the glimmer of the River Vel snaking
through the foliage a short distance
before them. He called to Cael
and Kirah
to slow.
She stopped immediately.
The boy did so with reluctance, his eyes wide as he turned to look at Arrin.

Arrin
joined them and
passed Jerul to Cael, knowing with the aid of the O’hra he could carry the burly man, and told
them
to hold a moment. Arrin slashed a length of green vine from a nearby tree and stepped back to Cael, pulling Jerul from his arms and setting the Yvir on the ground. “Spin about,” he ordered and Cael responded without question. Arrin
w
rapped the vine around Cael’s waist
,
and then lifted Jerul up behind him, the pair back-to-back.
Kirah held
the warrior
in place
, Arrin’s injured
limb
still
too weak to do both
.
As fast as he could, the heavy stomps of Ruhr thumping through the trees, he secured Jerul to Cael and pushed the boy toward the
bubbling
water.

“
S
wim across and run straight south for a hundred count. Hide and wait for me there. If you hear me scream, break cover and run for Y’Vel with all
haste
.” Cael hesitated
and Kirah stayed at his side
. “Go!”
Arrin
screamed as loud as he could, sending the boy scampering into the water.

Cael
gasped
as the scalding water enveloped him.
He
splashed a moment as he tried to adjust to the awkwardness of Jerul strapped to his back,
and the agony of the searing fluid,
and then went on, the O’hra giving him the strength.
Kirah dove in behind him and swam beside, helping
Cael
across.

Arrin waited just an instant longer
to make sure the Ruhr still came, and then slid into the water. It felt like a thousand
pincers clinging to
his flesh as he sunk into the river, but he willed the pain away. He drew a deep breath and dropped all but his eyes and the top of his head below the surface. Once he spied the two Ruhr bursting through the trees and gauged the distance of the one closest, he dropped completely under and drew his sword. The weight of the murky water slowed him even with the O’hra
. H
e hoped he’d be strong enough to do what he must. Agony tore at him as he waited.

The Ruhr came straight at the river without slowing.
Kirah and
Cael
were
nearly at the other side
.
The boy’s
frantic splashing was like a beacon. The two creatures dove into the water heedless of its
boil
. The first sunk into the depths too far for Arrin to reach, but the second had entered just beside him. Arrin drove his sword upward, using the momentum of the creature
’s dive
to strengthen his arm
. He
thrust his blade
at
the Ruhr.

The weight of the Ruhr sent waves rippling through the river, crashing into Arrin as he lashed out. He fought against it but his blade shifted at the last instant. A muffled grating sound drifted to his ears as his sword sunk into the chest of the
stone creature
, just below
its neck.

It spun with surprising speed
against the pull of the water
,
and a stony fist crashed into Arrin’s cheek. The force pushed him upward and he broke the surface with a pained gasp. His left eye strained to focus, his face numb from the blow. The Ruhr too heavy to stop its downward motion
in time
to reach him, Arrin ignored his inju
ries
and swam for the far shore
, thrashing about awkwardly with only one arm
. He’d left his sword in the creature, but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t leave Cael
and Kirah
alone with the
other
Ruhr that had
reached
the other side of the River.

Glad
the two
had listened and run on, Arrin raced
on
as the
first
Ruhr pulled itself onto the shore.
Arrin
crawled out a moment
later, shouting to distract it
. The second splashed in the water just a few yards back.
A
s Arrin was about to run to find the boy, he heard Cael scream. His voice cut the air with its sharpened peal.
Arrin spun to the woods to see
the boy
racing back toward him, Jerul still strapped to his back.
Kirah ran
right behind
. Worry etched her feline features
, her ears flat against her head, her whiskers pulled back
. Cael
saw the Ruhr
at the shore
and turned east, his ordinarily black face
gray
and sickly.

“
Run
,” he shrieked as he darted into the trees.

“Hull
! Behind us,
” Kirah added as she veered off after the boy.

Arrin heard the snap of branches and the felt the earth shake beneath his feet.
The massive form of a Hull burst from the trees a short distance away
.
It
dripp
ed
with
the glistening green
ooze of pure magic. The stone-carved features of its face, looming well over two horse-lengths atop its shoulders, turned
its black stare
toward Arrin.
He was on Kirah’s heels an instant later. His sword still in the Ruhr and Jerul’s blades left back at the ambush site, the only weapon he had w
as
his fist. There’d be no defeating either of their enemies with th
at
.

He caught up to Cael easily and realized the Ruhr would do the same
, even if the Hull
c
ould not
. With Jerul strapped to the boy’s back he was slowed too much, but there was too little time to stop and pull him free.

“Damn it!” Arrin growled, his eyes looking to Kirah. “I need to pull them away long enough for you to release Jerul. Find a safe spot and do it fast.”

Before she could agree, they burst into a
clearing. Arrin felt the waft of magic
prickle
his skin. Only
a few
yards away
stood
one of the magical fonts so prevalent in the Dead Lands, the source of the horrific creatures that plagued the dark forest. The earth around it was scarred and pitted, the dirt turned crystalline under the flow of the pure magic that
spilled
from the rent in the earth. The font rose up only slightly
from the ground
,
its sides
black and charred
.
T
he air
was full of
the scent of fire and molten metal. Tendrils of green mist floated above the emerald gush of the font.

From
its depths rose yet another Hull. The shadows
of it mouth grinned malevolent
as its massive fingers sunk into the earth and pulled
itself free
, crystal shards crunching in its grasp
.

Arrin snatched the sword from Kirah’s hand and pushed her and Cael south, doing his best to shield them from both directions. The Hull
climbed
from the font, gushes of greenish goo spilling
loose
in its wake. The ground trembled as the other Hull
closed on them
, the two Ruhr bursting into the clearing. Their expressionless faces seemed to mock Arrin as he shifted to meet their advance.

He pressed his collar for more of its energy and dove at the Ruhr as soon as they cleared the tree line.
His borrowed
sword held in close, Arrin dropped low and came up beneath the closest Ruhr,
the one with his sword embedded in its chest
.
He drove upward and shoved
Kirah’s blade
throu
gh the face of the creature
. Sparks flew and blurred Arrin’s vision as the
sword
sunk home inside
its
skull.
He barely managed to free the
blade
before a kick from the other Ruhr slammed into his wounded arm.

Arrin cried out and rolled away. Bone gr
ound
against bone inside his upper arm
.
L
ightning bolts of agony roa
red
to life at every movement as
he watched the Ruhr close
, the Hull loose of the font and stomping toward him. Arrin got to his feet and
spun
away so he could face both of the creatures. The second Hull was closing judging by its booming footsteps, and Arrin knew his time had come.
He only hoped he could hold the creatures long enough for Kirah
and Cael to get away
.

The Ruhr leapt at him and Arrin sidestepped it with a grunt, his teeth clenched against the pain that assailed him. The branches snapped at his back and the ground rumbled
at the arrival of the
Hull. There was no place left to run. He turned to face the charging Ruhr, determined to slay it before the Hull struck him down from behind. Arrin raised his sword and dropped into a crouch.

A blur of silver and green launched itself from the trees and
collided with the Ruhr, a shadowed figure forming before his wavering vision. There was a flash of movement and Arrin heard the crackle of shifting ice as the creature’s arm stopped in mid-swing. The figure followed through with an overhand slash with a darkened blade, the sword cleaving the Ruhr’s arm from its shoulder.
It
spun to strike back but the figure drove its other sword into its face. The Ruhr dropped, crystalline frost enveloping its head.

Arrin stood rooted in place as the figure sheathed one of its swords and stepped to him. A pale hand reached out and grasped his tunic.

“Move!” the figure shouted
. The
voice
was
distinctly fem
inine
despite its aggressive tone.