The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (37 page)

“
Let’s be realistic
here for a second,” Cathy said. “Bill, pick two soldiers, you are
with Kairu and I. The rest, hold this position. We’ll need the
bridge to get back down again.”

“
Yes, my Lady,” Bill
said, heading towards his soldiers.

The spear wielding
Evenawks were landing further up the mountain to block our route.
The sky archers were still swarming around us. Everyone with a bow
was working hard to keep them at bay, but the ground troops were
heading our way.

“
Should we take out
the bridge?” Donkor asked. “If it’s just a magical bridge
underneath we don’t need the physical part. We will only be
surrounded.”

“
Unfortunately, the
bridges are one and the same,” I explained. “You won’t be able to
destroy it because of the magic attached to it.”

“
My sword is good
against magic,” Donkor reminded me.

“
You destroy the
enchantment and we’re stuck up here until the bridge is fixed,” I
replied. “We have to protect this bridge.”

“
Get ready, you two,”
Cathy said, pointing to the oncoming Evenawks. “We need to break
this rank so we can slip through.”

The Evenawks were
marching in a standard box formation, their spears pointed towards
us. On this thin path, their goal was to push us back or run right
through us. Donkor, Cathy, Bill and a couple of Davalin soldiers
formed a defensive line behind me. I drew my short sword and scales
covered the unprotected parts of my body.

My mind raced as I
thought of a way to disrupt the line. With Cathy’s speed and
Donkor’s strength, we could hold our position easily but it would
be meaningless to run straight into the spearheads. I gathered
power into my foot, ready to stomp the ground and throw them off
balance.

“
Wait for my stomp,”
I said.

I saw Cathy lower
herself, with her shield in front of her. As soon as the first rank
was disrupted she would charge. I raised my foot and slammed it
into the ground, sending a shockwave across the Spirit Plane and
causing the ground to shake under the slow moving
Evenawks.

The first few lines stammered in their
place and Cathy and Donkor immediately charged. The Davalin
soldiers followed into the fight and I took a step back to assess
the situation. Donkor was able to use his sword to take down
multiple Evenawks and cause a few to be knocked off the side of the
cliff. It wouldn’t be the end for those lucky birds but it would
buy the group some time.

Cathy’s lightly
glowing shield had snapped any spear that was unlucky enough to get
in her way. She held her place for a moment but the Evenawks
continued to advance. We had successfully disrupted the first
couple of lines but the brainwashed hadn’t been rattled enough to
cause disarray.

“
Step back,” I said,
feeling the power rush to my empty hand.

Everyone jumped back
to my position and I raised my hand and felt the heat of the stream
of fire. I swept the area back and forth a couple of times and
heard the panic squawking I’d been waiting for. I stopped and
motioned for my friends to resume their attack.

The chaos in the front mixed with the
rage in the back made the group unstable on the thin mountain path.
Cathy and Donkor were finally forcing them back with the Davalin
troops pressing up the gut. They would be alright for the moment
and I turned my attention towards our archer group.

There were only a
couple of casualties but with our size, one was too many. If an
archer went down, a shield guard would take up the bow and continue
to fire. I scanned for anyone that was wounded and saw Aaron
pressed up against the stone, still firing his bow, with an arrow
in his knee. Natalie was close by trying to protect him and I
hurried over to help.

“
That looks
uncomfortable,” I joked.

“
Leave the house,
they said. It will be fun, they said,” he smiled.

I crouched down to examine the knee.
The arrow hit the knee cap dead on and went through to the other
side. I could fix it with my magic but I wasn’t skilled enough to
make it 100%. The knee would be sore and difficult until it healed
up naturally.

I dropped the sword and removed my
sheath, handing it up to Aaron. “Bite down on this.”

He took it and put it
in his mouth without question. I transferred some magic into his
leg to make it cold and numb the feeling. Grabbing the arrow head,
I snapped it off and Aaron groaned. I snapped off the fletching and
slowly pulled the arrow through the wound. Aaron screamed and I
repeatedly muttered an apology the entire time. When the arrow
shaft was removed, I began healing the knee. Aaron sighed in relief
when I finished.

I took the sheath from his mouth and
picked up my sword. “Thanks,” he said.

“
Stay off it for the
rest of the fight,” I replied, turning to Natalie. “Are you doing
alright?”

“
Yeah, but even if I
wasn’t, I’m not letting you patch me up, ‘Doc’,” she
joked.

A sky archer was lining up for a shot
at Aaron and I sent an Ice Bolt towards him. “Don’t let him be a
hero,” I said to Natalie about Aaron.

“
I’ll shoot him
myself if he tries,” Natalie replied.

I headed for the Davalin soldiers,
firing Fireballs or Ice Bolts at any Evenawk in the way. One of the
archers took an arrow to the shoulder and I caught her as she
stumbled back. The armour had prevented the arrow from going deep
into her skin and I pulled it out and healed her. She returned to
fighting and I scanned the sky for some targets.

The sky archers were
still scattered around us, firing at will. I found myself trying to
protect myself more than trying to fight back. I had already used a
lot of my magic strength and I didn’t want to waste the rest here.
I needed to rejoin Cathy and head for the capital.

I ran away from the
archers, trusting them to hold out for a while longer. Cathy’s
group had pushed the ground forces back to the point that they were
almost up the mountain. The extra space in between became a hot
zone for additional spear wielding Evenawks to land.

As a couple started their
transformation into humanoid mode, I launched a Lightning Bolt that
jumped from one to the other. While they danced, I ran past them
and rejoined Donkor.

“
You need to head
back,” I said to him. “They are starting to land troops to flank
the archers.”

“
On it,” he smiled.
“See you when get back!”

He bounded off towards the bridge
looking like he was on his way to a picnic. I turned back to the
ground troops and readied my short sword. We were just at the point
where the path entered the forested plateau. I joined the group and
helped defeat the remaining ground troops.

“
So nice of you to
join us, Kairu,” Bill said, breathing heavily.

“
Quickly, into the
forest before more show up,” I said. “They’ll realise their ground
troops have been defeated soon.”

We ran the remaining
distance into the cover of the trees and nearly collapsed onto the
ground from exhaustion. We needed to keep moving, but at the same
time regain some energy. It was unfortunate we didn’t have those
berries from Szwen. I’m sure they would have helped out greatly for
this mission.

Our pace was slow at
first but picked up as we regained our breath. Every once in a
while, an Evenawk would fly overhead looking for us and we were
forced to hide within the trees until the patrol passed. I could
feel my magical strength returning slowly too and I hoped I would
be strong enough when it became time to face Desroche.

When we reached the
edge of the forest where the charred ground welcomed us, it wasno
longer a matter of whether we were ready or not. It was time to
face the music.

The gates of Scert’chak were left wide
open.

We were being invited.

Chapter
33

“
Looks like they’re
waiting for us, my Lady,” Bill stated.

“
Would it be too much
to hope that they also brought us dinner and a bath?” Cathy asked
rhetorically.

“
Sir,” the male
soldier said to Bill. “There appears to be something by the
gate.”

Bill leaned forward
and squinted and I couldn’t help my curiosity either as I began to
search for what the guard had pointed out. Along the wall, there
was something that was different but I couldn’t make it out. It
looked like the Evenawks had put up some extra defences or
something. No matter what I did though, I couldn’t make out any
details.

“
Can you make it out,
my Lady?” Bill asked.

Curious, I turned to Cathy. She had a
tense look on her face that suggested she knew exactly what had
been put on the walls. “No, I can’t make it out,” she lied. “It
doesn’t look dangerous though. We should continue ahead.”

She stepped out onto the charred ground
and the Davalin soldiers followed without hesitation. I scanned the
area with my mind quickly before chasing after them to catch up.
The open gate was definitely a ploy to get into our heads. The
biggest question is: how did Desroche know we were coming?

As we approached the gate, the objects
on the wall revealed themselves to be of a disturbing nature. The
brainwashed Evenawks or Mages had taken the bodies of the previous
group of Davalin guards and hung them along the wall as a way to
scare off anyone who dares approach. I was not expecting this level
of barbarism and looked to the group for their reactions.

Out of everyone,
Cathy’s face remained neutral. It was definitely not the worst
thing she had ever seen in her life, but it was still shocking to
see Desroche stoop to this level. But I guess once you enslave an
entire race there’s really no point in pretending to have any
ethics or morals. The more I thought about it, the sillier I felt
being shocked.

“
Look what he did to
Ser Wilson,” Bill said, pointing out the knight like it was going
to make the whole scene more enjoyable.

“
Ignore them,” Cathy
said coldly. “They are only trying to get into our head and make us
lose our resolve. We press forward.”

“
Yes, my Lady,” Bill
said, turning to his soldiers. “Rob, Gina, avert your eyes. We’ll
come back for them afterwards.”

“
Y-yes, Captain,” Rob
said while Gina remained quiet.

On the other side of the gate, a small
band of Evenawks stood waiting for us. In the centre was a smug
looking Mage with greased back hair and icy blue eyes that stared
through me in hatred despite the cheesy grin plastered to his
face.

“
The Great Desroche
extends to you an offer of friendship,” the Mage called
out.

We stopped in front of the Mage’s group
and I studied the Mage before returning the cheesy smile and
stepping forward. “Does he now?” I asked, amused.

“
Your ability to get
to the front gate of Willow’s Trap shows your strength,” the Mage
continued with his boring, pre-written script.

“
It’s Scert’chak,” I
said casually, counting out the Evenawks around him. There were
four on each side. A fight would be tricky but doable.

The Mage scowled. “We
refuse to call it by its Evenawk name. Now the Great Desroche
wishes to speak with you himself. If you agree to drop this silly
cause of yours and join us, he will make you a general in his army
and you will have your own province to govern after the war has
been won.”

I was standing almost directly in front
of him now when I stopped. He didn’t even flinch, just continued to
stare me down. “My own province, you say,” I said intrigued.

“
Yes,” the Mage
replied bitterly.

“
That sounds like a
really good deal,” I said, extending my left hand towards the Mage.
The Mage looked shocked for a second before smiling. He seized my
hand to shake it and I pulled him close to me, driving my sword
into his stomach. “Too bad I have to decline.”

I withdrew my sword,
turned to the group of Evenawks on my left and released a stream of
fire at them, sweeping the area. The Evenawks were quickly engulfed
in the flames and shrieked in terror. The group behind me squawked
in rage as my group rushed in to engage them.

The Mage was still
barely alive and was trying to summon a spell, but I stabbed him in
the chest to put him out of his misery. My group easily finished
with the remaining Evenawks and I surveyed the area around
us.

Desroche would have a
plan B in place should the recruitment drive fail. We were going to
have to fight our way to the city hall, but I couldn’t imagine him
having too many Mages or Evenawks left. Most would be stationed
close to him.

“
That was so hot,”
Cathy whispered into my ear before backing up.

“
Your magic and
cunning never cease to amaze me,” Bill said, but Cathy’s smile
distracted me.

I looked away from
her and refocused. “We have to be careful. He’ll have a plan B if
this didn’t work. It’s going to be one of those classic ‘hack and
slash’ our way across the city times. Only defend yourself though.
There are a lot of innocent women and children up there that don’t
realise what they are doing.”

The Davalin soldiers nodded glumly.
They had no doubt heard about the attack on Thurlborn Peak from the
surviving soldiers. Speed was going to be both our best offense and
defence. I hoped the soldiers still had some energy left over.