“Why would talking about it help, exactly?”
There it was. Icy acrimony, edging his characteristically cool tone. Talea curled her toes inside her boots, knowing the conversation was headed down the same path as all the others. Would it be better to just let him get mad, get through another fight, and then she could ride with Gustor? But then, she and Yhkon might never mend things, and would be stuck with each other for who knew how long.
The best she could do was try to soothe the situation and salvage the relationship, and if it didn’t work, at least she had tried. “Well, if someone knew what it was that was wrong, they could better understand how…how you feel, I guess, and then you could just get it off your chest and not have to be stuck with it alone.”
He inhaled ever so slowly. “So you think if you knew my life story, you might be able to fix me after all. Guess what. Grrake knows almost all of it. And his attempts haven’t gotten him far, now have they?”
“Yhkon I’m not trying to fix you, but I would help, if you’d let me!”
“I…” The chill in his voice was gone. Instead it was lower than usual. “I don’t think you, or anyone, can.”
She didn’t have time to react to the statement. Larak’s thundering voice interrupted. “Yhkon, north!”
Yhkon’s head jerked up, as did hers. Atop a hill north of them, the armor of several mounted Kaydorians glittered in the sunlight. He jerked the reins that direction, urging Eclipse into a gallop up the hill. Right, ‘cause running toward danger is always safest. “Tarol, Resh, with me!”
Tarol and Resh fell in on either side of them as they charged toward the knights. Talea held tightly to Yhkon’s waist, forgetting her earlier reluctance to do so, as Eclipse’s powerful strides ate up the ground. The Kaydorians spurred their own celiths into a retreat, down the other side of the hill. Yhkon nearly elbowed her in the face as he reached back to get his bow. How he managed to stay astride without holding on, she didn’t know. The knights were out of sight now, blocked from view by the hill, but she knew the Wardens’ mounts would catch up easily enough soon. They crested the hill, and were met by a mass of glinting armor below them, and a volley of arrows.
15
Iron
T arol’s celith squealed in pain. Resh grunted. Arrows hissed through the air and embedded all around them. Talea ducked, making herself as small as possible behind Yhkon as he wheeled Eclipse around, away from the army below them and the archers it boasted. Tucked almost sideways against his shoulder, she caught a glimpse of the force as they turned away. Like a sea of iron. How many were there? Hundreds?
“Ki, up with me! Resh, take Tarol! Let’s go!”
Yhkon’s commanding voice honed her focus. She instinctively grabbed Ki’s arm, helping him onto Eclipse’s hindquarters behind her, where he had little to straddle and even less to hold, except for her. Tarol was up with Resh and Skyve, his own celith grounded, multiple arrows in its chest and neck.
They fled back the way they’d come. Grrake must have already guessed what was going on—he had steered the group away from the hill. Yhkon took Eclipse to the front and didn’t slacken his pace.
Yhkon swore, seconds before Eclipse planted his hooves. As she swayed from the jolt, Talea saw why: at least fifty Kaydorians on celiths ahead of them. The other Wardens had stopped as well, analyzing the force. Did they think they had a chance against them? What if they…want us to use our lightning? She was about to ask Yhkon what he was thinking, when Gustor called, between curses, “Yhkon, left and right, back! Better make a move!”
Talea whipped her head either direction. Sure enough, smaller, mounted forces of at least a couple dozen each were behind and to either side of them. Whichever way they tried to go, the Kaydorians would close in.
“What’s the fuss!” Tarol was practically squirming behind Skyve. “It’s a simple matter of deciding which idiots to attack first. Let’s go!”
Yhkon ignored Tarol’s outburst. She could tell he was trying to work something out, with his brow knit and eyes narrowed. “Why have the foot soldiers…if we’re mounted…”
“Come on, Yhkon!” Tarol muttered. “All we need is your royal consent and we can deal with this!”
“Shut up, Tarol.” Larak moved his celith closer to Eclipse. “I think it could be a trap.”
“Exactly.” Yhkon’s frown deepened, as the three Kaydorian forces began advancing. “But it looks like we have no choice but to walk into it. Break through, west!”
The western force was the smallest, and hopefully easier to break through. Talea clung tightly to Yhkon and Ki clung tightly to her. Eclipse’s muscles gathered and stretched beneath them with every powerful stride, the wind created by his speed whipping back her hair and bringing tears to her eyes. The glinting iron of the Kaydorians was a blur that raced toward them, brandished swords and armor that she could somehow still hear clinking, above the thunder of hooves that enveloped everything.
She knew they had reached the enemy when she felt Yhkon’s body moving, swinging his sword. Everything happened too quickly to see. All she knew was that where his sword went, a spray of crimson followed. Celiths were snorting and squealing, men shouting, iron clashing…
And then it wasn’t. The thunder of hooves dimmed until it was only that of their own mounts. Looking over her shoulder, she could see at least a dozen celiths and knights that had fallen. The rest were pursuing, but they didn’t have the speed to overtake them.
There wasn’t much time for relief at their escape. They had entered a canyon, jagged cliffs on either side, wide enough for about a hundred men to stand abreast. Within seconds, they rounded a corner, and found another army.
Yhkon swore, drawing Eclipse into such a sharp turn Talea had the sinking feeling of falling for a second. There wasn’t time for discussion. With nearly a hundred cavalry charging them from behind, and an army ahead, they were hemmed in. Yhkon kept Eclipse facing the oncoming tide of celithmen. “Attack!” With a kick they were galloping again, straight toward the Kaydorians. With a hundred hoofbeats all around and the blood pounding in her ears, Talea barely heard Yhkon’s second command. “Wards, lightning!” He grabbed her knee when she didn’t respond. “Talea! Lightning, now!”
Lightning. Against the knights. To kill them.
Somehow she raised her hands and somehow she did as told, though she had hardly any idea what form the lightning would even take. It came as a series of bolts that struck like daggers into the cavalry. There was more than just hers, as the other wards did likewise. Screams sliced through the constant chaos wherever their lightning struck, making her grimace, even as she increased her efforts.
Until the chaos consumed them. The celiths and knights and swords were like a flood, crashing in on every side. She knew Yhkon was fighting, that the other Wardens were fighting, that lightning was still flashing around her, that some of it was even from her own fingertips. Hot pain flared in her thigh, and she realized with alarm that one of the Kaydorian’s swords must have struck her. There wasn’t time to worry about that. Something hit Eclipse. He staggered backward, a shudder running through his body that she could feel through the saddle. Yhkon was saying something, grabbing her arm…there was a jolt as another celith rammed into them. Eclipse went down, and they with him.