The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (6 page)

“I’ll be praying a dragon manages to swallow
your ship,” Neph replied, his gaze already back on the battlefield.
From what he could tell, Jala had managed to keep the Hellfire from
reaching any of her forces.

“And I’ll hope like hell that if that happens
the bastard chokes on my ship and falls on you,” Shade called back
faintly, his form already disappearing into the ranks of waiting
soldiers.

“I hope everyone I fight beside, lives,”
Madren said quietly and glanced at Neph. “Even the complete
assholes,” he added softly.

“If you were hoping for something sentimental
from me in return, you are wasting your breath,” Neph grumbled
without bothering to glance at Madren. His focus was fully on the
Rivasan forces. “Get on your horse, Madren, and get your men ready
to charge. We have Rivasans to kill,” Neph ordered quietly.

“She must be impressive.” His Aunt’s voice
rose from the ranks beside him and Neph turned to look at her. She
was the only family he had left among the living, and the only one
in his family that he had ever truly respected. To see KayDelvayon
still among the living when he had arrived in Goswin was a blessing
from the Divine in his eyes. Without her help, he would have found
the process of taking over leadership of his people a much bloodier
affair than it had been. So far he only had to kill two men for
challenging him. Without Kay’s support, the number would have been
much higher and he knew it.

“Jala? She is, but you will see for yourself
after the fight,” Neph agreed, his gaze moving back to the
field.

“We are horribly outnumbered here, Neph. Are
you sure we will see anything after the fight?” Kay asked. Her
voice was steady, though, with no sign of fear in it.

“We will win today,” Neph replied firmly, his
eyes searching for Jala, though he knew it was a useless endeavor.
He had no hope of spotting her in the valley where she had chosen
to make her stand. His muscles tensed as the Rivasans launched
another wave of fire into the mouth of the valley and he dropped
the shroud of magic he had been holding over his small forces.
“Now!” he bellowed, his voice ringing clearly through the entire
grove. His heels dug deeply into the side of his snow cat and the
beast launched forward in a powerful leap. Battle cries rang out on
all sides as the men and women of Delvay followed him.

The Rivasan forces wheeled to meet the
charge, though by the expression on their faces they had not
expected the attack at all. The lines he was hitting now were
reserves and given how badly the Rivasans outnumbered Jala’s
forces, Neph guessed these men hadn’t thought they would see
fighting at all today. He smiled at the thought of proving them
wrong. The Rivasans had barely managed to get their shields up and
their swords drawn as the combined might of Delvay and Goswin
slammed into them. The Rivasan lines bowed dangerously but somehow
they managed to hold and Neph found himself packed in the middle of
tight lines with chaos surrounding him on all sides. Gritting his
teeth, he pulled on his magic to speed his attacks. His sword
flashed in and out of the fight as he seized every opportunity for
a clean strike. In truth, his mount was likely doing more damage
than he was at the moment, but then that was what the creatures
were bred for. The Snow Cats of Delvay were legendary for their
savagery in battle.

A distant cry across the field drew his
attention for a bare breath and he glanced up long enough to see
Flameriders pouring through the Hellfire the Rivasans had summoned.
Hope rose in his chest as the odds against them lessened and he
returned to the fight with enthusiasm. Blood sprayed across his
cheek as a Delvay rider beside him fell, and he hastily tightened
the lines and pushed forward to take up the slack from his fallen
comrade.

“You just need to hold the lines for a few
more minutes.” The voice beside him was an unfamiliar one, though
it was obvious the man was talking to him. “Oblivion will be
hitting from the other flank very soon, NephonDelvayon. Hold these
lines just a bit longer and then you must get to Jala,” the man
continued. He was slight of build, though the muscles on his wiry
frame showed he was no stranger to fighting. His armor was
mismatched with chain and plate and even places of nothing more
than leather, but his bearing was that of a seasoned warrior.
Despite his ragged appearance, the red-haired man was obviously no
stranger to battle. He glanced over at Neph and winked. “Watch
out,” he called with a smile.

Turning back quickly, Neph barely registered
the outline of the sword plunging toward his face before another
thinner silvery blade blocked the attack. Eyes widening, Neph
glanced down at the slender blond haired man who had saved his
life. Neither of them had traveled through the Goswin portal with
him. This man, however, Neph recognized. He had seen him once
before when the man had been struggling to talk Jala out of her
quest into the Darklands. Neph had watched in mute silence as Jala
turned her back on the man and renounced her faith. His name was
Fortune, and this was the last place he should have been.

“Get your head back in the fight, Nephon, we
are depending on you,” the first man called as his blade flashed
forward again dropping two Rivasans to the blood soaked earth.

The sound of battle horns from behind him
rang out through the trees and Fortune laughed as the musical notes
faded. “They will clear the path for you soon, Neph. Be ready. Jala
is in more danger than you know. She needs you at her side.”

“Faydwer?” Neph stammered stupidly, glancing
to his side for confirmation, but both men were gone and it took
all of his attention to stem the flow of Rivasans pressing forward
into the gaps in his lines.

“What in the name of the Divine,” Kay gasped
beside him as they managed to push the Rivasans back, giving
themselves a much needed moment of rest. At first Neph thought she
had witnessed the presence of the Divine as he had, but quickly
realized her attention was across the field. The sky had darkened
in the north and lightning lit the clouds beyond the battle field.
Her gaze, however, was on the single rider charging toward the
Rivasan lines. His armor was black as was his horse and it only
took a moment for Neph to recognize him as Zachary Dark of
Oblivion.

“Is he mad? He is charging alone,” Kay
hissed, her gaze dropping back to their own battle as the Rivasans
pressed forward again.

“He isn’t alone,” Neph replied, his eyes
moving past the Oblivion knight to the dark figure standing just
beyond the battlefield and barely visible against the darkening
sky. The man’s ragged black cloak was stretched taunt in the storm
winds and his black armor flashed in the lightning beyond him. Neph
pulled his attention away from the Aspect of Destruction as he
raised his hands to the battlefield beyond and the black inky
shapes of Harvesters began to rise from the ground surrounding
Zachary’s charge. Where a single knight had ridden moments before,
an army now ran, and from the bloodthirsty cries echoing across the
field, the damned souls of Oblivion were more than ready for the
fight.

A snarl from his snow cat brought his
attention fully back to his own problems, and Neph quickly
dispatched the Rivasan that had managed to score a wound across his
cat’s side. The Faydwer battle horns sounded behind him again and
from the pitch they were much closer. “Firym is here, and Oblivion.
By the looks of those storm clouds, Arovan and Glis will arrive at
any moment. Faydwer is closing from behind us. We will make it
through this, Kay.” Neph gasped the words out between sword blows
and edged his cat closer to his Aunt to strengthen their line. He
fought against the desire to gaze across the field. The words of
the Divine had left his gut churning with concern for Jala, but
there was nothing he could do about it yet. The sound of charging
hooves behind him grew louder and he tensed. “A path will be open
soon,” he whispered to himself, wondering how exactly the Faydwer
were going to open a path through the bloody mess before him. Even
with the other allied forces joining the fight, the Rivasans were
still standing strong on the field.

A light hum hissed through the air beside him
and the earth began to tremble behind them. Two arrows drove into
the Rivasans closest to him, knocking them back savagely. The shots
were well placed and buried to the shaft. Both men were dead before
they hit the ground. “Wisp.” Neph grinned as he spoke the name, his
attention flicking from the purple and white fletching on the
arrows to the trembling ground behind him.

“What the hell are they doing? We are going
to be trapped between that rise of earth and the damned Rivasans,”
Kay snarled as the ground bucked and rose to form a solid wall
behind them.

Three more arrows pegged into Rivasans, each
bearing the purple and white fletching and Neph whispered silent
thanks to the Fae, using the moment of peace she had given him to
search the field frantically for Jala. The Merrodin forces had
moved beyond the valley now, and he could see Valor among the
Firym, pushing the Rivasans back, but there was no sign of
Jala.

The hoof beats grew thunderous behind him and
the ground shook with the force of it as the first of the Faydwer
knights reached the battle. Shadows darkened the ground around him
as a massive white horse launched itself from the newly risen earth
behind him and Neph barely managed to dodge as a slender form
dropped from the back of the warhorse to land beside him. More
horses leaped gracefully over the ledge, their riders striking with
deadly grace as the beasts landed in the Rivasan ranks.

Wisp stood gracefully from her crouch as she
landed, her bow already thrumming with more arrows as she fired
with perfect accuracy into the Rivasan ranks ahead of them.
Glancing over, she smiled and winked up at Neph. “Sorry I’m late,”
Wisp called cheerfully, her musical voice barely audible over the
pounding hooves.

The field before them was cleared of Rivasans
as the Faydwer ranks plowed through them scattering their lines.
“Are you going to let the god damned pixies out-fight you?” Neph
bellowed to his own forces as he grinned down at Wisp. “Thank you,”
he said in a voice just loud enough for her ears. “I have to get to
Jala now, Wisp,” he added, his gaze moving once more to the valley
as he pressed his cat forward.

“We will clear a path then,” Wisp responded
and raised a hand over her head. More shadows darkened the ground
as Faydwer archers moved forward along the earth bank behind him.
Wisp dropped her hand, motioning toward the valley, and the archers
began their deadly rain of arrows without hesitation. Somewhere
beyond their range of fighting, the scream of a dragon rose on the
air and Wisp shook her head at him frowning. “My archers can clear
the Rivasans but there is nothing Faydwer can do against
dragons.

“We will have to hope that Jala brought her
own dragons then, or that Shade can handle them with his Spell
Hawk. I’ve seen him strafe the field a few times, but it wasn’t
against anything scaly,” Neph replied quickly as he offered a hand
down to Wisp to pull her onto the cat behind him. “You have command
here, Kay. I have to get to Jala,” Neph yelled back over his
shoulder as he pushed his cat forward into the clearing the Faydwer
charge had created. It was a risky maneuver. It wouldn’t be long
before the Rivasans closed ranks again and then they would be
surrounded by enemies, but he didn’t have a choice. Bright light
flashed from the mouth of the valley and Neph’s attention snapped
in that direction.

“What spell is that?” Wisp gasped behind him,
her bow still thrumming as she peppered the enemies ahead of them
with arrows.

“That’s not a spell. That is raw magic and
way too much of it,” Neph replied hoarsely. “Jala, what have you
done,” he whispered, his mind filling with dread. The sound of the
battle faded around him as his focus narrowed on the magic and he
pushed the cat forward faster. He had to reach her now. That was
more magic than even he could handle and he knew his reserves were
larger than Jala’s. That much power would rip any mage apart unless
he could reach her and somehow redirect it.

“Can you use magic to transport us?” Wisp
asked, her voice filled with concern.

Neph shook his head savagely and motioned
with a free hand toward the chaos of the battlefield. “Too many
moving objects here, Wisp. I couldn’t find a free place to set us
down that would be close enough to her to help. We have to cross
this shit,” Neph answered loudly. The Rivasans were closing in
around them and the noise of battle was growing so loud words were
almost impossible.

A cheer rose from the inner ranks of the
enemy and Neph’s cat slid to a stop as a massive form rose from the
center of the field. “Oh shit,” Neph hissed as the dragon rose to
its full height and unfurled its immense wings. Its scales were the
deep red of drying blood and by its sheer size there was only one
dragon it could be. “That is Nerath himself,” Neph gasped. The
dragon twisted, his tail lashing, and the screams of horses
shattered the air as the Faydwer forces were scattered by the
attack.

“You have to do something, Neph!” Wisp
screamed behind him.

“That is the dragon that killed my
grandfather, Wisp. He is a legend. His own damned country is named
after him. What do you propose I do?” Neph snarled back. He could
see his allies scattering back from the field and knew the battle
was swiftly turning against them. Someone definitely needed to do
something soon, but he wasn’t sure what.

“I think you should kill it before it kills
my brother!” Wisp snapped, her hand smacking directly into his back
driving the spikes of his vest deep into his flesh. Pain flared and
Neph seized it channeling the magic into a spell. The wind around
his cat rose viciously as his magic tore through the Rivasans that
had been closing on them tearing flesh and armor alike to shreds.
“Pain is still your focus to channel, isn’t it Neph?”