The Hidden Relic (The Evermen Saga, Book Two) (42 page)

Ella reached the crest and the vista opened up before her. An army such as the world had never seen raced down the hill: horses' hooves thundered, desert warriors raised scimitars above their heads, and lightning crashed around them so that the Hazarans must appear to be flying out of a storm that a moment ago had simply not been there.

Ella could now see the grey banner flying over the tightly-formed ranks of their enemy, with the opposing soldiers arranged into three columns. In the centremost column pikes could be seen rising up into the air, while the first dozen ranks held theirs bristled in front. The column to the left consisted of heavily-armoured men and women in grey tabards, each holding a sword or an axe. On the right was a smaller column of warriors with maces, while half a dozen men in silver robes clustered at the rear.

Ella knew something was terribly, desperately wrong. They were too disciplined; too motionless. Surely no one faced an attack like this without some men breaking.

The grey-clad axemen and swordsmen all held their weapons in the air, moving in perfect synchronisation. The pikemen braced themselves, grim and unwavering. One of the silver-robed men raised his arms in the air, as if summoning powerful magic.

The column of axemen and swordsmen on the left moved forward at an angle, the macemen on the right following suit, while the pikemen in the centre began an orderly retreat backwards, with the pikes in front still facing the screaming riders.

Unwittingly, Prince Ilathor's men were funnelled into the space that opened up in front of the retreating pikemen. Some of the long line of riders smashed into the swordsmen and macemen on the left and right, but the majority fell in behind those ahead, forming a spearhead that thrust into the space opening up in front of them.

Ella was no strategist, yet even she could see the disaster about to unfold. Placed as she was somewhere in the middle, she could see that the grey warriors now flanked the riders on the left and on the right, like the horns of a bull. Ella wondered at the incredible discipline of the enemy; they still hadn't made a sound, and their ranks were in such tight formation they reminded Ella of Halrana constructs.

Then the riders in front hit the bristling wall of pikes, and the grey warriors to the sides closed in.

The sound of thousands of horses being impaled was a scream and crunch that Ella never wanted to hear again. The prince's army, however, was by far the larger, and the momentum of the horsemen took them deep into the ranks of the pikemen. Desert warriors slashed down from horseback, their heavy sabres designed specifically for this type of combat, and Prince Ilathor turned them in an arc, evidently intending to drive into the swordsman on his left flank and burst through to regroup outside the enemy's attempted encirclement.

It might have worked, but the majority of the riders were facing forwards, and the swordsmen were on their left. With unbelievable ferocity, the flanks closed in, attempting to envelop the Hazarans in front, on the sides, and most dangerous of all, the rear.

Ella's eyes widened with fear as she saw enemy swordsmen and axemen closing in on her left, the grey warriors wielding huge two-handed swords, battle-axes, and some even with two smaller axes held in both hands. Around her every rider was becoming embroiled, preventing all further movement, and the whinnies of horses, jangles of armour, and clashes of weapons were deafening.

Nearby, a Hazaran warrior slashed down with his scimitar at a huge man wielding a silver broadsword with both hands. The desert warrior's sabre bounced off the grey warrior's armour, and the Hazaran quickly raised his sword to block his enemy's two-handed stroke. The clang of steel rang through the air and the Hazaran grimaced at the numbing strength of the grey warrior's blow. Then the broadsword came swinging down again, not at the rider, instead at his horse. With a single blow the horse's head came off at the neck, blood spurting in a fountain as the animal collapsed and rolled, trapping its rider underneath. Ella turned her horse in the stricken man's direction to help, but the swordsman in grey thrust down at the Hazaran, opening up his throat.

"Ella, look out!" she heard Shani's scream.

A warrior held Ella's leg by the stirrup as he copied the swordsman's manoeuvre, swinging his axe at Afiri's neck. Ella couldn't believe how utterly fearless these men were; the Petryans had found confronting skilled warriors on horseback terrifying, yet these soldiers simply attacked horses and men alike.

Ella kicked out with her leg and reared Afiri out of the way, one hand clinging to the reins, the other hand reaching for her pocket. She spoke a rapid series of activations, calling forth the blinding light and protective power of her enchantress's dress.

The warrior holding Ella's stirrup looked up and snarled silently, the man's lips curled to bare his teeth. His skin was white as snow, his long hair loose and as grey as the withered-tree tabard he wore on his chest. A chill ran up Ella's spine as she saw that his eyes were entirely white, and the flesh was rotting away from the edges of his eyes, his nostrils, and his mouth.

He was dead.

Ella had heard of revenants, sometimes referred to in the stories as draugar. Now that she was confronting one in the flesh, on the field of battle; she was stricken by terror at the realisation that they weren't just the creations of stories. Revenants existed.

One was trying to kill her.

Ella now realised what she was seeing. A Hazaran sliced at the neck of a warrior, creating a deep gash, yet no blood came out, and the warrior simply kept fighting. One revenant crawled on the ground, an arm and a leg had been removed, yet he kept moving. Underneath their armour Ella could see the eerie blue glow of runes seeping through the cracks.

Raj Hazara's lore relied on illusions to strike terror into their enemies. Ella now wondered whether the tough desert men would be able to keep their own terror at bay, as they fought an enemy that wouldn't be killed, didn't bleed, felt no fear, and fought with incredible savagery and discipline.

Ella's fingers found what she was looking for. She took the wand out of her pocket, hoping it would work against the revenants.

After the liberation of Tlaxor, Ella had realised she needed a weapon to take into battle. She didn't want to ever again be in another situation like she had when Bartolo had rescued her and Shani at the Poltoi Palace.

It had been a long time since enchanters had themselves fought in battle. Unlike animators and elementalists, who were both the rune-makers and the users of their magic, enchanters created a much wider range of items, but typically preferred to stay clear of battle.

Yet there had been a time when enchanters fought; before bladesingers, zenblades and armoursilk. In the time of Maya Pallandor, the greatest enchantress who ever lived and the woman who invented armoursilk, there were objects that were common in those times but had since fallen out of use.

Wands.

The prince wouldn't give Ella any more essence, even after her success at Tlaxor, so she had simply lied, telling Jehral that rather than saying no to her request for more essence, Prince Ilathor had agreed whole-heartedly.

Jehral hadn't been too pleased with Ella when he'd discovered the deception, and the prince had been furious. Ella ignored them both and finished her work.

The wand Ella now held in her hand was as long as her forearm and tipped with a prism of gold-flecked quartz. It was made of dark hazel wood, with three facets rising to the tip, and was strangely warm to the touch. Tiny symbols covered its length, so small that Ella had needed a lens to draw the runes with the finest of scrills.

Ella fought to control the quail in her voice as she began to chant. The revenant thrust its sword up at her head, but she turned and it instead hit her dress with a blow that would have skewered her through. Ella chanted the runes without pausing, still muttering under her breath as she pointed the wand at the soldier's rotting face.

A bolt of energy left the wand, tearing a coin-sized hole in the revenant's neck. Ella chanted some more and a second circle of white fire left the wand to strike its forehead. The warrior fell down, twitching once before lying still and unmoving.

Ella looked around her at the battle. A ball of fire flew through the air, sizzling with red energy before it struck a revenant warrior. The draug burst into flames, and Ella's eyes traced the fireball back to its origin to see Shani standing nearby, the palms of her hands centred over another growing bud of fire as she prepared to launch another.

Ella continued to chant, keeping the magic of the wand alive, even as she knew it would drain rapidly. Two revenants ran at Shani, one bursting into flames, the other crumpling to the ground as Ella's bolt of light created a fist-sized hole in its chest.

Ella realised that all of the Hazarans around them were dead. The two women brought their horses close together as the swordsmen and axemen closed in. Ella and Shani faced in opposite directions, balls of fire and bolts of light flying again and again from their hands.

"This way!" a man's voice called.

Ella looked over, just as a fiery sword tore through three draugar. She heard the song of a bladesinger join her own chanting as Bartolo slashed towards them. Seeing that he was on foot, Ella incongruously wondered if he preferred it to horseback.

"Come on!" Bartolo cried.

Ella whirled Afiri and she and Shani spurred into action. Fireballs tore through the air and bolts from Ella's wand took the revenants down one after the other. Yet they kept coming, their inevitable destruction from the two women meaning nothing to those who were already dead.

Shani took Bartolo's wrist and with the incredible agility of a bladesinger he swung up behind her on the horse, reaching past her waist to take hold of the reins.

Ahead Ella could see that the Hazarans had finally broken free of the enfolding formation of the revenants and were slashing their way through the axemen and swordsmen, heading in the direction from which they'd come. Ella and Shani's horses joined them, and as the desert warriors galloped as fast as possible away from this enemy, the revenants continued to chase on foot until they finally gave up pursuit.

~

"
I
T IS AS
the rumours stated," Jehral said, shaking his head.

"Wait," Ella said, rounding on the prince. "Are you telling me you knew something like that was out there?"

"They were rumours," Prince Ilathor said. "Nothing more."

They were in the prince's command tent, raised high on a hill with a complete view of the land below. The Hazarans had spent a day recovering and building fortifications — even now they were still checking their positions, digging pits, and erecting barricades — and then the second day Prince Ilathor had called this hasty gathering.

"Yet you still attacked without first scouting the land, assessing their strength, forming a battle plan…" Ella said, her eyes blazing.

"Women," Prince Ilathor snapped, "are not normally allowed at these discussions. Hold your tongue, Ella, or speak with civility."

Ella opened her mouth to retort, but caught Shani shaking her head.

"Revenants," Bartolo said, shaking his head. "Who could have known?"

Ella was still angry, part of her wondering if it was a reaction to the fear. She'd almost died. Prince Ilathor had lost a third of his army. A third!

"And you know what the scouts say now," Jehral said. "There is another army, also flying the grey banner, behind this one. It's at least five thousand strong."

Everyone in the tent was silent as they digested the information.

Jehral looked at Prince Ilathor. "Tell her," he said.

"What?" Ella demanded.

"A messenger came last night," the prince said. "Ella, Halaran has been liberated. Ralanast is once again a free city, and the allied army of Alturans and Halrana have occupied the Ring Forts."

"That's wonderful news," Ella said. "Did you hear about my brother?"

"There's a new commander. That's all I know."

Ella put her hand to her mouth.

"Ella," Jehral said. "There could be many reasons for someone else to lead them."

"There is more," the prince said. "This news is not good, I am afraid." He sighed. "The army of green and brown has suffered a great defeat. I wish we had received this message just one day earlier, for our own great disaster could have been averted. On the Azure Plains, the Alturans and Halrana, like us, faced those who carry the grey banner. They are called the Akari — perhaps that name has meaning for you. The allied army was pushed back after suffering heavy losses."

Ella felt Shani squeeze her shoulder. Anger and frustration coursed through her in equal parts. Overriding it all was worry for her people, and for her brother.

"Ella," the prince said, "this is magic I cannot comprehend. What can you tell us?"

Ella forced herself to concentrate; to use her mind and ability to reason. Nothing was impossible. Everyone had a weakness.

"Supposedly the Akari were banished to the north by the first Tingaran Emperor. It's cold there, so the dead would decompose more slowly. Bringing them to life must use a very large amount of essence, I can guarantee that," Ella said. "Shani's flame worked well on them, and I would guess they don't like heat much."

"Good, good," the prince said. "Go on."

"The men in silver robes could be similar to Halrana animators. Try taking them out." Ella paused. "The fact is, I need to learn more about them."

"What do you need?" the prince asked. "Essence? You shall have it. Anything else?"

Ella suddenly knew what it was she needed to do. Her people needed her just as much as the Hazarans. Even if she found a weakness, and told it to the prince, the Alturans would still be in the same position they were now. Ella needed to help Miro, and Altura, in any way she could.

"I need to leave," Ella said, "to travel ahead of this army, into Tingara, where I can learn about them. I can promise you that I will find a way to defeat them. I know it will be risky, and so I will go alone."