The Jewel of Kamara (The Delthenon Chronicles) (43 page)

Nic,
having disposed of his opponents, ran Lyle through and rushed to his friend’s
side. He lifted Chae into his arms and staggered to his feet, trusting that
their fighters would watch his back. He carried him to where they had entered
the city. Two of the healers rushed forward and took him from Nic’s arms.

“Take
him to Dahlia,” he ordered and then he ran back to his fighters, dodging arrows
as they zipped past his head.

—

Tempani
reunited with Mincha and climbed back into her saddle. Their numbers had grown
as Otto’s secret group of fighters and those who had been rioting joined the
fighting. Together they ended the fight and pushed forward, slowly starting the
journey towards the palace.
Reeta
and her group were already
at the meeting point. Her
niska’s
bodyguard was
bloody and bruised but alive. Her eyes flashed wildly as she spoke quickly.

“We
were ambushed, but the fight was over quickly.”

“Us
too,” said Tempani. “They were ready for us.”

“Their
forces are stretched thin,” Madoc said as his group joined them.

Tempani
shook her head. “They knew where I was. We faced a lot of opposition.” Her face
paled. “They’ll be after Nic too.”

“He’s
with Chae. He’ll be fine.”

She
gripped Madoc’s hand. “They should be here by now.”

Madoc
nodded, his next words lost in his throat as he saw Nic, Keane and Nika
approaching on horseback. Otto was behind them, his face a mask of fury. Where
was Chae?

Tempani
ran towards them. Asking the question Madoc couldn’t bring himself to raise.

Nic
dismounted and held her tightly. “He’s been hurt. We got him out, but it’s bad.
We lost so many. Keane and your father barely made it. They were attacked as
heavily as we were.”

Tempani
bristled as the anger coursed through her. They had known where she and Nic
were going to be and what group Otto would be in. Take out the face of the
rebellion and the man behind it, and they win. “Someone betrayed us.”

Otto
gripped her shoulder. “Ricton is powerful. He has ways of seeing things that I
don’t understand.”

“We
end this now,” she spat. “Let’s go.” She jumped on Mincha’s back and kicked her
into a gallop.

They
met no resistance on the road until they reached the palace gates. Once again
arrows rained down on them, but this time they were joined by rocks, alight
with bright flames. Her people were weaving targets as they dodged left and
right and ran up the hill. As they approached, the gates slowly began to creak
open.

“He
came through,” Otto said, a hint of surprise in his voice as he spoke to Nic.
“Dagan’s on our side.”

Tempani
burst through the gate. Her mixed bag of fighters streamed in behind her and
ran in all directions as they avenged the deaths of their fallen comrades. She
wanted to join them and kill as many as she could, but she had one goal. She
had to end this. And if she died doing it then so be it. She would die to save
her people.

Around
her people shrieked as bursts of fire flew over their heads. She ducked and
glanced up. The balls of fire were exploding over people, burning them alive,
the embers catching on the dry ground, small fires breaking out around them.

“Over
there!” Bhatia called out and pointed towards a cluster of sorcerers.

Tempani
looked around for some of Bhatia’s fighters but the girl was already two steps
ahead of her and led the charge herself. They ran at the sorcerers, chanting
spells and throwing daggers until they killed them all.

The
ground in front of her cracked. The two pieces of earth separating, swallowing
anyone who stood in its path. The enemy fighters ran at her, fear and rage in
their eyes, and she realized they thought it was her doing.

Zadi
barked an order, and her people swarmed at the advancing attack, protecting
Tempani. With Rando and Zadi at her side, she ran for cover, someplace safe so
she could fix what Ricton was doing. She blocked out the screaming behind her
as she settled under a tree, going inside herself and finding the part of her
that connected her to the earth. The smell of her tribe’s camp filled her
nostrils and the pride that took hold of her knowing she belonged to them was
fierce as she fused the earth back together. Ricton had made it easy for her by
not putting much of his magic into the spell. It seemed it had been a fleeting
idea for him.

She
opened her eyes and scrambled to her feet, swaying slightly as she tried to
move forward.

“You
need to rest,” Zadi said as she gripped Tempani’s arms. “You’re pushing
yourself too far.”

Tempani
shook her head and pushed Zadi off her. “I don’t have time to rest. I need to
find them.”

She
took another step, but the blackness at the corners of her eyes trickled over
and invaded her vision. Her body grew hot, and her ears thundered as she fell
back into Zadi’s arms.

—

Nic
battled against another member of the King’s Guard, snuffing out his life with
one fell swoop. Beside him, Dagan and a group of Raiders fought with him,
fulfilling their job of protecting the royal line.

He
wiped the sweat from his brow and looked around quickly, desperate to get a glimpse
of his wife. Just to see that she was still alive. They had been separated the
moment they had entered the grounds to the palace. Nic knew it had been done to
at least ensure that one of them survived, but all he wanted was to be with
her. Protecting her.

He
jerked his head around when someone called out his name. Xanthir was fighting
his way through to his cousin, an easy smile on his face as he took down one
more man.

They
gripped arms in greeting but only for a moment as they faced another attack. They
turned around and stood back to back, fighting together.

“Luckily
I’m here to make sure you don’t get yourself killed!” Xanthir yelled as his
sword clashed against
armor
.

Over
to their left, Madoc battled against
Chae’s
former
knight master, Sir Danei of Quito. He was a mountain of a man, bigger even than
Otto. But Madoc was quicker than him and moved swiftly as their swords clashed.

Otto
was not far from him, battling his way through a throng of attackers. Hallam wanted
him dead and had offered a hefty sum for the man who killed him.

All
around them small fires raged, black smoke filling the air and their lungs.
Otto couldn’t tell whose numbers were dwindling. His eyes flashed to Madoc. He
saw the young man buckle under the force of Danei. Madoc roared as the older
man’s sword sliced through his skin.

Otto
cut his way through to the duo, thrusting his body between Madoc and the tip of
Danei’s
sword.

—

Tempani’s
eyes flicked open to find a pair of brown eyes inches from her face. Zadi
glared at her as she helped her sit up.

“Drink
this,” she said and thrust her skin into Tempani’s hands.

She
opened her lips and guzzled down the water, letting it trickle down her chin.

“Can
you stand?”

Tempani
nodded and let Zadi help her up. Rando was standing on guard.

“Next
time I tell you to rest, listen to me,” Zadi snapped.

“I’m
fine,” she grumbled. “I need to find them.”

She
took off, her strides slower than normal as her body fought against the
movements. She pleaded with it not to betray her now. She only had one more
battle to go. She had to fight them.

She
had to think. Where would they be? She didn’t think they’d be out here
fighting. That wasn’t Hallam’s style. He’d prefer to send out people to do his
work. But Ricton was different. Hadn’t he been at the convent? Hadn’t he been
the one to do that to Teddy? But they would stick together. Of that she was
sure. And then she knew. She glanced over to the balcony that overlooked the
grounds, and there they were. Watching. And it made her sick to her stomach.

Rando
pushed her out of the way as three soldiers ran at them. She stumbled out of
the way as Zadi joined the fight. She knew this was her chance. She could give
them the slip now and finish this. She knew they would win this battle. But
they wouldn’t be spared where she was going. She risked one more glance at them
before she set out at a run, revenge on her mind.

She
heard footsteps behind her and instantly knew that she had failed to give them
the slip. It was their job after all to go where she went. She kept running as
she burst through the doors to the Grand Ballroom and up the staircase that she
had descended on many occasions. The doors to the balcony were closed. Guarded
by four men. Now she was grateful for Rando and Zadi following her.

Zadi
struck one man with an arrow while
Rando’s
dagger
claimed another. Tempani threw a punch into the throat of the third, bringing
him to his knees with a splutter before she pierced him with her sword. The
fourth was taken down by a blast.

Tempani
scowled as Bhatia joined them. “Just in case you lose control,” she said as she
ran up the last of the stairs. “Allow me.”

In
the blink of an eye the door was blasted to nothingness.

A
cold laugh met her ears. “This is what comes to kill us? Savages, an old man
and a whore?”

Zadi
hissed at Hallam and spat on the floor.

“It’s
over Hallam,” Tempani said. “You signed your death wish when you attacked the
convent.”

“Now,
now let’s not point the finger. I think you’ll find that those responsible have
been punished.”

She
shuddered as she thought of the murdered tribe. “No one believes your lies.
Take a look outside. They’re fighting against you.”

“Savages
and commoners,” he said. “The people who matter in this kingdom believe me. And
they will back me as I rid this place of your people. They will be
annihilated.”

Zadi
let out a cry and hurled herself across the room, spear raised as she tried to
strike him. Before she reached him she was flung through the air by one of
Ricton’s
spells and landed with a crack against the wall,
her left side taking the hit.

“Coward,”
she spat before slipping into unconsciousness.

Tempani
let out a growl as she sprung at Hallam, her leg raised as she kicked him in the
stomach, slamming him into the wall. She turned to Ricton and sent a fireball
at him. He dodged it and threw a bolt of lightning towards her. She dove to the
left and rolled back onto her feet before hurling him against the wall with a
blast.

While
he staggered to his feet, she grabbed her sword and ran at Hallam but was
thrown back by an invisible force. She tried to push against the shield but to
no avail.

“He’s
mine,” Bhatia hissed as she advanced on Hallam, her eyes wild with a fury that Tempani
had never seen before.

“Bhatia!”
She screamed as Bhatia rushed at Hallam.

“I’ve
waited years for this,” she growled as her sword hit his.

The
shield gave way as Bhatia’s concentration on it waned, and Tempani fell to the
ground. As she struggled to her feet she saw Rando lunge across the room and
throw himself in front of her. His body shuddered as it took the full brunt of
Ricton’s
spell. He fell to the ground with a thud and gave
one last twitch before he went still.

Tempani
screamed with fury as the life vanished from her bodyguard’s eyes. She gripped
her sword and charged at Ricton, blocking his spells with her weapon. She had
nothing on her mind but her desire to kill this man. To rip him apart limb by
limb.

Beside
her, Bhatia struggled against Hallam, his strength clearly too much for her.

“Did
you really think you could beat me?” He laughed. “You’re as weak now as you
were when we first met.”

She
groaned as she buckled under his weight. He pushed down and kicked her hard in
the stomach before reaching down and brushing her hair out of her eyes.

“You
were always my
favorite
,” he whispered before raising
his sword. “It’s a shame it has to end like this.”

He
didn’t see her grip the hilt of the dagger she kept strapped to her waist. She
swung it up and stabbed him in the groin. He screamed in agony and hobbled
backwards, allowing her to get to her feet and pick up her discarded sword.

“You’ll
never lay a hand on anyone again,” she said through gritted teeth as she
pierced him in the chest.

Tempani
and Ricton threw spell after spell at one another as the room shook with each
hit. Debris began to fall around them as the ground began to shake with
Tempani’s anger.

Why
wasn’t he dying? She was throwing everything at him. Every spell she had but he
resisted each one. She was supposed to be a sorceress. She was supposed to be
strong enough to defeat him. She alone wanted to kill him yet she couldn’t. She
wasn’t strong enough.