The Silver Sphere (34 page)

The Nightlanders came into view, charging with their swords drawn.
The wave of black-garbed men sent a thrill of fear through Shelby.

"Dang it all," Throg cursed. "Now they will watch
us go off the path."

"Get going. We'll cover you best we can," Blunderbuss
yelled.

Throg took the reins from Max. "Heeyah!" he hollered,
and led the carriage down the makeshift route.

The coach shook and bounced as they advanced. Max held onto the
railing with a tight grip as Shelby locked arms with him. Riley, who was sitting
on the other side of Throg, yelped as she jolted forward.

Throg pulled her in. "Hang on!"

The coach traveled slower and rougher on the bumpy terrain.

Emily called out.

Shelby stood up and looked back, hanging onto the roof of the
carriage, and gasped. Hundreds of Nightlanders were in pursuit. Emily and Morgana
fired their arrows one after another at the oncoming swarm, which was closing with
great haste. Some came up along the sides, trying to reach out and pull Emily from
the back.

A flock of soldiers enveloped the carriage. Riley jumped over
to their side. "Hold me," she said.

They grabbed her legs, and she whipped out her slingshot and
launched pellets at the Nightlanders. She knocked several of them off their horses,
only to have them replaced by others. For each one she shot down, another two joined
the fray.

A Nightlander burst through with a large mallet and blasted away
at the coach door. He ripped the hatch off with a crunch. More Nightlanders poured
in, and one jumped into the cabin. Shelby heard the blast of Stuart's hand-cannon,
and the Nightlander blew out and smacked into a tree.

Two more Nightlanders leapt into the cabin, and the sounds of
struggle reverberated inside.

"I'm jumping in to help." Max pulled out a dagger and
placed it in his teeth. He scaled back toward the cabin and punched a Nightlander
in the face before entering.

A clearing emerged ahead, and Throg took in the reins at the
base of a large rock covered with ivy.

"Go!" he screamed.

Shelby and Riley hopped off as the two Nightlanders flew from
the cabin. One had a dagger in his chest. The other's face was twisted and distorted
from a blow right to the mug. Shelby grinned. That hand-cannon-gun thing could do
some real damage.

Throg circled to the back of the wagon, his sword drawn. Shelby
and Riley followed.

Shelby drew her rapier and held the blade at the ready, her ears
pounding with the sounds of trampling hooves and the ferocious beating of her heart.

Emily and Morgana stood beside them. Their bloody fingers had
arrows cocked and set.

Hundreds of Nightlanders spilled into the clearing. One of them
held his hand up to the rest. With a smirk, he dismounted.

Max and Stuart popped out and joined them, bloodied and bruised.
Max's blade dripped bright red, slick with the blood of a Nightlander. His cheek
was cut and one of his eyes was swelling shut.

Max struggled to catch his breath. "Zach is staying in the
cabin. One of the Assembly men was stabbed during the attack, and Zach is trying
to stop the bleeding."

The Nightlanders all dismounted, surrounding them. The sound
of a hundred blades being drawn swished through the air. Those with their weapons
unsheathed already aimed at the Kin and Throg. Their leader stepped forward.

"This lucky little ambush is over," he snarled.

"We'll fight to the death and take you with us," said
Throg.

"Come now. Throg, correct? Meracuse will be stormed soon.
If you surrender, Lord Malefic might spare you."

"How about I cut your head off, you rat?" Throg raised
his sword high.

"Have it your way then. Take them!"

The Nightlanders rushed in. Stuart blasted the leader with his
cannon and knocked him back. Throg charged forth and engaged the onslaught. Emily
and Morgana hopped on top of the wagon, strung three arrows at a time, and propelled
them into the charging Nightlanders. Max drew his sword and raced forward.

"Fight back-to-back," Throg yelled to Max.

Shelby grabbed Stuart.

"Go to the opening of the cabin and protect the entrance.
Shoot the cannon from there," she ordered.

He nodded and scampered off. Seconds later, she heard the gun
fire.

One of the Nightlanders tackled Riley. As he lifted an axe over
her, an arrow whipped into his throat. Morgana fired two more into him, and he dropped
hard, blood gushing from his neck.

Shelby ran over to Riley and pulled her to her feet. Nightlanders
descended on them and knocked them both to the dirt. Stuart fired the hand-cannon
from the side of the carriage and flattened them. Several scaled the vehicle and
attacked Emily and Morgana. Shelby spat blood to the ground and wiped her mouth
with her wrist.

"Help us," she murmured to herself, tears welling in
her eyes as she heard Morgana and Emily scream.

A loud horn pierced through the sounds of clanging steel as Shelby
was hoisted off the grass. She turned, her sword raised, her brow bent angrily.

"We are allies here to help," a man said.

Standing before her was an enormous armor-clad warrior wearing
a golden helmet. The figure pulled his helm off and revealed the head of a boar.
She jerked back, a little shocked. Brown fur coated his head, split across his face
with a shock of white, and he gazed down at her with black, watery eyes.

The boar-man nodded once and raced into the crowd. At that moment,
hundreds of the boar-headed soldiers poured in from the forest, assaulting the Nightlanders
with vigor. Axes cleaved through the heads of the Nightlanders. One of the boar-men
used a war hammer to drive his enemy straight into the ground. A row of archers
on the rocks picked off Nightlanders with a rain of arrows.

Throg dragged Max past her. She ran over and assisted him.

"The Battleswine have come," he said, his face covered
in blood and sweat.

"Battleswine?"

"They are friendly neighbors to Meridia, to the south. Thank
the stars!"

Shelby slung Max's arm over her shoulder. "Oh, Max."

"I'm fine, just bruised my ribs." Max gritted his teeth.

Blunderbuss and Brodeur sprinted up to them.

"You okay?" Brodeur asked.

Throg and Shelby nodded.

The sounds of battle echoed around them. Men screamed and died,
metal clashed on metal, leather ripped, and bones broke. The iron stench of blood
filled the air.

Blunderbuss caught his breath. "The Nightlanders left a
squad behind and kept us at bay. They sent a few hundred men after you. As we fought,
the Battleswine showed up, an incredible stroke of fortune. They were marching to
Meracuse on the Gida Path."

The Battleswine had an entire battalion and were easily wiping
out the Nightlanders, driving the enemy back. Soon a moat of gore surrounded Shelby
and the other Kin. The Battleswine had saved them.

Emily and Morgana sped over. Emily's long hair was knotted and
her fingers were bright red from pulling so many arrows.

"Anyone else hurt?" Shelby asked, concerned.

They all sprawled out on the ground, their chests heaving. Emily
and Morgana were both bloody, and one of Emily's arms was scraped up pretty badly.
Blood oozed from the wound onto the rock. Otherwise, she seemed fine.

"I'll live," Max said, wiping gore off his forehead.
His black eye had swelled shut.

"S-same," Emily said with a strained stutter. She accepted
a bandage from Throg and wrapped it around the scrape.

"Where is Zach?" said Morgana.

Max looked back at the stagecoach. "He must still be in
the cabin."

They sped over to the coach. Stuart stood guard with a handful
of Nightlanders lying at his feet. He leaned against the carriage, his brow dripping,
with a knife stuck under his armor. When Max pulled the shank out, the blade was
clean of blood.

"Just missed me," Stuart said, panting and grinning
sheepishly. He tapped the Triforce on his chest. It was smeared and almost unrecognizable,
but he smiled nonetheless.

Shelby and Throg darted into the cabin. Zach sat curled on the
floor, the brown-haired head of one of the Assembly men in his lap. He held a canteen
to the man's lips, his other hand pressing a bloody cloth down on his ribcage. The
man was too young to die, but older than the Kin. He opened his blue eyes and fixated
on Zach a few seconds before they shut, his thick body trembling.

"Brock," Throg said as he knelt down next to Zach.

Zach nodded. "He's been stabbed in the chest. He doesn't
look well."

Brock's face had turned white as fresh snow.

Shelby crouched down and placed her arm around him.

Brodeur entered and examined the Assembly member. "Let's
get him out into the air." He pulled a medical kit from his bag.

Throg and Zach carefully lifted Brock and carried him outside,
and laid him down on the stone. Brodeur tore Brock's shirt open and inspected the
wound.

"Blunderbuss," he shouted. "The Battleswine have
healers. Send for one."

Blunderbuss nodded and sprinted off.

They carried the remaining members of the Assembly out of the
carriage. Max used his great sword to break off their shackles. Since the Assembly
still couldn't move, the team placed them against the rocks, where the Kin and Battleswine
could better protect them.

Blunderbuss returned soon with a healer, who plopped down next
to Brock and proceeded to work on his wound. Shelby eyed the Battleswine. It was
an enormous creature that, like humans, stood on two legs. However, they had hooves
rather than feet. Their fingers ended in thick, hoof-like nails.

One of the Battleswine came up to them, his armor dented and
bloody. A bit of gore dripped from his chest plate and plopped to the ground. His
left eye was missing, but it had been gone for some time. Three fierce scars raked
his face, looking to have been the cause of his scarred cavity.

He nodded. "I am General Krupp. We have another battalion
on the Dorado Path, on its way to Meracuse to assist Lord Achernar."

"Thank you, General," said Throg. "If you had
come any later, we would not be standing here." He thumped his chest twice.

"Fate is with ye. We nearly traveled over the countryside
on our march, but decided to take the more direct path of Gida."

Shelby smiled at him. "Either way, thanks. Your warriors
are amazing."

The general nodded and snorted, but with a grin.

Brodeur was examining the Assembly members. "Just as I thought.
They are drugged with Gaston greens. I have something that can hasten their recovery."
He rummaged through his bag and pulled out several vials. "Ah! Help me give
this to them."

Shelby and the rest grabbed the vials. She sprinted to Bianca's
side, held the woman's head up, placed the small tube to her mouth, and gently parted
her lips. After the vial was empty, Shelby cast it aside and caressed the woman's
hair. Bianca could pass for an older version of herself.

Brodeur said, "Okay, leave them be for a spell. We need
to get them conscious."

Shelby eased Bianca's head down and walked over to the healer.
Zach knelt anxiously by his side as he tended to Brock. The Battleswine healer looked
concerned.

"My name is Lito. A bad wound here—deep and into his lung.
I will do my best."

"Thank you. He is my Kin," said Zach.

Lito nodded.

"Everyone, regroup here," Throg cried out.

They huddled in a circle beside the coach. More of the Battleswine's
healers arrived and tended to their wounds. Each Swine was different from the last.
Some were lighter, some darker, and one, a great female warrior, had fur the color
of snow with a black spot over her right eye. Her tusks were smaller than the men's,
and they were capped with gold.

Shelby sat next to Max as a healer bandaged his ribs. Despite
his pale complexion, bruised eye, and battered armor, he was handsome as ever. She
rested a hand over his, glad he was safe.

"Take this for the pain," the Swine said, handing him
a vial. Max swilled it down at once.

Shelby watched as General Krupp clustered with Throg, Blunderbuss,
and Brodeur for some time. The four of them discussed their next move, no doubt.
A few other Battleswine joined the meeting. An enormous Swine, two heads taller
than Krupp and twice as thick, lifted his war hammer over his shoulder. Shelby recognized
him—the first Swine she'd seen. Unlike the others, he had a bright, white stripe
of fur arched across his snout and eyes.

"I thought we were done for," Shelby said, sipping
out of a canteen.

"I had them right where I wanted them," Max chirped,
winking at her with his good eye. His bloody sword lay beside him in the dirt. When
he caught Shelby looking at it, he took a rag and wiped it clean.

Zach sat quietly next to Shelby, deep in thought, his fingers
on his temples.