Heart of Black Ice

CHAPTER 72

The imperial road rolled ahead of them, mile after mile, unwinding in lazy curves along the foothills. Tens of thousands of trampling boots left a much wider swath behind them as they crossed the land.

Utros dispatched scout parties and procurement armies along offshoot tracks, but only a few of the parties were successful in bringing back enough food for him, Ruva, and his primary commanders. Meanwhile, the main body of his army pushed onward like a slow stampede.

The general shaded his eyes to look ahead down the endless road that eventually led to Tanimura—or so he hoped. Hovering nearby, Ava’s spirit let out a brittle laugh. “We have only to walk forever, beloved Utros, and then we will be there!”

He tried to squeeze greater speed from his stallion, but the animal was exhausted and hungry, plodding along with no more energy than the shambling soldiers behind them.

Utros had conquered many cities in the past, and he remembered every victory. Numerous town leaders or self-proclaimed kings had fallen under his sword. Back then, his army was invincible, and his success was guaranteed in each engagement. He had never imagined that Iron Fang’s entire empire would fall, but Utros still intended to complete his mission.

The endless string of soldiers marched through the low hills until they formed a sprawling camp that stretched throughout the woods. The soldiers didn’t bother with cook fires, for they had nothing to eat except a few rabbits, squirrels, or other wild game they had scrounged. By now, his warriors were so ferociously hungry that they devoured any animals they killed without bothering to cook the raw meat, while their starving comrades licked any smears of blood left behind.

As darkness fell in the sparse forest, Utros lay back on the ground and drowsed while listening to the rustle of the camp. He had vowed to conquer the Old World, and his men had followed him for so long. He would not let it all be a fool’s chase.

Ruva lay beside him, curling her naked body against his, but not in an erotic way. She drew strength and comfort and gave it back to him. Without speaking, she just pressed her back and shoulders against his chest. He wrapped his muscular arm around her. “Tell me you can keep them alive, Ruva. Tell me your spell is strong enough.”

“Strong enough?” Her body shook, and he realized she was laughing. “You think I am stronger than the Keeper?”

“Keep him at bay for a little while longer. It is to his advantage to let me continue my war, because we will send him many more souls.” Utros felt a shiver and opened his eyes to see Ava’s glimmering form above them, as if jealous that her sister could touch his solid form and she could not.

“The Keeper wants what he wants. The Keeper wants me.” Ava drifted closer, extended her flickering arms. “He wants Ruva, both of us.” Her image strained like a flame in a wind. When her sister reached out for her, Ava vanished. Ruva slumped back down, sobbing, curled up in a fetal ball.

When sleep still eluded Utros after an hour, he rose and walked among his soldiers, speaking quiet encouragement to anyone who remained awake. He walked to the perimeter of the camp, where the forest grew darker and thicker. He heard rustling in the underbrush, saw shadows of movement, and he tensed, ready to fight whatever might be out there. When he dropped a hand to his side, he realized he had left his sword back with Ruva.

Tawny shapes drifted among the shadowy trees. For a moment he thought they were stags, in which case he would send out hunters to shoot them down, but when several of the wild forms glided toward him, Utros saw they were not deer, but feline, predatory.

Sand panthers whispered through the woods, their large paws barely crackling the forest debris. Catching him alone, easy prey, a massive female bounded toward him and let out a roar. The other cats streaked forward into the camp.

Though unarmed, Utros swung his fists as the panther crashed into his chest and bore him down. With a grunt of effort, he heaved the big cat aside, only peripherally noticing that the tan hide was covered with branded runes such as he had seen on the combat beasts from Ildakar. Claws raked across his upper arm, cutting deep into the thick muscle before his metal bracer caught the claws. In the brawl, he punched the snarling panther under the chin.

Roused by the noise, other soldiers came running, and more big cats fell upon them. The lead female, though, targeted Utros specifically. Something was driving the animal; this was not just some mindless predator making a convenient kill.

As more soldiers rushed to defend the general, he heard another round of shouted alarms in the extended camp. A clash of swords rang out into the damp night air. As he battled the sand panther, he couldn’t let his attention waver, but he saw human forms darting in, barely visible in the forest gloom. With a swift, dispersed strike, they attacked the groggy soldiers, killing hundreds before they melted back into the trees, never becoming fully visible.

Utros continued to wrestle with the panther. Her claws ripped through his leather armor and tore open his side. The cat’s eyes shone in the starlight, full of murder, and when she roared, he could feel her hot breath on his face.

“Utros! No!” Running up, Ruva raised her hands and summoned her gift. A crackle of magic swept through the air, flames that licked out to slam the panther, but to the general’s astonishment, Ruva’s fire merely rippled around the spell markings on the tan hide, causing no harm.

The bright flash of impotent fire was enough to startle the cat, though. The animal leaped back, snarled, then pounced on Utros again. With the sweep of a paw, she knocked off the gold mask, which clattered to the ground. Ruva struck out again with her magic, buffeting the panther, and as Utros rallied, the big cat retreated, snarled one more time, and melted back into the trees.

With their general under attack, hundreds of his soldiers grabbed their weapons and came running to the rescue. More than a dozen sand panthers were attacking his army in a concerted effort, but when so many soldiers rallied against them, the cats snarled, slashed a few more times, and bolted into the forest. They vanished into the night.

Hungry for revenge, some soldiers rushed into the forest in pursuit of the mysterious attackers, but their battle cries turned into screams as they died out in the darkness.

Utros stood, bleeding from where the panther had mauled him. Sobbing, Ruva pressed herself against him. “You’re hurt. You’re bleeding, so much blood!” Then she smiled oddly at him. “Blood … has magic.”

The sorceress clasped the deep cut in his biceps, squeezed, and unleashed her gift. He felt a tingling warmth as his muscles and skin knitted under her healing spell. He had rarely asked either of the twins to heal him, because battle injuries were worth savoring. Even the pain counted for something.

But Utros could not afford to be weak. He needed the full use of his body. As Ruva patched his worst wounds, he stared into the forest where the panthers had disappeared. What had driven them here? What guided them?

Now alert and on edge, the soldiers in the camp gathered up the bodies of the men who had been slain by the panthers and the mysterious attackers in the forest. Under normal circumstances, his warriors would prepare the fallen for a respectful burial or funeral pyres, but these were not normal circumstances.

Utros did not want to think about what they did with the corpses.

Sleeping on the Chaser’s deck as it raced away from Serrimundi with the Norukai fleet in hot pursuit, Nicci fell deeper into herself, and her dream presence connected with her sister panther.

Mrra moved with twenty other sand panthers, pacing the army of General Utros. The panthers had no maps, but Nicci had a clear sense of where they were from the strength of her connection. The spell bond was growing stronger as they came together after being widely separated. Mrra continued to lope toward Nicci, day after day, closing the distance and trying to help.

Nicci tasted blood as she dreamed. Seeing through feline eyes and feeling her claws and muscles, she crashed out of the forest and attacked the enemy soldiers. Connected to Mrra, Nicci guided the cat to find a singular target, the most important victim in the entire army. General Utros.

She and Mrra attacked the commander, wounded him, tore off his golden mask, but even though the branded runes protected her from direct damage by magic, Ruva’s powers were dangerous. And the general and his soldiers could kill the panthers. Nicci urged them to withdraw.

Licking blood from her whiskers, Mrra bounded off into the forest, and Nicci smiled in her sleep.

The ships sailed into the night, heading toward Tanimura with the serpent ships behind them. Knowing that Mrra was on her way with a new pride of sand panthers brought joy to Nicci’s heart.

But now she also knew that General Utros and his army were marching closer and closer.