Heart of Black Ice

CHAPTER 83

Uneasy but trying not to second-guess Nicci’s plan, Nathan followed the sorceress as she made her way across the new wooden bridge that connected the lowtown to Halsband Island. The flattened expanse had served as a practice field for the Tanimuran soldiers and the refugee militia as they prepared for war, but the rubble gave the island a haunted, abandoned air. Nicci seemed to think it was perfect for her needs now.

If only General Utros would come. Nicci had no doubts at all.

Bannon and Lila walked in tandem as their small group made their way to the meeting point. The young man carried Nathan’s ornate sword, and it seemed a part of him now.

After killing King Grieve, Bannon was hardened and also restored. Even so, Nathan feared that the bright, hopeful young man would never get back his foolish optimism. For a long time he had clung to a positive façade as a defense against the cruelties he had experienced in life, but now Bannon was strong and whole, with an iron will. He was not a victim and he did not complain about all the times he’d been beaten down. Instead, he drew strength and built bonds where others would only have sought vengeance.

His surprising relationship with Lila, for example, was a partnership that made both of them stronger. Nathan didn’t know if he himself would have been so strong or so forgiving of a woman who had been his captor and harsh trainer.

He realized that for his own part, after the Sisters of the Light had locked him up in the palace for so long, Nathan had come to love Prelate Ann, and he had also respected and admired Prelate Verna. Those women had been his captors, yet he had managed to resolve his differences with them. In a way, he understood Bannon.

As they prepared for their desperate gambit, battles raged across the city, and hundreds if not thousands of Norukai continued to pillage and burn down the harbor district. Even if Nicci defeated General Utros here, the ancient army would keep devastating the city. He believed that Tanimura was doomed, no matter what happened here on Halsband Island.

But Nathan trusted Nicci, and he held on to hope. He saw her rigid back, the muscles that rippled beneath the black fabric of her dress. He could sense her building up her strength for a final confrontation. Mrra prowled alongside them, inseparable from Nicci.

They followed crushed pathways where military maneuvers had packed down the rubble. Nathan tried to make out the foundations of the fallen Palace of the Prophets, the remnants of the immense towers that had imprisoned him for ten centuries. “Once I escaped, I hoped never to return here,” he said aloud. “With the whole world to explore, why would I go back to a place with such sour memories?”

“You are here with us,” Bannon said.

“And we are about to face the commander of an army that intends to conquer the world,” Lila added.

Nathan stroked his chin. “For a reason like that, I can come back to Halsband Island one more time.”

Nicci found an acceptable spot and stopped. Nathan realized this was where the arched entrance of the palace had stood. Through the stones beneath his boots and the shimmering silence that resonated with power, he felt a calm like the eye of the storm.

Nicci stood silent with the big sand panther at her side. Mrra’s whiskers twitched with anticipation. Bannon and Lila held their swords and tried to look intimidating, as if they were Nicci’s elite guard. Nathan’s embroidered cape waved in the breeze.

Finally, they watched a large party of mounted soldiers come riding over the bridge toward them, led by a standard-bearer with the flame banner of the ancient empire. General Utros rode at the fore. The slender sorceress paced beside him on her horse. The general’s retinue consisted of more than a hundred soldiers, but Nicci did not seem intimidated by the numbers. Nathan had never seen her look so confident.

Nathan stood ready to fight for the sake of D’Hara. As the thought calmed him, centered him, he suddenly felt a surge of hot poison through his chest. His heart hammered as the dark spirit of Ivan tried to take over again, but Nathan grimaced, clenched his fists, and hissed in a harsh whisper, “Why won’t you die?” He pounded his sternum, and the dark presence swirled away.

Utros and his escort soldiers looked bloodied and weary, but their faces shone with anticipation. Nothing matched the madness of Ruva’s expression. Her eyes were like fractured gems that held remnants of lightning. Utros sat tall in his saddle like a predatory beast as he pulled his horse to a halt and glared at Nicci.

Nathan kept his voice low. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Sorceress.”

Nicci just smiled. “I am not worried.” She touched the pocket of her dress. “It is my job to take care of the entire enemy army.”