Lord of Ashes

FORTY-EIGHT

The rain beat down, unrelenting, as they splashed through the sodden streets. Kaira carried Janessa as best she could, the queen trying desperately to keep the pace, but her leg had been all but crushed beneath her steed and she could do little more than stumble unaided.

There was only one place to go. The Temple of Autumn was the last bastion in the city. Steelhaven was about to be overrun, something evil had been unleashed and if there was to be a last stand then Kaira’s former home was the only place it could be. There was some kind of poetry to it. A kind of logic that it should end there for her. But then none of this had ever been destined to end well.

By the time the temple came in sight they were both breathing heavily. Janessa still clung onto the Helsbayn as though her life depended on it, and there was every chance it would.

As they limped towards the main gate Kaira glanced upwards. The light of dawn was turning the sky from black to grey, and as she looked up the rain suddenly stopped, the sound of its relentless pounding ceasing like the end of a choral piece.

Up ahead they could see the gates to the Temple of Autumn lay ajar. Sanctuary was but a few feet away. The pair stumbled up the steps, Janessa almost collapsing as they did so, but Kaira was not about to let go, not about to give up now they were so close.

When they reached the summit, Kaira shouldered the gates open wondering if there would be anyone here to greet them. When she dragged Janessa inside she stopped, staring about the austere courtyard.

Shieldmaidens lined the yard, standing in ranks, spears and shields held at the ready. Their leader, the Exarch, stood before them, her face hidden behind a full helm. Beyond them Kaira could see the Daughters of Arlor were waiting too, heads covered by their white veils. None of them moved as Kaira and Janessa crossed the threshold and entered the temple.

‘Close the gates,’ Kaira said, still grasping Janessa, who was panting in her arms.

At first nothing. Then a figure from the rear stepped forward. Kaira recognised her instantly despite the veil that covered her face. The Matron Mother’s stooped gait was unmistakable as she walked to within ten feet of Kaira and the queen, and pulled back her shroud.

‘This temple exacts the will of Arlor and Vorena,’ said the old woman. ‘Of course you are welcome, Majesty.’ For a moment the Matron Mother regarded Kaira with a look somewhere near pity. ‘Close the gates,’ she finished.

Two Shieldmaidens moved to secure the gates to the temple, but before they could do so another warrior stepped forward, moving towards the Matron Mother.

‘Wait.’ It was Samina, her chin raised, her eyes defiant. ‘This temple does serve the will of Vorena. But it offers no sanctuary to you.’ She stared at Janessa.

‘What is this heresy?’ said the Matron Mother. ‘Have you gone mad?’

‘Mad?’ Samina replied. ‘I have only been blindfolded, like a goat taken to slaughter. I was a fool when I allowed this place to be desecrated by the High Abbot. We have all been fools to allow our order to be used by kings and lords and priests for centuries. Now is our chance to rise.’

The Matron Mother turned on Samina. ‘Know your place,’ she said, pointing back to the Exarch, who looked shocked. ‘Obey and you will-’

Samina’s sword flashed from its scabbard in a blur, slicing the Matron Mother’s neck in a red arc. The Daughters of Arlor were screaming in a blood-chilling chorus before the old woman hit the ground.

‘What have you done?’ demanded the Exarch.

Kaira could only stare in horror at her sister’s crime, barely able to comprehend what was happening.

‘I have done what you should have done years ago,’ Samina said to the Exarch. ‘I have sought to free this temple from the base corruption it has suffered at the hands of others. Now we will control what happens here.’

‘You’ve gone insane.’ The Exarch drew her own weapon, stepping forward as Samina held her arms wide in greeting. Before the Exarch could move more than five paces, two Shieldmaidens rushed her, their spears thrusting through her breastplate.

Across the courtyard, Kaira could only watch as two Shieldmaidens attacked one another. Then more, as a battle between her former sisters sprang into life from nothing.

This was madness. Part of her mind told her this could not be happening, but it was clear a plot had been laid here, a plot that had nurtured itself for months if not years.

Samina turned back to Kaira. ‘You can join us. You can return to us,’ she said. ‘All you have to do is give her up.’ She pointed at Janessa.

Kaira shook her head, backing away. ‘Never.’

She turned, wondering if they would be able to flee this place before Samina could stop them, but what she saw advancing up the steps to the temple stopped her.

Khurtas, brutal and hungry, stalked towards the temple with murder in their eyes. And at their rear, bearing all his arrogance, came Amon Tugha.

This had been a trap. The Temple of Autumn was not a sanctuary but a tomb, and Kaira had brought her queen right here.

There was no time to curse herself for her folly. She turned back to Samina, hefting her blade. Before she could rush to attack, two Shieldmaidens came at Samina and she was forced to defend herself. In the confusion, Kaira grasped the queen and bundled her across the courtyard.

Shieldmaidens fought all around as the Daughters of Arlor fled the violence screaming. Sisters who had lived with one another for years were now slaughtering each other. There was no time for lamentation, though; the only thing on Kaira’s mind was escape.

Janessa did her best to keep up; both women were mindful of the danger, neither needing to speak. There would be no rescue now. They had to flee or die.

Kaira led them from the courtyard, through a corridor to stairs leading to the cliff edge. They came out on the temple’s upper tier — a sheer wall of yellow rock that looked out on the Midral Sea. The sun was rising now, spreading amber light on the stark green waters. Kaira could see a boat moving past in the distance. It could have taken them to a hundred destinations, any one of them safer than here, but the drop to the seas below would have killed them both; it may as well have been a thousand miles away. She pressed on, moving along the wall, knowing that there was nowhere else to go. Knowing that she was merely choosing where they’d die.

‘Wait,’ said Janessa.

‘We have to keep going,’ Kaira replied, unable to hide the desperation in her voice.

‘Enough … you’ve done enough.’

Kaira stopped, staring at the exhausted girl in her arms as she still clung to that sword, that legacy she had been burdened with. A girl who had stood tall to every challenge asked of her, who had offered herself as sacrifice to save a doomed city.

‘Then we’ll rest awhile,’ said Kaira, leaning the girl against the foot of Vorena’s statue.

If only there truly was time for rest. If only …

Kaira turned, knowing he would be there. Amon Tugha stood watching as the sound of battle rang up from the courtyard where Shieldmaiden fought Shieldmaiden and Khurta alike. Where blood was being spilled in what should have been a sacred place of sanctuary.

‘I could have spared you all this,’ he said walking forward. ‘I could have made all this suffering and death mercifully swift. But no, you southrons are stubborn, I see that now. It will make the centuries to come challenging. Subjugating you will be difficult … but not uninteresting. Eventually I will bring you people to heel.’

Kaira stepped forward to meet him, taking up a defensive stance, raising her sword to head height. ‘Then start with me.’

Amon Tugha smiled, raising his massive spear in salute. Then he rushed at her. His weapon hummed through the air as though tearing a slice from the dawn sky. Kaira ducked, spinning, swinging for all she was worth, hoping against hope that perhaps one lucky …

The Elharim parried her blow, their weapons clashing, the impact jarring up Kaira’s arm. She screamed, furious at her powerlessness against this man. Her skill would never beat him, her goddess was not about to come down from the skies, but maybe if …

He dodged her blow, hacking down, striking the sword from her hand, turning his blow in mid strike and hacking the spearhead into her thigh. Kaira screamed in rage and pain for the briefest moment before the warlord swung the haft of his weapon into her face, a hammer blow that smashed into her cheek, throwing her to the ground.

Amon Tugha spared no time to gloat — his prize was waiting. Through blurred vision Kaira could only watch as he turned to Janessa, and in turn the girl limped to face him. She showed no fear, her father’s sword in her hand, ready for the death this monster would give her.

Kaira tried to speak, but her face wouldn’t form the words as blood dripped from her mouth and nose onto the ground. When she couldn’t rise to her feet she tried to claw her way towards him but it felt like she was swimming against the mightiest current.

Amon Tugha stopped before Janessa, speaking to her for one last time, but Kaira couldn’t hear the words. The queen simply stared back at the giant Elharim, defiant to the last.

The warlord raised his blade.

The Helsbayn shook in Janessa’s hand. Despite her fatigue, despite her crippled leg, she stepped forward with uncanny speed, the sword thrusting like an arrow from a bow, piercing Amon Tugha’s body. He grimaced, his face contorting in rage at her unexpected attack, and he staggered backwards, but not before delivering a thrust of his own, the point of his spear cutting through Janessa’s breastplate.

Kaira screamed as the Elharim pulled his weapon free and the queen fell to her knees, all the vigour, all the defiance now gone from her. Amon Tugha took another step back, grasping the blade of the Helsbayn and pulling it from his body, blood spouting from the wound in a red river. He stared at the blade as though shocked that it had pierced his flesh, then flung it aside, where it bounced once before spinning from the wall and into the sea far below.

As he stepped towards where Janessa knelt, Kaira felt herself screaming, but in her malaise she couldn’t form any words. Still she crawled, still she fought her way towards him though there was nothing she could do now to stop him.

Amon Tugha raised his spear one last time.

A figure sprinted past, stripped to the waist, his body lean, powerful. He leapt, arm raised high. Before the warlord could make his killing blow the man, one side of his face a mass of criss-cross scars, plunged a dagger into his neck. The Elharim dropped his spear, stumbling on his mighty legs as the lone attacker grasped the warlord’s spiked hair and stabbed the knife in again and again.

Kaira could only watch as the Elharim staggered, blood spurting from the wounds in his throat that not even his massive hands could stem. He stared wildly, disbelief written large in those golden eyes as his attacker clung fast to him, pulling him away from Janessa. For the briefest moment Amon Tugha fixed those eyes on Kaira, one last look of confusion. Then he and his attacker were gone, toppling back over the wall, following the Helsbayn into the Midral Sea far below.

Kaira crawled to Janessa, who now knelt silently, her head of red curls bowed forward. Every yard was agony, but Kaira fought back the pain, fought back her tears. When finally she reached her queen she held out a hand, unable to speak. Janessa collapsed against her, resting her head on Kaira’s shoulder.

The sun had come up now, bathing them in a light by which Kaira could see she was too late. Janessa was gone.

At the foot of Vorena’s statue, Kaira held her queen close until the light of the morning seemed to fade. Until the shadow of exhaustion took her …