Page 71 of Memory of Ashes

He despatched messengers to the fortress. He needed Ruven and Danae. Amelia would have to come with them.

*

Vultures circled the abandoned battlefield as Casyl surveyed the enemy camp where his friend was suspended.

His jaw ached.

With the arrival of Ruven and Danae, he could breathe easier. His most powerful fighters were by his side, stripping the fortress of its greatest defence, but this was an emergency. He’d told them to bring Amelia with them to keep her safe. He worried his father would do something terrible if he left her at the fortress.

She was his charge.

She’d been trained to be useful. He had no intention of using her, but when she offered, her courage was difficult to refuse.

He placed Ruven in charge of the army whilst he led the rescue mission. Ruven wasn’t happy about the decision. He changed his mind when Casyl told him that he would lead the charge into the enemy camp.

“When you see the fires, that’s your signal,” Casyl said to Ruven. “Ready the army quietly and leave as much armour off as you safely can. The element of surprise will be our greatest advantage. When you’re close, charge. Give them hell, Ruven.” They clasped hands.

If the enemy insisted on seeing him as God-cursed, he’d give them every reason to fear that title.

They made their way towards the enemy camp beneath the moonlight, praying for clouds to conceal them from view.

Amelia gasped as he slashed a sleeping warrior’s throat without a thought.

This was battle. This was war. There was no time for mercy if he wanted victory. The sooner she saw it, the better. She’d soon see much worse.

They moved from tent to tent until they reached the middle of the camp where Tharos hung. To see his friend, his brother in arms strung up like a piece of meat, filled Casyl with a burning hot fury deep in his stomach. They would die. All of them.

Using a Mind Warper was a dirty tactic, although Casyl could not claim that he would never use one himself.

No one knew exactly how many soldiers in King Elthar’s army possessed powers. He knew of a few lesser abilities. The king had one himself, but he had not known they possessed a Mind Warper. His father would find that interesting.

As the Mind Warper taunted Tharos, trying to warp his mind to harm himself, Casyl could wait no longer.

He had told Amelia what she needed to do, and he trusted that she would be able to do it. There was no time to prepare her any further.

“Now,” he told her as he burst from the tent.

*

He was taken to the medical tent. His wound wasn’t life-threatening; it would heal in a day or two, but they gave him something to help with the pain and relax him. He’d spent almost a whole day fighting. He must have fallen asleep because he awoke in his own tent to the sound of Amelia and Ruven talking.

She had killed the Mind Warper. It had been her first kill. She was in shock.

A mixture of emotions struck him. He was the powerful warrior who was supposed to keep her safe, and she was risking herself for him. Amelia had saved them all.

He remembered the first time he’d taken a life. It had been the first taste of his father’s cruelty.

He tried to sit up despite his throbbing wound. It felt better than it had earlier. He wondered how long he’d been asleep.

When left alone, he hobbled up and poured himself a potent drink.

The Mind Warper was dead. Tharos had been rescued, and the enemy army had taken a massive hit. It should have been a celebratory drink, but he knew that this was just the beginning. He wasn’t even sure what they were really fighting for; he just followed orders. His father wouldn’t be stopped, and the king’s will swept Casyl along like a wave of despair.

The wine dulled his thoughts. He told himself it was to ease his pain, the physical pain.

When he and Amelia were left alone, he acted on an impulse he had spent weeks suppressing. He hadn’t expected her to kiss him back. Instead of satisfaction, he felt the first cold certainty that Tiryn would use whatever existed between them to destroy her.

There was a pit in his stomach. He had to leave.