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“Absolutely not!” Jade was aghast at the mere suggestion Michael intended to join them.
“Jade,” Toran said, his tone dark and ominous. “We need him.”
With that, the other slayer turned abruptly and mounted his horse. Jade bristled, but Michael evidently wasn’t going anywhere.
“Fine,” she said against her better judgment. “Ride with me and do as I say.” He scowled at her, but she didn’t budge on the matter. “That’s the deal, or you might as well walk back to the tavern.”
Michael mounted with her and they followed Toran to the west woods, but slowed a quarter mile before the forest ended and opened to a flat clearing. Snow fell lightly, though not enough to obscure the visibility. Through the trees, Jade saw the commotion beyond the woods and her heart lodged in her throat.
The ragtag assembly and the black banner blowing in the breeze told her the demons gathered were not from Davian’s kingdom.
As her pulse raced, she heard riders approach from behind. She drew her sword as she tugged on the reins and confronted the newcomers. She recognized them from the recent patrols, though they’d always been on the other side of the border.
“We’ve violated code by cutting through the forest,” one of them said, “but it was the fastest way to get here.”
“How’d you know the fire wraith’s army had congregated?” she asked.
“The king sent scouts as soon as he returned to the castle. We encountered two of them just north of here, on their way to the ridge to give their report.” His gaze shifted from Jade to the menacing conglomeration of blood-thirsty demons in the snow-covered meadow, and then back. “I estimate thirty or forty here. That means there are other deployed units about to appear in varying locations and spread out along the boundary of the village—the wraith’s army has grown over the past weeks.”
“And the king’s men aren’t in place yet.” A bone-chilling sensation gripped her.
The demon said, “They’re on their way now. And the general’s army should be doubling back soon.”
“Soon is not going to help us,” Toran cut in.
Of course, Davian’s warning for the slayers to stay in the village and leave the fighting to his troops flashed in Jade’s mind. But she and Toran were already on the scene and they were the only available defenders at the moment.
Why, oh, why had she let Michael come along? She could scream from her own idiocy.
The second demon said, “We can’t allow the rebels to enter the forest. We’ll lose the wraiths and the village will be under siege within minutes.”
Damn it!
Jade had promised her neighbors no harm would come to them. Yet how the hell were she and only four others going to stop the invasion?
Thinking quickly, she said, “We have to stall them until the king’s soldiers arrive.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Toran asked.
“Sadly, I have an idea.” Glancing over her shoulder, she told Michael, “Get down and stay back. Keep behind us, Michael, do you understand?”
“Yeah, I hear you.” He hopped to the ground and took a few steps away from them. Jade moved forward, still on horseback.
Toran remained positioned where he was and the two demons flanked Jade as she passed the last line of trees and entered the clearing, which was about to become a battlefield.
The fire wraith, sans flames at
the moment, rode toward her, along with what she assumed to be his second-in-command. They stopped ten or so feet shy of Jade and her new allies.
“Vampire,” the demon on her left muttered in warning.
The presumed general/vampire spoke for the wraith. “Five against forty is hardly worthy of our time.”
She hitched her chin and said, “King Davian’s men will come.”
“Will they?” the vampire taunted in a dubious tone. “And how will they know we’re here in this very spot, when we have a half-dozen other battalions about to surround your village?”
“The king has scouts,” she countered. “I have faith in his ability to locate all of your factions.”
