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“The Mindolin is what happened. The people who did this may not have been part of his army but are taking advantage of the chaos he is creating.” Victor looked solemn as he led me around the town.
No one else had survived the attack.
Tears fell from my eyes. “If only I could’ve made it here without needing to stop so often.”
Victor shrugged. We looked back over the town, both hopeful we’d missed something and more life could be saved. “Maybe, Lady Fire, but we might also be dead. Especially if they had those beasts with them.”
He made a good point, but I still blamed myself for not being here to help these people. Yet, I had no fighting skills. Dalton, Grace, and maybe Victor did, though. They could have helped. Or, maybe they would have died. Not that it mattered. What was done, was done.
It was half a mile or more before we ran into Grace and Dalton with the children. The little girl clung to Dalton’s neck, and the baby lay quiet in Grace’s arms. When Grace made to step toward us, the girl whimpered and held her arm out to stop the Lady Air Elemental.
“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m not going anywhere.” Grace held the girl’s hand until she quieted and curled into Dalton again. The tough-looking male warrior bent down and kissed the girl’s head. Within the minute, the girl was asleep.
“Her name is Lacey. This is her brother, Brady.” Dalton jutted his chin out toward the baby. “Or that’s what we gathered from Lacey. She’s almost three and not a very good linguist.” He tried to give a chuckle, but it fell flat. “She knows her parents are dead. I’m not sure she understands completely, but she knows something is wrong.”
“We need to keep going. Meet up with the others.” Grace didn’t acknowledge the fact Victor and I had come back alone.
The thought of the death we left behind finally kicked in, and I tried to run from everyone so they wouldn’t have to witness my weakness yet again. I’d never seen a scene like the one we’d just left. The worst things I’d been privy to weren’t anywhere near as bad as what I just saw. How could people do that to others?
Victor knelt beside me when I stopped vomiting. He held out one of the water bottles. My thanks came out as a whimper, but he didn’t tease or mock me for it.
“Even after all I’ve seen, nothing can prepare you for something so horrible. The first time you experience death like this, it is, well, there are no words to describe it.” He offered me a sympathetic smile. “You did well, Brynn. You kept it together when you needed to.”
The Vampire helped me stand and again wrapped my arm around his elbow to keep me from falling over on shaking legs.
“What will they do with the children?” I asked the Vampire quietly from where we walked paces behind Grace and Dalton.
Victor lowered his voice even further so I could barely hear him. “Grace and Dalton are unable to have children of their own. I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept these two. They are already attached. Even the Commander is quite taken with them.”
My heart lightened a little. These two little ones wouldn’t have to find their way alone as orphans in this war-torn world. They’d been given a gift when Dalton and Grace had found them.
The sun was lowering into the horizon when we arrived at the meeting spot. Everyone had beaten us there, so I didn’t question we were in the right place. Some of them stood, but most were sitting, and others were even lying down on the ground.
“Everyone looks rough,” I said as we approached. The chilled air had begun to affect me again, and Victor kept me upright when I was exhausted. “How can we take on the Mindolin and win when everyone is so worn and battered?”
“By doing it together,” Dalton answered.
Twilight was upon us when all the team leaders of our army reported that they were ready. My body was about to go into a panic. I’d watched this attack in Onyx’s pool. I had one chance to stop a massacre. I, Adam Lanshay, had the lives of thousands of people sitting on my shoulders. If I messed up at all, everyone within the city of Cambria would be dead in hours.
“Hey, getting cold feet?” Yavich leaned against the tree next to the one which held up my weight.
“I spent a good chunk of my early years in this forest.” My eyes glanced up to the tops of the dead trees. “Bard was a good Elemental. One of the kinder ones. Moments like this, standing in a place I used to love that’s now destroyed, make me hate my father. This was my one place of peace before I met Brynn.”
“I’m sorry.” Yavich did indeed look sorrowful.
“Who are you? How do you know my father?” Time was out. I had to stop Yavich at any cost, including his life. I wanted some answers first. “We’re about to storm a city together. The least you can do is give me an answer.”
The Demon chuckled and crossed his arms as he stared out at the city whose lights began to flicker on. Those camping outside the walls built fires to keep warm. Their heat and my element begged me to move forward, but I kept my feet planted.
“I’m not so different from you, Adam.” Not the answer I’d expected.
“How so?”
“My parents, they were Elemental too.” He held up a finger, and electricity burst from it but stopped after an inch.
I grabbed onto the tree so I wouldn’t fall over. “Zhaine and Onyx, you’re their son? You’re Luka?”
He scoffed, his humor from earlier changing to a sneer. “I’m no one’s son, cousin. They abandoned me, threw me away. Aaron saved me, raised me as his own. Then they imprisoned him for centuries.” Yavich’s hands trembled as his anger grew. “I waited for his return. Lady Life said he would return, and he did.”
