AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A bad omen,” I finished and leaned on the table. “Yes, I know. But for who? If we all march off to fight today, who will be left in camp to put coppers in the old witch’s cup?”
Odan clenched his jaw, face darkening.
“No one,” I answered. “The witch makes more money if we stay in camp. Perhaps that black stone was for her, not us. Now, the numbers don’t lie.” I pointed to the papers spread over the table. “We’ve sent enough of them to their healers that they’re only holding that pass by a thread. With the air damp, and our forces fresh off several wins, there’s no reason we can’t claim Slayne’s Pass by nightfall.”
Odan cut in. “Yes, but what if the dragon takes the field?”
I shook my head. “If the dragon were close enough to make any difference in this battle, we’d have seen it. If there were reinforcements anywhere on the other side of that pass or in the paths above, we would have seen them too, Odan.”
Odan leaned in, flexing a muscle in his jaw. “You and I both know one Shadow Weaver can change all of that.”
“I have seen no Shadow Weavers on the field so far,” Hellion said carefully. “And no reason to believe there will be. If he’s smart, Balor will hold them back and let Brenna’s forces do the bulk of the work.”
“Devonay’s last report placed Brenna and her dragon further north,” Nisang confirmed and tapped a spot on the map about forty miles northeast of our position.
“That report is twenty-four hours old,” Odan said. “She could be here. We could be walking in blind.”
“What did your scouts report this morning, Morlash?” I asked.
Morlash puffed out his chest. “No sign of the dragon. Brenna’s forces were scurrying about like ants, trying to keep their camp dry.”
I studied Odan carefully. There was no evidence to support what he was saying. The odds were finally in our favor, and it’d be foolish not to strike. Yet the worry lingered. I had never placed much weight on the casting of stones and reading of fortunes. That was Hellion’s area.
I looked at them. “What do you say?”
Morlash snorted. “We’re letting Jaida’s viceroy decide now?”
I shot him a warning look. “Let them speak. Hellion has a place at this table like the rest of you. I will hear their counsel.”
“And a place in your bed,” Morlash mumbled.
Hellion’s pointed tail twitched, and their teeth gleamed white and stark against their flawless, shadowy skin. “I would challenge you to a duel, Skaag, but I wouldn’t dirty my blades with your filthy blood.”
Morlash surged toward Hellion, fists balled, but Nisang stepped between them, pushing Morlash back.
“That isenough!” Nisang growled. “Cian is your lord! You owe him your allegiance and your life if he demands it. If you cannot behave with an ounce of civility toward your betters, then go cut off your own head and save me the trouble. Otherwise, close your mouth lest we forget that you are an ally.”
“You need me,” Morlash sneered at me.
“He needs someone to lead the Skaags,” Nisang clarified. “It doesn’t have to beyou.”
That made Morlash fall silent finally. He slinked back to his place on the other side of the table, arms crossed.
I nodded my thanks to Nisang, though I wished he hadn’t stepped in. Morlash and Hellion needed to work out their distaste for one another, and the only time Skaags learned respect was through a sound beating.
I took a deep breath and turned back to Hellion. “What do you say? What is your assessment?”
“It is as you say,” they said carefully. “The odds are in our favor. We will never have a better chance to strike at them than we do now. I wish we had more up-to-date information from Devonay, but Morlash’s scouts report no dragons, and we clearly have the advantage. It would be foolish not to press that.”
I nodded, lifting several pages, rolling them up. “The battle will proceed as planned. I don’t want to hear any more talk about black stones either, Odan. I mean it.”
Odan sighed and shook his head, pushing away from me. “I hope to all the gods that you’re right and I’m wrong, Cian. Because if it’s the other way around, this is going to go badly.”
Byteno’clockthatmorning, the fog had cleared, and with it, much of the sticky humidity in the air. The calm westerly wind whisked the rain clouds west, just as Odan predicted, and a dry heat settled over Slayne’s Pass, the temperatures soaring high enough to dry most of the puddles in a few hours.
By the time I settled on my horse at the mouth of the pass to meet the enemy, the unforgiving sun had turned the mud to dust, effectively erasing the advantage we might’ve had if we’d struck out earlier. It couldn’t be helped. Too many of the Scourge unit had been out drinking heavily the night before, and it led to a sluggish start. Morlash and Odan’s ceaseless bickering slowed us down further.
They were silent now, staring down the enemy lines through a wavy mirage. After our previous victories, we still outnumbered the forces Brenna had on the field two to one. Rain or no, I’d take those odds any day.
