Fynn stood at the window of the tower, looking down at the city of Oponoe. The people below him flowed like a powerful stream, some towards the besieged gates while others made their way out the back and towards safety. To Fynn, it looked like a scene of chaos and tumultuousness, like the workings of his own mind these past few days.
He turned to the prisoner of the tower, his face expressionless. Ellena sat at the writing desk Damaeon had provided, her hands clasped on lap, and her blue eyes staring at him, watching his every movement.
“Not the ending you expected?” Ellena asked conversationally.
Fynn shook his head. “It is not over yet.”
“It is for you, Aefynnelldar. Once again, you’re a fish caught in a net.”
He graced her with a half smile. “And you, a song bird in a gilded cage.”
Ellena
laughed. “We always got along so well, you and I. Whatever happened?”
“You know what happened, and I
am forbidden to speak of it.”
The laughter died, smothered by the thick tension that replaced it in the small room. Ellena rose to her feet and moved to stand beside the Woodwalker at the window. She gazed down at the Dyrel below her in silence.
“You saw her?” she asked.
Fynn nodded. “She can’t possibly understand.”
“But she still has the necklace?”
Another nod. “But she can’t wear it. Not yet.”
Ellena rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently. “Worried about hurt feelings? You of all people should know that nothing is happening without a reason. The necklace, my imprisonment, your murder of a friend.”
Fynn turned away, and Ellena laughed again. “Hit a nerve, have I? Thought you would be strong enough to champion the Queen and save your friends? Even the mighty Woodwalker must bow to someone.”
“At least I am loved in return by my mistress,” Fynn snapped as he vanished in a cyclone of autumn leaves.
Ellena blinked in shock at the final statement and lowered her eyes. A single tears slipped free of her lashes and began a long and patient journey down her face.
***
I stood at the wall, the wind blowing my hair and pressing my white robes against my body. I couldn’t help but smile as I faced my first battle. Damaeon had been very reluctant at first to let me join the fight, but I had assured him that whatever powers I possessed would be helpful to him, and the other generals agreed with me. The prince had eventually caved, but only after I promised him I would not leave the area assigned to me, and that a guard of ten men would be with me at all times.
I had a position back from the outer wall, on the top of a small look-out tower. From my vantage point, I could see the elven archers pacing the wall, and the tops of the trees of the Spirit Wood. My guard was at the base of the tower, with three men standing more-or-less in front of me with large shields in case the Huryl arrows should reach this far. I found all the extra attention very annoying. It would be hard enough for me to control the spirits during battle without having to try to see over the helmets of my guard. Still, I knew if I argued with the prince, I would be on my way to the caves with the rest of the women and children, so I held my tongue.
The young soldier Cyrus had been put in charge of the evacuation, and I wished him luck. I thought he would need it against the imminent battle. I was so excited, I could hardly keep from pacing. I had come a long way from my first glimpse of battle, when I had realized I was no longer in my own world. Strange how rarely I had thought of home, although my brother had come to mind more than once since my arrival. Nathan would have loved to witness this.
I heard a cry and realized that the Huryl had emerged from the shelter of the forest. I sat down on the cold stone of the tower and closed my eyes, viewing the battle from the eyes of a wind spirit. The first wave of Huryl were advancing quickly on the gate, not caring whether the elven arrows killed them or not. Behind them, peeking up from the treetops, I saw catapults and siege towers. I could feel the anger of the tree spirits at having their sisters destroyed to build such weapons, so I encouraged them to fight back. With very little prodding, the tree spirits turned on the Huryl hiding in the forest, entombing them in vines or tripping them with roots. I heard branches creak and snap as the trees themselves began to dismantle the towers and catapults, and I smiled to myself at this brief victory. At the least, I had bought Damaeon some time.
The Huryl were not swayed by this inconvenience, and continued to press against the Dyrel defences. As I surveyed the field through the wind spirit’s eyes, I could clearly see the holes in Damaeon’s strategy. They Huryl army was much larger than the Dyrel, outnumbering them almost four to one. The Huryl had the advantage of brute strength, but the Dyrel had the walls of Oponoe on their side.
Wave after wave of Huryl soldiers threw themselves at the walls, until the ground was covered with bodies and the air thick with the scent of blood. The tree spirits were enjoying their game in the forest, and the startled exclamations of the trapped Huryl could be heard across the battleground. I could see some of the elves laughing as the agonizing cries were brought to their ears. The Huryl were forced to withdraw and regroup.
Damaeon decided to launch the second phase of his strategy, and the gates of Oponoe swung open enough to let the Dyrel army out. I also began preparations for this new plan. The Dyrel war chant was nearly drowned out by the cheers of the Huryl as the true battle began. Damaeon led the frontal wave, with Jakob on the right flank and a general I did not recognize on the left. I thought it best to even the odds a bit as the Dyrel faced the much larger Huryl army.
Closing my eyes, I pictured Clothis in my mind. She seemed so real, tears sprang to my eyes and I let them roll down my cheeks. I took a deep breath to steady my emotions and ordered the earth spirits to assume Clothis’ form, and my own army of earthen huntresses sprang from the ground, just beside the city’s walls. They stood like statues, completely inanimate as they faced the war and watched the carnage with lifeless faces. I frowned in concentration as I opened my eyes and willed them to move and fight. For a long, agonizing moment they remained frozen, when suddenly one turned its head. It drew its stone sword and advanced to join the Dyrel, leading its brethren to war.
I smiled and could almost feel Jakob’s surprise as my army moved in from behind his troops to join the fray. Their orders from me were simple: protect the Dyrel and Oponoe. I heard one of my guards swear out loud as the odds were suddenly made even. With the tree spirits harassing the Huryl encampment, and the earth spirits fighting along side the Dyrel, I felt I had enough energy for one more command. I asked the air and fire spirits to work together and rain fireballs from the sky onto the Huryl lines.
The reply I received was like a physical slap to the face. I staggered back a few steps in shock, my eyes wide with disbelief. The anger and outrage that flowed from the air and fire spirits was overwhelming. One of my guards was beside me in an instant, sword drawn, steadying me with one hand as I reeled from the blow.
“My Lady, are you all right?” he asked, his gaze sweeping the area for signs of enemies.
I mumbled an assurance that I was fine. The young guard turned his eyes to me, looking me up and down, and finally releasing me to point at my arm.
“Then why are you bleeding?”
I stared at my arm in confusion. A long, ragged cut had appeared, oozing blood. It was barely more than a scratch, but I knew nothing had touched me since the battle began. There was no explanation for the mysterious injury. I waved the guard away, and turned my attention back to the battle in time to see a Huryl soldier slice through one of my mud Clothis’. I felt a sharp pain on my chest, and looked down to see a thin strip of blood soak through the front of my white robe. I blinked and winced in pain as another mud soldier fell and a deeper cut appeared on my arm. The guard who had helped me before was watching me warily.
I peered through the eyes of the wind spirit once more, ignoring the growing number of wounds that were appearing on my body. My earlier exuberance at participating in the battle had faded, and I saw the war once more for what it truly was. I saw innocent men dying on both sides of the battle, men like Roric who were only trying to protect their families. I saw the young die before they had a chance to live, and the wounded being trampled by their comrades as they waited for death. I smelled the sweat and the blood, heard the clash of metal against metal and the last gasps of the dead. I felt the pain of the soldiers as my creations were slain, and I realized that there was nothing on earth that could justify this type of carnage.
I felt a dark stillness overcome my heart, calming me and lulling me into a trance-like slumber. I opened my eyes, but no longer controlled what I was seeing. All I knew was that the futile war had to stop, and the only way to end the violence was to see everyone involved dead.
A cloud passed over the sun, deepening the shadows so that they could rise up. Slowly, the shadows made their way across the battlefield, killing all who stood in their way. Huryl and Dyrel were not discriminated against as the calm blackness spread over all those involved in the war and showed them the consequences of their actions. I smiled, pleased with what I had done, until I caught the scent of lilacs on the air and I turned my head to see Ellena kneeling next to me.
“You mustn’t follow that path, Leila,” she said. “Think of the friends you would loose.”
I frowned at her, upset that she could not understand the peace that came with the shadows. All the pain, all the suffering would end. I would fulfill my destiny as the Promised Child by bringing the Huryl to justice and guaranteeing an eternity of rest to the Dyrel. Ellena rose to her feet, one hand resting lightly on my shoulder. She stared out at the battlefield and began to sing.
The song was in the strange language that I had heard only her and Fynn speak, a musical tongue that seemed as inclined to song as a fish is to water. The heaviness that had weighed on my heart began to lessen and the shadows that infiltrated the war receded. The beautiful song that Ellena sang spread across the fields of Oponoe like wildfire. The Dyrel warriors began to fight with renewed vigour, while the Huryl lost some of their arrogant confidence. It was not long before Jakob and my clay soldiers had the Huryl in retreat, fighting their way through the angry trees of the Spirit Wood until they reached the calmness of the burned forest beyond. The Dyrel cheered as their enemies fled, yet I noticed one group of Huryl ignored the order to fall back. Through the eyes of the wind spirit, I saw it was led by Mattis.
I felt a burning desire to destroy the Huryl commander once and for all, not only for the cruelty I suffered at his hands, but for Ellena’s indignity as well. I turned to point him out to Ellena, only to find that her blue eyes were already fastened onto him. Instead, I summoned my clay warriors to move, changing their orders from protection to destruction. I watched their progress eagerly as they moved to attack from the rear, cutting off any chance of escape. It was only a matter of time before the Dyrel reached him now, and he had nowhere to run.
“Forgive me, Leila,” I heard Ellena say behind me.
The scent of lilacs overwhelmed me as a sharp pain exploded on the back of my head. My senses reeled and I turned my unfocused eyes to my attacker as I fell. Ellena caught me before I hit the ground, and the world went dark as I was removed from the battle once and for all.