Anchors: Loyalty and War 2 Read online

  “Are you willing to take that risk, lad?” one of the women asked.

  Valis’ stomach squirmed, but he nodded. “We have to. For now, that’s our main plan. Go in, set up a shield over the entire city, and make it so people can go in, but no one can leave until I take it down. It may change once we get there, but I have a feeling this is what will be needed.”

  “Then that is what will be needed,” Shyvus said. “We trust you, Valis.”

  “And I thank each and every one of you for that trust,” Valis said with a small bow. “Now, let’s get the rest of this plan hashed out so we can get our asses back in our saddles and get underway.”

  Chapter Three

  They rode hard toward the city. On the tenth day, Shyvus called for a halt. He rode up beside Valis and pointed forward. “If we get any closer, they will be able to spot us. This hill marks the edge of the city’s limits. The town is just past the next hill.”

  Valis blew a sigh through his nose and nodded. “I’ll cast a shield around the army to hide us until we’re within the city, then blow the shield up around the entire town and change the parameters so people can come in, but they can’t leave.”

  He glanced behind him and called, “Jintas. Send out your scouts. I want a detailed report before we go in.”

  “At once,” the redheaded mercenary leader called back. He turned to start issuing orders in his native language of Noldworian. In the next moment, ten men and women rode off at a ground-eating gallop. Valis had only a moment to toss shields over them, turning them invisible to all but him and each other so they wouldn’t run into one another. Gasps came from behind him, but he held his hand up for silence.

  “I did that. Calm yourselves. The less they are seen, the more of a surprise we will be.”

  While they waited, Valis concentrated and rode the length of the army, circling them. Once he had their lines mapped out in his mind, he cast the shield over them, added permanence and movement so it would stay with them as they moved, and finally added impermeability, invisibility, and soundproofing to keep their presence hidden. It taxed him a little, but nowhere near as much as he thought it would. Perhaps Thyran’s involvement did more than Valis assumed it had. When Avristin’s mages expanded Valis’ magic pool, he felt invincible. But he didn’t know that in doing so, magic would tax him less. That was a good bit of information to know.

  “How are you holding up, love?” Tavros asked.

  “Surprisingly okay.” Valis leaned over to press a chaste kiss to his husband’s lips. Tavros met him halfway. “Stay close to me. No matter what happens.”

  “Always.” Tavros’ serious expression made Valis smile. “What are you grinning at?”

  “Just how much I love you.”

  Tavros flushed and grinned back. “I love you, too.”

  “Okay, you two,” Seza said as she rode up. “Quit being adorable. It’s disgusting.”

  Valis chuckled and winked at her. “Like you aren’t just as adorable with Zhasina.”

  “He is right,” Zhasina said from beside her mate. “We really are.”

  “Hush, you traitor.” Seza leaned over and kissed her wife, though, taking the sting out of her teasing. “We can’t tease the boys if we aren’t aloof ourselves.”

  Zhasina giggled and shook her head. “Good luck with that. You blush so prettily.”

  On cue, Seza blushed and sighed. “I’ll get you back for that. Just you wait.”

  “Oh, I will wait. Eagerly, my wife.”

  Valis laughed and turned his horse toward them as Maphias and Jedai trotted up on their horses. “Family meeting?” Maphias asked with a grin.

  “Something like that,” Valis said. “Relaxing before battle sounds like a good idea. We don’t know how long it will take for the scouts to come back, so we might as well get in some love while we can.”

  “Can’t let them leave us out, can we?” Jedai asked.

  Maphias shrugged and leaned over. Then Valis’ jaw dropped as they shared a less-than-chaste kiss that looked like it could possibly lead to more. “Wait. Wait… Wait… you two?”

  Maphias grinned. “Stranger things, brother. Took us a while.”

  Valis’ mouth worked for a few moments before his wits returned to him enough to make sound. “Whoa. Okay. Uh… I thought you both liked women.”

  Both men shrugged and Jedai grinned brighter than the sun. “I think we both like both, but we’ve always been close. This journey really made it hit home for us, though. Sharing a tent also helped us with time to hash out our feelings for each other.”

  Valis blinked. Then blinked again. For some reason, he was having trouble processing that. His two friends had never, not even once, seemed like they would end up together, or even liked each other that way. But a few moments later, his heart swelled, and he grinned at them. “Congratulations, guys.”

  “Good,” Maphias clanked his armored elbow against Jedai’s side, “we didn’t break him.”

  “His face was priceless, though.”

  “It was.”

  “It really was,” Seza said with a shit-eating grin. “I think you did break him there for a minute. His recovery time was excellent, though.”

  Valis felt heat creeping up his neck and ducked his head with a grin. “Yeah. Yeah, it did break me for a minute. You two just never showed any signs. I never even guessed.”

  Jedai gave him a fond look. “Your head’s been so deep into this journey, and war planning, and everything else, I’m not surprised you didn’t notice. We haven’t exactly been open about it. At first, we were just fooling around, and we were waiting to tell anyone, sure we were going to get teased. But then things started to get serious the longer we’ve been on this journey and sharing a tent. We’re engaged now.”

  “Truly,” Valis said, unshed tears stinging his eyes. “Truly. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks, man.” Jedai sighed as he glanced over to Maphias, then smirked. “Gotta keep it in the family.”

  That made Valis let out a belly laugh and wipe at his eyes with the sash about his waist. “You two are terrible.”

  “Always have been,” Maphias said after a snort. “Always will be.”

  Valis couldn’t help his stupid grin. Now it felt like their family was complete in a way he hadn’t realized was missing before. He sighed, looked around, and called out, “All right. Get into formation. Laymen up front. I want this to go as smoothly as possible. We get in, eradicate the nest, and help with the clean-up, restock, and get back underway. Understood?”

  “SIR!”

  As a unit, everyone started taking their positions. Valis beamed at them all with such pride that his chest ached with it. Though, his chest ached with more than pride. How many of these men and women wouldn’t make it out of Setira alive? How many would he have to burn on the pyre when this battle was over? How many of his friends wouldn’t be returning to Cadoras once he’d secured his father’s rescue?

  With a grimace, Valis fought to push those thoughts from his mind. Now was not the time or the place for it. If he kept up with that line of thinking, it could cost him this battle, or his life. He wasn’t willing to lose either. Either loss would mean he’d lied to his father when he promised his rescue. Darolen needed Valis’ undivided focus from now until he rested beside his husband again.

  Valis glanced around again and noted that everyone was in position. He rode down the line and back up the other side, making sure everyone was in place and there were no questions. Each person had an attentive expression on their face, ready and waiting for the signal to ride into battle.

  Valis only hoped his leadership skills were up to the task. But then he realized that he wasn’t doing this alone. Each of the reliquary guards would help him lead, would help shape the outcome of this battle for victory. Just that one thought took some of the burden off Valis’ shoulders, but not all that much.

  Because Valis was now the Grand Master Aesriphos. That still didn’t feel real. He didn’t feel qualified, whet
her he and Tavros had beat the previous two or not. It didn’t feel like he deserved the title. He and Tavros were the youngest Grand Master Aesriphos in history. Neither of them had the experience to do the title justice, and that fact weighed heavily on Valis’ mind as he patrolled the army lines.

  When he made it back to his friends—no, his family—Valis breathed a sigh and stared out at the top of the hill, waiting for the scouts to return. He hoped his invisibility shield would keep them safe. He also hoped his shield over the army was doing what it was supposed to be doing.

  Tavros reined his horse in closer to Valis and reached out, his left gauntlet removed and sitting on his lap. Valis removed his right gauntlet and linked his fingers with his husband’s. “We’re going to be okay, Valis. Everything is going to work out.”

  Valis smirked and stared into his lover’s clear gray eyes. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

  Huffing a laugh, Tavros squeezed Valis’ fingers. “You never were able to hide your emotions from your face. Your brow was all sorts of furrowed, and your mouth was pulled into a frown so tight I feared your face would break.”

  He released Valis’ hand and brushed the backs of his fingers across his cheek. “You were thinking about everyone but yourself as usual. I love that about you, but you need to focus on the fight ahead, not the people fighting. They are trained, and they can take care of themselves. They have over a hundred years’ experience each for most of the Aesriphos with us, and years of experience for the laymen except our closest friends.”

  He smiled and leaned in, pressing a kiss to Valis’ temple when Valis leaned over to meet him. “Let your mind rest, love. Don’t invite heartache when nothing has happened yet.”

  Valis nodded with a sigh. “I promise I’ll try. It’s harder than it seems.”

  “I know, love.” Tavros reached over and squeezed the back of Valis’ neck, then started massaging the muscles there. “I’ll help any way I can.”

  “You help just by believing in me,” Valis said as he dropped his head forward. “And I appreciate you every day.”

  “So, how long do you think it will take for the scouts to come back?” Seza asked. “I’m itching for a fight.”

  “Depends on what they find.” Valis rolled his neck and pressed back when Tavros let his fingers go lax. “Don’t you dare stop.”

  Tavros laughed and went back to the massage. When Valis’ muscles turned to putty again, he continued. “They’re scanning in and around each of the houses to get an estimate of the numbers we’re going to be up against. They’re also going to try and pinpoint the leaders, so we know who to focus on when we’re throwing around stasis spells. So, it could be thirty minutes, or it could be hours.”

  “Then we should settle in for the wait.” She got down off her horse and started stretching as much as her armor would allow. “We can get back in our damned saddles when they get back. Thirty minutes of relaxation should do us all a damned bit of good.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Valis turned back and called out, “Thirty minutes! Take a break from the saddle, grab a snack, relieve yourselves, whatever you have to do. We want to be fresh for the fight ahead.”

  “You know,” Shyvus said as he dismounted, “you young shits have some good ideas every now and then.”

  Valis dismounted as well and grabbed a pack of jerky from his saddlebags. And thirty minutes later, everyone was back in their saddle, eagerly watching the crest of the hill for signs that their scouts were returning from their mission.

  It took another two hours, but eventually, Valis saw the shimmer heading toward them. When it neared, Valis drew their shields into himself and opened a small portion in the front for the scouts to enter once he was sure they were their scouts.

  “Report.”

  The lead scout stopped in front of Valis while the others filed back into position with the army. “There are many,” he said in heavily accented Arlvorian. “But not as many as us, I think. We found two leaders, but could not find more, so we are unsure about any others there may be.”

  “What of those in the large building?” Valis asked.

  “The town hall,” the scout said with a nod. “All residents are being herded into this building and others. The women and children are being kept separate from the menfolk. Homes and shops are being used for the Qos army’s quarters from what we can tell.”

  He took a deep breath and raked his fingers through his short blond hair. “I heard some speak. They plan to restock and head to Cadoras to wage war on the city. More will be heading toward the city to join them.”

  Valis’ stomach pitted, and he nodded. “Thank you. Anything else?”

  “As you said after your scry, they kill any who oppose them, mostly men and mages who attack.” The man grunted and glanced back toward the hill he had just raced across. “It was a terrible thing. The stench of burned and dead bodies is thick in the streets.”

  “And you went unnoticed?” Valis asked.

  “Yes,” the scout said. “Thanks to your shields, we went completely unnoticed and were able to get a rough estimate. I’d say there are roughly four-hundred souls of the enemy.”

  Nodding, Valis motioned behind him. “You and your men dismount, stretch, get a snack, relieve yourselves. Whatever you need to do to refresh. I need to contact Thyran and report.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Valis dismounted also and retrieved his pocket watch. He leaned against Rasera’s side as he flipped the cover down and cleared his mind. After only a few moments, he had the scry in place and found Thyran’s face peering back at him. “Thyran.”

  “You have news?”

  “There are armies heading toward Cadoras with the intent of taking the city and the monastery. We’re about to go in and clean up one such army that has overtaken Setira City to restock their supplies. I plan on interrogating as many as possible.”

  “Thank you for letting me know.” Thyran frowned as his eyes took on a faraway look. “I will scry to try and get an idea of how many are coming, and what directions they are coming from, and send Aesriphos out to cut them off. Worry not, Child. We will still be here when you return.”

  “Good.” Then Valis grimaced. “How is Papa doing?”

  “He is well,” Thyran said. “I just returned from visiting him. He is progressing with astounding results. He’s already shuffling around between his bedroom and the sitting room with help. He can’t go much farther, but he is able to walk with assistance.

  “Kerac is doing remarkably well in his physical therapy. He has expressed that he wishes to be able to take care of Darolen, himself, once you return with him, so he is pushing himself hard in his therapy, sometimes against the Master Healer’s wishes. But he is progressing, and Firil is proud of his efforts.”

  Valis let out a relieved sigh and smiled. “Thank you. Tell him I’m thinking of him, and I hope to be home as soon as possible. Once we restock at Setira, we’re heading to Ges to help the anchor team after Angas Braywar. I had a vision that they will be killed and captured without help.”

  “I approve of this deviation from your original plan,” Thyran said, his voice grave and his eyes hard. “Thank you for taking them into consideration.”

  Valis frowned. “I couldn’t just leave them to die, Thyran.”

  “No, I meant scrying after them.”

  “Oh.” Valis cleared his throat. “I thought that was you. Apparently, Sovras interrupted my scry with Father with images from the three anchor teams. It showed me what I think is the future of all three. The first two succeed. The one for Braywar fails with four dead and two captured unless we intervene. After I saw the future, I saw the present where they are still riding toward their intended target.”

  Thyran smirked. “Leave it to Sovras to find a way to help us.” He shook his head, the amused expression never leaving his face or eyes. “In any case, take care and get home safe, my boy. Your Papa misses you, and frankly, so do I.”

  “I miss you, too,
Thyran.”

  “Be safe.”

  “We will.”

  With that, Thyran ended the scry and Valis snapped his pocket watch shut. He glanced back and saw the scouts mounting back up, and took that as a sign to get back on his own horse. Once he had his pocket watch stowed away and got settled into his saddle, he called back. “Get ready to ride!”

  The call traveled from one Aesriphos to the next and on down the line. It was time to attack.

  Valis ordered a contingent of their army to stay behind with the wagons that carried their supplies, protected in an impenetrable shield that made then invisible. Everyone else, he led into the attack.

  Without the wagons to hold them back, they rode hard over the hills, their invisibility and soundproofing shield still in place. Once Valis reached the city’s limit and a good number of his forces had entered, he shot the shield up to cover the entire city, remembering the limits from his aerial view scrying session.

  Once that shield snapped in place, he added a thought to one-way impermeability, keeping everyone inside, then added invisibility to keep the shield from being seen by anyone else and broke it off from himself so he could concentrate on the battle ahead.

  So far, it seemed that their presence wasn’t yet known. Valis rode hard toward the center of the city, following their laymen into what he hoped would be an easy battle. But nothing in Valis’ life had ever been easy.

  The moment they reached the city’s center, the shouts of alarm rose and like a plague of locusts, the Qos adherents poured from every building to join the fray.

  Valis only hoped it wouldn’t take long. Seeing them pour into the city’s center brought on a feeling of dread the likes of which Valis had never before felt.

  It was time to get bloody.

  Chapter Four

  “Shields up!”

  Valis felt every person in his magic-wielding army snap their shields into place. Valis vaulted off his horse to get into the thick of battle, his sword drawn the moment his feet hit the cobblestones. Tavros rushed to his side, and together they rushed the enemy.