It's on the mountains of Xadia, desperately tracking Prince Callum, that General Amaya faces off against the Dark Lord. She knows of his betrayal thanks to a well received crow from now King Ezran.
But nothing prepared her for the battle with him. As usual, she battles with ferocity and would have won due to strength of arms even against his powerful dark magic, but no, he has a more powerful ally now. One she could not easily defeat Aaravos.
He blasts her off the mountain side and she falls a height that would have killed anyone, but what he did not see is that she hits a ledge hidden from sight.
She groans, feeling shattered ribs and bones. Rolling over onto her back and shutting her eyes, she lets the darkness sweep over her.
Janai
I have every intention of killing the human that escaped me twice already. She is in fact one of the most renown generals of the Katolis army.
The woman is light skinned a scar stretched across her cheek, battered and slowly dying beneath me. My Sun forged blade hovers over her ready to plunge into her heart and finish her suffering. My troop stands behind me, quite satisfied with my decision to kill the general.
But things are different now, the winds of change have swept through the lands. The dragon egg, or better the dragon prince, has been returned and Lord Viren has now betrayed one of his most powerful generals. My sword quivers and I sheath it.
Damn it.
"Help me,"I command fiercely to my companions. "She still may yet live and I will not strike a foe while unconscious." There is a code I can call upon, even in this blasted war without being considered a traitor.
We arrive back at our camp and the healers see to the worst of the many injuries of the general.
I find myself pacing outside the tent, furious with myself for not killing the powerful woman when I had the chance.
Furious at Lord Viren for putting me in this precarious position and mostly ready to kill the man for nearly killing such a great warrior in such a terrible way. She deserves to die in the heat of battle not with a shattered back slowly dying like some crippled old woman.
My dark hands make fists when the healers finally step out.
"She will live, Janai," says one of them, a male that I trust with my own life. "She needs to rest."
"I will let her, but I will be there when she wakes," I say and walk into the tent without a word of argument.
The woman, who has plagued my dreams for months, lays in the healer bed. She seems smaller now, but her arms are muscular and thick from years of fighting. There are other mysterious scars: one her shoulder, some on her arms and hands. They seem to sparkle in the firelight.
I have to look away, because I cannot even fathom the strange feelings that well up within me.
For what? A human. A disgusted noise forces its way out of me as I remove my armor and slide it by the fire, before plopping in the healer's seat to wait for the inevitable.
What was I thinking?
We face off in the Breach, General Amaya opposite of me without a weapon and me with the powerful sun forged blade. She cockily slides her shield onto her back, snuggly smiles and beckons me forward.
A groan snaps me away. I hear her shift, and quickly she stills as if she is ready for battle even though she clearly is not. I rise to my feet, feeling my sore muscles from resting in the chair most of the night.
Grumpily, I stir the fire so the woman can see clear and light a candle, before approaching her bedside.
General Amaya glares at me tries to sit up, but grimaces in pain without so much as making a noise. It is strange. The woman should be in terrible pain with broken bones and who knows what happening inside of her.
"Don't move. You are very injured. I found you on a ledge dying…" I say and hear the coldness in my own voice. Good, I'm trying to let the woman know just how precarious her situation is.
Her hands flutter in movements, I have only seen among the deaf elves. But that can't be right…
"Do you have nothing to say for yourself?" The hands move again and then she looks annoyed, points to her throat and ears and shakes her head.
Damn it.
The woman is deaf. I've been defeated twice now by a deaf and powerful woman.
Why did this fact make me like her even more? I'm supposed to hate her after all. I do hate her. She's a human. Killer of my people, stealer, brutalizer, and rapist of our magical lands.
"Wait a moment," I say, and leave to fetch the healers' pad for writing with a stick of charcoal. Returning, I drop it on the blanket for General Amaya. She takes the charcoal in the hand that hasn't been crushed. The other bound tightly to her chest.
Why?
"Why what?" I demand sharply. "Why did I save you?" She nods. I let out a sharp breath. What could I tell her that was safe?
"I couldn't let you die, unarmed and outside of battle, that seemed…beneath you," I admit and it's true enough. The memory of the shattered woman on the ledge, rends my heart in two. That I even dare to carry these feelings for a human is something too dangerous to utter.
The charcoal is writing again.
What will you do with me?
"I have two options," I reply and look out the tent. Before I can start talking, the General snaps her fingers and makes me look at her. That's right…I have to look at General Amaya when I speak so she can understand me clearly. "My people will want me to kill you in fair combat. If you kill me, you will be released."
But you? What do you want?
"I would wish to release you,"I say, feeling old and helpless. It's not something I like to feel. "You are not my prisoner."
Why?
"You need to rest," I snap suddenly and starts to back away, but General Amaya catches my wrist in a powerful grip that belies her weakness. I glare at her, but when she doesn't release me I answer:
"Because…I believe we would be better allies than enemies, but it is your choice. It is always your choice, general."
The hand releases me and I move back to the safety of the fire away from the warrior that is stirring so many feelings within me.
The morning comes with food and I wake up still in the sick tent. I leave so that General Amaya can have some privacy with the healers. She is still unwell.
With my armor and gear in hand, I return to my own tent and for the first time in my life it feels empty.
Placing my armor carefully in the corner, I know I need to clean it and make sure it is excellent condition, but I cannot. I know I should eat, but I am far from hungry. I should at least rest then, but I know my mind has only one thought and it seems focused on chasing the General Amaya.
Damn you, I think as I bury my face into my hands. She's a human. An elf cannot love a human.
The healer, Johan, returns with a report finding me still in my mussed robes and looking a mess. What his opinion on this matter isn't readily evident, rather he shares the report.
"The human will improve. She has crushed her arm, wrist, and hand, shattered her hip and knee and has severe bruises as well as cracked ribs and internal bleeding. With our healing magic and potions, I imagine her full recovery will last a few weeks, but she will have weakness in the knee."
Damn, Lord Viren and his dark magic. The woman should have been able to defeat him.
Had her feelings for the man caused her to waiver?
"Does anyone sign? She's deaf,"I say, seeking a solution to our communication problem.
"None that can communicate with her. There are no deaf elves in our camp and more so none that can sign in her language."
"What?"
"Humans and elves use different signs to communicate," he says more than patiently. "They would not be able to understand each other. If I may be so bold to ask, what do you plan on doing with the General?"
"I haven't decided yet, Johan,"I reply with a long sigh. "I do not wish to fight her any longer."
"I fear you may not have choice. The warriors all heard you make the call on the code. You may have spared her life for a few weeks, but you will have to fight her when she is ready and able and you will kill her."
I nod. Johan sits next to me and it surprises me.
"If I may so bold, Commander, this isn't like you," he says. "I am your brother…after all. I've seen that look before…she is a human." He says this quietly. I glare at him. "How bad is it?"
"Johan," I snarl at him quietly.
"It's not like you to feel strongly for the enemy. Is it your respect for her?"
"She is a fierce warrior who matched me that is all," I say. "That she is deaf on top of it and general means nothing to me."
"Liar," he says with a slow smile. "You care for her." I shudder at his words for they are true. "And what shall we do? You cannot kill the woman you care for, even if she is a general to the army of Katolis. I would not allow it." I snort.
"You would not allow it? You could hardly stop me."
He takes my hand, his four fingers wrap perfectly in mine and I wonder as if my mind has wandered down this path in my dreams: How would a fifth finger fit in my hand?
"You are a great warrior, sister," he says quietly. "You fight with honor and care, but you are no murderer. If you face her in two weeks, it will still be murder. She will not be ready even if she can hold a blade."
His words are like a cold icicle to my being. Logic and truth batter against the passions that rage to push me one way or the other.
"I don't know what to do," I whisper and he leans against me.
"We will find a way," he says. "You must have a reason besides caring…you would not act without prudence or strategy."
"…she was betrayed and what greater ally is there in a former general of Katolis?" I say and he blinks.
"The others will not see such logic," he says. "They will only see the human." My shoulders drop again. "Get ready and come visit her. You will need to learn sign language to communicate with her."