Kerra peered out through the brush. She was sweat-stained, bloody, hungry, and afraid; in other words, not in great shape. She was glad that Gandalf had insisted upon coming along; his presence in the great halls of the other fey houses lent urgency and credibility to their warning because of his not completely undeserved reputation as a doomsayer. The devastating news of the arrival of the Nazgul had come as a nasty shock to the fey houses the little band had been able to reach, but even worse was the knowledge that the warning had not reached two of the fey strongholds in time, and the great fey cities of Bandabît and Ykorda had fallen to the orcs.
"Our defenses grow thinner every day, Master Gandalf," Kerra whispered.
She could see little beyond the dense undergrowth, but the stench of death
hung heavy all about them. "Praise be to the Lady that we were able to
reach most of the houses in time."
"Yes, praise be, Kerra, but what of the ones we did not reach?" Anemosi's
eyes were haunted. The days spent traveling had been hardest upon her,
and she took every death as happening because of a mistake on her part.
"We did not move fast enough. We should have been ready!" She looked frail
enough to be broken by a slight wind, but the strange look in her eyes
belied a strength just beginning to develop.
*She is starting to awaken,* thought Gandalf. *The time is fast
approaching.* His thoughts were broken as Votal burst back into the glade.
The young warrior had at first been honored to have been selected for such
a vital mission, but the glamour soon wore off as they spent most of their
time on the run from orc patrols.
"Lady Radika, we must move on! There are two patrols headed this way
at speed!" He was sweating heavily under his mithril coat, afraid that
even the precious metal would not hold back a true orc assault. Thus far,
they had managed to avoid the orc patrols, but they had run into a few
stragglers that had given them some trouble. As the days passed by, Anemosi
had weakened fast, and at night, she had awakened sobbing, moaning that
she could hear the voices of the dead fey in her mind. She could only sleep
easy in Kerra's arms, the crimson-haired warrior trying to take on as much
of the pain as possible, but in the end only able to suffer as Anemosi
struggled under the double effects of the Ring and the Power.
Anemosi stared at him dully, her head seemingly filled with sludge that writhed painfully within her skull. She breathed in slowly and tried to fight through the fog in her brain. Kerra pushed away the urge to weep, and rose to take Anemosi's arm. Gandalf watched her as she helped Anemosi to her feet, devotion in every movement.
"She can no longer ride," Votal muttered to himself, but Kerra's sharp ears picked up the words. Her eyes slitted.
"What are you suggesting, Master Votal?" She looked nothing short of murderous.
"Nothing, Lady Ojona!" he spluttered. "I was only expressing concern for the Lady Radika."
Kerra smiled grimly. "Be assured, Master Votal, that if it comes down to it, I will carry the Lady Radika upon my back. We have come this far, and we will not fail."
Gandalf felt a rush of admiration for Kerra. She was a true hero, one of the quiet, unsung champions who were the legs the mighty walked upon. He only hoped Anemosi was grateful for the help.
Kerra led Anemosi to her pony and eased her up to the saddle. Mounting her own steed, Kerra took up the reins of Anemosi's pony and turned back to Gandalf and Votal.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
They rode hard now, not stopping for longer than it took to water and rest the ponies. The closer they came to Siobhangé, the stronger Anemosi became, and Kerra especially wanted to get her home. Their mission was completed and they were only a short ride out of Siobhangé when Gandalf suggested they stop for a short break. They led the ponies to a small stream and took the opportunity to splash the cool water on their faces and heads, relaxing in the feel of the water on their overheated skin. Anemosi was the first to drink from the stream, gulping huge mouthfuls of water regardless of how sick it might make her, when she tasted a faint metallic tinge to the water.
She pulled back with a growing feeling of dread. *Tastes like blood,* she thought. She staggered to her feet and bit back a scream as she saw a figure dangling upside down from a tree farther up the stream, trailing blood into the water. It was one of the border guards, and she could see movement just beyond the tree from which the corpse was hanging.
"Sweet Lady!" she shrieked. Kerra and Votal were on their feet in a breath, weapons at the ready, and Gandalf heaved himself to his feet to train his staff upon the slowly advancing force. Anemosi drew her sword and desperately tried to ignore how her hand was shaking. She had enough time to blink, and then the horde was upon them.
She had not known there were so many orcs in the world. Wave after vicious wave poured out of the woods and pounded down against the four. She fought bravely and skillfully, but the orcs were too many and too powerful for even such warriors as Kerra and Gandalf.
Anemosi had just hacked the legs out from underneath an orc that dared to take a swipe at her exposed stomach when she heard a scream from behind her. Turning, she saw that the biggest orc she had ever seen had Kerra pinned to the ground by a foot on her now-loose hair. It was raising its sword to plunge it into Kerra's neck, but Anemosi leapt into the air, slamming into the orc's body and sending it sailing back into several of its fellows' bodies. They crashed into the stream, bellowing their rage in to the water. Anemosi heaved Kerra to her feet and tried to see how Gandalf and Votal were holding up. Not surprisingly, their other two companions were in just as desperate situations as Kerra had been.
Anemosi was moving to Gandalf's aid when, before she could reach the old man, she felt a hot slicing pain lance across the back of her thighs. She fell to the ground in a kneeling position, knowing without looking that she had been crippled. Gandalf stopped fighting to stare at her, shivering where she had fallen. *Oh no, not yet...* he thought hopelessly as he saw her eyes closing. *She cannot give up now!*
Kerra screamed as she saw Anemosi fall. Her sword cut more vicious
arcs than ever before as she fought to get to Anemosi's side, but there
were too many, and the battle was being lost....