The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4)(16)

Turning back quickly, Neph barely registered the outline of the sword plunging toward his face before another thinner silvery blade blocked the attack. Eyes widening, Neph glanced down at the slender blond haired man who had saved his life. Neither of them had traveled through the Goswin portal with him. This man, however, Neph recognized. He had seen him once before when the man had been struggling to talk Jala out of her quest into the Darklands. Neph had watched in mute silence as Jala turned her back on the man and renounced her faith. His name was Fortune, and this was the last place he should have been.

“Get your head back in the fight, Nephon, we are depending on you,” the first man called as his blade flashed forward again dropping two Rivasans to the blood soaked earth.

The sound of battle horns from behind him rang out through the trees and Fortune laughed as the musical notes faded. “They will clear the path for you soon, Neph. Be ready. Jala is in more danger than you know. She needs you at her side.”

“Faydwer?” Neph stammered stupidly, glancing to his side for confirmation, but both men were gone and it took all of his attention to stem the flow of Rivasans pressing forward into the gaps in his lines.

“What in the name of the Divine,” Kay gasped beside him as they managed to push the Rivasans back, giving themselves a much needed moment of rest. At first Neph thought she had witnessed the presence of the Divine as he had, but quickly realized her attention was across the field. The sky had darkened in the north and lightning lit the clouds beyond the battle field. Her gaze, however, was on the single rider charging toward the Rivasan lines. His armor was black as was his horse and it only took a moment for Neph to recognize him as Zachary Dark of Oblivion.

“Is he mad? He is charging alone,” Kay hissed, her gaze dropping back to their own battle as the Rivasans pressed forward again.

“He isn’t alone,” Neph replied, his eyes moving past the Oblivion knight to the dark figure standing just beyond the battlefield and barely visible against the darkening sky. The man’s ragged black cloak was stretched taunt in the storm winds and his black armor flashed in the lightning beyond him. Neph pulled his attention away from the Aspect of Destruction as he raised his hands to the battlefield beyond and the black inky shapes of Harvesters began to rise from the ground surrounding Zachary’s charge. Where a single knight had ridden moments before, an army now ran, and from the bloodthirsty cries echoing across the field, the damned souls of Oblivion were more than ready for the fight.

A snarl from his snow cat brought his attention fully back to his own problems, and Neph quickly dispatched the Rivasan that had managed to score a wound across his cat’s side. The Faydwer battle horns sounded behind him again and from the pitch they were much closer. “Firym is here, and Oblivion. By the looks of those storm clouds, Arovan and Glis will arrive at any moment. Faydwer is closing from behind us. We will make it through this, Kay.” Neph gasped the words out between sword blows and edged his cat closer to his Aunt to strengthen their line. He fought against the desire to gaze across the field. The words of the Divine had left his gut churning with concern for Jala, but there was nothing he could do about it yet. The sound of charging hooves behind him grew louder and he tensed. “A path will be open soon,” he whispered to himself, wondering how exactly the Faydwer were going to open a path through the bloody mess before him. Even with the other allied forces joining the fight, the Rivasans were still standing strong on the field.

A light hum hissed through the air beside him and the earth began to tremble behind them. Two arrows drove into the Rivasans closest to him, knocking them back savagely. The shots were well placed and buried to the shaft. Both men were dead before they hit the ground. “Wisp.” Neph grinned as he spoke the name, his attention flicking from the purple and white fletching on the arrows to the trembling ground behind him.

“What the hell are they doing? We are going to be trapped between that rise of earth and the damned Rivasans,” Kay snarled as the ground bucked and rose to form a solid wall behind them.

Three more arrows pegged into Rivasans, each bearing the purple and white fletching and Neph whispered silent thanks to the Fae, using the moment of peace she had given him to search the field frantically for Jala. The Merrodin forces had moved beyond the valley now, and he could see Valor among the Firym, pushing the Rivasans back, but there was no sign of Jala.

The hoof beats grew thunderous behind him and the ground shook with the force of it as the first of the Faydwer knights reached the battle. Shadows darkened the ground around him as a massive white horse launched itself from the newly risen earth behind him and Neph barely managed to dodge as a slender form dropped from the back of the warhorse to land beside him. More horses leaped gracefully over the ledge, their riders striking with deadly grace as the beasts landed in the Rivasan ranks.