The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)(5)

Back stepping quickly, Neph circled his father and pulled on his magic once more. It was dangerous to speed himself more than he was already, but he had no choice. His accuracy would suffer and he knew it, but it was the only chance he had at landing a blow. His sword flashed out again striking sparks from his father’s breastplate and he felt his hope rise. His father had been so sure of the fight that he hadn’t even bothered to put up shields. That was the second time he had scored a line in his armor. Now all he had to do was hit flesh.

“False hope, Neph,” his father growled as he renewed the assault with a savagery that Neph had never before seen.

Staggering back under the attack, Neph parried his father’s blade as quickly as he could, his sword flashing like a hummingbird in the morning light. His fingers were growing numb with the ringing of his blade. Pain flashed down his arm and he barely had time to register the wound before he was blocking another blow.

“Sloppy, Neph. Too much speed for you to handle,” Ren scolded, sounding almost bored as his blade bit deep into Neph’s side.

Bright red droplets stained the snow in a spray as Ren tore his sword free once more and continued to advance. Desperately, Neph parried the next blow and spun bringing his sword up sharply for his father’s neck. His father dodged the brunt of the blow, but his blade still managed to score a thin line down the side of the High Lord’s face. His small victory was lost in the pain, however. Stumbling back Neph stared down stupidly at the sword stuck through his side. His own blade slipped from his fingers and his knees buckled beneath him.

“Such a waste, Neph. You had so much potential,” Ren sighed as he moved forward and kicked Neph’s blade out of reach. “I’ll tell you what, though, Neph. They say I don’t have mercy, but I will prove them wrong today. If you can make it back down the mountain I will forgive your sins and forget this ever happened. Prove you are worthy of the name Delvayon.”

“Fuck you,” Neph growled as he pulled the sword from his own side. With a snarl he forced himself back to his feet and glared in defiance at his father. Wiping one hand across his face Neph steadied himself and raised the blade shakily toward his father. “I’m not done yet,” he growled, though he could feel his strength fading quickly as his blood colored the snow below him.

“It would be wiser to use that strength to crawl back down the mountain and beg forgiveness, Neph,” Kadan called from his place near the entrance to the grove.

“Leave him be,” RenDelvayon called to the surrounding guards and motioned for them to leave the grove. Turning back to his son he smiled coldly. “If only your judgment was as sound as your determination, Neph. You could have been a son I would have been proud of.”

Neph ground his teeth and willed his body to move. Raising his sword over his head he sprang at his father with every ounce of remaining strength he had. Pain shot through his limbs as the sword rang hard against metal. His father’s gauntleted hand was wrapped around the blade holding it firmly in place.

With a smile, Ren twisted the blade, wrenching it from Neph’s weakened grasp. He shoved hard against his son’s chest, sending him crashing back into the bloodstained snow. “Better judgment, Neph,” his father repeated as he flipped the blade around and replaced it in his scabbard. Turning he walked back toward Kadan without another glance back. “Leave them both.”

Swallowing heavily, Neph watched as the grove emptied of people. Most wouldn’t look at him and those that did had expressions of disgust written plainly on their faces. Not even his own brother would meet his gaze.

“I didn’t want you to die with me,” Zyi whispered, her voice weaker than it had been before.

“Neither of us is going to die. I will get us out of here,” Neph mumbled as he pulled himself closer to her.

“How, Neph? Neither of us knows spells to transport yet,” Zyi’s voice was filled with despair and she sounded close to tears.

“Just give me a minute,” Neph muttered as he pulled his dagger from his boot and began to cut strips from the end of his cloak. Clumsily he wrapped his wounds as best he could and placed the dagger once more in his boot. “Ready?” he asked softly as he pulled himself to his feet once more. It took every ounce of will he had to remain silent through the wave of agony, but he wouldn’t allow himself to make a sound. She was in worse shape than he was, and he needed her to keep hope. If she knew how wounded he was, she would argue with him, and he didn’t have the strength to spare for that. Carefully he leaned over and picked her up. Pain tore through him with a wave of dizziness as fresh blood soaked his bandaged side.

“Leave me, Neph,” Zyi begged as she struggled weakly for him to put her back down. “You don’t have strength enough for yourself.

Taking me will just kill us both.”

“Neither of us is going to die,” Neph repeated through gritted teeth. “I will get us both down the damned mountain, and it will be the last either of us see of Delvay. I’ll even let you decide where we go, Zyi. As you said, anywhere is better than here.”

“It wouldn’t be like this if mother was still here. None of this would have happened. Why didn’t she take us with her, Neph?” Zyi muttered softly. Her head dropped limply against his chest as she spoke.

“He would have hunted for us, Zyi, and she knew it. We are his children. He never bothered to look for her, but she knew he w ould hunt for us. I can’t blame her for leaving after what I’ve seen today.” Neph paused and tried to force more cheer into his voice as he continued. “Maybe we will find her out there in our travels. She could be living in Sanctuary, or maybe Arovan. I’ve heard Arovan has mountains too, and she always loved the mountains.” He didn’t really believe the words as he spoke them, but maybe they would give Zyi more hope to cling to.