James Islington - The Shadow Of What Was Lost

Finally, though, his Reserve began to empty, and he looked up to see the Andarran line was dangerously thin, threatening to break. Even as he did so, a horn rang out with two quick blasts. The signal to fall back, abandon the First Shield.

He headed for the stairs, numb as he glanced back to see black-clad soldiers pouring over the parapet, dispatching anyone too slow to retreat.

They were losing.

Asha stared up at the Second Shield in horror, stomach churning as the screams of the dying echoed around the pass.

She glanced behind her at the long line of Shadows that followed in her wake, suddenly uncertain. Were they too late? Word of the Blind’s sooner-than-expected attack had only reached them an hour ago; though she’d done her best to organise the Shadows quickly, she could see that the First Shield had already fallen.

She stared for a moment longer, then drew a deep, steadying breath and grabbed the arm of the nearest soldier. "Where’s General Parathe?"

The man blinked at her in surprise, his gaze shifting over her shoulder to take in the small army of Shadows behind her. "I’m not sure if -"

"Just tell me," said Asha, putting as much cool anger into her tone as she could manage.

The soldier blanched, then gestured towards the top of the wall.

Asha gave a sharp nod. She turned to Gaell, an older Shadow who had helped her distribute the Vessels to everyone else.

"Keep everyone here. I’ll see where they want us," she told him.

Gaell nodded, turning to let the others know as Asha hurried off. Several soldiers paused to give her curious looks as she shouldered her way towards the Second Shield, but none moved to stop her.

Asha climbed the stairs two at a time, quickly spotting General Parathe once she was at the top. She was about to head towards him when there was motion to her left, and a blue cloak suddenly stood in her way.

"What do you think you’re doing up here?" the young Administrator asked, his tone grim.

"I’m here to help," Asha replied, staring the man in the eye. "I just need to speak to the general. Please let me past."

The Administrator stared at her in disbelief for a few moments.

"Nonsense. Get off the wall," he sneered eventually. "You’re only going to get in the -"

Asha gestured, a small movement. She’d managed to practice a little with the ring today, knew enough to control its strength now. And there wasn’t time for this.

The Administrator stumbled backward as if shoved hard in the chest, tripping and sliding several feet before coming to a sprawling halt.

Asha walked past, ignoring the startled stares from those around her who had seen what had happened.

"General Parathe," she called when she was within hearing range.

The general looked up, frowning a little when he saw who it was, but waving her through the cordon of men surrounding him.

"Ashalia, isn’t it," said Parathe, examining her with undisguised curiosity. "The Athian Representative."

Asha nodded. "I’m not here in that capacity right now, I’m afraid," she said. "But I do have a hundred Shadows with me, and we all have Vessels that can be used as weapons. Just tell me how we can help."

The general stared at her for a few moments in silence.

"Do you now," he said softly, a flicker of hope in his weary eyes. "Anything that can get rid of this El-cursed darkness?"

Asha nodded; there were a few Vessels that would create plenty of light, even if that wasn’t their primary purpose. "Some that can heal people, too," she said, noting a wounded man being carried down the stairs.

Parathe nodded slowly, staring out into the darkness towards the First Shield.

"Send a few of them up," he said. "Let’s see what you can do."

Asha nodded, exhaling in relief and hastening back to find the others. The presence of the Shadows had already caused a small stir on the ground, but thankfully the soldiers there had too many other concerns already to have become confrontational. Soon she was hurrying back up to Parathe with a small group of Shadows in tow, and the general quickly allocated them to various points along the wall.

"Where do you want me?" she asked Parathe as he sent the last man on his way.

The general shook his head. "I need to keep you safe," he said. "I don’t know any of these people, and they don’t know me. If they listen to you, I have to make sure you don’t come to any harm."

Asha grimaced, but accepted the general’s logic with a reluctant nod.

Parathe turned to the man at his right. "Hael. Give the Shadows the order."

Asha stiffened at the familiar name. This was Hael - the man from Erran’s vision? In the back of her mind, she suddenly wondered where the Augurs were in all this. She watched the middle-aged man as he signalled to two Shadows standing at the back of the Shield. He looked no different to, nor more threatening than, any of the other soldiers along the wall.

She turned her attention to the Shadows he had motioned to. Each held long, thin white rods; at Hael’s gesture they pointed the Vessels at opposite sides of the pass and closed their eyes.

Two lines of light burst into existence, molten streams of twisted energy pulsing along the smoothly cut walls of Fedris Idri, throwing everything into sharp relief. For a moment everything paused; even Asha, who had been expecting it, was shocked at the sudden brightness.

She looked over towards the edge of the Shield, now able to see the black-armoured men as they scrambled over the parapet. She shivered as she took in the unsettling, eyeless helmets - and then her stomach churned as she recognised the design etched onto the front of them.

It was the symbol she’d seen on the side of Davian’s neck, that night he had appeared in her room. The one that had been cut into his skin.

She gave the attackers her full attention now. In the distance, atop the First Shield, she could see more of the Blind standing amongst the Andarran corpses that were littered across it. These ones had no helmets, though.

They just… stood there, motionless. Watching.

"Asha?"

The familiar voice interrupted her thoughts, and she tore her gaze away with a shiver to see Wirr kneeling beside a wounded man only a few feet away, staring at her in surprise. Her friend let the last traces of Essence vanish into the man’s newly-healed side, then stood, hurrying over to her. "What are you doing here?" he asked, concern in his tone.

A long horn blast echoed along the wall, the signal Parathe had arranged for the Shadows to attack.

The area in front of the Second Shield exploded into a cauldron of light, wind and fire.

The soldiers along the top of the Shield stopped as one, watching in awe as the pass below vanished under wreaths of thick, swirling smoke, which flickered an ominous red with the light of the fierce flames beneath. Several men covered their ears as shrieks of power ripped through the night, bolts of Essence sizzling down from the Second Shield into the maelstrom.

A thunderous gust of wind suddenly swept down, catching up the black-clad men clambering over the wall and casting them back out into space like rag dolls. Asha watched as they vanished, screaming, into the cloud of crimson smoke. She spotted one or two holding on and flicked her wrist at them; they sailed off into the air like the others as Wirr looked on, frozen to the spot, open-mouthed.

"Prince Torin!" It was Parathe, shouting over the cacophony that still thundered around the pass. "The Shadows look to have things under control for the time being. Get some rest!"

Wirr glanced around, spotting the group of Shadows that had joined the Gifted and had started healing some of the wounded. He sagged with visible relief and for the first time, Asha realised just how pale and drawn he looked. She didn’t know how many people he’d healed, but it was evident he’d pushed himself to the brink.