Jaleigh Johnson - Unbroken Chain - The Darker Road

A force hit her in the chest and drove her to the ground. At first, she thought it was the sword, but the impact had been blunt. Magic, she reasoned, and the suspicion was confirmed a breath later when she felt the latent energy of the spell pass out of her body. Her chest ached, but it wasn’t a fatal blow by any stretch.

Ilvani rolled onto her back. Her vision took in the sky and the figures standing around her, but all the sounds came as if from a great distance. Ashok and the brothers struggled in the grip of the Rashemi warriors, who stayed their attacks at the muffled shouts of Agny. She closed her eyes to block out the sights and sounds.

What were they waiting for?

Then she felt the child’s arms encircle her waist.

Ashok had his chain half off his belt when the strong arms of Agny’s warriors grabbed him. Another came around his neck, completely immobilizing him. He jerked his head around enough to see Skagi and Cree similarly pinned. Skagi was on the ground not far from where Ilvani had fallen after being hit by some spell of Agny’s. For a breath, Ashok had thought she was dead. His reason fled, and it took all three of the warriors to restrain him.

The nightmare reared and screamed at the violent outburst. The Rashemi warriors backed away, but one of the other witches came forward and threw up her hands.

An aura of unnatural silence descended on the area around the stallion. When the nightmare tried to scream again, he found his voice gone. Ashok tried to free himself, instinctively reaching for the beast. He needed the nightmare’s fire to burn through the men who held him.

Suddenly, Agny’s shouts changed and resounded with a shrill desperation that made Ashok pause in his struggles.

The child had broken free of the witch holding her. With a pinched look of determination on her round face, she ran to where Ilvani lay. There was absolutely no fear in her eyes. She lay down beside the witch and wrapped her arms around her.

Ashok’s arms went slack. A stunned silence settled over the combatants. Even Skagi seemed at a loss to explain the strange spectacle of Ilvani and the child.

Ilvani looked at the girl as if she were an unpleasant insect that had just landed on her arm, but she seemed reluctant to brush her off. On the other hand, the child appeared enraptured by the witch, burying her face in her dress and drawing in the witch’s scent.

“Don’t hurt her,” the other masked witch said. “I beg you.”

“It’s my fault, Sister,” said the witch who’d been holding the child. “I will give my life-”

“Be silent,” Agny told them both. She clenched her hands into fists. “Tell your men to step back, Slengolt. Don’t harm them.”

One of the warriors barked an order, and the others released Ashok and the brothers. Skagi went for his falchion, which had been on the ground next to him under the boot of one of the warriors.

“Don’t,” Ashok told him. “We said we didn’t come in violence. We stay true to that promise.” He met Agny’s eyes. “Ilvani won’t harm the child.”

Even as he spoke, he could tell the witch didn’t believe him. “Come to me, Elina,” she pleaded with the child. “Come away from that woman. She’s dangerous.”

“You should listen to your keeper,” Ilvani said to the child. It was the first time she’d spoken since Agny had struck her down. “I’m not who you think I am.”

The little girl shook her head and held on tighter.

Ilvani sighed impatiently and sat up. Ashok watched her carefully extricate the girl and set her aside. The child immediately crawled back and tried to climb into her lap. Ilvani pushed her away-not as gently the second time.

The witches tensed. Ashok watched as the child’s eyes filled with tears. She started to cry. Her sobs were loud in the stillness. The effect on the watching crowd was that of helpless confusion. For her part, Ilvani sighed again and gave in, letting the girl scramble into her lap. She held her arms out awkwardly from her body so as little of her was touching the girl as possible.

“Explain this,” Agny said, her voice betraying her helpless anger. “Explain yourselves!”

Ashok found himself wanting to say the same thing. He had no explanation for any of it.

“Ilvani,” he said. “What-”

“It’s Yaraella,” Ilvani said tersely.

“What?” This from the other masked witch. “What did you say?”

“She smells her mother’s scent on me,” Ilvani said. “Yaraella is in me and on me. The offspring can tell.” She reached out hesitantly and ran two fingers through the child’s hair. To the onlookers it might have seemed like a gesture of affection, but Ashok knew Ilvani better than that.

“The hair is the same,” Ilvani said. “Her eyes-it’s the snow rabbit, only smaller.” She looked up at Agny. “I have to get rid of her.”

“Elina,” Agny said. “Please …”

“Not the offspring,” Ilvani said urgently. “The mother. You have to help me get rid of her.”

Agny and Ilvani stared at each other. Finally, Agny stepped forward. Ashok paced her step for step, making sure she was aware of him watching in the background. Agny nodded to him once and then kneeled beside Ilvani and the child.

“Will you let me look at you?” she asked Ilvani.

It was an odd question, since the two witches hadn’t taken their eyes off each other, but he knew it must be a deeper connection Agny sought, a magical one.

Ilvani glanced up at Ashok. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes.

“It’s up to you,” he said. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Ilvani turned back to Agny and nodded. “Do it,” she said.

Agny put her hands against Ilvani’s temples. She closed her eyes and murmured something under her breath. Ashok couldn’t make out most of the words, but he recognized that she uttered the name “Bhalla” several times, the same name Ralemvic had used in his farewell to Tatigan.

When she opened her eyes, Agny was breathing hard. Her hands trembled. She looked from Ilvani to the child and back again.

“We need to speak-alone,” Agny said. She looked up at Ashok and the brothers. “Will you all come with me?”

“Sister, is this wise?” the other masked witch asked.

“Yes, Sree,” Agny said. “If you’d seen what I did just now, you’d agree. We’ll go to Yaraella’s hut. You and Reina and the warriors will stand guard outside.”

“What about the demon?” Reina asked. She held up her hands, prepared to cast a spell on the nightmare.

“He won’t attack unless you provoke him,” Ashok said.

Agny eyed the beast with suspicion. “Put it in a stable. Reina, secure it with a protective circle. It won’t be harmed,” Agny said when Ashok started to protest, “unless it provokes us.” She looked at Ilvani. “Will you come?”

“Will you take Yaraella away?” Ilvani asked.

“I’ll try,” Agny said. “That is all I can promise.”

“Then we’ll come.”

Inside the hut, Agny lit a fire. She laid a bundle of twigs and dried leaves on the hearth and whispered a prayer over them.

Ilvani sat in a corner near the flames. The child stayed close to her, holding on to a piece of her dress.

“Please, share the fire,” Agny told Ashok and the brothers. “It will only grow colder outside, but you already know that.”

Skagi lingered near the door, but Cree sat down in front of the fire. Ashok sat next to him.

“Whom do you pray to?” Cree asked. He gestured to the offering.

“Bhalla-the goddess also known as Chauntea,” Agny explained. “But I also beseech the spirits of the trees. Yaraella was especially close to the telthors of the pinewoods. I’m asking them to remember her and think well of those gathered here. We need all the guidance and good thoughts they can offer.”