Chapter Thirty Six
It took her body a moment to give up trying to see with her eyes and to adjust to relying on her ability to see psychic energy. Then she was able to move silently towards Traedon, Ravin, Genji, and Arreal’s familiar presences. She found them along with a dozen other soldiers locked in combat with the enemy around a silent metal structure. The tunnel was only wide enough for a dozen so they were able to hold the enemies back. On one side, Traedon fought with a tiger at his side while others hunted through the dark, slipping in and out of the tunnel walls. Dahlia saw the energy that illuminated his movements for her flow and ripple. He moved in perfect concert with the beast beside him, both graceful and deadly as they struck over and over again. Dahlia saw green energy that highlighted Traedon’s eyes piercing through the darkness.
Close to the center, Arreal and Genji moved as a team, as they had so many times in their drills. Arreal’s swarm of fragments whipped around them as he dodged and stung. Genji held a bow in one hand and one of his wickedly curved daggers in the hand he used to draw back each shot. Dahlia was surprised, she hadn’t expected him to be able to use his bow in such close quarters without fearing striking an ally. She’d underestimated him. An arrow zipped through the air as a shot opened up and the man facing Arreal gripped the arm Genji had struck. A sword sweep from Arreal found its mark and the man cried out in pain.
On the other side Ravin, his black eyes pulsing with energy to her senses as the predator surfaced, met with little resistance as he found his prey. Completely at home in the dark, he was just as effective a killer in the blackness of the tunnel as he had been in the dark forest.
Dahlia focused on an opponent who had edged around Genji and Arreal, unwittingly giving her a clear path to him. She flipped an ax almost lazily over her hand, the chains wrapped up her arms, and whipped it towards him. She saw the energy of his psyche go dark and she pulled her blade back, easily catching the weapon that was as much a part of her body as her hand was. She felt Genji and Arreal’s awareness turn briefly towards her. Arreal could sense her psyche. Genji’s awareness in the dark was somehow tied to his own ability, she’d never quite figured it out. Then they turned back to the fight.
She moved closer to them, stepping up to meet the next opponent. She felt his awareness brush against hers. A low level psychic ability. She swung cautiously, testing his comfort fighting in the dark, ready to block if he attacked.
He caught her ax with his sword. She saw sparks with an energy similar to lightning splash out and towards her. Similar to Nel’s but colder and more controlled. When they touched her skin a strange sensation ran through her body. Her muscles tightened and tingled as the strange current ran over them.
“Ooooo,” she purred as the wave left her body and her muscles relaxed. She felt like someone had dumped snow over her, “That felt lovely.”
“Crazy bitch,” the soldier snarled as he swung at her. “Bet this won’t.”
Dahlia ducked and came up, dragging her ax across the man’s chest. He back peddled quickly, her cut was deep but not deadly.
“Sorry boy, I don’t have time to play with you,” she said as she released her second ax on a short length of chain and whipped it towards his side.
The soldier parried at the last moment and her swing glanced across his front rather than opening his side as she’d intended. Sparks flew again and she felt them racing up the chain towards her. She’d never seen an ability that could send lightening up a weapon made of jet before.
It hurt. She felt her head snap back and her mouth opened in a silent scream as she stood rooted to the spot for what seemed like minutes but must have been only the blink of an eye. Her muscles collapsed and she fell to her hands and knees. An insane laugh tumbled from her lips as she gasped. A rush of energy crashed into her and she felt the same exhilaration she’d felt in battle claim her. She registered the soldier swinging a blade popping with sparks towards her head but all she could do was watch it come towards her as she giggled.
Abruptly he let out a grunt and the movement towards her stopped. She felt blood spray against her face. Ravin’s presence had appeared in front of her as the soldier’s psyche went dark.
“Damn,” she gasped out and giggled.
Ravin scooped her up and set her on her feet, holding her in place until she shook him off. His hand lingered almost imperceptibly and then she felt as he left her and crashed back into his opponents.
Dahlia felt the mad grin on her face fade into a smirk. The dead soldier had packed one hell of a punch but the rush, once it faded, was something else. She met the next soldier with a sweep of her ax then a second one as he blocked her first weapon. She felt her blade connect into him with a satisfying thud and warm liquid splattered across her chest. She brought her ax through his skull, pausing to tug it back out before engaging the next soldier trying to catch her off guard. The dark favored her as she held her ground.
As she dispatched another soldier with a blow to the head she felt Arreal’s touch against her mind. The intention was clear, they needed to retreat and draw the enemy with them. It was time to put Borreal’s plan to the test.
Another soldier brought a sword swinging down at her. She parried, swept a quick kick toward his ankles, then turned and ran, keeping her step light so a trip over anything in her path wouldn’t send her tumbling to the floor of the tunnel. The soldier’s momentary surprise allowed her to create a decent amount of distance before he began to pursue. Around her she sensed her fellow soldiers doing the same.
As she came into the part of the tunnel that light was able to touch she was forced to squint as her eyes struggled to adjust. She burst free from the tunnel, shielding her eyes as the light seared into them. Soldiers from her force met her, pulling her quickly back a safe distance and dispatching any enemies able to keep up with her.
“That’s it, Jenue, they’re out,” she heard Ravin’s husky shout.
Then the ground shook and she turned to see the tunnel collapse and a spray of dust and gravel explode into the air.
“They really did it,” she whispered, moving her hand to her neck. “They collapsed the tunnel with their own men still inside.”
Then she dropped down to one knee and caught herself on her hands as the earth shook again.
When she was able to look up the wall was still standing and the tunnel had disappeared completely. In its place was a deep indent in the ground. As she regained her feet, men rushed forward, dumping earth and sand into the indent at the base of the wall. More soldiers, looking exhausted in torn clothes streaked with sweat and dirt, approached and, using their abilities, forced the piles down into the indent. Dahlia saw Raschel among the ones working the piles down into the earth.
As the young warrior pushed one of the last piles into the ground Dahlia dashed over to her and, placing one hand on her shoulder, bent down slightly to look the young woman in the eyes.
“Raschel, I am so proud of you and so glad to see you’re alright.”
The normally shy, reserved woman smiled broadly and Dahlia felt her shaking ever so slightly. “Captain Jenue should let you go soon. You’ve proven yourself to be a strong, brave soldier. Rest when you can for we may need you again soon.”
“Yes,” Dahlia turned to see a sparkle in Jenue’s vibrant eyes, “Raschel has proven to have quite a strong ability, I may try to poach her from you, fair warning.”
Then he looked at Raschel, “Thank you for your admirable service. I will stay here with some of my barrack members, please go and rest and I will call for you when we need to begin monitoring again. After that effort I doubt our enemy will be ready to attack us in the coming hours.”
Raschel blushed, bowed, and took off.
Dahlia bowed to him as well, “May I offer you congratulations, Captain Jenue, for the admirable strength of your division today.”
Captain Jenue acknowledged the sentiment with a smile that showed impossibly white teeth and an incline of his head.
“Captains,” a voice blared over the announcement system, “ensure that the areas your division is responsible for are secure and then report to the meeting hall.”
“Excuse me, Captain DeMorra,” Jenue said as he moved towards his team.
Dahlia hesitantly reached her mind out to locate Ravin and found him close to Borreal. She headed that way at a walk, noticing how the mood around her had changed. Some soldiers were smiling with relief, elated for the moment after successfully pushing the enemy back. Others had sunk down to sit on the ground as bodies pushed too hard were finally able to rest.
Dahlia’s momentary joy at seeing Raschel unharmed and still fighting had receded and her muscles were stiff and wired. She tried to shake it off but the unpleasant sensation persisted. She rubbed at her shoulder with the arm that hadn’t been wounded. She probably just needed a hot bath and sleep. With herbs and her abilities she’d been able to push her body harder than she should have. Topped with the odd lightening energy she’d been hit with in the fight she could definitely expect some complaints from her muscles. If only the tension wasn’t making her feel so edgy on top of everything else.
She approached the area the other two captains were in and as Ravin came into sight she felt her anxiety rise.
Stop it, she told herself firmly.
Ravin’s attention turned towards her as she approached and the hand resting on his sword hilt tensed briefly before he turned back to his conversation with Borreal. Borreal, catching his motion, turned his head and inclined it towards Dahlia as she joined them.
Dahlia purposefully ignored Ravin. “Looks like your plan worked, Captain Borreal.” She smiled and turned more towards him, “I’m glad we were able to avoid being crushed to death or having to fight the emperor’s forces over a broken wall.”
Borreal hid a grin. “Yes, I imagine being crushed is a particularly nasty death.”
“I know some guys you could dig out and ask,” Dahlia said as she winced slightly. “Captain Ravin,” she turned slightly to address him, “any instructions regarding the main gate?”
“No, I found enough men who looked like they weren’t about to fall over and left them to monitor it.” A smirk played on his lips, “I doubt we’ll see much more today.”
“I certainly hope not,” Borreal responded, “I hope our opponent needs time to lick their wounds as badly as we do. I wonder if they brought much in the way of infirmary facilities.”
“Given their treatment of their soldiers as cannon fodder, I wouldn’t be surprised to find supplies were limited. If you have no more need of me, Captain Ravin, I will leave for the meeting hall.” Without waiting for a response, Dahlia inclined her head and left without looking back.
As she passed through the trees her mind refused to stop it’s chatter.
There was no reason to be rude, after all he did help me in the tunnel. Well he’s not exactly sharp on manners himself. Better that than encouraging this, this...whatever it is. Ugh, I need to sleep, I’m only rattled because I’ve pushed myself this hard…
She stopped for a few moments, pressing her palms to her eyes and taking deep breaths, trying to clear her head. Years of meditation came to her aid and her heart rate slowed and her mind quieted enough that at least it wasn’t racing.
“Ok,” she said out loud, “just try not to do anything dumb between now and when you get back to your room.”
“You called?” she heard a deep rumble behind her.
Dahlia jumped. “Damn it, Ravin! Don’t you know you’re supposed to make noise when sneaking up on someone?”
She could almost feel his grin behind her. “Sorry, normally you can tell when I’m around.”
“I thought I left you with Borreal.”
Ravin came up beside her. Still in just the torn pants he’d been sleeping in, his perfectly sculpted chest, crisscrossed with scars was on display. Dirt and blood streaked across it and down both arms. Dahlia felt an insane urge to run her hands over him, soak in the lines of his body.
Stop it, stop it, stop it.
She pulled her eyes up a second too late. Kenny’s grin widened as she met his eyes and he reached to grab her arm.
“No Kenny,” she said firmly and placed a hand on his chest, lightly pushing him back. She could feel his heart beat under her palm. Part of her was mad for him, wanted to move that hand down, run it over his waist, taste him…
But she was not going to do this. Even if they hadn’t been in broad daylight and almost guaranteed to have someone find them, she didn’t need to be making this mistake. Again.
He dropped his hand and moved back, still grinning at her. “Whatever you say.”
She relaxed slightly as he moved back and noticed her breath had quickened and her nipples strained against her shirt almost painfully. Thankful she’d put on her captain’s jacket she forced herself to take slow, smooth breaths.
“Say,” he said, reaching his arm over to rub his fingers into the muscle between his shoulders, “what would it take to let me use your bath? I’d kill for some hot water.”
He sounded completely casual, almost like he hadn’t just been trying to get her to let him pull her clothes off in broad daylight. He gave her a winning smile.
Dahlia resisted the urge to bury her face in her palm. “If you promise to leave me alone, let me take a bath, and go to sleep then I will let you use the tub.”
It was probably a terrible idea but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. He had saved her earlier.
“Great! I hope this meeting’s over quick.”
This man is insane.
Then again, who was she to cast that accusation?