Firebrand

The moment passed, and Zachary simply squeezed Karigan’s shoulder and let his hand drop to his side. “Oh,” he said, “I found something of yours.” He pulled the eyepatch out of his pocket and pressed it into her hand.

“Thank you,” she said in relief. Hastily she put it over her eye and tied it in place, but not before he caught a glint of silver. She turned away, but then paused to look at him. “You need rest, too, and you should get your shoulder looked at.” Then she made her painstaking way across the hall, leaning on Enver.

He glanced at his shoulder, at the torn fabric and the bloody grooves demon claws had cut into his flesh. It hadn’t bothered him much at the time, but now with the battle over and the energy that had sustained him draining away, the burning pain was even worse.

“Sir Karigan is correct,” Donal said. “That should be looked at.” He made Zachary sit on a rough bench while he collected supplies.

Zachary leaned back against the cold stone wall and shivered with a sudden chill. When it passed, he gazed around the torchlit great hall, watching as more injured streamed in and more corpses were carried out. Varius worked feverishly to help those he could with the assistance of a couple of soldiers. Moans and cries came from that end of the hall. On the opposite end, where he recalled the kitchen to be, other soldiers bustled about boiling water and perhaps finding some food to make for their weary comrades that would sustain them better than the simple rations they carried with them.

Donal soon returned with a bowl of water, a bar of soap, and a cloth and bottle. He started to cleanse the wound and Zachary hissed at the sting.

“Have you no wounds?” he demanded.

“No, sire,” Donal replied.

“I am sorry about Rye.”

“As am I. He was young and did not have his full training, but he did very well. He would have made a fine Weapon.”

“I agree. Had he family?”

“Yes. Poor farmers in D’Yer Province.”

“Then I will recommend to the council of Black Shields to confer status posthumously so that his family will receive a stipend. He, and they, are deserving.”

“That is most generous, sire.”

Zachary winced as Donal probed into his rent flesh. “You did not seem very surprised to see Sir Karigan here.”

“Little surprises me where Sir Karigan is concerned.”

Zachary laughed. No truer words had ever been spoken.

“If she was here,” Donal continued, “it was meant to be.”

It was a very curious statement, Zachary thought, but though he had been surrounded by Weapons his entire life, he knew he would never completely understand their ways. There were already enough mysteries for one night—the demons of the Aeon Iire, Grandmother’s spellcasting, the avatar, and the aureas slee. He had a better grasp of it all than most, and he could only imagine what everyone else thought. Unlike Donal, they’d find Karigan’s sudden appearance among them odd.

Donal uncorked the bottle he had found.

“Is that whiskey?” Zachary asked, sniffing the air.

“Yes, sire. Someone kept a small stash here.” Donal grimaced at the scent. “Not a very fine grade, however.”

Well, it would still be a fine— “Ow! Damnation, Donal!” he exclaimed as the Weapon poured the contents over his wound.

“Sorry, sire, but it was the only medicament I could find. The mender might have something else, but he is overwhelmed at the moment. Thought this would work in a pinch.”

“All the fires of hell . . .”

Donal bent down and searched his eyes. Was that a line of concern across his brow? “I suggest you sleep if you can, sire,” he said, bandaging the wound. “Once the urgent matters of caring for the wounded and so forth are sorted, decisions will have to be made, and you’ll be needed.”

The gray light of dawn was already showing through cracks and windows. “What about you?”

“I am your shield. I will keep watch.”

Zachary had not expected any other answer. “You need to get some rest, too.”

“Soon, sire, after you have had yours. If Sir Karigan had been in better condition, she and I could have taken turns, but I will be fine.”

So, Donal considered her Weapon enough to guard him when no other was available. He wondered what the Weapons would think if her back never fully recovered enough for her to withstand the rigors of being a swordmaster. He decided he would not even consider the possibility. She must recover fully.

He wrapped his cloak around himself against another episode of chills, and then found a likely spot on the floor in a quiet corner to lie down and rest. His last vision before he fell asleep was of Donal standing sentry, his arms crossed and stance ready for a fight.

THE GOLDEN GUARDIAN

Scouts of the River Unit waved them through another checkpoint, and Mist went on at a gentle trot. Even as seamless as Mist’s gaits were, Karigan clenched her teeth trying not to cry out at the slightest bump. Her back felt like it had been ripped apart all over again. It may not have hurt while she was the avatar, but the stress and exertion she had placed on it while she was the avatar assailed her in full after, and she didn’t want Enver to know so he would not stop or turn back. Estral needed to have the news of her father, and it must come from a friend.

As they rode, the sky lightened subtly as night gave in to dawn, and Karigan concentrated on staying seated behind Enver and not sliding off in pain or exhaustion. Thankfully, the wind and rain had stopped, though she still felt soggy and, in turn, chilled. To take her mind off her discomfort, she reflected on the night’s events. Since she had been preoccupied with escaping the aureas slee at the time, she little understood how Nari happened to be there, or what had become of her and the ice elemental. Enver’s cursory explanation that Nari was the new ice elemental failed to satisfy her, but the news that the old slee was gone and would never come after her or Zachary again was welcome.