Chapter 58

Braves As Karn followed Tala, he spotted fires in every direction. Success. Some of Mustaffa’s troops dashed into the forest to fetch water from a nearby stream while others fought the fires with what little liquid they had in their water skins. Others tried to evacuate additional soldiers and supplies before the fires spread. The orchestrated confusion had turned into complete chaos. Everything seemed so perfect, until Karn spotted Lieutenant Hart and the others fleeing toward him.

“Three of my soldiers were caught! We’ve been exposed!” Lieutenant Hart shouted.

“To the forest!” Karn ordered.

“We cannot! It’s blocked! We have no choice but to advance through their ranks.”

“We’ll never make it!” one of the squad’s younger soldiers yelled, his face drawn in fear.

“We must try! Go!” Karn barked. “Go!”

A small cadre of enemy soldiers emerged from the chaos. A tall, heavily armored officer, who appeared to be their leader, pointed right to Lieutenant Hart’s position with his sword.

“They’re coming!” Hart cried out.

“Run!”

“Stop those men!” the officer yelled.

“What is your plan?” Lieutenant Hart asked as he ran to Karn.

“We fight our way to the tree line!” Karn drew his sword with a roar. “You three elves protect Tala. Get her clear of all this.”

“Yes, sir.”

Twenty or more enemy soldiers answered the officer’s call and advanced on Karn’s squad. Joa’Ta’s blue falcon and Weiden’s Rise’s green and white star coat of arms marked many of the soldiers that rushed in to engage them. Even in this moment, Karn knew it would be hard for the men of Kel Tora to ignore the symbols that represented the vast number of allies and friends in this war.

Karn spied his men. They reacted differently, but all fought with increased resolve. They know what they must do now. I know what I must do now.

Karn tensed into a defensive crouch as the mounted officer approached at full speed. With sword upraised, he held his strike until the officer circled close enough.

Karn’s sword flashed out and cut clean through the rider’s leg, severed it, and opened the horse’s rib cage as well. The horse bucked, then crashed into three enemy foot soldiers who advanced.

Karn watched Lieutenant Hart and five of his soldiers push toward the tree line as the remainder of the retreating raiders protected their flanks and rear. The sounds of troop movement and close combat were loud, but through them Karn heard distant cries of terror and realized what was about to happen.

Karn buried his sword in the chest of an inexperienced enemy soldier, then hooked the back of the man’s head in his hand and forced it hard to the ground. He glanced toward the forest. There… He smiled. There they are.

Like fireflies, more than a dozen pairs of red eyes lit at the forest’s shadowy edge.

“Stand fast, men! We have company!” Karn shouted.

A mob of jackalweres emerged from the forest. The beast-men dashed past Karn’s position on all fours, and when they collided with Mustaffa’s men, the jackalweres cut through them as if they were unarmed and inexperienced. They bite and claw with such terrible savagery, Karn thought as he watched in awe. I almost feel bad for the enemy. Almost.

The members of Kel Tora’s raiding party raised their shields in defense and held their ground. Some watched as Mustaffa’s troops were torn and ripped by the jackalweres’ strong claws and knife-sharp teeth, while others looked away from the brutal sight.

Karn stood with sword and shield at his sides. He grinned as he watched the elves set to protect Tala reach the forest, where he knew she would be safe.

“By the blessed gods, General Karn, what are these things?” yelled a young member of the squad. “I’ve never seen such monsters!”

“Jackalwere,” Karn said. “And they may look monstrous, but they’re our allies.”

Karn spotted Zian as he fought the last two soldiers that remained nearby. The wolf-man had torn the arm off of one man and wildly clubbed the other with it. Once both soldiers were dead, Zian turned his attention to Karn.

The burly jackalwere tossed the limb aside and approached the raiding party in a lumbering manner. With each step, his weight shifted, and his head bobbed. When he was close enough, he raised his furry snout and placed it inches from Karn’s face.

“It’s good to see you, Zian,” Karn said, his hand outstretched. “I see you have… disarmed the enemy…”

Zian inhaled deeply and took in Karn’s scent. He then reached past Karn’s hand to his chest, where he thumped on it three times with his own open hand and made a woofing noise. It took Karn a moment to realize the jackalwere had just laughed at his “disarmed” comment.

“Sir?” one of Lieutenant Hart’s soldiers interjected.

“Everything,” said Karn with a grin, “is good.”

Zian’s head whipped to the right, his nose pointed toward the narrowest part of the gully between the forest and the hillside. Karn reached out to Zian’s armor-clad shoulder and grasped it tight for a moment.

“I’ll wager Mustaffa is just on the other side,” Karn offered.

“I know he is.” Zian tilted his head back and sniffed rapidly. “Get your men to safety. Mustaffa’s mine!”

Zian hunkered down until both hands touched the ground; then, in the blink of an eye, he bolted off in Mustaffa’s direction. Karn watched as many of the other jackalweres likewise dropped to all fours and joined Zian’s charge. Soon they had all vanished into the gully.

Karn’s eyebrows lifted as an idea popped into his head. “We have to act now!” he shouted to his men. “Here is your choice. Escape to the safety of the forest and rejoin Kel Tora’s army as it attacks—”

“Or what, sir?” Lieutenant Hart interrupted.

“Or follow the wake of destruction those jackalweres are going to cause, straight to the heart of the enemy—Mustaffa himself!”

“That’s suicide. Even if we do make it to Mustaffa and kill him, how will we escape?”

“Hart, I have faith in Kel Tora. Her army will save us,” Karn said. “Make your decision now. Time’s running out.”

The sights and sounds of the last battle the warlord’s soul had experienced were clear in Karn’s mind now. He remembered it all; he understood everything.

The warlord saw his home destroyed. He gave his all to the very end. Had he owned another drop of blood in his veins, he would have shed it in combat, shoulder to shoulder with his brothers. Had he had a second life to give, he would have traded it for the lives of the people he loved.

Karn felt his heart flutter when he took a deep breath. He does have a second life to give: mine.

Without another word, he sprinted off after Zian and his kin. Yet he was not alone. From behind him, out of the silence, he heard Hart shout, “For Kel Tora!”