Page 82 of The Sundered Blade

“I will be certain to tell her of your concerns,” Karreya returned, “when I explain how I came to defeat her most celebrated general in single combat.”

Urquadi shrugged, sighed, and swung his leg over the saddle, preparing to dismount.

But in that exact moment, a roar split the air over their heads, followed by a rushing wind and a billow of flame. A dragon plummeted out of the night sky, claws outstretched and mouth gaping wide, aiming straight for the hill where Karreya stood.

The soldiers cried out in fear and scattered. Urquadi’s horse shied violently, and he stumbled backwards, falling on his back before rolling away. Karreya dropped flat, dagger in hand as the dragon swooped overhead, catching armored men in its claws and throwing them aside before snatching up the general’s horse in its jaws and disappearing again into the darkness.

“No!” Karreya called after it. “This is not your fight!”

But the dragon did not answer—the three robed mages did. One flung out a hand and instantly extinguished the flames left behind by the dragon’s assault, while another drew a blade before suddenly seeming to multiply into five, ten, twenty versions of herself. The third spread her hands wide before bringing them swiftly together, a clap that was echoed by an ear-splitting crack of thunder overhead.

Fire, illusion, and wind, Vaniell realized grimly—all trained for battle, and all focused on Karreya. And even as she crouched low, backing away from the rapidly multiplying enemies, the imposing form of General Urquadi rose from the ground and began to advance, retrieving his halberd from where it had fallen.

“You cannot win,” he rumbled, appearing as unstoppable as a hurricane or a landslide. “Surrender, and accept your fate. This land is beyond salvation, and all you will accomplish is your own destruction.”

“No,” Karreya replied fiercely. “It is you who have ensured our destruction—by unleashing forces beyond your control. Who do you suppose will mourn you when your dragons remember the taste of freedom?”

The illusory mages closed in, both a shield and a distraction from the true threat. The wind mage lifted her arms, and the fire magic balanced a living flame on her outstretched palm, but Vaniell was already moving. Already reaching into his pockets, racing against time, looking for a weakness…

“I am sorry,” Karreya murmured, and sent one of her daggers hurtling through the air. It cut through the ranks of the illusions with unerring aim, tearing through their insubstantial forms to bury itself in the heart of their source.

The illusion mage let out a soft cry, and fell, and her apparitions vanished with her death.

“How did you…” Even Urquadi seemed taken aback, but did not pause in his advance.

It must have been Karreya’s truth magic. Lies and illusions had no power over her, and Vaniell breathed a muttered oath of relief as he approached the ring of torches. He’d promised not to interfere, but that was before the mages became involved. This was no challenge to honorable single combat, but a battle of three against one. Even if Karreya’s pride demanded otherwise, he would be hanged before he left her to face it alone…

And before he could think better of it, he was stumbling forward into the circle of flames, coming to a stop at Karreya’s side, his hands still in his pockets.

“What are you doing?” she hissed angrily. “You promised.”

“I promised to let you have the General all to yourself,” he pointed out. “Not to stand aside while you take on three battle mages at the same time.”

“Two,” she retorted.

“And a dragon,” Vaniell added. “You know I love you, but that’s a bit much, even for you.”

“The dragon is no longer a threat to us,” Karreya said. “And the mages are…”

“Mine,” Vaniell said softly. “Do you trust me?”

She did not pause, even for a moment. “With every breath in my body.”

“How about now?” He pulled one hand out of his pocket, holding up nothing but his worn, knotted up length of string.

Karreya raised one eyebrow, and then she smiled. “A bold choice. Both then and now,” she said.

And Vaniell smiled back. “And I regret nothing.”

She might have said more, but the bull-like form of the general suddenly moved, far more swiftly than a man of his bulk ought to be capable of, his halberd poised for a killing strike.

Karreya did not flinch or falter, only darted towards him, joining the battle with a clash of steel on steel.

And Vaniell turned his back, facing the two remaining mages with a smile on his face and that simple piece of string looped around his fingers.

“You are an enchanter,” one of them sneered. “Everyone knows such a material cannot hold enchantment with any reliability. And that is all you bring to this fight?”

“Well, yes,” Vaniell said, continuing to loop and twist the string, forming a strange and complex pattern between his fingers. “You see, everyone has always called me the unreliable one. The one who never failed to disappoint. The one who never played by the rules.”

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