DAWN OF THE PHOENIX Read online

  Vandarus was to her right, struggling with a very big opponent. She gripped her heavy sword with both hands and brought the blade down, shearing through the side of the large man’s neck. “Thank you, beautiful,” Vandarus said, grinning.

  She looked around for another enemy only to find them all dead or dying on the red-stained road. Cromwell raised his sword to the sky and shouted, “By all the bloody gods of Tora, Kian, you are a fine traveling companion.”

  K’xarr sheathed his sword. “You both are fucking crazy. If you want to fight, wait until we are getting paid for it. Let’s clear these bodies off the road. Siro, see to Endra’s leg.”

  The healer took her by the arm. “Sit, Endra, and I will pull out the bolt.”

  She reached down and ripped the bolt from her leg. “I’ll just take some stitches, please.”

  The homely little man shook his head. “Lady, you have traveled far too long with them. They are starting to rub off on you.”

  The man from the white horse walked over as the others started dragging the bodies from the road. “Thank you, all. I would be dead or worse if it wasn’t for you… Oh, no.” The man’s eyes grew big as he gazed down the road.

  Six men in full plate armor came riding towards them. One carried a banner on his lance. A golden shield with a red sword through it on a field of white.

  “It’s the damn Sentinels, we should run,” Vandarus said.

  “There is no time and they’re going to see the bloody work we have done here,” K’xarr said, drawing his sword and walking forward.

  Kian and Cromwell joined him. Vandarus and Rufio also walked into the road to stand behind their companions.

  Endra jumped to her feet. “I’m not done with your stitches,” Siro said, trying to hold her back.

  “There’s no time for them, just get my children out of sight.” She looked to the man that had fallen from the horse. “Please help him with my children.”

  “Of course, lady. I’ll take care of them, it’s the least I could do,” the man responded.

  Endra limped over to stand in the road to Kian’s right. They would most likely die on this road today. This might be her last chance.

  “I feel the same as you do, Kian. I was just too afraid to tell you,” she whispered.

  They looked into each other’s eyes. Endra felt in that moment that fate had stepped into her life once again.

  “What the hell is the Sentinels anyway?” K’xarr asked.

  Vandarus cleared his throat. “Church knights that protect people who travel the Gold Road. They patrol it, looking for bandits and the like. They are well known for their skill at arms.”

  K’xarr nodded. “Well, let’s see how hard they are to kill.”

  Endra and Kian both focused their attention back to the knights in the road. There was no time now to sort out what Endra had just confessed.

  The knights had pulled up several yards in front of the group and their leader rode forward. “I will know what has happened here now,” the knight demanded.

  All the Sentinels had their visors down and lances at the ready. Endra knew it was going to be a hard fight at best. Rufio was the only one with any plate armor, and Cromwell and Kian wore none at all.

  “I will tell you what happened, you armored cur,” Cromwell said, stepping forward.

  He quickly drew his two-handed sword from his back and charged the knight. The man could not get his horse to move back fast enough. Cromwell’s great sword came down on the warhorse’s neck, severing its head and covering the big man in its blood. Both the knight and horse fell together.

  “Let us enter Hell drenched in the blood of our enemies,” the Toran bellowed.

  Horses reared and the rest of the knights charged together, lances lowered.

  “Try to get them off their horses,” K’xarr yelled.

  Endra saw Kian duck a lance and cut the front legs off the horse, pitching the rider head first through the air. She dove to the side just in time to avoid the point of a lance. She staggered back to her feet, the wound on her leg bleeding freely now.

  Cromwell had ripped the helmet from the man he had downed and drove his sword through the knight’s head. Covered in blood, the Toran looked like a mountain ogre standing in the road and daring the knights to come on.

  Kian was battling the man he had unhorsed. K’xarr had somehow dismounted another and was fending off a rain of blows from the knight’s mace.

  The three horsemen remaining charged Cromwell, lances lowered. She couldn’t get there in time with the wound slowing her down. Endra watched as Cromwell raised his sword and charge the knights on foot. The Toran was insane.

  The knights to the right and left miscalculated, not expecting their target to run headlong at them. The center knight's lance took him low in the abdomen, sliding straight through the big warrior’s body. Cromwell dropped his sword, and the barbarian and the horse crashed together with a loud thump. The horse stopped when it hit the massive man.

  The Toran slid back and wrapped his arms around the horse’s neck, pushing until the beast rolled over and spilling the rider to the ground. The broken lance was still in his body as he pulled the Voltakar from his belt and drove it right through the fallen knight’s breast plate.

  He grinned at her, black blood dripping from his mouth onto the road. She saw that Kian had killed the knight he had been fighting and was advancing on one of the other horsemen. Rufio was engaged with a knight on foot who was wildly swinging a morning star at him.

  She heard Vandarus scream as a warhorse bit him just below the collar bone. Endra could almost hear the flesh rip as it was torn away.

  She ran to the animal and cut one of its back legs off. The horse immediately collapsed onto its rider as he was trying to regain his feet.

  Endra dodged the flaying beast’s legs and slid her sword through the crease between the knight’s breast plate and his pauldrons down into his heart.

  As she looked for another enemy, she saw that all six knights and their horses were down. Cromwell let out a terrifying Toran war cry and collapsed on the road, the broken lance still in his body.

  Her head was swimming. She had lost a lot of blood but she needed to find the children. Was it getting cold? She collapsed. The last thing she saw was Kian’s face as he caught her falling body.

  The glow of a camp fire woke her. She lay on her back and she could see her leg wound had been bandaged. She felt much better. Better than she thought she should.

  Endra propped herself up on her elbows and looked around. Cromwell lay on the other side of the fire, stripped to the waist with his wounds bound. Vandarus was beside him, rubbing something into the horse bite he had suffered.

  Endra looked the other way to find Kian on one knee, leaning on his longsword and watching her. He said nothing but touched her on the shoulder. His eyes wet, he got up and walked out into the dark.

  “So, the sword maiden is awake,” K’xarr said, standing above her.

  “I’m hardly a maiden. Are my children safe?”

  “They are sleeping right over there.” He pointed to a blanket that had three familiar shapes beneath it.

  “Where is Kian going?”

  “Back up to the road to see if there is anyone looking around. We are a few miles from where we battled the knights. We didn’t hide the bodies, so if someone comes along that cares, they will start looking for who killed the armored bastards. I want to be ready if that happens.

  “I also thought he could use a break. That crazy half-breed has been sitting by you for hours. I think you should know he was worried sick about you. He almost drove the healer crazy asking questions.”

  She looked into the darkness in the direction Kian had walked. Endra wanted to change the subject. She didn’t want to have this conversation with K’xarr.

  “We should thank the gods and Siro, did we all survive?”

  “Well, we almost lost Cromwell but he pulled through, he’s just too stupid to die, but it’s not Siro yo
u should thank.”

  “Who then?” she asked.

  He pointed at the man that had been riding the white horse. The young fellow walked over to stand beside the Camiran. K’xarr patted him on the shoulder. “This is the man who saved you and Cromwell.”

  The man gave a slight bow. “I don’t know if ‘saved’ is the right word. Cromwell was lucky the lance missed his vitals and this pretty lady had just lost a lot of blood. I’m glad you’re feeling better, milady. With a few days of rest, you will be good as new. I hope this isn’t too forward of me, but I’m fascinated by you and your companions’ blood. I have never seen anything like it. I told K’xarr I would be willing to study it and see if I could find some answers for you and perhaps rid you of it if possible, if you’re willing of course.”

  Endra tried to sit up but thought better of it. “Who in the hell are you?”

  “I’m a physician from Turill. My name is Rhys Morgan.”

  “I don’t know why they were after me,” Rhys said, aggravated. “I am sure it has something to do with the princess.”

  “Take me through it again,” K’xarr said.

  “I was taking care of the princess’s injuries, like I told you. I had been making trips to the palace regularly to check on her progress and to see how my treatments were holding up, just like I would for any other patient. The last time I went to the palace, I arrived at the time we had agreed on. Isabella, her handmaiden, was at the gate waiting for me. As I approached, she yelled out a warning to me. When I saw she was being restrained by members of the Royal Guard, I ran. When the guards saw me, they began to pursue me down the street. I lost them in the crowd inside the market, and I hid for almost a whole day in one of my former patient’s stables.

  “I heard the next day that the princess had married Talorn Blackthorn during the night, something she had not mentioned to me at all.”

  “Who’s this Blackthorn?” K’xarr asked.

  “I believe he is the new general of the Bandaran army and a friend of the king, if you can believe street gossip.”

  K’xarr thumped the table with his finger. “A good thing to know. Go on, what happened then?”

  “I was terribly afraid and I had no idea why the palace guards were after me. I didn’t want to leave Turill, but I thought I had little choice. I started preparing to move my practice to another city. There was no way I could stay in the city being hunted by the Royal Guard.

  “As I came out my door to leave, Captain Hightower and his men caught me on my front porch. The captain told me not worry, that there had been some kind of a misunderstanding and I was free to continue practicing medicine in Turill. I just needed to stay away from the palace.

  “I was much relieved. I had grown fond of the city and really didn’t want to leave. Everything was fine, but it just kept gnawing at me. Why had they had been after me in the first place? So I went to the palace and asked to see Isabella, she would know. She was the one who tried to warn me, after all, and seeing her would be much easier and safer than trying to talk with the princess.”

  “Let me get this straight,” K’xarr said. “You went back to the palace?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “After the Captain of the Royal Guard told you to stay away?”

  “Yes. I told you, it was bothering me.”

  K’xarr hung his head and chuckled at the healer.

  “What’s so funny?” Rhys said, slightly perturbed.

  The Camiran looked up. “Just go on.”

  “Well, the guardsmen I talked to at the palace gate told me she had run away. I argued with them a little. I told them I didn’t believe Isabella would leave the princess. Then they told me I should stop asking questions about Isabella, and I should leave and not come back. It was very clear to me they were lying, but I did leave.

  “Later in the day, I was sweeping my front porch and saw several of the palace guard talking to a patient of mine just up the street from my home. The man pointed to my house. The guards saw me and headed my way with their weapons drawn. So I ran and jumped on the first horse I saw and headed out of town, and, well, you know what happened after that.”

  K’xarr took a big drink of his ale and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You should never have gone back to the palace asking about this handmaiden, it was a bad idea. The way they were chasing you, it wasn’t to talk. They were out for blood.”

  Rhys shook his head. “I haven’t done anything wrong or broken any laws I know of. They have no reason to be after me. May I have some of that ale?” K’xarr filled up one of the wooden cups that sat on the table. The healer looked the cup over and took a big drink of the warm ale.

  Vandarus had ridden to the Silver Fist, a tavern just outside of Turill, and bought ale and food for them; he said he knew someone that worked there.

  K’xarr had found the old farmhouse they were staying in. It had been abandoned for some time, so they had hidden their horses in the old barn and made themselves at home. The little farmhouse was crowded, but they only needed to stay a couple of days. Endra and Vandarus were much improved. Rhys said that Cromwell could use a little more time to heal but his stitches looked good. Rhys had been using some kind of power, or whatever he called it, to heal them quicker than nature ever could. K’xarr didn’t care for it much, but it did seem to be working. Even without the power Rhys possessed, the man was a damn fine healer. The salve he gave Vandarus worked wonders on the nasty horse bite and he had even performed what he called surgery on Cromwell, sewing him up from the inside out. K’xarr had heard that very skilled healers could do this on badly wounded people, but he hadn’t believed it. If he hadn’t seen Rhys do it with his own eyes, he still wouldn’t believe it.

  He had never seen any battle surgeon or healer like this Rhys Morgan, but he planned to keep this healer close, maybe even get him to join them. A good healer was worth his weight in gold.

  “K’xarr, I would like to ask a favor. I know you don’t know me very well, but I need your help.”

  The Camiran drained his cup and poured himself another. “We owe you more than one favor, my friends would be dead now if not for your skill. Siro is very good, but he most likely could not have saved Endra, and Cromwell would be dead for sure. Ask your favor and I will do everything in my power to help you.”

  “Thank you. I was hoping you would say yes. I need to go into the city, to see what has happened and find out why the Royal Guards were chasing me. There are some of my patients I would like to check on as well. I have a plan, maybe one of you can find Isabella or get inside the palace and talk to her. I know she will help if she can. I know it’s asking a lot, but I could use an escort. If I’m seen, they could try to take me again and I’m not a fighting man.”

  K’xarr leaned back in his chair. This was a bad idea. If the Royal Guard wanted to take the healer, there was little he and the others could do but die defending him. Besides, he didn’t think the Bandaran army would hire any mercenaries that were protecting a man wanted by the crown. Sometimes you just can’t do the smart thing.

  “Of course we will help, but you will have to go about it like I say, okay?”

  Rhys nodded. “I wouldn’t know how to go about it anyway. I just know this all has something to do with the princess.”

  K’xarr cleared his throat. “This Isabella, that’s the handmaiden, right?”

  “Yes, I think she is the only servant Raygan is allowed.”

  K’xarr emptied his cup. “Why just the one girl?”

  “Raygan didn’t tell me too much, but there was some kind of trouble between her and her brother.”

  K’xarr looked into his cup then back at Rhys. “You trusted us with the knowledge of your power, right?”

  Rhys nodded.

  “So you know you can trust me with keeping a secret, so I have to ask and I need the truth. Did you shag the princess while you were in the palace?”

  Rhys’s face turned red. “I did nothing of the kind, she was my patient.”
The healer seemed shocked by the accusation. “I mean, the princess is very beautiful and has a way of making a man, uh…feel a certain way, her eyes and her body… You know what I am trying to say.

  “Why would you ask me something like that anyway?”

  “You called her Raygan, that tells me you were familiar with her. And you said she had just married recently. I thought maybe you were taking care of something besides her wounds. Perhaps her husband, this Blackthorn fellow, became jealous.”

  Rhys downed his ale. “We became friends, but that’s all. I would never have sex with a patient.”

  The mercenary grinned. “What if she wasn’t your patient?”

  Rhys folded his arms across his chest and turned his head.

  K’xarr raised his hand. “I believe you. I was just trying to think why the king would be after you. That wasn’t the city guard, that was the king’s own, and kings don’t send their Royal Guard after just anyone.”

  Rhys sighed. “I know.”

  Endra rode her horse back into the barn. K’xarr had told everyone not to leave the area, but she had needed a bath and had found a small stream only half a league away. It felt good to be clean again, the dust and dried blood that had caked her hair was gone. She had washed her clothing too and now was dressed in a tunic they had found in the farmhouse, belted at the waist, and her boots. Her limp was almost gone and the stitches looked ready to come out. Two days and the wound looked like it had been healing for weeks. She didn’t care what Rhys said, his healing powers were magical.

  She was unsaddling her horse when Rufio walked into the barn. “By the gods of my fathers, you are a beauty. With the grime gone, you shine like the sun, woman.”

  Endra gave him a crooked smile. “Do you say that to all your sword-brothers?”

  “Sure, I just told Cromwell he looked like a Celonian Princess,” Rufio said with a straight face.