Page 83 of Legacy of the Heirs (The Lost Kingdom Saga #2)

Caellum

B odies collided with Caellum as he forced through the crowd, the enemy soldiers now hidden, protected in shadows he did not understand.

Nyzaia had called for retreat, a command echoed by Sir Cain.

Caellum pushed his way through the running soldiers who headed for the tents at the edge of Keres to await further instruction, yet what instruction, he did not know.

He had been fighting a copper-clad soldier when a wall of shadow emerged, shrouding the soldier, too, as a call for retreat resounded across the sands.

Odd looks met him as he ran in a different direction, pushing against the crowd to where he had last seen Sadira.

He pushed against the wave, his limbs exhausted and weak, but despite the endless fighting, the added strength of his lineage allowed him to persist. He ran despite the throbbing of his thighs and calves.

Caellum stilled when he reached where Sadira had been.

She was not on the dune where he had left her to wield; she was not anywhere.

“Sadira!” Caellum shouted over the sound of trampling feet.

“Sadira!” he screamed, spinning in every direction and scanning the sea of blood-covered Novisian soldiers.

His heart hammered, his breastplate suddenly too tight as he charged in different directions, shouting her name.

The soldiers thinned out before him, most now over the dune by the tents.

He scanned again but could not find her or glimpse the light of her hair amid the darkness.

Plumes of shadows swirled and writhed, containing the copper soldiers.

The remaining creatures roared and paced in the distance before some shifted back into soldiers dressed in leather uniforms. Caellum backed away as the shadows faded, the soldiers turning and marching into formation behind General Caligh.

He was calm and stood with his hands clasped, staring straight at Caellum.

“I would be quick, King. Say your goodbyes before we take your kingdom.” Caellum glanced at the two men standing beside Caligh.

They each held a chain attached to a creature that bit the air and writhed against its bindings.

Caellum swallowed. What had they done to the beast to make it so dangerous that it should be chained?

Caellum scanned the line of offence one last time, but there were no captives, no head of golden-blonde hair.

Caellum retreated and ran for the tents.

***

“Sadira!” Caellum shouted. Soldiers sat in the sand outside of the tents, tending to each other’s wounds and sharpening swords, weighed by the knowledge of defeat.

“Sadira!” He shouted again, striding for the battle tent, hoping and praying Sadira would be there with the others.

The tent flap opened, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sadira,” he whispered as he spotted golden blonde hair matted from the rain and wind.

She seemed to search for his voice before he ran and held her body against him.

“I couldn’t find you,” he murmured. “I could not find you.” He kissed her, then, as though it was the only thing that might save them.

Tears brushed his cheeks, and he pulled back, tracing his hands over her body.

“Are you okay?” he scanned over her, tracing his hands over her body, searching for wounds. “Please tell me you are okay.”

Sadira nodded and clasped his face.

“I am okay,” she choked, her eyes rimmed red. “But not all of us are.” She sobbed, then, and he pulled her into him, gently leading them into the tent.

The air was thick with grief. His eyes followed those sitting around the table.

Soren stared into the distance, stroking one of her wolves.

Larelle wiped her eyes beside Alvan, who wrapped his arm around her.

Farid stood behind Nyzaia, his hands on her shoulders as tears flowed down her cheeks, but there was an empty chair. Elisara’s chair.

Caellum spun to Sadira.

“She is okay,” she said gently.

“She is in their tent,” Larelle said between sniffs. Their. Caellum took the room in again. Elisara was in their tent, and while she was fine, her commander was nowhere to be seen.

“No,” he breathed. While Caellum and Kazaar had never seen eye to eye, he had been the one to piece Elisara’s heart back together. “I…”

“Go,” Sadira said, squeezing his hand. “If anyone knows her best out of us all, it is you.”

He closed his mouth. “I do not…”

“I know,” she whispered and kissed him, a promise that she knew this was nothing more than him comforting her grief. Caellum grasped Sadira’s cheeks in his hands and kissed her once more before leaving the tent.

It did not take long for him to reach the rulers’ tents. Elisara and Kazaar had the first, the furthest from Caellum and Sadira’s. He rubbed his face with his hands, dried blood crumbling beneath his fingertips. Taking in a breath, Caellum sighed before reaching for the tent flap and ducking in.

Despite the sun peering in from outside, the light in Elisara’s tent had died. It was cold, as cold as Vala. Elisara did not move when Caellum entered. She sat on a stool in front of a makeshift vanity, staring at her reflection.

“Elisara,” he murmured, but she did not falter from the mirror.

She sat in her soaked leathers while her hands rested on the table, palms up, covered in blood that had since dried.

Many loose curls had fallen from her braid.

Caellum wavered at the entrance. Perhaps being the one to face her was not a good idea .

“Star,” he whispered. Her eyes flickered in the mirror, glowing blue, meeting his. Elisara’s face crumpled.

“It’s gone. The tie, my eyes.” She turned on the stool, and Caellum met her in seconds, gripping tightly to her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

“He is gone; he is gone.” She repeated the words as Caellum held her trembling body.

It was the first time in years he had seen her break down like this and surrender to her emotions.

Even when her parents had died, she was not this inconsolable.

Caellum did not know how long he stood there, holding the woman he had once broken, now shattered further.

He rested his head atop hers, murmuring quietly to her, attempting everything he usually would to soothe her.

But the damage was irreversible. As Elisara finally stilled in Caellum’s arms, he knew that she would never be the same.

“I need you to tell me what happened, star, so we know what to do,” he murmured into her hair. Elisara did not pull back as she recounted the events between sobs. Caellum swallowed as she revealed everything to him, fighting his own tears that threatened to fall for her.

“Two hours,” she said. “We are to meet again in two hours.” She pulled back, and Caellum frowned.

“Don’t you see? He wants me. He took away one threat; someone who might one day have possessed darkness as strong as his.

Now, he wants me. If what we believe is true—if I really have the essence of Sonos in me—I could defeat him. ”

“Right now, you need to focus on yourself.” Caellum lowered slightly to meet her eyes. “You are one of the strongest people I know. You can do this.” Elisara sniffed and turned, retaking her seat at the vanity. She stilled again, fixed only on her reflection.

“I will relay everything to the others. Someone will come for you when the time is near,” said Caellum, but Elisara did not answer.