Rebel Swords

KAEL

Bellris was a flurry of panicked activity.

Kael took in the chaos around him in one quick glance.

People were darting frantically around, some pulling on pieces of armor, others laden with bags filled to the brim with their belongings.

Wagons were scattered around the large firepit, accepting anything that people threw into them.

Wild-eyed horses were lashed to them as other livestock were herded around the area.

Kael leapt on one of the stone walls surrounding the firepit.

He had to get everyone under control—or they were doomed.

“Freemen!” he called, his voice cutting through the wild chorus of aggravated livestock.

The chaos quieted slightly at his shout, and he felt the eyes of the rebels on him.

A sudden wave of exhaustion flowed through him.

Their expectations were like a physical weight that bowed his shoulders and bent his spine.

But he would not crumble under the pressure.

He straightened his back and lifted his chest, his voice carrying to the tops of the trees.

“Those who will be staying to fight: find weapons and armor and gather at the northern border of the village. Those who will leave: take only what you need to survive. Amala will lead the retreat. The Kingsmen will likely not attack until dawn, so we have some time to prepare.”

The healer stepped forward as she nodded, a look of determination on her face.

Kael took in the frightened faces around him. He felt the mood of his soldiers teetering on the edge between hope and despair.

“We knew a fight would come,” he said, his voice softer than before. “We knew it the moment each of us chose to become a Freeman. It is true that we are the few. It is true that the Kingsmen outnumber us three-to-one.”

He looked around at his captains.

Colmen was next to the firepit, standing tall and confident.

Alik had his arms around Syra, the two of them listening intently.

Janis and Egan sat atop their dragons, their Rider’s armor glinting in the moonlight.

“But we have great strength!” Kael continued. “We fight not only for our own freedom, but for the freedom of every creature in this land. Whether we stand or fall at the end of this battle, we will have given the Kingsmen something to fear!”

A murmur of approval swept through the crowd, and Kael could feel the panic subsiding, replaced with a grim determination.

He looked at Andra, her emerald eyes shining fiercely.

“We will not lie down and accept the world they wish to build for themselves on our broken backs. We will not lie down and accept a king they have chosen for us! We will fight them to our last breaths, and then others will carry on our fight!”

Kael raised his fist in the air, and pride swelled in his chest as every man, woman, and child raised their fist in response.

“Whether we live free or die free, we are Freemen!”

A great cheer erupted from the people. A desperate cry of hope, of strength, of defiance.

The flurry of activity resumed once again, but the panic and chaos were gone. They moved with purpose and direction as Amala shouted directions to all within earshot.

Kael dropped down from the firepit and placed a hand on Colmen’s shoulder. “Gather the captains,” he said, squeezing gently.

Colmen nodded before slipping away into the crowd, his grip tight around his bow.

“And what about me?”

Kael’s heart broke as he turned toward Andra.

He knew that she wouldn’t like this.

“Aid Amala in directing the retreat,” he told her. “She’s a good leader, but she’ll need help with keeping everyone organized.”

Andra frowned in confusion, her expression quickly turning to one of disbelief, then anger. “You want me to leave?”

Kael turned to go, but she reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Her grip was surprisingly strong.

“Your magic is powerful, Andra,” Kael said, forcing the emotion from his voice. He was the commander of the rebellion. His decision was made. “But you have just begun with your training.”

“I’m a better fighter than half of your soldiers!” she shouted back.

“In sparring with a staff,” he pointed out. “You don’t know how to use a sword—or a bow. A line of Kingsmen soldiers are a far cry from your sparring sessions with Colmen.”

Kael turned to leave, but she pulled on his arm again, forcing him to look at her. “I can help, Kael!” There was panic in her voice now, and a bit more of his heart cracked and fell away.

He hardened his heart.

“No. I cannot let you fight.”

“I have Tiri—”

“You can’t ride Tiri into battle!” He slipped his wrist from her grip and put his hands on her shoulders. “You have no saddle. No training in dragon-mounted combat. That would be a death sentence for you, do you understand?”

“Then let me fight with the other soldiers!”

“No, Andra!” he yelled.

Andra blinked, taken aback by his tone.

Kael took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He had to control his emotions.

“I know you’re strong, Andra. And those who are retreating will need that strength. Other soldiers will be going with them, in case the Kingsmen somehow reach them. But I can’t have you here.”

“Why?” she demanded.

~Because we might lose,~ Kael thought, but kept his mouth shut.

“There are other women staying to fight,” Andra continued. “Humans and elves. This is my home now. These are my people now! I have every right to defend myself and those that I love!”

Pain shot through Kael once again.

Those were the words he’d taught her himself.

But Andra wasn’t ready.

Kael saw Colmen approaching with Egan, Janis, and Insarius.

“I have to speak to the captains,” he said in a deep, quiet voice. “I don’t have time for this now. Speak to Amala and see if she can find you some armor and a weapon for the journey.”

Kael stepped forward and wrapped Andra in a tight embrace. He never wanted to let go. He felt that if he did, she’d just disappear in a puff of smoke.

Eventually he stepped back, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

Colmen placed a hand on Andra’s shoulder.

“You keep your head up, understand?” the elf told her. “You’re a good fighter, Andra. They will need your strength. Above all, stay ~safe~.”

Before she could reply, a soldier came running to them.

“Report,” Insarius told him.

“We’ve discovered who’s leading them,” the soldier said.

Kael could tell he was shaken, and he braced himself for the news. “It’s Ledo. He’s alive.”

ANDRA

Andra’s world seemed to shrink as the words echoed in her mind.

Ledo was alive.

Her vision had been true.

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. Her heart constricted painfully, her legs wobbling unsteadily beneath her.

She could hear his voice, his ragged breath in her ear. She could feel his greedy fingers crawling against her skin, his hungry mouth always demanding more.

She saw her mother hanging by the noose.

A strong hand steadied her, and she saw Kael looking down at her, an anger burning behind his storm-cloud eyes.

“Stay safe,” he said. Then his voice dropped, the threat in his words freezing the blood in her veins. “I’ll take care of him.”

He turned and left, Colmen and the others following closely behind.

Andra watched him go, shocked into silence.

~Ledo is here.~

~He is here to kill them all.~

It felt like she was back in Castigo’s manor, once again a helpless servant girl, robbed of her voice.

But then she felt Tiri touch her mind, and she was ripped away from her thoughts. She could feel the dragon’s concern, and it was like a splash of cold water to the face.

~“Take courage, sister,”~ the dragon said. ~“You aren’t that scared slave girl any longer.”~

Andra touched the bare skin of her neck, the paralyzing fear burning away only to be replaced with anger.

Tiri was right.

She ~wasn’t~ a servant anymore.

She’d trained to be a warrior.

~“What’s wrong, sister?”~ Tiri asked. Andra relayed her conversation with Kael to the silent dragon, and felt her agitation echo her own. ~“What gives him any right to tell you if you can fight?”~

~“He’s the commander,” Andra said. ~“If he told another soldier to accompany those retreating, I’m certain they would obey his orders without question.”~

~“Then why do you want to stay, Andra? Why are you so determined to fight in this battle?”~

~“All those I care about will stay behind,”~ she said, her eyes scanning the crowds that continued to flow from Bellris.

Her eyes settled on Alik and Syra in a tearful embrace.

~I will not say the same farewell,~ she promised herself.

~“Kael told me that in my new life, it is NOT fighting that can have terrible consequences. And I swore to myself that I would never run from another fight.”~

She closed her eyes, the ghost of her past looming like a great shadow in her mind. She remembered Ledo’s evil smile, leering at her cruelly.

But she didn’t turn away.

She didn’t cringe and cower from her past.

~“I want to fight to protect the people that I love.”~

A moment of silence passed as Andra’s words rang true.

~“Then fight, Andra,”~ Tiri said firmly. ~“Fight.”~

Andra suddenly wavered for a second, realizing that that choice might very well kill her. But a smooth, golden voice in her mind seemed to whisper to her.

The voice of the tiny white dragon she’d seen before.

~“When the moment comes, you must stand—and you must fight,”~ it had said.

Andra took a deep breath.

~“I will. I’ll fight to the end.”~