Chapter Fourteen
Dakath
Iconsidered myself a patient individual, but not when it came to Kyella. Especially not when she walked into a village that might possibly host hostile forces lying in wait. Our senses were honed, and we were on tenterhooks as we waited. I refused to risk her and Kolvar being ambushed because we weren’t paying close enough attention.
Kyella was growing more skilled with each passing day, and she was capable of handling herself on the battlefield, but I couldn’t help but worry about her. The entire Thaician Empire reminded me of pain and loss, so my protective urges were even more intense than usual.
The only thing keeping me tethered to the current moment was the fact that I could hear Kyella’s faint voice. While I couldn’t tell exactly what she was saying, her pitch seemed controlled and even. I heard the low murmur of other voices as well, and a woman’s panic-filled outburst from moments before would have worried me more if it hadn’t calmed quickly after.
I wanted to be part of the conversation, at least to watch and ensure everything was going smoothly, but I knew we couldn’t afford to move around the bend without scaring the villagers. At least not yet.
I paced back and forth; Elijah and I having moved to the front of the group in the absence of Kolvar and Kyella. I could feel eyes on me, but I ignored them, unable to help the nervous energy filling me.
I knew this war was necessary, but there was a part of me that regretted it. A part of me that wanted to put Kyella back on that damn boat and sail home. Away from any potential threat of losing her.
When a hand suddenly came down on my shoulder, pausing my repetitive movement, I offered Elijah a questioning look. He spoke evenly and quietly, “You are making others nervous. I know you’re worried about her, but I don’t want anyone more on edge than they already are—that’s how mistakes are made.”
Mistakes were something we couldn’t afford.
I nodded sharply before looking toward that damn bend they had disappeared around. When would they be back? Did we need to follow at some point if they didn’t return? I needed to see her, hearing the low murmur of her voice wasn't enough for me. Not when I was so on edge.
Almost as if I had willed her into existence, Kyella appeared around the bend of the road, a look of determination and happiness on her face. I couldn’t help that my eyes ran over the way her armor molded to her body perfectly, loving that she wore something we had made for her. I shouldn’t have let the sight of her distract me, especially having already watched her all morning, but being able to provide her with something that could aid in her achieving her dreams left me with a sense of happiness.
“What happened?” Elijah asked in a rush, his gaze darting over her shoulder.
Kyella explained evenly, “He’s gathering the elders of the town together as others prepare themselves and their belongings for the ships. We’re instructing them to bring enough for a lengthy stay, just in case”
It was smart—we had no idea how long this battle would last or if these Thaician citizens would need to go out to sea to avoid an attack.
Kyella raised her voice to direct the rest of her comments to the soldiers behind us. “We need a group of vampyres to help get both the elders and the young children whose parents have been called to the capital to the boats. The other villagers will make their way down the path and toward the boat. We want to expedite this process as much as possible, and we must move quickly. We most likely have several villages to go to and many lives to protect before we even come close to the capital.”
“Report to Commander Kolvar.” I issued the order to a group of vampyres to my left.
The majority of those who had accompanied us from the boats were vampyres, allowing us the speed and strength to move villagers quickly to safety as well as face any threat on the battlefield. Seasoned and trained human warriors were with us as well, but many of the humans were leading the front on the ship, ready to aid those we were rescuing. It was our hope that being surrounded by humans rather than vampyres would put the evacuees at ease.
The group moved to follow my command, quickly disappearing around the bend, and Kyella watched them with slight concern marring her features.
“Let's follow them for now, but we need to prepare to go to the next village as soon as we can!” Kyella said as we flanked her, taking protective stances as we started our trek.
“I hope they don’t get scared by the influx of vampyres,” she breathed out, quieter this time. “The town isn’t massive, but there are several dozen individuals, nearly all women, children, and elders. I assume it will be much the same at other villages we go to.
“They informed me that all men, fit for battle, were taken by the guards to the capital. Malakai clearly wanted to boost the number of members he had in his military force”—or he wanted to boost the number of bodies between him and the enemy. That was far more likely.
Kyella continued, her body tight with tension as she shook her head in disgust, “That’s why there are children left without parents to watch over them right now.”
“Bastard.” I spat. Not only was Malakai forcing humans to fight for him, creating a shield of individuals that probably had no training or preparation, but he had forced children to watch their fathers, uncles, and brothers be dragged off today. It didn’t escape me that there was the possibility that the children would never see them again.
I could not wait to slaughter Malakai—for everything he’s already done and everything he would continue to do if left unchecked. He didn’t deserve to live in this world any longer. He left only disaster and misery in his wake.
“Which means that many of those humans who are fighting are doing so unwillingly,” Elijah bit out.
“Exactly,” She whispered, anger clouding her features as her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. “I have to assume it’s happening to vampyres as well, at least to an extent—where he’s forcing someone in a position like Tristan was in to fight for him. Of course, when it comes to other vampyres, he has more allies than not, but I think we should still make an active effort to take as few lives as possible. I know it's not possible to save everyone, but we can still try.”
And we damn well would. I didn’t take pleasure in the idea of killing those caught fighting in a battle that they didn’t care for, that they were being forced to be part of.
“It could be difficult to tell who is in a forced position and who is not, but you’re right, the preservation of life is one of the reasons we made the journey here.”
We couldn’t slaughter those who truly needed saving.
