Remnant of Power

Chapter Fifty-one

She started to run again, and quickly caught up with the ranks of Dryads. The battle was a few hundred yards in front of them. Her stomach was tingling but she couldn't tell whether it was from fear or anticipation. Leaping through the grass she felt strength begin to rise up in her. Someone called her name.

"Yavenna," it was Gared, beside her, "Be careful." He grabbed her arm, then pulled her against him in some sort of awkward embrace. "Don't take any risks." Then he dropped back, leaving her confused. But she didn't have time to think for long.

A multitude of fighting men was directly in front of her. Bodies were littered on the ground, and she could see most of them weren't wearing the uniform armor of the soldiers. As the host of Dryads and Talahund surged forward, the mass of soldiers ploughed into them. Yavenna stood still, holding her shield above her head. She didn't know what to do. But as she watched the sea of bodies surge, a few yards away she saw a soldier smash an axe down on Giryan. The Ithrim jumped aside just in time, whirled around and stabbed the soldier. Yavenna strapped her shield over her shoulder, drew her sword in her left hand and her Dryad axe in her right hand and walked steadily towards the crowd. A soldier lurched towards her, and laughingly clutched her arm.

"What have we here then, a pretty maid? This is no place for you." He grabbed her wrists together. "You wait here for me and I'll see you after the battle, as a celebration." He pushed his face up to hers to kiss her. But her anger flashed in her face before his filthy lips touched hers. She kneed him between his legs, and as he fell over, screaming, she stabbed him in the chest.

This is it then, she thought. Fight for your life. She lifted her axe high, and saw astonishment on a soldier's face as he saw she was a woman. That was your last thought, she resolved and smashed the axe down on the back of his neck. As it hit his flesh, blue light flashed around her axe. But the light attracted unwelcome attention. A huge club-wielding soldier, who stood a head taller than any of the other men and who looked uncannily like the king's bodyguard, lumbered towards her as she jumped sideways to dodge blows from two soldiers. She was forced back towards the brute, her stomach clenching, and he laughed and raised his arm, lifting a great sword above her head.

Yavenna sprang to the side of him, shoving another soldier out of her way with a trembling shoulder. He was appallingly massive; but the crowd of soldiers around her was solid, the only way she could see to save herself was to get a blow at him first before he hit her. Gritting her teeth, she swiped her arm back and then swung the axe as hard as she could. There was a flash of blue light and the axe sliced deep into his side, cutting through his armor. It was so deeply embedded she had to let go of it. He let out a harsh cry and dropped his sword, his arm falling to his side. Yavenna was so shocked she almost dropped the sword she held in her other hand. She stumbled backwards, barely remembering to look around her. But the soldiers behind her had seen what happened and suddenly there was space around her. The giant gripped her axe, and wrenched it out of his flesh. Yavenna shook herself and ran forward with her sword out, thrusting it deep into his amored belly only inches from the axe wound. Again, there was a flash of blue light, but this time a waft of burnt flesh assailed her nostrils. The giant staggered and with a groan fell backwards. There was a great thud as he hit the grass, and the ground shook.

Yavenna stood motionless, as the battle raged around her, staring at the body of the giant at her feet, the huge man she'd just killed entirely on her own. Her hand snaked inside her mail to touch the pendant. Is this strength from the Starstone, or do I have Ithrim blood? she wondered, trying to relive the surge of power she felt as she hit the giant. The Dryad Queen had said Starstone held great power. Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, Treghanna's other words crashed into her mind. "Some humans were made ill by the stone." A sudden agony of realization pierced her heart; whether or not the strength was from the stone, it was this stone that killed her mother, this stone around her neck had made her mother so ill that she died. – she didn't want its filthy power, she didn't want anything to do with it. With a groan, she wrenched the pendant over her head, snapping the chain again. Burning tears blurred her vision as she flung it to the ground.

A few yards behind her, Channa let out a cry as she saw Yavenna fling the pendant away. She darted to pick it up from a muddy puddle where it had fallen. Yavenna stood for a moment, deep in thought, then she wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, grabbed two swords from the ground and ran back towards the fighting.

The battlefield was a seething mass of bodies. Dead men covered the floor, Yavenna had to jump over them. All she could think of was death, and superimposed over the fermenting horde was a picture of her mother lying wanly in her bed. But she would fight now, she would do all she could to defeat him. She sliced and stabbed, trying to ignore the bile in her stomach as she fought her way closer to the city.

Soldier after soldier fell at her feet, and then Yavenna saw Kelten leap in front of her, blood pouring from a head wound, and someone called her name.

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