Conaire could hear the sounds of battle as they approached the village, telling him that the Wolf Brothers had beaten them there. Conaire and Nikolai watched the battle from a safe distance. The villagers were fighting valorously against their enemy. But they were rabble compared to the skill of the Rangers. Nikolai had warned him about openly attacking the village but the Moldovan refused to listen. Seeing he wouldn't turn from the course, the mercenary had finally relented.
"We can take down the villagers easy enough, but the Rangers will prove to be the formidable foes," Nikolai said.
"I want them all dead. Bring me the elf alive. She will return to Moldov one way or another, but kill everyone else. No one who harbors her shall live."
"As you say." The two watched the battle a little longer before they agreed on a strategy of attack.
~~~
The defenders' armor was now bloodstained. Jelina, Ruarc, and Ainnileas crashed through another cluster of Wolf Brothers, swords blurring with blood, heads, and limbs flying. Above all the shouts and screams of pain were heard the snarls of the Wolf Brothers and the Wolfhounds. Arrows from the village archers flew through the air, many more finding their marks than when Jelina had first arrived at the village. Jelina's lethal dance slew many that came at her. Ainnileas and Ruarc's swords dripped crimson. Not only was Dante's sword blood-covered, so was his shield from bashing in Wolf Brother skulls. Maitru cut through Wolf Brothers like water against filth. Where had he learned such skill? They heard a long and loud shout and they turned to see the Moldovans, led by Conaire himself, charge from the trees. Jelina cursed loudly in her native tongue. It was the one thing they'd hope wouldn't happen.
~~~
Mara could only watch in horror as the Moldovans swarmed the field. Not only did the militia and Rangers have the Wolf Brothers to deal with but also the slavers who'd come for Jelina. She knew things looked grim and hopeless. It would take a miracle now to save them and she felt fear grip her heart.
I'm not fearless, Mara. Courage is being afraid but going forward anyway.
Jelina's words suddenly echoed in Mara's mind. The very words she'd spoken to her the day the Wolf Brothers began their four-day siege of the village. Her jaw set. Those were her friends and family down there fighting and dying.
"Keep shooting!" she cried, finding her courage as the arrows flying into the fray began to decrease. "Do not let fear keep you from aiding the others!"
"It is hopeless, Mara!" one woman cried. "Surely you can see that! Our efforts will be for naught!"
"Your husbands, your sons, your brothers, and your fathers defend this village! They give their lives to defend us! Are you willing to let them die because you lost hope and faith! Protect them the best you can! Give them the advantage that they desperately need right now! Will you fail them when they need you the most!?"
"She's right!" Kailen cried as she stood next to Mara. The blacksmith's wife looked over the other women. "We chose to stay behind! Do what you set out to do or cower in fear within the Temple!" Mara nodded at her, thankful for her input. One by one, the archers drew their bowstrings as taut as they would go.
"Let them see we are not afraid of them! Let them see we still fight!" A rain of arrows descended upon the field.
~~~
Conair cut through anyone in his path, be it villager, Ranger, Wolf Brother, or one of his own. His eye was fixed on Jelina. The elf held his eternal scorn. No one had ever dared resist him. She had taken his eye and his honor in one night. He'd fallen from grace and was the laughing stock of every noble in Moldov. He was determined that she pay for that. He'd given the order that she be taken alive. And at this moment, he saw that she was several paces away from the two men she'd been fighting next to. He rushed at her.
"Jelina! Behind you!"
The she-elf spun around and was able to dodge his lunge in time. Conaire grabbed a handful of braid and brought her down with him. She gave a cry of surprise as she was jerked downward.
A moment later, he was upon her. "You will not escape me this time, wench!"
Jelina brought her swords up, aiming to kill.
He blocked. "Nice try."
They struggled and grappled on the ground for some time. Around them, battle raged but they were locked in their own battle as they rolled around in the dirt. Conaire finally managed to wench her swords from her and tossed them from her reach as he pinned her under him and ran his hand down her torso.
"I will enjoy finishing what I started," he said.
Jelina gave him a swift punch to the nose for the comment.
Conaire laughed as the blood trickled from it. He put his hand around her throat. Her right hand wrapped around his wrist. "And I shall enjoy watching you suffer. The Moldovan prisons are worse than that pitiful excuse of a fort. It will not be Nikolai who breaks you but trained torturers. Just think of how degraded your followers will be when they see their hero executed before their very eyes. I will finally have the honor returned that you took from me!"
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" She planted her left thigh dagger into his heart and he gasped in surprise. "Less talking, more dying."
He fell off of her and onto his back, his sightless eye staring into the sky. Jelina was finally freed of Conaire. Although she doubted the Moldovans would stop hunting her with his death, she felt a sense of relief. He could no longer hurt her or others like her.
~~~
Despite the fact that the Moldovans were fighting off Wolf Brothers as much as the militia and Rangers, things were looking dire for them. One didn't need to be a trained soldier or a Ranger to see that. Bodies of both Moldovans and Wolf Brothers littered the ground and Ainnileas feared that some of the militia and Rangers were amongst them.
"Fall back to the Temple!" Dante cried.
Ainnileas briefly saw Jelina flip through the air before he became busy defending himself from an attacking Moldovan. He heard a dying screech behind him as he defeated his foe. The Wolf Bother fell and he nodded his thanks to Jelina, who'd slain him as he'd tried to attack Ainnileas' back. Together, they ran for the Temple. Suddenly, arrows from the forest rained down upon them. He saw Jelina reach up and pull an arrow from her left shoulder but didn't stop. He dodged several before pain shot through his chest. He cried out in pain and surprise. Ainnileas saw Jelina freeze and spin around. He looked down, not quite comprehending that an arrow was lodged in the right side of his chest. He looked back at Jelina, who had a look of horror on her face.
"Go!" Ainnileas cried before he fell to his knees.
"Ainnileas!" Jelina screamed and raced back to him. She slid to him, dropping her swords and catching him as he fell back. "No!" The same fear gripped her as the night that Alistair died.
"Get to... the Temple...," he gasped. "It's... you they... want."
Jelina shook her head. "No," she whispered, fighting the tears threatening to form. "You'll not die for me." She looked around them.
They were surrounded and outnumbered by both the Moldovans and the Wolf Brothers. Many lay dead or dying and she could see many more bore wounds. The battle had turned truly hopeless. They couldn't hope to survive this. The sounds of battle seemed far away as she looked back down at Ainnileas, tears stinging her eyes. She felt the anger and the pain and the memories rose unbidden. The raid on her village. Her years of slavery and fear. Alistair's death by her own hand. Thinking she'd lost Ruarc. Her torture at Nikolai's hands. Ainnileas dying in her arms. The first tear fell and the rage finally broke through, awakening something within her soul.
~~~
Ruarc heard the long rage-filled battle cry and turned. He saw Jelina on her knees with Ainnileas in her arms.
"Holy Elohim!" He feared that the man he'd come to view as a friend, despite the rivalry they had due to their mutual love for Jelina, had fallen. Then he witnessed the strangest thing he'd ever seen. The ground around Jelina rippled, actually rippled, and a strange white glow began to form around her.
"Elohim's mercy!" Dante whispered, astonished.
Ruarc openly gaped as the glow grew into a bright white light before it exploded outward with a second cry of rage. Seeing the danger, Dante pushed Ruarc to the ground. They were both blinded by the brightness.
~~~
The Wolf Brothers not killed or maimed by the explosion fled, the Moldovans retreating even quicker. Jelina didn't watch their hasty retreats. She wasn't even sure what had just happened. Ainnileas weakly squeezed her hand. He was dying and her heart was breaking at the knowledge.
Ainnileas reached up with a bloodstained hand and touched her cheek. "See that... my children... are... cared for."
"Don't talk like that. You'll care for them yourself."
"I... love you." The pain of her heartbreak doubled as tears flowed. She had never guessed he indeed loved her. He had never actually given her any sign that his friendship truly had blossomed into something more.
"Ainnileas." A tear escaped and rolled down his cheek as his hand dropped. "No!" Jelina pulled the arrow from his chest. If she could send out a light that could strike down their enemies... His eyes slowly closed. "No! Ainnileas! Oh, Elohim! No!" She threw down the arrow and pressed her hand against the wound, desperate to save him. The others were beginning to gather around them.
"Papa!"
The same white glow started from her hand and moments later enveloped them both. She barely heard the surprised gasps from the others. The glow died and Mara landed hard on her knees next to her father.
"Papa!" Tears streamed down the girl's cheeks. Ainnileas didn't move. A tear of her own fell, landing on his cheek.
"Elohim, don't take him." She closed her eyes and pulled him close. "Please."
"He will if you don't give me room to breathe."
Jelina looked down to see him looking up at her. Around them, the militia and Rangers released the breath they'd been holding. Her tears were now tears of joy and she gave a small relieved laugh. And then leaned down and kissed Ainnileas. Her heart had chosen. She didn't see the look of sadness and heartbreak on Ruarc's face.