Page 39 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

Herrick watched the two women work together for a bit longer, something blooming between Maude and Eydis that he dared not interrupt. When Eydis couldn’t manage to figure out the correct movements for theattack Maude was teaching her, he watched as Maude circled Eydis, eyeing her stance, before he saw an idea light in her dark eyes. She motioned for Eydis to stay where she was, walking toward what used to be a tree line, the barren land housing only the skeletons of the lush forest that used to grow here.

The sands had given away to hard ground again the closer they came to the Bone Chasm. The land surrounding the Chasm here used to be rich and fertile soil with farms the Light Elven had tended to in the bright sunshine that accompanied this area.

The rains from the Kingdom of Rivers and the warmth brought from the eternal sun in the Kingdom of Flame had joined in this southern point of the continent belonging to the Light Elven.

Since the fall of the Kingdom of Light in the Elemental War, this land had seemed to expire without the youth and magic of the Elven to bringit to life. The grass, which had once been green and lush, had become brittle and brown, and the soil turned to dust. The weather had become unpredictable, as well, and raiders pushed further into the few remaining towns that chose to live on the outskirts of the two ruling kingdoms in Ahland. The few bushes that had been scattered through the plain they were currently standing in had been bare, barely able to provide coverage for his group to rest in ease.

Maude sorted through the bushes until she found what she was looking for— two long branches that looked to be about as tall as Eydis. She quickly made her way back to the silver-haired woman who was practicing her slashes and stabs. When Maude motioned to Eydis to put the dagger away and grab the long branch, Herrick finally understood what Maude had seen in Eydis.

Maude displayed five positions that one would take when fighting with a staff.

This woman. She had seen something in Eydis that they had all missed, picking a fighting style that she knew Eydis would thrive with. Herrick didn’t know how she could think that anyone would believe her a wretched person.

Eydis excitedly worked through each position with Maude, her body moving in a way that it seemed to understand. Maude grinned at Eydis when she executed the positions perfectly. Herrick had to look away when Maude began to instruct Eydis on how to use her dagger to smooth the staff and carve it down so it moved more fluidly.

Gods, this woman would be his undoing, he thought.

He didn't know how he was supposed to make it to the Bone Chasm with Maude practically riding in his lap. He could feel himself harden at the thought and would’ve doused himself in cold water if it wouldn't give him away.

An idea sprang to mind, and he quickly executed it before Maude got any closer to him and noticed exactly what she did to him. He moved behind his mare and waited for Hakon to load the saddlebags filled with the canteens they had refilled at the oasis. As soon as Hakon had leaned over the horse, Herrick flicked his fingers and made the clean water shoot out from the saddlebag to spray down the front of Hakon’s pants.

Hakon jumped backward while Herrick roared with laughter at the sight of his brother's red face. Hakon tackled him to the ground and waved his hand to draw the water from his clothes to soak Herrick, precisely as he had planned. The cold water doused any of the burning desire Maude had brought out in him, the liquid saturating his skin in the heat of the day that paled in comparison to how he felt about this pit fighter.

Hakon continued to slam his fist into Herrick's ribs while he laughed. Gunnar chuckled at the two of them, and then, suddenly, vines sprung from the ground and pulled the two apart.

“Okay, Herrick, you’ve had your fun,” Gunnar said, giving him a knowing look.

Maude and Liv exchanged looks and then rolled their eyes while Eydis looked slightly concerned before relaxing into light amusement, her hands tight around the almost-staff that Maude had found for her.

“Men,” Eydis chuckled as she rolled her eyes, looking at the other women.

“Boys,” Liv corrected, her snicker escaping.

“Children, really,” Maude agreed.

Herrick stood, having been released from Gunnar’s vines, and held a hand out to his brother, who took it and pulled himself up, a small smile playing at his lips. He opened his mouth to say something when they all heard a rustle in the bushes.

Maude and Liv, having heard it as well, withdrew their weapons. Maude bent to pick up her bow and nocked an arrow while Liv withdrew her axe and dagger. The two women surrounded Eydis and quietly instructed her to prepare herself. Hakon put his hand on his short sword while Gunnar reached for his axe. They all became silent as shadows, eyes on their surroundings.

Just when Herrick was about to tell everyone to stand down, the sound came again a split second before he heard the roar of a battle cry coming from all around them.

In the small clearing, Herrick could clearly see the raiders rushing toward his friends, weapons drawn. They were garbed in the skins of animals stitched together loosely, their faces painted in streaks of white and black, long lines of paint running down their arms and legs as well.

Herrick reached behind him to draw his two-handed battle axe and swung it up as one of the raiders tried to bring down a sword on his head and blocked the attack. He shoved off the raider's weight and sliceddownward with his axe in one fluid motion, slamming the blade into the flimsy chest plate of the raider, who choked on the blood and water that filled his airway. Herrick kicked the knees out on him and turned to his next victim.

The killing calm that Herrick was so used to fell over him. He saw but did not register Maude kicking a raider twice her size in the balls, causing him to fall to his knees as she drew an arrow and released it straight into his eye. In the same breath of her release, she ducked at the swing of an enemy's blade and slammed her bow into their side. Spinning on her knees, Maude withdrew the dagger she kept on her thigh and jumped up behind the raider, stabbing him in the back of the neck.

Herrick’s eyes met Maude’s over the dead man's shoulder, and she grinned savagely at the chance to release some of the pent-up tension he knew they were both feeling. Herrick felt a smirk form on his face at the sight. Maude broke the moment first by turning to help Eydis, who had been fending off a raider with her staff.

Before Herrick could move toward the women and help them, Hakon called his name. He turned in time to see another raider rush toward him with two fighting knives, their long blades serrated and deadly. Switching the weight of his axe to one hand, he pulled out his knife from his belt and readied for the blows.

The raider reached him and sliced at his belly. Herrick took one step back before he rushed forward with his knife aimed at the raider’s ribs. They exchanged a few blows, Herrick earning a shallow cut to his cheek and a few on his arms before he managed to stab his knife into the leg of the raider so he could bring hisgalderto the surface. Herrick closed his hand into a fist and watched as the water in the raider's body quickly sapped from his skin into a small ball of water above his head.

Having dried him from the inside out, the raider’s body crumbled into a pile of dust. Herrick flicked his fingers, and the ball of water flew into the open mouth of one of the raiders, trying to sneak up on Gunnar, filling his lungs and drowning him.

He removed his knife and wiped it on a dead raider's clothes before storing it again. His friends were finishing off the last of the raiding party when Herrick sensed an attack from behind him. He pivoted backward on his leg to avoid the attack, but the injury to his leg was still weak under most of his weight. His leg gave out on him. Herrick’s back hit the ground, and he had no time to draw his dagger again before the raider moved to bring down his warhammer on Herrick’s chest.

Herrick turned his head to look at Maude, who was reaching out toward him, and his last thought was that he couldn’t leave her, but the blow never came. He looked up at the raider and saw him holding his Warhammer above his head before it dropped to the ground behind him. The raider looked down at the flaming dagger that had embedded in the center of his chest before he fell backward after his hammer, dead.

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