Page 23 of Ensii
As the armored guard drew closer, Zula called out. “Tatia!”
The guard swung her head in the direction of her former captain. Zula was indistinguishable from the rows of armored invaders, but the girl seemed to be searching for her anyway.
“Captain Zula,” she said. “You’ve returned.”
At least two hundred eyes watched the young guard woman. Her golden uniform dripped blood from the outside, too dark to be hers.
“Keep an eye out,” Talitha ordered her nearest captain, making the motion to pass along the order. “Don’t let them sneak up on us from above or any direction, alright?”
The soldiers nodded, the word rippling through the ranks.
Ashek watched the young girl intently, surveying her and the shadowy courtyard at her back.
“What happened, Tatia?” Zula demanded. “Why are you opening the gates?”
“They’re mad,” the girl said. “They’ve all gone mad. They took Shaston, Carys…they changed.” She shuddered. “We killed one of them, but the others ran out. The priest said he would make more. They…” The girl shook her head. “They—” She collapsed.
“Tatia!”
“Zula, be careful!” Gilsazi ordered.
Waving him off, the dark captain separated from their ranks. Zula broke into a run and knelt at the girl’s side. “Tatia.” She lifted the girl off the ground, cradling her carefully. “Little sister.”
Even from this distance, Talitha spotted the gash in Tatia’s side. Mangled flesh and torn metal were under her right arm, gouged through her upper ribcage. “Forgive me. I betrayed—”
“Hush,” Zula whispered, a grim silence overtaking her. “Don’t talk.”
Talitha stared at the wound, dread and disbelief pooling in her gut. “Those demons,” she whispered to Ashek, “that we fought.”
“It seems Nehemian wasn’t too particular with who they attacked.”
“Or he simply can’t control them.”
“Both are equally likely,” Shaza muttered.
“Do we go forward?” Kurzik breathlessly asked from the left.
Talitha jerked her head to the former chamberlin. “Shaza, send two scouts.”
Shaza didn’t argue, gesturing and snapping out a few words in the northerner’s tongue.
On cue, two wiry young men with axes as big as they were sprinted to join Zula at the entrance of the gates.
They peered into the darkness, lithe figures lighting torches and waving them in every direction. It was a long, torturous set of minutes as they scoured the courtyard for any signs of traps.
Zula knelt over Tatia, speaking lowly. Finally, she bowed her head, closing the girl’s eyes and laying her down.
One of the scouts shouted a greeting, though Talitha couldn’t see to who. He backed up, sword in one hand and torch still in the other.
“Survivors, my lady. Asking to see you.”
Talitha nodded. “Let them through.”
A gaggle of armored guards came into sight. There might have been twenty or more. Several limped unsteadily, shaking as they did. More than a few were smeared in black blood and one had a bloody gash where his left eye should have been.
Talitha looked to Ashek. Her husband mirrored her concern in his wrinkled brow. “What happened here?” she asked stiffly.
“Ensaak Talitha?”
