Warrior's Heart (Book 1 of The Warrior Chronicles)

Chapter 36

It looked like rain. Leyla watched from the carriage window as the grey soil of the Warrior Kingdom changed to brown soil, then green grass. They were in No-Lander's territory now, four hours ride into their 3 day journey back to the Land of Light.

Three days in a carriage wearing a blasted dress. Leyla was not looking forward to, especially when she knew there was a way to cut the journey by more than half. She sighed, reminding herself that the lengthier journey would give Raphael more time to abolish their engagement...if he hadn't already.

Across from her, Delphine's head rolled from side to side in sleep. Michael's eyes were also closed, but she could tell by the way he was breathing that he was awake. He was giving her space, she knew, to deal with her feelings. But she was done trying to figure them out and was finding it hard to straighten out her thoughts.

In her entire life, she had possessed only three goals; to survive, to help Tia gain a chance at a decent life and to find her father. Until she passed the officers exams, survival had been her sole objective. Soon after that, she came across Tia being stoned by kids in the Warrior village and protecting her had became her most pressing objective. Now, once she had been released from the ludicrous engagement with the Prorex, there was a chance for her to pursue her third goal.

Father.

She had never had the time to think how she would go about finding him. Wasn't even sure if he was alive, but she had to hope.

Every Kingdom kept a records of all births and deaths. Years ago she had managed to do a favour for one of the clerks who kept the books in the Warrior Kingdom to get some information. There was no record of any outsiders being captured or killed close to the date of her arrival at the Home. So he must have remained back in his own Kingdom. As for where that was, there was only one real option; her parents much have met while her mother was stationed at an outpost.

Leyla wished she knew for certain which of the fallen Warriors her mother was, but she had only managed to narrow it down to three names: Astrid of the House of Rock, Ama of the House of Glass and Leif of the House of Obsidian. Only these three women spent long enough time at an outpost before being called back for the War of Green Hill to have gotten pregnant there and have been on the verge of giving birth. As for how they hid their pregnant state and how they actually gave birth with no one the wiser, the only thing that made sense was that someone helped them hide it.

The members of the House of Rock, Glass and Obsidian would all have been aware that should the pregnancy be discovered, not only would the mother of the mixed-blood child be killed, but their houses too would forever be tarnished for producing a traitor.

Astrid, Ama and Leif; two of them had been stationed at outposts guarding the Greenlands, while Leif was at Giant Forest. In all her years at the Warrior Kingdom, she had never been given an assignment that took her to the Greenlands, nor the Giant Forest. Travelling of her own volition would not have been viable either. She had been waiting to get promoted to Captain, so she could move around Gaia freely. Once promoted, it had been her plan to try to find the interlocutors who managed communication between the outposts and local forces during the War. Though it might be slim, there was a chance she could find out which non-Warrior males the three women had come into contact with during their duty, there would be a chance of finding her father...

It was a long shot, but she was no defeatist; she was too much Warrior to give into such a useless feeling. She just needed to make a plan and take it one step at a time. Abolish the engagement. Travel to the Greenlands. Find a way to access records. Yes, those were her next steps. She would tackle the steps, one at a time, like she had been trained to do and the solutions would present themselves.

The carriage lurched to a sudden stop. Leyla held out both her hands, stopping Delphine and Michael from toppling forward.

"What the-" Michael began, but Leyla put her finger across her lips to indicate silence. Bloody Diya, she had gotten too caught up in her thoughts! Two pairs of eyes stared at her, as she focused on the sounds from outside. The horses from the second carriage behind them were whining in protest, leaves on the nearby trees rustled in the wind, but no one spoke; not the drivers of the carriages, the eight Light guards, nor their two-man Warrior escort. Not good. She reached up, making sure the Prorex's ring she wore was tucked under her collar.

"In a moment, I will leave you. You will stay inside the carriage no matter what happens." Michael's jaw hardened at her words and Delphine looked as though she was about to cry. "Unless I tell you to, you will not leave this carriage," Leyla repeated. "Is that understood?"

Michael nodded wordlessly, but Delphine began sob. There was no time to say anything more.

A shrill scream pierced the air as the ambush began. Leyla jumped out of the carriage, taking stock of the situation as she ran for the driver's seat. There were a dozen No Landers fighting against the guards and more were streaming in from behind the trees. A grand scale attack like this was usually only seen against outposts.

The driver's eyes widened when he saw her climbing the seat. She elbowed him aside to get him to move, reaching for the extra sword mounted on the carriage. "Don't get led away and protect the carriage!" She said in Light tongue as she sliced the cumbersome skirts of her dress off at the knees. "Do you understand!?"

The driver blinked at her bare legs, but a nearby shout of pain snapped him out of his daze and he was nodding his understanding.

Jumping down to the ground with the sword, Leyla scanned the scene. The Light soldiers were managing to ward off two attackers at a time, leaving tens more to the two Warriors. The Bone Eaters were brutal, diving in in fours and aiming straight for the throat. They were not interested in taking prisoners and there were just too many of them, escape or death were the only options.

Shouts of pain pierced the air as three Light guards were dragged off their horses as the attackers pushed closer to the carriages. A Bone Eater got past the Warriors and ran towards her. Leyla blocked his long knife easily, flicking her wrist to disarm the man. With a slice of her sword, the man went down as she called out in Warrior tongue: "Guard the Fox!"

Hearing the command, the two Warriors didn't hesitate, warding off the Bone Eaters as they backed towards her. They shielded her from swinging swords as she cut the horses free from the carriage. In one leap she was on one of the horses, the other's lead in her hands. As another Light soldier fell, she kicked her horse alongside the carriage and shouted for Michael.

Michael understood her intention the minute he saw the horses. Grabbing Delphine, he pushed her up on the empty saddle and jumped on behind her, grabbing the lead. Leyla looked around quickly, calculating the best path to take. The drivers were both dead and the last of the Light guards fell to the ground, blood gushing from his neck. Back towards the Warrior Kingdom was their best bet.

She turned her horse's head in that direction, as another shout sounded from the trees nearby. Another stream of No Landers were coming their way! Leyla kicked her horse, screaming at Michael: "Ride towards the mountain!"

Michael swerved right while she turned her horse left, lifting her sword. She swung at the attackers, slicing and kicking to pull her horse aside the remaining Warrior. He was severely wounded, but managed to grab her hand.

"Hold on tight!" She yanked him up, face front over her knees as they took off. Michael was a few yards away and a quick look back showed No Landers jumping on the three horses who had not run away. "Don't move, we can't lose momentum!" She leaned her body forward over the grimacing Warrior and drove the horse to run faster. As the distance between them and their pursuers grew, a warm wetness spread over her chest and down her arms. A quick glance down showed her, her white dress had turned a deep red.