Warrior's Soul (Book 3 of The Warrior Chronicles)

Chapter 47

"Is he warm enough?"

Gabriel smiled at her question as he deftly bundled Ummut back up in his blankets. Pila took him gratefully and held him close.

"He is just fine, Protector. He is getting stronger by the day."

"I think Athiri likes him!" Kaya laughed, patting the Hayvan who was sniffing at the baby that was almost asleep in his mothers arms.

"Don't kneel like that, Kaya," Waru admonished, helping the girl back onto her mattress.

Leyla was not sure how she had ended up here, in the middle of the day, when she ought to be outside overseeing training. It was Kaya who dragged her in to see Ummut have his daily examination, but it felt like there was something more to it.

Malia insisting the weavers needed her to check the blankets...Tai insisting she needed to show him the six key defensive stances again...Peter needing a second opinion on simple gate re-enforcement. One odd request after another, it was almost like someone or some people were conspiring to give her no time to breathe since the arrival of the threat yesterday morning.

Leyla's eyes narrowed on the Sage. He looked completely innocent as he gave Waru instructions on how to make regenerative medicine for Pila, but he was her most likely culprit.

"I'm heading out," Leyla took a step towards the door when Gabriel's voice stopped her.

"Wait, Protector, have you eaten? I saved some of my lunch assuming you would forget -"

"Sage," Leyla cut him off, now certain that something was definitely afoot. Not wanting to be understood by the others in the hut, she switched to Light tongue: "What is going on?"

Gabriel opened his mouth then closed it again before sighing. "I'm sorry," he too spoke in Light language. "The Commanders and I know that the decision not to respond to the threat didn't sit well with you. After making you promise not to leave, we saw that you were tense... I thought you might need some distraction."

So this was all for her sake? Leyla shook her head in disbelief, "Call off the distractions, will you? If I need to do one more unnecessary inspection, I might lose my mind."

Her dry tone made the Sage laugh. "Understood, Protector."

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" The shrill scream from outside froze everyone in place.

"Stay here!" Leyla commanded as she flew out the door with Athiri on her heels. Outside, people were rushing towards a stumbling Sky woman who kept screaming and pointing towards the river.

"Anne! Peter!" Leyla shouted, seeing the Commanders rushing in through the inner gate. "Defend the camp. Red Formation!"

"Yes, Protector!"

"You guys, come with me!" Everyone moved at Leyla's command, the four Hayvani hunters she had pointed to following as she ran towards the river.

From the terror in the Sky woman's eyes, Leyla knew that whatever lay ahead was not going to be pretty, but she couldn't let her thoughts dwell on that now. She took slow breaths, keeping her body calm and steady despite the speed at which she was covering the ground.

"Get your bows ready!" She called over her shoulder as they neared the water. Her hand hovered over the hilt of her sword as the river came into view.

Leyla heard the men behind her suck in sharp breaths, then she could hear no more. A fog seemed to descend on her mind as she looked at the scene in front of her.

Beyond purple butterflies and swaying weeds, dozen of Timsas thrashed from side to side as they tore into the dead bodies floating on the water. Leyla stumbled to a halt, her eyes taking in the familiar faces of the mutilated bodies. Men, women and children she had seen dozens of times - the entire village of Water people bled into the river, turning it red.

Give us the Protector or Death will Follow.

"Nooooooo!" It took a moment for Leyla to realise that the scream had come from her own lips. Then she pulled out her sword and waded into the water.

"Protector!" "Protector, No!"  The Hayvani's shouted for her to stop and Athiri growled, but Leyla was beyond hearing them. All she knew was that she couldn't let the animals take the bodies.

The Heat filled her hands as she reached for the closest Timsa. The monster snapped its head towards her, lunging for her throat. Leyla didn't blink as she brought the Heat infused blade down into its skull. As the animal sunk into the river, Leyla reached for the body of the dead child that had been in its jaws only moments ago. Her eyes dry, her hands steady, she carried the girl to shore then walked back into the water.

The Hayvani's no longer shouted for her to stop and Athiri was silent as she killed one Timsa after another. Once four of them had sunk to the bottom of the river, the rest swam away in fear and the splashing grew silent.

The men joined her in the water, tears flowing down their hardened faces as they reached for the maimed bodies. Snow fell on their bent heads as they gathered man, woman and child to their chests and moved back to shore.

Leyla didn't sense the cold as they lay body after body on the blood-soaked ground. She did not smell the overpowering stench of death. Nor did she hear her heart breaking as she gathered the corpses of the twin girls who had braided Bom flowers into her hair only two nights ago.

It was as if her soul was watching from a distance, protecting her from feeling anything at all.