Innocent Sorrow: A Tale of Twisted Hearts Book One

Chapter Twenty-One

Feli looked back over her shoulder as soon as the Canyon came into view and could barely keep the smile off of her face. They had taken the bait. Nyek was stretched out in lines of white as they marched after her. If she had to guess, they would arrive about a half hour behind her and she was still twenty minutes away from the wooden rails she could see in the distance. Looking down at her steed, she could see the sweat and foam building on his black fur. Bomani had been stretched to his limits over the last few days yet he made no move to slow, quite the opposite actually. As the Canyon and its people entered his field of vision, the great stallion stepped up his speed another notch, adding to the distance already between the oncoming army and him. With astounding, ground eating strides, he destroyed the miles and swept past the wooden barriers as Feli raised her hand in signal. “Prepare for battle! Ready the troops!” her shouts were met with battle cries and she wrestled Bomani into a walk. The panting stallion shook his head, still on an adrenaline spike but settled soon enough as Renso rushed to her side. “Give him a good rest, Renso.” She spoke quickly and dismounted before he even had time to nod. Time was of the essence and she had little to spare for pleasantries. Nathanial walked up to her with the swift; sure steps of a man prepared for whatever would come. “Feli, the men are ready and all able bodies from Reicks are willing to assist. We have around three thousand troops, half of those being my horsemen.” His tones were clipped but the excitement created by adrenaline stood out in his deep baritone.

Feli could barely contain her happiness. “Good, they took the bait so they should be here in about twenty minutes. Move the men forward but don’t leave the barriers. Make them come to us.” She looked around as men milled about and nodded to no one in particular. “Are the Reickian Generals safe?” Nathanial’s face turned sour and he scowled at the ground. “Grayson is fine, we have yet to locate Triani but it is possible he is one of the injured as we haven’t gotten around to cataloging them. Haydn went further in but we haven’t heard anything…” Before Feli could respond, the ground under their feet rumbled and shook causing the horses to panic and the men to stop in their tracks. Feli turned and looked towards the back of the Canyon where the rumbling had originated, stumbling a bit before Nathanial raised steadying hands to her shoulders. In the distant, against the soft greyness of distant clouds, two glowing figures could be made out and Feli felt a strong resonance hum through and fill her being. “So that is where he went…” whether she was speaking about the green figure, Haydn, or the silver creature she recognized as Alexei, Feli wasn’t sure but the words left her lips with little thought. Turning back to Nathanial, she pushed his hands away and pointed to the field on which the coming battle would occur. “Gather the men and move everyone to the outer edge of our territory to await Nyek. Tell them to ignore the back wall, I will handle them.” Nathanial looked beyond her, to the clashing figures and back to her; studying her face. He had little knowledge of what was happening on the ridge but, at the insistence in her voice, Nathanial jumped at her bidding. “Yes, Princess Feli, I will ensure victory for your army.” He smirked and dropped into a kneeling bow before standing once more and turning on his heel.

Feli watched him for a few paces before turning back to the canyon wall. There was no time to waste and, if the tremors were anything to go by, the situation would just get worse for the regular humans if the two elementals were allowed to continue their pointless battle. She set off at a brisk jog across valley knowing that there was little more she could do to make it there any faster. Momentarily, she thought about going back and fetching Bomani but the wondrous stallion deserved a rest and she refused to disturb it. Her body ached and her lungs heaved as she ran towards the cliff, her energy having already been drained by the long, rushed trip and the previous battle. She was tired but she could not rest until her men had won and if that meant pushing her body past breaking point, it is what she would do. Another, stronger tremor shook the land and caused her to stumble and fall. Pebbles dug into her palms, drawing blood and the cloth of her pants tore but she pushed up again as soon as the tremor stopped. It was all she could do. Feli watched the glowing figures bounce away from each other before clashing again causing loud, shattering noises to coat the air and fresh quakes to disturb the very foundations of the earth. She stopped for a moment, panting with exhaustion and sweating from the strain to watch the furious elements. Each hit sent a wave of tingling energy through the air that resonated with her body…it both excited and drained her. Setting off again, pain laced through her eye at her weakening state and she could dimly hear Feliks taunting her failure. Self-loathing filled her veins and, as she tripped once more, she closed her eyes against the images before her. The urge to hide and just allow Feliks to take over was strong, especially when she laid eyes on the fallen guards of Haydn but she stood again and dashed forward.