OathBlade (Wattys2015)

41. Wavering Resolve*

Few offered any aid in getting Elery to a room to rest. Of the roughly two thousand men and women trusted to her, less than half remained. They moved sullenly through the fort and Elery watched Isandel limp off to some unknown location before a woman helped her to a room on the second floor of the dim structure.

Windows were few and far between, allowing little natural light. Those she saw were small and heavily barred. Shaded lantern stones and pillar candles provided a majority of the luminescence, though the illumination was muted by the dark, cracked bricks of the walls and floor.

The woman who helped her to a room, a young knight with several scars decorating her face, lowered her onto a stiff, straw-stuffed bed and helped remove her armor. Elery remained silent. Her eyes focused on the stone underfoot.

The rough tug that set Elery's shoulder back in place drew a scream that rang through the halls of the fortress, temporarily masking the muffled grunts and scratches from newly-arrived dragons outside. Her bleary eyes narrowed at the woman, though knew the pain was not her fault.

Knew, but could not stop herself from glaring.

"Aye, it's painful. Will be for a while," the woman replied, unfazed by the venom in her stare. "If not for yer decision to send the others into the tunnel—"

"—We might have won," Elery snapped. "Yes, I know. I needn't be reminded."

The woman gripped her shoulder and squeezed. Elery yelped. "I'm perfectly capable of speaking for meself, Princess. That was not my meaning t'all. If you'd led an attack with the full army, we'd no doubt've lost everyone."

Elery's angry stare turned dumbstruck. "With greater numbers—"

"—our battlefield would've been more chaotic. With little room to move the dragons would have struck more than three times as many with a single blow. Do ye think numbers will help us against the reanimated?" The woman hung Elery's arm in a sling and tied the fabric over the opposite shoulder. "Yer decision was the correct one, M'lady. This fort may have been constructed to withstand dragons, but none among us have ever fought one. Much less one that cannot die."

The woman stood. Elery's stomach knotted.

What do numbers matter against the reanimated?

She clenched her teeth as new tears formed.

Why have I wasted my time gathering an army against something that cannot die?

The woman left a few sprigs of ithmis weed on the small table beside the bed and walked out, closing the door behind her. Elery took the sprigs and sighed. She put them in her mouth and cringed over the bitter, salty liquid which gushed from the leaves as she chewed.

Through the metal bars over the small, glassless window Elery could see the barrier. The silver mist that shifted over its surface allowed her only brief glimpses of the outside. A red dragon swooped down to perch on a building several hundred paces away. It turned its head to stare in her direction. All that separated her from the beast was a barrier and a stone wall laced with a mystmetal web.

The door opened again and Elery turned. She gulped audibly. Cylphi stood in the doorway, her arms crossed tight over her chest.

Seeing her, recalling the memory of the water spirit, brought a wave of fear through Elery. "How long...?" she whispered.

"I...I met the spirit while we sailed. I spent my time communing with her and learning her power."

"Great skies, Cylphi!" Elery yelled. Her eyes widened as new tears shimmered in them. "You have the power to hold opposing elements within you! Possessing an affinity for two spirits is rare, and now you have three? What if you..." Her voice died out and she covered her mouth.