Read The Destiny of the Dead (The Song of the Tears Book 3) for Free Online Page A

heads, hunker down and wait it
out. They knew that the militia was on its knees and, even if they ran through
the fog, where could they run to?
    ‘Come on,’ he shouted to Tulitine, who had appeared to his
left. He had to shout or she would not have heard him. ‘A downpour like this
can’t last long.’
    The fog thinned a little more and Nish saw Hoshi. ‘Where is
she, Nish?’ he said anxiously.
    He must be looking for Gi, who had been more than a friend
to him, and Nish could not bear to tell Hoshi that she was dead. He did not want
to think about her, for the look in Gi’s soft eyes as she’d died had reminded
him of other friends, other deaths, and one especially – the best friend
he’d ever had.
    ‘This kind of rain can last for ages, up here,’ said
Tulitine.
    Nish was thinking fast. ‘If it keeps up, it’ll flood the
valley floor –’
    ‘The low-lying parts, certainly.’ Her eyes were on him. ‘And
that won’t take long.’
    ‘What if we head for the lower clearing?’
    She understood at once. ‘It would flood first, since it’s
right by the river. Come on.’
    Nish took the bow and quiver from a fallen archer and slung
them over his shoulder. He must have died early on, for his quiver was nearly
full. Nish had used both javelard and crossbow during the war, and had been a
good shot with both. He was not an expert with the longbow but at close range
he did not have to be.
    The glimmerings of a plan were forming. ‘We can’t climb the
ridge in this, but we might scramble through the gorge over the boulders on the
right-hand side.’
    ‘We’d better be quick. These mountain rivers rise fast.’
    ‘And the gorge will soon be impassable … Tulitine, if we can
get through quickly, the rising river might stop them from following. They’d
have to climb out over the ridge, and by that time we could be anywhere.’
    He tipped water out of the horn and sounded the signal again
then, with a last glance around the battlefield, headed down.
    ‘Where’s Gi?’ cried Hoshi, grabbing his arm.
    He had to be told. ‘I’m sorry. She died in the first
assault.’ It was impossible to put it gently when Nish had to shout to be
heard.
    ‘Where did she fall?’ Hoshi shook him. ‘She might still be
alive.’
    Not with a sword through the heart. Nish pointed up the
slope, mutely, and Hoshi splashed through the mud, crying out her name.
    Nish turned away, never hating war more than he did at that
moment. He felt sick at the thought of leaving her body behind, to say nothing
of the many wounded, but he could not do anything for anyone who could not walk
unaided. He had to save those who were still on their feet and had little time
to do it.
    He skidded down the slope, sounding the signal over and
over, and in a couple of minutes reached the eaves of the rainforest, where the
fog was thinner, with the last of the survivors. They numbered two hundred at a
rough count, which meant that a hundred and sixty had fallen.
    He could not bear to think about the bloody, useless
slaughter, the waste of young, precious lives, nor about those lying wounded on
the battlefield who might, in other circumstances, have been saved. Nothing
could save them now and even the walking wounded had little chance in this
climate, where a scratch could turn septic in half a day. He had to become
iron-hard and think about nothing except saving the able-bodied.
    It was almost as noisy in the forest, with the rain hissing
and rattling on the leaves high above, and just as wet. The ground squelched
underfoot and the rain fell in cascades.
    Everyone gathered around in a ragged, gasping circle. He saw
Maelys on the far side, blessedly unharmed, along with Tulitine, supporting a
tall, muscular man between them, though it took a few moments before Nish
recognised him as Yggur. What had happened to him? Nish could not see any
obvious wounds but Yggur seemed barely able to walk. And, being the only mancer
still able to use his Art, he was the key