Kae had seen enough.
His separated self was back by his side on the wall. Kae reported all he saw to Entan.
Do you think we could attack them in their camp before they advance?
Kae shook his head. There are thousands of them, all readying to attack the walls.
Entan turned to the rest of the Protectors and ordered on the air. Separate and prepare your bows.
The drums in the distance stopped.
With the sound of thunder, the horizon line darkened with Orcs.
They move as wind.
Calls to arms echoed all around them. Archers drew their arrows. Fires beneath cauldrons of boiling oil and water sprung to life.
Fear, anxiety, exhilaration, remorse, caution, cowardice, apprehension, hatred and sadness filled Kae’s chest through his separated self. He could not differentiate his own emotions from those of the soldiers around him. To seal it all off, he imagined damp fog surrounding his separated self. It lessened the burning glow of its skin, kept the torrent of emotions at bay.
Everyone except Baynard readied their bows and arrows.
Entan looked at the priest. “Prepare for battle!”
Baynard pulled back his hood. “As a priest, I can use the Life Force to confuse and drive away the Orcs. But I cannot shoot arrows.”
Entan’s mouth dropped open. “I was not told any of the priests were to accompany us. Are you the only one?”
Baynard blushed. “Yes, and I have come of my own free will. Long ago, when greater need still existed, priests and Protectors fought side by side. A battle such as this calls for a collaboration once again, do you not agree?”
Baynard’s voice, the utter truth of his words, seeped deep into Kae’s awareness. The calm tone Baynard used convinced him of the wisdom.
The effect was gone as soon as Baynard finished speaking.
Entan cleared his throat. “Yes, Father, I agree. Far be it for me to question the decisions of priests.”
Kae rounded on Baynard as soon as Entan turned away. “How did you do that? Convince him so easily?”
Kae was sure Baynard had used the Life Force to do so, yet how, he did not know.
“I told you I can use the Life Force in ways you never heard of. Now pay attention, Kae, the enemy is almost upon us.”
The rumbling thunder grew closer, drowning out all other noise. On the horizon the terrible catapults were growing larger.
Only the steel purpose of bringing death emanated from the Protectors around Kae.
Each man’s separated self stood beside them. Kae knew that every arrow loosed would fly true because of the clarity with which their separated selves saw. His own separated self, a being of pure red flame now, stood among the advancing Orcs, choosing a target for Kae’s first arrow.
If only I could unleash its fire, burn them all before they reach the walls.
Baynard’s separated self suddenly appeared in the sky above the advancing Orcs. It was no longer a copy of the priest, but more like a sheet of his essence. Kae knew it was Baynard, yet not by looking at it.
Can I do such a thing?
Tendrils broke off Baynard’s separated self, shooting down at the Orcs, as sunlight shoots down through new spring storm clouds.
Kae’s own separated self felt Baynard’s attack. The tendrils of Baynard’s Life Force were fear and confusion, madness and hatred for their fellows. Some Orcs were worse affected by it than others. These took axe and sword to their neighbors. One of the catapults was cut down, followed by another.
Baynard leaned forward and grasped Kae’s arm. “Your separated self has no bounds, spread thin enough it could cover the world, yet still remain whole.”
Baynard’s separated self was prying into Kae’s thoughts, but the shield of fog Kae raised to hide his inner mind prevented the priest from gaining entrance. “Cover the world? How?”
Baynard furrowed his forehead then grinned. “Like… like melted butter covers bread, to use words you might better understand. Help me rise now. I am recovered enough to fight again.”
Kae wasn’t sure Baynard was right, but helped him up regardless.
“And the fear and hatred you made them feel, how do you do that?”
Baynard released his arm, apology in his eyes. “You block me too hard and I don’t have the strength to put knowledge directly into your mind. Once Orcs breach the walls, you will be able to use your skills with weapons. Likely that will do more good against these creatures.”
The catapults had ground to a halt. The whistling of a large object rent the air, followed by a terrible crash as the first of the stones hit the walls.
More creaking followed as the Orcs adjusted the catapults now that range was ascertained.
Arrows flew from the ground up. Some reached the top of the wall.
To Kae’s right, a large boulder crashed into a group of the wall’s defenders, Protectors among them.
Kae’s heart raced in his chest. Protector arrows were no match for the stones.
Baynard’s separated self was again a sheet over the Orcs. But the fear and hatred it rained down this time was weak, as high summer showers are weak.
An arrow whistled by Kae, lodged itself in Baynard’s side.
The sheet of his friend’s Life Force vanished from the sky. Baynard’s blood bubbled from behind his fingers as he clutched the wound. His eyes were wide as he looked up at Kae.
Take him from the wall. Find a healer. A priest must not die here. Entan ordered on the air.
Kae needed no urging.
“I’m fine, really, I don’t think I’m grievously wounded. I can yet fight,” Baynard protested.
They left a trail of blood as Kae carried Baynard down to the courtyard. Three Protectors lay dead at the foot of the stairs, mowed down by the Orcs’ rocks. Ryon lay dead among them, half of his head gone.
Kae’s separated self burned, flames rising higher, fed by rage over these useless deaths. Protectors were trained to fight with sword and staffs, not die from stones flung by vile creatures in strange lands.
Kae clutched Baynard’s arm. “Tell me how to use my Life Force against the Orcs. I can end this!”
His separated self already stood among the Orcs. Only a thin linen sheet enclosed its raging flames. Flames hot enough to melt flesh. Kae could release the fire, let flame cover the Orcs. Torch them all until only ashes remained. If only Baynard taught him how.
Baynard’s blood fell to the ground in fat drops, pooled there. If he was not healed soon, he might never be. His eyes were already rolling into the back of his head.
Tell me! Kae yelled directly into the priest’s mind, demanding he agree.
“Just let it cover the skies, then unleash it. You dictate its shape. It must always do your bidding. If you tell it to plant all the fear in the world into the hearts of those it can reach, that is what it will do. Because it must do what you want it to do…”
I can make it cover the world with flames!
Kae looked at Ryon again to fuel his own anger, make the flames rise higher, burn hotter.
He gave all of his attention to his separated self.
Like melted butter over bread…
But his separated self would not expand, would not leave its human shape.
Kae tried harder, pushed and pulled.
Imagined his separated self turning into a river, a sea.
Nothing.
It wouldn’t even fly.
But he had to end this battle. Had to find a healer for Baynard. Had to bring him home.
Had to return home and be near Issa.
All the sadness at the thought of Issa, his forbidden love, turned to red-hot ire.