Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 30 of 619

Ajax turned from the sealed pit. Above the shelf, hooves struck stone. Eight riders came down the switchback in a loose line, torches lit, blades already out. They had heard their hunter scream. They were not slowing. "Grayson, with me at the seam," Ajax said. "Marco and Asher on the choke where the trail spills onto the flat. Tucker high, on the ledge. Chalam, hold Elara upright." Marco and Asher moved without a word. They took the narrow place where the trail opened onto the shelf, blades from the deep grove smith drawn low. Tucker climbed the rock above it with the short axe and a handful of stones. He did not smile. "Two on the ledge cover me," Tucker said down. "Rest of you handle the door." The first two riders hit the choke at speed. Marco stepped inside the lead horse's line and cut its foreleg. The horse went down hard. The rider tumbled forward onto Asher's blade. Asher pulled it clear and stepped back into stance before the man finished falling. The second rider swung wide. Tucker's stone caught him at the temple. He slid off the saddle. Marco finished him on the ground. Four riders dismounted at the switchback and came on foot, spread out. Two more went wide along the cliff edge to flank. "Elara," Ajax said. She was on one knee, one hand braced on Chalam's staff. She lifted her free hand. A line of white light lanced across the flat and struck the two flankers in the eyes. They stopped, blinded. Grayson closed the gap in four strides and put both down. Elara sagged. Chalam caught her under the arms. "That's the last I have," she said. "I'm sorry." "Enough," Chalam said. He set her against the rock. He raised the staff and spoke a short word. The ash he had used to seal the pit lifted from the stone and drove into the face of the nearest attacker as grit. The man clawed at his eyes. Asher stepped in and killed him. Three left. They saw the shape of it now and broke for their horses. Tucker dropped from the ledge onto the back of the slowest and rode him to the ground. Marco caught another at the switchback. The last rider made it to the trail and did not look back. Ajax let him go. A living witness would carry the story back and no one else would come cheap. The shelf went quiet. Ajax counted his own. Grayson had a cut along the ribs. Marco's sleeve was wet. Elara was breathing but pale as milk. Chalam knelt beside her with a hand at her throat. "She spent too much," he said. "She'll live. She won't cast again for a long while." Ajax looked at the bodies on his stone. The seat was sealed. The hunter was gone. The walls were still standing. He had held the coast. He had also just burned his healer.