Even Gods Must Fall - Christian Warren Freed Page 0,70

two riding like demons down from the north,” one of her outriders explained. “Neither been able to speak yet. We figure they run into some pretty nasty action with Commander Harlan’s troops.”

“How do you figure they’re with Harlan?” she asked, stiffening.

“Well ma’am, you can’t really see it but they got the proper insignia sewn into their tunics,” the second outrider told her.

Ingrid’s blood went cold. Horrible images of what might have happened to Harlan and his column played havoc with her nerves. He was responsible for nearly nine hundred fighters. If the others were in the same condition as the pair sitting before her, she worried greatly. Fully a third of her field force might easily have been destroyed.

Ingrid felt pity for the pair but as a commander she lacked the luxury of expressing such. She licked her lips. “Trooper, what happened to you? Where is Commander Harlan?”

One of Harlan’s people slowly raised his gaze, the thousand-yard stare looking far beyond Ingrid and Bahr. When he spoke, his words were broken, horrified. “He…they…all dead. We just mana….”

The onslaught of tears sent his haggard body into convulsions, effectively cutting off what little conversation remained. His mind hovered over the faintest definition of snapping, leaving him lost in the void until Lord Death came to claim him. Ingrid almost hoped it would be soon. No one deserved to live like this.

“All dead? How is this possible? He had one of the largest forces in western Delranan.” She fumed, failing to admit the only possible conclusion. Harlan must have run across the Goblin army and been obliterated.

“Can we verify this?” Bahr said, speaking quickly in order to maintain Ingrid’s grasp of power. Any lack of decisiveness would instantly erode her already tenuous hold on the fragments of the rebellion. “We need to have proof before we act.”

“Lord Bahr, I’ve already ordered a pair of scouts to check the area these two came from,” the lead outrider said with rigid formality.

Bahr waved his protocol off. “I’m not lord. Bahr is enough. Let us know the moment they return. If Harlan ran into what I think he did we all might be in trouble.”

The Sea Wolf cast a worried glance to Ingrid, who merely sat atop her horse with trembling lips and fresh doubts darkening her eyes. Keeping her on course was going to prove problematic. From what he knew, she was the sort who was governed by her emotions.

Ingrid stared deeply into the fire without blinking. Her hands shook, ever so slightly, but enough for Bahr to take notice. She’d barely uttered a word since the bloodied survivors of Harlan’s column arrived. The inconceivable had just happened and her power was greatly reduced. She lost the end of the war from her vision, knowing that Harnin One Eye would take his murderous forces west and crush her without effort. She had nothing left with which to stop him. Months of constant struggle and overriding sorrow crashed down around her carefully constructed world. She had failed.

Unused to giving in to tragedy, Bahr resisted the urge to reach out and slap Ingrid back to reality. She needed a firm yet cautious hand. Too much force would push her deeper into the misery of her mind’s construction. The rebellion, and his cause as well, would be lost in mere moments.

“Ingrid, you still have almost two thousand people to see to,” he said. His tone was gentle, quiet. “You can’t be seen like this.”

“And offer them false hope?” she replied. Venom dripped from her words. “It’s over, Bahr. I failed. All this time I thought I was leading our people to victory but have only succeeded in getting them slaughtered. I wish I had never taken control.”

“Talking like that will only make you more miserable. You can’t change the past, Ingrid. Believe me. I’ve spent countless nights staring at the ceiling thinking about what I could have done differently. None of that matters. The only thing you need to do is look to tomorrow.”

“To what point? I’m a fraud. This rebellion was doomed from the onset.”

Frowning, Bahr decided to scold her like a small child. “Enough of this. Wars are fluid. Some days there is victory. Others defeat. You’re a leader, whether you can handle it or not doesn’t matter. These people look to you for guidance. What good will it do them to find you wallowing in your self-pity while the same despair creeps through their hearts? They need you. They need to see you sitting atop