The Heartstone Saga by Archibald Bradford (short novels in english .TXT) 📕

moment that he committed himself to the course of action.

I love you, my Nameless Lord, for all time.

Her words, even in his mind, came out thick with tears.

And I you. If I… if I don’t… look after the others for me?

He couldn’t bear to give voice to the thought, but she knew what he was asking.

She sobbed again, but quickly drew upon her angelic will, determined to support him to the very end, whatever that end might be.

Always.

With that Nameless focused himself utterly on the task at hand.

He held no anchors but Volka; they would instinctively try to shield him from what he intended and he couldn’t allow that.

Then he opened his heart to the minds of the surrounding Tenebrae, and didn’t flinch when he felt them inexorably drawing closer, their ravaged souls unable to resist the beacon of love that he presented to them.

Outside of Nameless and Volka’s shared hearts, outside the protective circle of Undines around them, the battle continued with unrelenting violence, the pooling water on the ground was mixed heavily with blood.

Even with the Darkwood Amazon’s help, so many were already dead…

So Nameless Armstrong, beloved of the Valkyrie and monster girls everywhere, cast aside everything that he was and welcomed the chaotic hearts of every Tenebrae on the field into his.

Every Tenebrae save for one, who was weighed down by a numbing blackness which he could not touch.

For an agonizing eternal moment, Volka’s light in his mind, unwavering as it was, was a mere candle against the darkness and pain of the innumerable Tenebrae that he drew within himself.

And then suddenly, her light was all that he could see.

__________

Milly and Erica were feeling superfluous, standing just outside the ring of Undines and watching their master and their bond-sister labour away in their minds.

“Little help!” Someone called.

They tore their eyes off of Nameless long enough to see Miranda and the others approaching with Yana, the warleader still bound up in Jez’s tongue.

Not that she wasn’t struggling: it was a bit awkward for Jana and Kala to carry her with the frog sitting on her, so they rushed over to aid them.

But before they could reach them there was a sharp cry to one side and several of the captured Tenebrae broke loose.

Their resources had been stretched thin, and evidently they had just snapped.

Miranda threw one of her canisters with a curse, stumbling back even as the sticky goo exploded out of it to containing two of the escaped Tenebrae.

But it wasn’t enough to stop them all and suddenly she and her girls were in the thick of it as rest of the Tenebrae set upon them. But at least they weren’t alone for long, Milly and Erica quickly joined them while Kala and Jan were forced to drop Yana, Jez making a whining noise of protest when she fell with her.

Milly battered and threw her opponents down with bellowing lows, her aim to get them away rather than to hurt them, while Kala did similar work with her spear, tripping and swatting the charging girls aside instead of stabbing into them.

Jan had less wiggle room when it came to weaponry; her strength wasn’t a match for the Minotaur or the Amazon so she was forced to use her claws and teeth, though she sought to maim rather than to kill.

It was nearly her undoing as a Katje emerged from nowhere, leaping over another Tenebrae and landing on Jan’s back, tackling her to the ground with a yowling hiss as her claws dug deep.

But Erica rushed in and pulled the smaller cat off of the Wolfen and rolling around in the mud with her, biting and clawing with vicious hisses and snarls, her leather outfit providing some measure of protection for her.

Jan quickly regained her feet and moved to help, and the two soon disabled the cat as a number of Myrmidons broke formations to contain the threat.

“Thanks.” The Wolfen panted, her tongue lolled out.

“I still hate you!” Erica called back as she stalked back to Nameless’s side.

“Naturally!” The Wolfen replied, managing a grin as Miranda checked over her injuries.

The setback with the runaway Tenebrae aside, the battle had definitely shifted in their favour, and obviously the girls from the Darkwood were a big reason for that.

Yana Brael was widely considered to be amongst the most dangerous of Amazons, her dedication and the results of her training unrivalled.

But the Matriarch of the Darkwood was the penultimate embodiment of what an Amazon is.

Which is why, while her warriors were working in teams to take down the more dangerous monsters, she acted alone.

She had no problem matching the fury of even the fiercest Tenebrae on the field with a deep-throated battle-cry so resounding that every Amazon nearby was emboldened by it.

Without breaking stride she headed towards the Manticore that had cost Grant his leg, the large monster girl on all fours while its tail lashed out at everyone and anyone nearby.

That changed in an instant when the Matriarch’s knees locked in place on either side of the girl’s head before she could react and gave her the perfect leverage to strike down with her elbow in a blow that would shatter stone.

From that single hit, the powerful Manticore collapsed in a heap and the Matriarch fluidly rolled off of her to immediately move to the next threat, as if she were merely out for a stroll.

Meanwhile at the back of the Tenebrae line, Jonathan was on his knees and sobbing into his hands, unable to watch as his bond-mate’s schemes began to come apart.

The Valkyrie’s judgment had been absolute, and the guilt he felt was all-encompassing in the face of the carnage he had unleashed.

“What have I done?” He blubbered, his emotions raw after being stripped of