The Guardians

Chapter 74

The six companions emerged from Citori to see the Wilders retreating, along with Arlan's army. Although Arlan's army seemed to be the faster of the two.

"Have we truly won?" Neve asked. "Is the war over?" She seemed amazed. In truth, so was Aiden.

"Only time will tell," Aiden answered.

Bodies littered the field, human, Dragon and he was sure he'd seen a few Valkyrie.

"But I fear the cost of this victory," he added.

Saren nodded.

"Come," Lyra said, her hand on Aiden's arm. "Let us see survey the damage and see how many of the badly wounded I can save."

Aiden's soldiers and the Valkyrie were already sorting through the bodies, quickly taking wounded to the spellcasters with healing abilities. Others were separating their fallen brothers from Arlan and Sari's dead.

Lyra immediately joined the healers to see what she could do. Men cried out in pain, begging the healers to end it. Lyra sent the weaker healers to work on those that were the least wounded, while she started with the dying.

"Do not exert yourselves. If you begin to feel weak, let one of the others know. I do not want to see anyone kill themselves."

As she administered to them, soldiers in Arlan and Sari's livery begged for mercy. Begged to be allowed to live, swearing by all the gods that they would swear loyalty to Aiden. Lyra worked on each one of them, truly not caring if they meant their words or not. All she cared for was saving those she could.

Kara breathed a sigh of relief as their enemy began to retreat. Several of the spellcasters behind her cheered. They'd been forced into two groups when a group of Wilders had charged through them. She'd lost sight of Lex, Grace, and Will. As for Will, she feared he was lost. When the Wilders had charged, he counter charged them. Kara had thrown up a blindness illusion, but that had only seemed to make things worst. Will had been pushed into the thick of battle and she'd completely lost sight of him. The spellcasters that had been behind her immediately began to disperse to see what aid to their fellow soldiers they could provide. Kara closed her eyes and took several breaths to calm herself, now that the adrenaline of the battle was wearing off. She started when someone touched her.

"Kara? Are you alright?" Lex had survived. And Kara was glad.

"I'm fine. And you? What of Grace and Will?"

Will kept an eye on the weaker spellcasters as he plied his poultices to the soldiers with minor injuries. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Kara. He immediately stood and pulled her towards him, overjoyed she was still standing.

"Thank the gods," he breathed.

"I should be saying the same." She placed her hands on his cheeks, tears in her eyes. "You scared me when you charged in like that. I feared for you."

Will's charge had been done in a desperate effort to keep the Wilders from doing any more damage to the spellcasters. And one he never would have done had it not been for Lyra's training. They'd already had separated them into two groups and Will hadn't wanted them to separate them more. When they suddenly went into a panic, he'd known Kara had placed an illusion on them. But Will had been thrust into the thick of battle, leaving Kara to protect the spellcasters and forcing him to use all of the sword skill he possessed. He'd been wounded in the fray.