The High Priestess dipped her fingers into the thick blood and traced the mark of Clear Water on Kindra's back. The blood was Eoin’s and had been substituted for the red ocher that was normally used when preparing for battle. The horse hadn’t been happy with the knife that drew it, but stood still under the hands of the priestess.

It wasn’t often that the warriors prepared for battle, but they had spent the summer licking their wounds, gathering allies and acquiring horses, and now their Monster Tamer was leading them into battle against her husband and his Obsidian army.

“Eoin protect you,” Kaye said as she finished the mark and turned Kindra around. She smeared the remainder of the blood on Kindra’s face, neck, and arms. “Aleda accept you if you fail.”

“Don’t fail,” Gar said, and Kindra knew the mark on his back itched to go with her even as his wound kept him seated.

“We won’t,” she assured him, her mind already distant, already in the battle.

“I don’t care about ‘we’. ‘You’ come back alive.”

“No saving trainees,” Kaye agreed. “No taking on too many men by yourself.”

A smile crept onto Kindra’s face, and she looked at Gar. “If I see any trainees, I will personally beat them unconscious.”

“Good.” He placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her despite the warm blood on her face. His hands left white imprints and her gaze softened briefly. He squeezed her hand. “Go. Scare the life out of those bastards with your monsters.”

She studied his face for a long moment, although half of her mind was already in Deer Valley. "I’ll teach you to ride a horse when I return. You’ll be by my side next time."

He smiled, and she left before he could say anything more.

The battlefield was the same her father fought on—the large, open field of Deer Valley. The Obsidian army was already waiting in a line several deep when the Aledans arrived. Obsid stood in back like a coward. The Aledan warriors who had been able to procure horses lined up in front of the line. Kindra rode back and forth before them, Eoin as eager to charge as she.

No time was wasted on speeches or prayers; when they were ready, they charged.

“For Eoin!” Clear Water unsheathed her sword and kicked Eoin's sides so he jumped ahead of the rest.

“For Eoin!” The scream of the warriors thundered over the hoofs of the horses as they charged.

The Obsidians cowered and ran as Clear Water and her cavalry broke on them in a wave of retribution.