Lilette met the remaining elite’s gaze and saw murder bright in his eyes. He must have known he was going to die, but he was going to kill her first. He stepped onto one of the branches and eased toward her, his sword outstretched.
“Hurry!” she called to Copper Hair.
The elite steadied himself and swung his sword. Lilette had no choice but to let go. She screamed as she fell, crashing through branches, her arms desperately flailing.
A hand shot out, grabbing hold of her trousers and nearly pulling them off her. She squealed and glanced up to see Copper Hair looking down at her, his expression strained as he held on. Half a moment later, another guardian grabbed the back of Lilette’s breastplate and pulled her onto the branch with him. Copper Hair nodded at them both before scrambling after the remaining elite.
The tree was crawling with guardians now. They helped her to the base. She promptly collapsed and lay panting. Her side throbbed, and stars swam in and out of focus before her.
A man, his dark hair streaked with gray, hovered over her, wearing a stunned expression. He had dark features like a Harshen, but his eyes were different—more rounded—and his skin had a reddish-brown tone. “You’re not Sash?” he said in Kalarian.
“No. I’m her sister, Lilette.” She struggled to sit up while pulling her trousers back on. At any other time, she would have been mortified, but she was too relieved to be out of the tree to care.
He reached down and pulled her to her feet. “How—”
“No time. They already know I’m missing.” She handed him Han’s swords—they were useless in her own hands.
“I’m Second Leader Geth.” He took them, keeping one for himself and handing the other to a mountain of a man with kind eyes. Two other guardians stripped the swords from the dead elite.
Geth nodded to two of the guardians who dropped out of the tree—Copper Hair and another small man, each of whom had a sword now. That left six swords to share among what appeared to be over fifty guardians. “The rest of you grab sticks or rocks,” Geth ordered. “Let’s go.”
He motioned for Lilette to come with him. “Soon as we’re in position, I want you up a tree again, singing.” She blanched at the thought of climbing another tree. “Bind up as many of the elite as you can. I’ll leave Galon to guard you.”
Geth and the guardians spread out as Copper Hair—Galon—came in beside her. When they were close to where the witches were being kept, Lilette spotted a fairly tall, sturdy-looking tree. Touching Galon’s arm, she motioned toward it. He nodded wordlessly and secreted himself in the foliage at its base.
She climbed, her hands stinging with scratches from the previous tree. She concentrated on gripping one branch at a time, and never once did she look down. She came high enough to see the witches and the elite who guarded them. It appeared Chen hadn’t pulled any of them to clean up the streets. With about two elite per witch, their numbers were fairly even with the guardians.
Taking a deep breath, she fixed the song in her heart. As soon as it passed her lips, the guardians charged. The elite saw them coming and positioned themselves between the charge and the witches.
It was a terrible thing, watching unarmed guardians charge men armed with two blades. But they did it, fiercely slamming into the enemy and knocking them back.
Lilette’s song faltered when the witches rammed the elite from behind. The witches were bound and gagged, completely defenseless. But the elite didn’t turn and slay them. Instead, they beat them back with hilts, and then turned to face the guardians again.
The guardians were brilliant to watch. Even with her ignorance of sword fighting, Lilette could see their skill. They ducked blades, kicking out with feet and hands. They twisted into the elite’s guard and came back with one of their swords.
And they died. Even with the guardians’ skills and determination, elite reinforcements would arrive any second, and then it would be over.
They didn’t just need to win, they needed to win quickly. Lilette steadied herself. She had to sing perfectly. She had to save them. She put everything she had into it, her voice chiming over the fray.
Vines shot out of the ground, wrapping around the elite’s feet and tripping them, slowing them down. Another voice joined hers. A guardian had managed to free one of the witches. As she sang, she started yanking gags out of other witches’ mouths.
Within moments, half a dozen witches were singing, their voices blending with Lilette’s. In turn they moved to other witches, freeing their mouths.
Growing impossibly fast, plants shot from cracks between the bricks. They stretched, catching at the elite’s feet and binding them. Guardians promptly finished them off, taking their swords—two swords to arm two men. It was over.