Hadley fought against the groan threatening to give away her exhaustion. She’d barely slept, tossing and turning on the stony ground, watching Kade as he disappeared into the night, anxiety growing every time he stepped closer to the riverbank.
At some point, he’d returned their water skins, and she drank greedily before looping her belt end through the link at the top
Her eyes were gritty, her body aching, and stiff as Kade kicked dirt over the embers of the fire. “We’ll find something to eat on the other side, I want to make use of the bad light.”
Hadley nodded vaguely, scanning the slightest tinge of pink cresting the horizon. Her stomach tightened as they came nearer the river. Worry dripped down her as she checked for signs of the warriors. The lack of them doing little to soothe her concern as Kade motioned to the bridge. “I need your help to put it in the river.”
Hadley nodded, and swallowed, her mouth dry as they stepped downwards, her hand gripping the planks, her feet sliding slightly on the loose soil of the bank. “How do you know they’re gone?”
Kade’s voice was strained as he carried the heavier end of the narrow bridge. How he expected to anchor it so they could cross was beyond her. Her nerves increased as he bent to place the bridge on the pebbled bank.
“I’ve been watching for the last hour or so, no movement.”
Hadley’s stomach knotted as he pulled the bridge along the pebbles, the grating sound wearing on her already frayed nerves.
He stood at the water’s edge, extended a hand and looked at her expectantly. “See that tree up there? There’s a broken off branch. I’m going to haul this rope and try to anchor us, I’ll hide the bridge so we can use it on the way back. But that’s the last allowance I make. Got it?”
Hadley took a small step towards the boards, now floating on the water, only secured by his foot around a piece of rope. “Hurry up.”
Her heart crashing around as she watched the water flow past, she grasped his outstretched hand and took a step. The boards swayed underneath her, her stomach muscles tightened, Kade’s iron grip steadied her as he climbed on.
He balanced, holding onto her shoulders, looking unperturbed as though he’d done it a hundred times.
In an attempt to distract herself from the water rushing underneath them, her eyes locked on the riverbank as Kade held her firm, his feet planted wide as he watched for an opening.
His frown didn’t decrease before he took his hands off her shoulders. Hadley concentrated on copying his stance, carefully edging her feet outwards till she found her weight more evenly placed.
Kade pulled the rope off his shoulder and laced it into a loop, creeping as close to the bank as possible, his forehead creasing in concentration as he swung the rope in a circle above his head.
“When it snags, grab hold of me.”
Hadley nodded and took note of the way he’d placed his foot into a loop of rope jutting out from the boards. If it worked, it was clever, and if he missed there were a few more trees further downstream he could try for. Not so dumb after all.
Hadley steeled herself to grab him. The tree looming closer, he released the rope. Hadley held her breath as the rope landed on a sturdy branch and snagged. The rope went taut, and Hadley near leapt at Kade as the craft jolted them.
She hugged his waist, feeling his stomach muscles contract as he pulled them, using the rope to slowly get them to the opposite river bank. His foot still locked in the rope, he turned slightly, his voice tight as he looked over his shoulder at her. “Get ready to jump. You only get one chance at this.”
Her heart rate increased, muscles priming to act, Hadley loosened her hold and braced herself, legs bent as she judged the distance.
The craft knocked into something beneath the water, and she almost banged into Kade. He frowned at her, but when he yelled, she launched forwards and landed on her feet. Before she could turn, Kade had jumped alongside her and was pulling the craft onto the riverbank.
“Up. And keep your eyes open for any movement.” Anxiety causing her throat to constrict, Hadley clawed at the bank, grasping on to roots, dirt slipping from under her toes, she scrambled upwards. Breathing heavy as she scanned the area for the warriors.
Kade hefted himself upwards and did the same, his eyes shifting from side to side as he caught his breath. “Now comes the hard part.”
Hadley gaped at him. “That was easy?”
His lips twitched as though he were holding back a smile. “The nearest town might have horses we can steal, but we need to get moving, or we’ll miss the chance.”
Without a word, he began walking, adjusting the water skin attached to a belt at his waist. Hadley huffed out a sigh as she cast a look around the barren land of the infamous Numachi warriors. If Kade thought the river crossing was easy, how hard would the next part be?
Kade picked up his pace, hoping Hadley was able to match it. They needed to be quick while out in the open, and they needed to find cover before the sun rose fully. He scanned the horizon. Dust swirled around them, dry, parched dirt stretched out for kilometres, broken up by the occasional sprinkling of spiky plants, which he could hack open and find some moisture if need be.
He glanced at Hadley as she struggled, slacking off slightly to accommodate her. He frowned, keeping his complaint to himself. Newbies didn’t usually struggle this early on, but he wasn’t dealing with a usual newbie, and he needed to adapt. Try to figure out where Hadley’s strengths lay and utilise those.
He knew she could climb, but the crazy stunt she’d pulled, swinging like an ape from the branches was a little too reckless even for him. What was worse was that she’d looked so undeniably comfortable doing so. He frowned as he scanned again, grateful for the wind, and the river chilling the sometimes unbearably hot country.
Kade glanced sidelong at her. “You can climb anything then?”
Hadley looked surprised at the question, but she nodded. “I had to learn.”
A smile tugged at his lips at the response. “Perfect.”
It was perfect. Climbing was essential, but so was speed. So far, he knew she was quick, but under pressure, mistakes were made. This was too important. If they got to Lazen unspotted, he needed to know she could climb and at a push, run the rooftops, like he and all the senior Stormers could.
He looked at her again, a knot of worry forming as he assessed her. With her chest constricted, any prolonged exertion might prove problematic. Especially if she overheated.
Another reason, another thing to consider, another headache. He slackened his pace even more, his jaw working as he watched her breaths coming in too rapidly.
Finally, after sending surreptitious glances her way, he spotted the run-down shack he’d loaded with supplies and paid an old crone, who the Numachi despised, to watch over. It was so far away it was a mere glitch on the horizon, but a wave of relief flooded over him at the sight. She wasn’t complaining, but she looked utterly miserable.
“Not long, then we can take a break.”
She gave him a hard look which could only be interpreted as indignant. Her voice was clipped as she replied. “Don’t make allowances for me, I can keep up.”
To illustrate her point she began walking faster, and Kade was left staring incredulously at her back. He scowled at her and hurried to catch up. Shaking his head at her stubbornness.
This was going to be a very long journey.
Hadley’s back was slick with sweat as she near collapsed inside the dilapidated shack. Dust billowed into the air as she leaned against the flimsy walls. Her scalp itching unbearably, she scratched at it furiously, leaving even more black under her fingernails.
Never had she before been so glad to rest, though she knew she only had herself to blame. If Kade hadn’t known who she was, she probably would have accepted his slower pace, but she refused to allow him the satisfaction of being right. About anything.
She winced as she stretched out her toes, feeling the pull of taut muscle in her burning calv
es. Her chest swelling uncomfortably, the bindings rubbing against her, the brief respite in the tavern hadn’t been enough to heal the friction burns. She glared at Kade’s back and wondered irritably how long till she could remove them.
She slumped against the shack, peering around it, the sun now high and illuminating the tiny space. Cracks of light wound inside the wooden structure. Kade was busy, his back to her as he rummaged about in a battered tin chest. Her throat hot and dry, she drained the last drop of water and winced as her stomach rumbled noisily.
Kade turned slightly, a wry look on his dust-covered face and threw a balled-up package, the size of her fist at her feet. “Dried beef, should still be good.”
Hadley silently unwrapped the parcel. Her jaw aching as she fought against the chewy leathery consistency. She swallowed thickly as it snagged on her dry throat.
Without so much as a backwards glance, Kade tossed his water skin at her. “You need to drink little and often. You obviously didn’t remember that.”
Hadley took a sip of his water, frowning when she noted it was half full. How had she not noticed he’d been conserving it? Was he doing it for her? Because he knew she would run out?
Her voice was tight when she spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Kade sighed heavily. “I did tell you. And I told you I’m not making any allowances for you. Learning the hard way is better than winding up dead.”
Hadley capped the skin, and pushed it to one side, refusing to take any more of what was his. He was right, though she was loath to admit it. She should have thought of it before now. How many lessons did he plan on teaching ‘the hard way?’.
She leaned her head back and pulled at the beef strips, closing her eyes for the briefest of moments, wishing she could hasten the journey somehow. Thomas’s face drifted to her mind, and she chastened herself for allowing her situation to somehow override her.
He was out there somewhere. Probably scared, possibly hurt and most likely far worse off than she was. Even if Kade was irritating, he could have turned out to be so much worse. Rumours of Stormers had reached her before. Vague at best, but never in association with anything positive. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her, a curious look on his weary face. His frown returned as he gestured to the tin chest. “Someone’s gotten in here. Nicked a few things.”
“You’ve been robbed?”
He shrugged as though it weren’t an issue. “Not robbed. Just a couple things gone. Blankets, cacao butter, extra waterskin.”
“Aren’t those essential? Should we turn back?”
At the snort of derision, she pulled her shoulders back ready for the argument surely to come. But he only frowned slightly before dropping alongside her with a tin, much like her boot polish in his hand. “We don’t turn back. We adapt.”
He unscrewed the lid, talking as he put his finger inside, and held up a glob of dark paste. “Numachi warriors use different coloured face and body paint to distinguish tribes. When I come over here, I use green. Apparently, it signifies earth or some twaddle. I don’t really care, as long as it gets me into towns without too much difficulty.”
He reached over, eyes narrowed as he dragged his finger down the side of her face, along her cheekbones and forehead.
Hadley held her breath as he worked, a shiver ran down her spine at his touch, and her heart began thudding a little too fast.
He rocked back on his heels and peered at her, avoiding her gaze as he examined his work. “It’ll do, they probably won’t stop you, but if they do, say “Nomahi wray.”
Hadley frowned at him. “What does it mean?”
He moved back slightly and began decorating his cheeks with short swipes. “It means my master forbids me to speak.”
Hadley raised an eyebrow. Master? “It’ll only work if they don’t already suspect you. First time I tried it as a newbie, I got a knife through my hand.”
He lifted his hand and twisted his wrist to show her a short jagged white scar on the back of his tanned hand. “Worth a shot though.”
Hadley watched him in silence, her trepidation growing, questions blossoming in her mind. So many she knew he wouldn’t answer. She cleared her throat as he settled on the floor, a piece of dried meat in his hand. “How long can we stay here? Is it even safe?”
Kade swallowed and rolled his shoulders back, flinching slightly. “Not long, and it should be safe. That outcropping of rocks we passed…there’s an old woman who Numachi think is some kind of witch, they leave her alone mostly.”
Hadley cocked her head at him. “How did you meet a witch?”
He chewed for a few beats before shaking his head. “Not a witch as such, just what we’d probably call one. The Numachi call her a soothsayer, I think. And I stumbled across her. I helped her out, and she agreed to watch my shack.”
“What did you do to help her?”
He shrugged as though it was irrelevant and carried on eating as dozens of questions begged to be asked. “So they just avoid her?”
Kade winced and gave her a strange look before unstrapping the buckles securing his knives. She frowned at him for a moment, wondering what he was doing, when he unlaced his vest and threw it towards the still open chest.
Her heart rate sped again as he sat bare-chested, while he fumbled with something beside him. His torso bore crisscrossed scars, some fresh, like his arrow wound but most fading into pale against his tanned skin. Her stomach tugged as he pulled on a dark linen vest over his defined upper body, then reattached his knives.
With the painted face, and knives strapped to his body, he looked fearsome. No wonder people were wary of Stormers.
He closed his eyes, head drooping slightly, and Hadley watched closely, to see if he’d fall asleep. He must be exhausted, they’d not had a great deal of rest since leaving the camp. She’d had more than he had. Her brow knotted at the realisation he’d allowed her to sleep while he’d been busy finding a solution to crossing the river.
Perhaps he wasn’t bothered by lack of rest? Maybe he was used to it? It was part of his job surely? Hadley closed her eyes again, this time, trying to imagine what life would be like when they found Thomas.
She huffed out a sigh wishing she could ask him. Refusing to believe for even one moment, that he couldn’t be found.
If she gave up on that hope. She had no hope at all.
Chapter Seven
Hot sun baking his back from where he hid, Kade’s fingers twitched at his side as he hid from the elderly tribesman tending his meagre garden. An unwelcome pang of guilt struck him at stealing from what was obviously not a wealthy man, but he needed to get to Lazen, and this was the first horse tethered outside one of the mud and thatch cottages they’d seen.
This part of the countryside, closest to the river, was sparsely populated, and it was blind luck they’d found a cottage so quickly. From the miserable looks Hadley was sending his way, it was just in time. Another few hours and she’d likely flake, and he’d be forced to carry her or find somewhere she could rest.
His eyes flicked to the sturdy cart horse that he hoped would last them the two-day trek. The animal was feathered around the hooves, tan, broad and looked strong enough to carry them both.
Kade peered around the corner of the earthen cottage, every nerve tingling as Hadley waited directly behind him, ready and waiting for the signal.
He pressed his lips together, still uncertain of how to work things out. There was too much that could go wrong, too much already had. If he had any belief in the gods, he’d think he was out of favour with them. But he’d stopped caring about such things when his parents had died, and his thoughts had been of survival and nothing else.
The old man turned on his heel, slowly as though the movement caused him pain, making Kade feel a fraction worse. At the sound of the door closing, Kade eased out from his hiding place. Wary of alarming the horse, he kept his movements slow as he made his way across the patch of dirt, Hadley hot on his heels exactly as he�
��d instructed her.
Kade approached, taking care to use a soothing voice as he ran his hand down the horse’s snout. He swung up, expecting the animal to jostle him, but the mount was blessedly mellow as he pulled Hadley up with a grunt of effort.
Hadley snug against his back, the reek of boot polish filling his nostrils, he clucked at the horse and gently kicked his heels. Kade’s muscles stayed tense until the cottage was nothing more than a blot on the arid landscape.
He took a breath as he scanned the horizon. It would never be described as a beautiful land. Not much survived out here. Even with the river nearby, there wasn’t a lot to look at. Dry rust coloured earth, dust that seemed to pick up on a whim, casting everything in a dull shade of brown. The sun seemed stronger, harsher. He’d learned early on, to stay out of it when possible.
His lips quirked when he felt Hadley stiffen behind him, her arms still wrapped around his waist. Her voice rough as she spoke. “How long till Lazen?”
Kade kept her waiting while he figured out how long. He’d only used this pass twice before, and both times he’d made it by riding nonstop, only taking brief stops. Could he push her that much? She wasn’t seasoned to the saddle like he was.
He worked his jaw until it grew tight before giving her a clipped response. “Two days, if we don’t dawdle.”
Hadley released the slightest of sighs, her breath tickling the back of his neck sending a shiver down his spine. They plodded on, the animal steady as he navigated the rocky terrain that skirted the foot of the mountains.
He ignored his thirst for as long as possible, only taking a small sip from his waterskin, before passing it back to Hadley. He felt her shake her head. “I’m fine.”
Kade turned slightly, so he was peering over his shoulder at her. Frowning at the set to her face, then at the absence of her coat. “Where is your jacket?”
She shrugged, her cheeks pink, sweat trickling down her brow. “I was hot. I took it off.”
A curse escaped as he turned the horse so he could scan the expanse they’d crossed. Nothing remotely resembling the woollen coat was visible.
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