Armed only with bows and arrows, they’re unprepared for close combat. I carve the air in a wide arc and open the closest one’s throat then immediately turn and drive the bloody tip through another’s heart. Both men drop their weapons. I dip and scoop up one of their bows. “Ara!” I call to my sister, who is ramming her blade into the lower back of an Urthman she felled. “Here!” I toss it to her. She catches it with one hand. Gifted with a bow and quiver full of arrows, she’s small but deadly. She collects arrows from the blood-soaked sand and turns to the gates as Urthmen guards wielding clubs and blades stream from them. She fires arrow after arrow. Whistling through the air, they’re deadly missiles. None miss their intended target. One after another, the Urtmen guards fall.
While Ara assails them with her arrows, Micah, Xan, Kai, Pike, Reyna and I finish off the archers. Once all are dead, we rush the gates, meeting guards as they run through. The clash of swords is nonstop. Grunts and cries blend with it. I kill as many as I come across. I watch as the others do the same. The fall as fast as they arrive. When the guard who led us here today arrives, I charge him straightaway, driving my blade through his midsection. He collapses around my sword and I quickly remove it. He falls to the ground in a heap. As soon as he hits the ground, unmoving, I crouch and strip him of the key ring that hangs from his belt. Hands trembling from exertion and fear, I close my fingers around them and grip them tightly. “I have them!” I call out. I look up and my gaze meets with Reyna’s. She clips her head toward me in acknowledgment and rushes toward me. Seeing her, Ara, Pike, Micah, Xan and Kai follow. We race into the cage in which we waited not long ago. I fumble with the keys. “Come on! Come on!” I say. Finally, I find the right one and unlock the inside gate. “We need to get back to the cells!”
“No!” Xan shouts. “We need to leave now. You have your brother and sister. We don’t need to go back.”
Whirling on him, I snap, “Yes we do! We need Brad!”
“The bred human?” Xan spits the name incredulously.
“He’s our key to getting out of here. We’ll never get past all the Urthmen outside without him.”
“I don’t understand. How will he get us out of the front gates? He’s no one. He has no leverage. They’ll still fire arrows on us.” Xan is heated. He hasn’t seen what I’ve seen. He doesn’t know about the weapons at the Task Center.
“We aren’t going out the front gate yet,” I reply.
“Where the heck are we going then? The only way out of here is through the front gates!” Frustration shapes his face.
“We’re going to the Task Center.” I turn on my heels and run down the first of a labyrinth of corridors that leads to the cells. I offer no further explanation. I feel Xan’s eyes boring into me. His confusion and annoyance are palpable. But I don’t care. All will be explained and revealed once we reach the Task Center, once he sees what awaits us. Then he will understand why we’re doing what we’re doing. He’ll understand why I protected Brad. He’ll understand why Brad is the key to our escape.
Chapter 5
Ensnared in a net of icy prickles, panic spreads through my body. Suddenly cold and lightheaded, a sheen of sweat coats my back. Voices around me are muffled, as if I’m hearing them from underwater. The only sound I hear clearly is that of my feet taking turns hitting the stone floor, and the pounding of my heart. Running down the hallway in the direction of the cells, the reality of all that’s transpired—that I’ve killed Prince Cadogan and am in the process of leading an escape—has hit me. My chest is tight. My breaths are short, staccato bursts. All I can think is that this is happening. This is real.
I only allow myself a moment to panic. Just a moment. A quick look to my left gives me two reasons to recalibrate. To focus. Ara and Pike. They are why I’m doing this. I vowed to protect them. To keep them alive. I calm myself, inhaling so deep my belly protrudes, then exhale through pursed lips. They will live. I’ll make sure of it. That’s my mantra. That’s what’ll keep me together as I work through a plan that was just formed hours ago, the details of which remain loose ends.
Loose ends don’t matter now. Prince Cadogan is dead. An arena filled with Urthmen watched me launch a spear through his throat. I’m the most hunted being here. Every Urthman guard is looking for me, and every Urthman will recognize me. Their Champion. The slayer of their Prince. That detail was one I hadn’t considered, that everyone knows my face. No matter. As long as Ara and Pike are safe, I don’t care what happens to me. I’d like to live. But if I don’t, freedom and safety for my sister and brother will make dying worthwhile.
“We need to head for the front gates now. Forget the Task Center! Whatever’s there is gonna get us killed! If we wait, there’ll be hundreds of guards at the gate. It’s the only way out!” Xan’s urgent tone ups the tempo of my pulse.
“He might be right.” Kai’s voice is smooth and even, only this time, it does little to calm me.
“I’m sure they already have the front gate secured. We’re screwed!” Micah chimes in.
“Let them all go to the front gate. I told you, we aren’t going there,” I say. Pants and huffs intersperse between words as we run full speed toward the cells.
“Lucas, this whole place is surrounded by fences with barbed wire. It’ll tear us to pieces if we try to climb.” The rumble of Kai’s voice raises the fine hairs on the back of my neck.
“Trust me. I have a plan. But we need to get back to our cells,” I say. That much is true. My plan depends on getting to the cells, or more specifically, on getting Brad. But now isn’t the time to explain. Especially when, at the end of the hall, roughly ten Urthmen have turned the corner and spot us. Ara races out in front of our group. I inhale to call out her name, but the word freezes in my throat when I watch her pull an arrow and expertly fire it into the eye of the closest Urthman. Without hesitation, she reloads and sends another one screaming into the throat of the next guard. Both Urthmen fall. Still, she doesn’t stop. Another arrow is released. Within seconds, it lodges in the heart of a third guard. “Get back!” I tell her. I can’t allow her to remain out in front of us as she is any longer. The remaining seven are closing in on us. Ara retreats, a fact I’m grateful for. As soon as she’s close, I place my body in front of her, pulling her behind me. I do so just as the first in the surviving Urthman group is upon me. He releases a grunt and cleaves the air with his sword with all his might. I raise mine just in time to avoid having my skull halved. The clang of metal meeting metal rings in my ears as I push against his weight, shoving him back. He loses his footing and stumbles. I drive my blade into his gut. His weapon falls and both hands move to the wound. I yank my sword back, watching as he falls to his knees first, then to his face. Micah and Xan rush toward the guards that flanked him, taking them out with ease. Kai grabs one by his skull before he ever swings his weapon, gouging his dark eyes and palming his face. The Urthman cries out in pain but his screaming ends the moment Kai throws his substantial weight behind him and drills the Urthman’s skull into the stone wall behind him. The pop and crunch of bone and matter crushing against the wall is a nauseating sound. The Urthman’s body sags in Kai’s colossal hand while a wet slop of blood and bits of bone and brain remains on the wall. Another Urthman strikes from behind. Kai whirls on him. The sight of Kai, enormous and trembling with rage, gives him a split second of hesitation. Kai capitalizes on it and drives his blade into the Urthman’s midsection. The Urthman drops to the hard floor below with a thump. I see it fleetingly but am distracted by the one who advances on Pike. A guard rushes Pike. Watching my younger brother deflect swings intended to end his life makes me want to scream for him to run, to throw myself between them and protect him. But I can’t. Another guard comes at me. I block his swipes and drag my blade across his throat as he tries to circle around me, his feet quick but my blade quicker. In my periphery, Xan and Micah each battle Urthmen. Pike drops low and steps sideways. As he does, he slashes the air and opens up the calf of the Urthman he fights. The Urthm
an howls out in pain and falters. Pike sees his opportunity and stabs his blade straight through his heart. The guard’s eyes widen just before they grow vacant, life escaping him quickly. A scream from Ara rips both of our attention from Pike’s victory. I whip my head around and see an Urthman has her pinned to the floor, one leg on either side of her and his blade clutched between both hands. He’s poised to kill her. In the space of a breath, I lunge forward, thrusting my sword out. I bury it to its hilt in the guard’s back so that the blade sticks out the other side. He releases his grip on his weapon and I yank mine from his body as he falls to his side.
Ara rolls away from him and springs to her feet. Panicked pants, short and shallow, wheeze from her lips and her eyes are filled with tears. “Thanks,” she says once she catches her breath. There’s a tremor in her voice. She’s visibly shaken. So am I. Her life could’ve ended in the blink of an eye. I want to wrap an arm around her shoulder. To comfort not just her but myself, as well. Time doesn’t allow for it. Even though all of the Urthmen who attacked moments ago are dead, more will come. We need to move as fast as we can. We need to get Brad.
“Let’s move,” I say to everyone.
Chests heaving from battle and adrenaline, Kai, Pike, Micah, Xan and Ara nod in agreement. We set off running again.
Pike is beside me. I turn my head toward him and say, “Good job.”
A small smile steals across his face. “For what?” His eyes remain facing forward.
“That Urthman back there, that’s what,” I reply after making a pfft sound.
“Thanks,” Pike says, only this time he struggles to hide his smile.
I say nothing more on the subject. He knows I’m proud of him. That’s all I wanted.
We follow each corridor until we reach the cells. Most of the men and women are gone, taken to the arena to fight I assume. Only six remain in the male cell and four in the female. I panic as I scan the faces. For a moment I don’t see Brad. Upon closer inspection, I see his long, lanky body leaning against the wall with his legs tucked to his chest. A tuft of pale brown hair sticks up and his eyes are still puffy and red-rimmed from crying.
“Everyone up! We’re leaving!” I shout.
After a brief period of furtive glances, movement toward the door is quick. I open the gate with the keys I took from the guard that brought us here after I killed him. “Let’s go, Brad.”
Brad looks at me, bewildered.
“Come on,” I order and leave no room for argument.
A girl named Ashlyn passes me as she exits the cell. “How are you free?” her expression is a blend of shock and confusion. Everyone that I’m freeing shares her expression.
“I’ll tell you another time. Right now we need to get out of here as quickly as possible,” I answer.
My escape plan was never shared with anyone in any detail. Besides my brother and sister, Kai, Reyna, Micah and Xan, no one knew what would happen exactly, just that I was going to attempt an escape. I’m sure they’d heard others talk of it before. I’m sure some even attempted it in the past. But none were successful as far as I know. I didn’t trust anyone to keep my secret. And I’m sure they wouldn’t have trusted that I’d come through. Leaving here, for many, is an impossible dream. And while the faces of each person that passes looks confused and fearful, they’re moving quickly. They’re trying. I’m not sure that they trust me to lead them to freedom, but their feet shuffle forward.
“What’s going on?” a woman I’ve heard called Tamara asks.
“How’d you do this?” a painfully thin man no older than I am asks.
“Please, we need to go!” I say in a sharp tone. We need to leave and we need to leave fast. Now. Part of me wants to shout, “Just shut up and listen to me! The longer we stay the more likely it becomes we’ll die!” But I don’t.
Brad stares at me in shock, as if he’s read my thoughts. I know he hasn’t. He’s horrified by the tone I used not the one I wanted to use. I bet none of the “bred” humans in the Task Center raise their voices. They’re far too civilized. My thoughts are purely acerbic. “You honestly expect me to leave here and venture out into the Urthman world?” Brad asks. His palm is pressed to his chest and both eyebrows are high. I glower at him and offer an almost imperceptible nod, “Well I’m not.” He shakes his head and folds his arms across his chest like a petulant child. “I’m not coming. I’ll just stay here and die.”
“You are coming or we’re going to drag you!” I growl through gritted teeth.
Xan is suddenly at my side. Arms out at either side and with a bloodstained sword in one hand, Xan looks more like the Champion than I do. “Just leave him. Who cares if he dies?”
“Yeah, he’s useless,” Micah joins and chimes in. “He can’t fight and my sword weighs more than he does.”
“We’re not leaving him,” I snap. “We need him.”
Fawn colored eyes widen. Brad, sitting moments ago, stands. “You need me?” he asks.
“Yeah, we do,” I answer, though I hesitate to inflate his air of superiority further.
“Why do you need me?” Brad leans forward, anticipating a flattering answer.
“We aren’t leaving just yet,” I say. “There are humans at the Task Center. We need to get there. To them. Okay?”
“Yes, that’s all well and good, but you may be wasting your time there. They won’t help you. They think you’re savages. You’re not bred humans. You’re not one of them.” Brad smiles as though he’s solved the problem of our escape.
“No we’re not. But you are.” I level him with my gaze, watching as he withers. “They’ll let you in.”
His mouth hangs agape. “Wh-why would I put them in danger?” he asks when finally he’s able to choke out the words.
“Why?” I ask and repeat his question angrily. “Because now you know the truth.”
“The truth?” Brad asks. His battered face and hand should be truth enough.
“You’re all pawns to them. To the Urthmen,” I reply. I clip my chin toward his bandaged hand. “The second you’re no longer useful to them, they’ll kill you. Here in the arena or wherever they choose.”
“But that’s not true!” Brad protests. “Aaron’s brother was sent to a retirement center!”
His shrill voice drills my ear drums. He’s delusional. And infuriating me in a way that makes my teeth hurt. Aaron, the person to whom he refers, was the human in charge at the Task Center the day I went there with Ara, Pike and Kohl. I remember him well. He possessed the same air of entitlement Brad possesses.
“Aaron’s brother was murdered.” Kai’s deep voice is a clap of thunder. “Make no mistake about it.”
“I get that now,” Brad replies.
“Do you though? The more you talk, the less I thing you get it!” I snarl. “You just whined that he was sent to a retirement center!”
“I heard myself say it,” Brad says feebly. “Heard how stupid it sounded given that I’m here and what they had in store for me.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. “Is it true there are working guns at the Task Center?” I ask and open them. I stare directly into Brad’s eyes.
“Yes,” he affirms proudly. “The first ones in over a hundred years.”
“They let humans have access to weapons like that?” Kai asks. He doesn’t mask the disbelief in his tone.
“We’re no threat to them at all. They know that. We’re all aware that the world is ruled by Urthmen who wouldn’t realize we’re bred humans and would kill us on sight if we left. And that humans would kill us because we’re bred. Out of jealousy and lack of understanding.” Brad gnaws his lower lip as if considering what he just said and to whom he just said it. Then he absently mumbles, “They also keep them locked away. Only Urthmen guards have the keys.”
“That doesn’t mean anything!” Xan explodes. “None of what you’re saying makes sense!”
“I realize that now,” Brad answers, his gaze distant and haunted.
Several beats pass. I study Brad’s face. “Are those guards stationed there, where the guns are kept?”
Brad nods in assent.
I think for a moment. I don’t bother trying to discuss how we’ll get passed them. It’ll be lost on him. Instead, I ask the one question that burns in my mind. “So you’ll help us?”
He inhales. And for the time it takes him to fill his lungs, our freedom rests squarely in his hands. “I will,” he finally says. “Before what happens to me happens to someone else.” He steps over the threshold, leaving the cell and standing among the others.
“Thank you,” I say to him. Then I scan the faces of everyone around me. “Everyone ready?”
Heads bob somberly. A few answer “yes”.
“Okay then. Let’s move.” I set off at a brisk pace, leaving the cell behind us, as we head toward the Task Center. If the bred humans decide not to help us, we’ll be stuck out in the open. Nowhere to run and penned by fences topped with barbed wire. Nowhere to hide. Every inch of the enclosed compound is teeming with Urthmen. All are searching for us. All hunt me. My only hope, and our only chance of escape, lies on the other side of the door of the Task Center.
As I run, I mutter aloud to my parents and to Kohl, my beloved family members struck down and ripped from this world. I beg them to help me save Ara and Pike, and all the other souls running behind me. I beg them for strength. I beg them for guidance. I beg them to make the bred human just inside the Task Center let us in. I realize they can’t hear me. I realize they’re no longer with us. Still, I invoke the spirit of who they were, of who they’ll always be in my heart. As long as I keep those I’ve lost alive in my head and in my heart, they will live forever. As ever-fixed as the stars in the sky. I’m just not willing to allow Ara and Pike to join them. I’ll prevent it, in fact, with every last breath I take. I need them to live. I need them free. I need to get inside the Task Center. All of our lives depend on it.
The Black Forest Page 5