The Girl with the Scar (Dark Connection Saga Book 1)

by Stadler, William

  Wolf stood up, hand pressing down on the head of his tomahawk. “He can’t attack Winter Hills. These people have done nothing.”

  “Winter Hills is the pride of Kalarn. It’s the wealthiest, and it has more people than any other city, save for a few,” Jahn said. “If the people will not give up the Girl with the Scar, then the Raiders will tear her from their grasp.”

  Eva had heard enough. Hundreds and possibly even thousands of men and women had died because of her, including her own mother. Her head swirled, and she felt nauseous. “I will turn myself in…to stop to the killings.”

  “Madam Genie, you mustn’t.”

  “You can’t stop me. The Raiders have killed too many people because of me.” She hung her head. “It’s as if I have killed them all myself.” Her words seemed to bounce back to her and thud against her chest. She had killed people. She’d been murdering people her entire life, ever since she could remember. She wanted to convince herself that she was not responsible, but she was. No one knew who she was except for a few, and she had allowed her fear of death to be the reason for the death of so many others.

  “I will not let you turn yourself in,” Wolf replied.

  “You are foolish if you think that you could stop me.”

  “Genevieve, you’re not thinking clearly,” Stasis said. “There’s a reason that the king has been looking for you. He’s been willing to slaughter his own subjects just to find you. There’s something that he wants, and if you turn yourself in, thousands more could die. Is that what you want?”

  Wolf nodded, agreeing and persisting with his persuasion “The king has already continued his military campaign through the western kingdoms beyond Green Planes outside the borders of Kalarn. Rumors are that he hopes to swoop through and destroy the southern kingdoms as well, but something has kept him from the south. The other kingdoms are growing stronger, and the king will use you to defeat them. Is that what you want?” He tilted his head to the side, nearly begging Eva to relent. “With your help, he may be planning to subject every surrounding kingdom to his tyranny.”

  Eva dropped her head into her hands. How could she be forced to compare the deaths that she had already caused with the deaths that she might cause later? There were no numbers for the future, no names for the soon-to-be deceased. “This is too much for one person,” Eva replied, words muffled in her palms.

  “Aye.”

  “Let us help you,” Stasis requested. “Only do not turn yourself in.”

  “We will redirect the follower to keep the Wielder off the trail,” Wolf said. “You wait here for us to return.”

  Eva nodded, afraid of what they might say if she told them that she was going with Edward to scout the Raiders. “How long will you be?” Eva asked.

  “Near to a month,” Stasis said.

  The night neared over Winter Hills, and the half moon reflected brightly off the unbroken panorama of the sky. The sleek keep her warm, and people treated her honorably, not knowing that she was a beacon for their doom.

  On the entrance flat, she found her brother sitting with Rufio sharpening his blade. Both of them were silent, strange for her brother. “Come sit with us, sister.” He pointed with his head to a log on the other side of the fire. It wasn’t an invitation, but a demand. The gentle, compassionate Edward had been replaced with the more militant one. “Have you eaten?” he asked.

  “Not since noon.”

  “You should eat.” Still sharpening his blade, he used his chin to point to pot of boiling water.

  His words were swift and hard like stones being thrown at her heart. What had happened to Edward? This wasn’t her brother. She waited for him to offer her a bowl and a spoon, but he did not. She looked on the ground and found one that had been eaten from, and she picked it up. Chunks of uneaten potatoes were stuck to the side, and the bottom was pasted with cold mashed peas, the one food that Edward would never eat, even if he were starving.

  She got on her knees and grabbed a handful of snow, scraping out the leftovers of the dried soup, not wanting to touch the uneaten portion.

  “Fresh bowl’s in my bag,” he said, kicking his satchel over to her.

  Eva looked at him painfully. Before she could say anything, Edward’s shoulders slumped, and the grinding sound of his whetstone against his blade ceased.

  “I’m sorry, Genevieve.” He motioned for her to sit beside him. He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. “I know you’re afraid, but fear can be good if it makes you do things that you would not have done before.” He leaned his head back and stared at her.

  She thought to warn him that the Raiders were planning to raid Winter Hills, but she didn’t need to alarm him, not yet. Besides, it was only a scouting mission. Eva forced a smile, but then her cheeks took over and held the grin in place. She didn’t care about his Striker jargon, but one thing was certain. Her brother was back.

  CHAPTER 16

  THE WEAK

  The Raiders’ outpost was about two weeks away from Winter Hills. Eva had said her thanks and farewells to Stasis and the others, and Stasis had given Eva a small bag of Essence to keep her safe, which Eva latched onto her hip next to the other.

  Wolf had told Eva that he would lead Stasis and Jahn back to find her once they were able to steer their uninvited follower from the trail. But Eva hoped that she would not see them again. She appreciated their help, and they had protected her after the death of her mother, but now with her brother, she was safe, and that’s all she wanted. Even though Edward was leading Eva to the Raiders, she felt secure with him. Besides, Edward had lasted this long, and he had been fighting the Raiders for half a decade. Not many Strikers could attest to that, especially since the raids had only been happening for fifteen years.

  As she, Edward, and Rufio neared the outpost, Eva was relieved to find makeshift leather tents in the crest of the valley. She had at first thought that Edward had planned to scout a fortified location, but to come across a scattered band of Raiders did not seem so intimidating.

  Eva chuckled under her breath briefly. She had once feared all Raiders, but now, had she really come to measuring the ferocity of the Raiders by the size of their units?

  She lay on her stomach near the top of the hill beside her brother and Rufio. Snow had already begun falling. A white coat of fluff covered the ground. Listless flakes landed on Eva’s nose and melted away.

  Raiders, without their helmets, gathered water from the stream that trickled through the valley while others were either hammering down their tent pegs or preparing their fires. Eva spotted over two-dozen tents. Following the stream, droves of Raiders hiked to the outpost prepared to set up camp.

  Eva’s heart beat against the ground. What had she gotten herself into? “Edward, are you insane? There’s no way you can take on an entire army.”

  “Keep quiet!” he snapped in a whisper. “We’re only scouting.”

  “They’re planning to attack Winter Hills,” Rufio mumbled to himself, remaining as still as Edward in the underbrush.

  The influx of Raiders lining the stream seemed to stretch to the horizon, their black armor contrasting the white snow. Horses, tied to posts, whinnied throughout the camp, and there was a constant grinding sound from the soldiers sharpening their weapons.

  “This doesn’t make sense,” Edward said. He pushed a few dead twigs out of his way and crawled a little closer to the site. “It will take nearly four weeks for the Raiders to make it to Winter Hills from here.”

  Rufio crawled next to him. Eva stayed back, breathing into the ground, trying to keep the mist of her breath from giving her away.

  “Chase and stake,” Rufio said bluntly. “They’ll send up the first ranks to take the brunt of the attack. We’ll chase them here, and then they’ll slaughter us in our tracks.”

  “We have to get word back Lord Darnus,” Edward said. He kept watch for a moment more, and then he crawled back to Eva.

  Rufio clamped his thick hands on Edward’s wrist, then
he pointed out to the site. Eva followed the tip of his finger. Her stomach sagged and her muscles fell limp. The Dark Queen had made her way to the outpost. She tromped through the camp, golden falcon on her chest, smacking her soldiers' knees with the flat of her blade as she passed. They nodded to her in a way that a man would acknowledge his executioner if that man had been granted a momentary pardon.

  “The Dark Queen has come here? For what cause?” Rufio asked. “There’s nothing in Winter Hills.”

  Eva kept her mouth sealed. The Raiders had no doubt found her again. The Girl with the Scar was safe nowhere, not since the Raiders had caught wind that she was alive. They stalked Eva like a starving lioness.

  Edward looked back at Eva, and she could see the concern in his glance, which brought her the same disconcertment that she had before the Raiders had invaded Green Planes.

  Eva’s voice squeaked in a high-pitched whisper. “Edward, we need to leave.”

  He looked back and nodded swiftly, but something in the final nod shredded Eva’s core. The nod was cut off, interrupted by dread. Edward looked over Eva’s head. Rufio snapped back with the same expression, and then came the voice, the one that sounded like the rusted chains over wood.

  “Spies.”

  Eva turned behind her and caught eyes with the man she feared most, the one who had slain her mother, the one who dragged her out to meet the Dark Queen.

  Before she could stop it, a shriek cut between her lips, echoing on the hill and burrowing deep into the valley. The air became still. Only the icing sound of the snow falling to the ground could be heard.

  Eva wrapped her hand around her lips, wide-eyed, hoping that her outburst had gone somehow gone unnoticed.

  Edward dropped his eyes from Dreyshore to Eva. His words barely made it out of his mouth, weighted by the anchor of dread. “Run….”

  Without thinking, Eva picked herself up. Dreyshore snatched out his blade. The sound of metal rang out in the silence. He slashed the sword at Eva. Edward lunged forward, body out of balance, and knocked the blade away.

  “Eva, get out of here!” Edward yelled.

  Eva climbed up the hill, bracing her fall with the tips of her fingers, as she pushed her way to the top. She glanced back. Her coiled hair whipped across her face. The Raiders at the camp were barking out orders, pointing in the direction of the hill.

  Edward and Rufio stood back to back, gripping their swords with both hands, ready to attack.

  As Eva neared the top of the hill, she could hear hollers and shouts echoing in the depths of the valley. Staying in stride, she rushed down the next hill, keeping her footing as her boots slipped on the snowy surface.

  Before she reached the next valley a tremor rattled inside her. Her thoughts left her and landed on her mother — how she had been killed. She couldn’t let her brother suffer the same fate. She could stop them.

  War cries and roars spilled down to her from the valley that she had just abandoned. Eva bit her lip, hands trembling with the threat of having to fight the Raiders. She reached deep into her gut to find the courage to return. But her stomach was empty.

  She ran. The harder she pushed her legs, the faster they moved. The yelling quieted as she fled. Her footsteps thudded against the ground snapping dead twigs and compacted the snow. Extended limbs from low trees blocked her path. She held up her wrists to shield her face from the branches that whacked her forearms.

  For hours she ran. Every muscle in her body screamed with pain. Each step fired shoots of burning lightning to her spine until she collapsed in the snow. Icy pine needles hung overhead.

  She picked herself up, hair cluttered with snowflakes. Standing, the world swirled about her. She could feel the seizure coming on, but then it receded. What had she done? She felt sick. When her brother needed her most, she had abandoned him.

  The man with the rusted voice, she could have knifed him. Rufio had told her how to do it. “You take the tip, and you push it forward ‘til it stops. If the man’s still a’jigglin’, repeat,” he had told her. But she couldn’t have brought herself to do it even if she had thought about it. No blade was sharp enough to ease her fears, especially not her dirk that was as round as a scribe’s pen, only twice as long.

  Eva had acted wisely. Edward had told her to run, and that’s what she had done. Trees swirled about her. She pressed her fingers into her temples to squeeze away the dizziness. Nightfall was near, and the ominous trees loomed over her.

  The last few rays of sunlight cut through the forest, then the sun died behind the horizon. The moonlight intruded in from above, reflecting off the snowy ground and shining off the ice from the trees. The snowfall had picked up, touching against the limbs of the trees, sounding like fingertips lightly patting the edges of a dried cornhusk.

  How could Eva hope to survive a night in the wilderness beyond Winter Hills? She needed to go back to find her brother. She needed to save him, but she knew she couldn’t. Head still spinning, she leaned against a tree and slumped to the ground.

  She twirled the eagle pendant in her hands, wiping the smudges off the wings with her thumb. If only her father were here; he would have never let Edward fall to the Raiders. But unlike him, she had done the contrary. She wished that she could wear her father’s courage as boldly as she wore the eagle charm.

  She pressed her head against the tree. Her hair attached to the ridges in the bark. Mulling over the memories of her father, she remembered how jovial he was. He’d come home empty-handed, and Eva could remember the look of disappointment that her mother used to wear, discouraged because another day would pass without a decent meal.

  But her father would find away. He would have scrounged up some rice or some bread, and they always had at least something. That must have taken a lot of courage, she thought. Having to come home and face his family must have forced him to do anything he could just to be the father that she would always remember him as. Clenching her pendant in her fist, she sighed. All that courage must have gone to Edward. Her only option was to head back to Winter Hills.

  At that moment the sky lit up with echoes of golden light. Far beyond the hills from the direction that she had come, a beam of light cut through the darkness in the clouds. She picked herself up and stepped towards the beam. It was the same stream that she had seen radiate from herself when the Beast came. Confused, she headed north, away from the light.

  The pain in her legs remained, but she trudged through it, not wanting to be around if the Beast came for her again. Next time, it might not be so amiable.

  Getting lost several times, it had taken her much longer to get back to the city. After weeks of walking and living off the land in the ways that Wolf had taught her, she arrived at Winter Hills though the sun had already set. Her sleek was filthy from the dirt in the snow, and her hair was pasted together in drenched, tangled strands.

  Wolf and Stasis had made it back to Winter Hills before she had gotten there, and they came to meet her as she approached the entrance flat.

  “The Strikers told us of your journey,” Wolf said, sounding annoyed.

  Without waiting for a response, Stasis asked, “Where’s your brother?”

  Eva shook her head slowly, then she pressed her eyes into the heels of her palms, sobbing. “The Raiders found him.”

  Stasis covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes.

  “We must alert the Strikers,” Wolf replied, striding back into the city.

  “Jevar.” Eva’s voice squeaked out of her. She stood limply, orange hair tossing in the wind.

  “There’s more?” he asked, voice dragging.

  “The Raiders are planning to invade Winter Hills.”

  Wolf sucked in a deep breath from his flaring nostrils. “Aye. Then it is as we expected.”

  Without looking back, he rushed into the city to find the Strikers. Stasis rubbed Eva’s back and nudged her into the town. “We’re going to find your brother,” Stasis said.

  “What if he’s already dead?”
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  Stasis did not respond.

  Winter Hills turned into an uproar as the spark of the Raiders’ invasion caught fire. Women cradled their babies and carted out of the town. Husbands fled with them. Elderly men stayed, too weary to leave, and the middle-aged migrants tucked themselves away in their huts, not wanting to have to move again.

  A mother passed by Eva wearing a brown wool scarf, squeezing her young son against her bosom as she pushed her way through the crowd. “All this for one scarred dimwit,” the woman mumbled to herself.

  Eva lost her breath. Only a few people knew who she was, but this was what the people thought of her. Their lives were rubbish compared to hers. Men, women, and children had unwillingly abandoned their homes because the king wanted her.

  Gladly, she would have turned herself over to the consul, but the others had warned her of the king’s intentions. If he was willing to uproot thousands of families, there must have been a reason. But under what circumstance did one young girl deserve life over hoards of others? This was not justice.

  A deep voice echoed overtop the flats. “Where are you going!”

  Eva looked to the entrance, standing on the tips of her toes, peering over the heads of the people flocking out of the city. It was Wolf.

  “Why are you leaving?” he asked again, voice covering over the panic. He held his arms out to his side, trying to keep people contained, though some still brushed past him.

  Many people stopped to hear what he had to say, calming their shouts to quiet whispers.

  Wolf dropped his hands to his side. The usual command had drained out of him. “Why do you people abandon all that you have known at the first sign of danger? Would you not rather stand and fight than to flee like cowards?”

  Rebellious murmurs bubbled up from the crowd. “We don’t all lust for the blood of men as you do!”

  “At one point have I ever been known to lust for anything other than justice?” He paced before the crowd. Several more fear-ridden mothers skirted past him.