Storms of the Forest

by Dele Daniel

  I silently listened to Remington, not wanting to interrupt him. It’s not like I had anything to say anyway because I already agreed with everything he’d said.

  He bumped his shoulder against mine. “Let’s not worry about the rest right now though. We just have to focus on who’s actually with us for right now.” He smiled down at me. “I’m proud of you, Genesis. Look at how many women were willing to step up to the plate. They did this because of you. Do you realize how much of an inspiration you are?”

  I offered a wobbly smile but couldn’t speak even if I’d wanted to. I swallowed against my dry mouth.

  Me, an inspiration? It was mind-boggling to think about. Not to mention nerve-racking.

  How did I get here? I’d lost track of how many times I’d had to silently ask myself that question.

  “I was able to secretly convince most of them to help out and come with me,” Remington continued. “Honestly, with them by my side, I’m not worried about the men who want to hide back like the cowards they are. These women—if they’re anywhere near as brave as you, we’ll be all right.”

  I blinked, taken aback. Remington’s flattery was almost too much to bear. I halfway wanted to look behind me to see if there was anyone else standing there, to check if he was really talking to me. But with the way his intense gaze held mine, there was no question about it.

  I tried to smile, but my jaw muscles wouldn’t cooperate with me.

  Forcing my thoughts always from myself, I glanced out at the Hawk members again. While it was hard not to still feel disappointed in the men’s lack of support and the impracticality of not having them standing behind us, I couldn’t deny how impressed I was with the girls and women.

  Still, though—the men had guns. Even if they didn’t want to fight, the least they could have done was hand over the weapons to the women.

  Remington briefly gripped my shoulder. “I really wish you would say something.”

  I sighed. “I . . . This is wonderful,” I stammered. “It really is. I’m proud of the women too. And I’m proud of you for pulling this all together. I knew I could count on you.” I finally managed a smile, even though it was short-lived. “It’s just . . . the men are the ones who know how to use guns. We needed them. I hate how they’ve let us down, even though I understand why. It’s just like you said—they think . . . they know Prince is the chosen one.”

  “Yes, he’s the chosen one. But we have been chosen for this.” Remington waved his hand around. “So we just have to work with what we have. And we’ll do the best that we can. That’s all we can do, Genesis.”

  I nodded but said nothing.

  “And you should know—to help move things along, I sent word out to the capital that Tonabi was taken by Hawks and being held captive here in Zagada jungle.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “You did?”

  He nodded. “Yes. So now, we have a proper ransom on our hands. I’m pretty sure the king will be sending some guards out here within the next twenty-four hours. Maybe less.” The frown returned to his face and he lowered his voice. “I just hope they don’t decide to attack Black Forest in retaliation. The people there,” he shook his head, “they wouldn’t survive. They have no way to protect or defend themselves.” He ran his hand across his head, his expression filling with worry.

  I swallowed, panic suddenly clutching my chest. Once again, I looked around at all the Hawk members that had come forward to help. I then looked at the girls who’d been helping me every step of the way already. Lastly, I looked at Tonabi.

  Could my rash decision making potentially have negative consequences? I hadn’t thought about it, but now, with Remington’s rational voice in my ear—it occurred to me how careless I was possibly being.

  Seeing the anxiety in Remington’s eyes, I saw that the tables had turned. He was now the one who needed consoling, and I had to be the one to do it despite the inner turmoil I felt.

  “They won’t attack Black Forest,” I said, needing to convince myself just as much as him and everyone else. “I mean—come on. We have the king’s advisor. According to Jason, King Henry is lost without Tonabi. That means he’s going to be his first priority. The king will send the guards straight for us because we took him. He won’t be thinking of Black Forest—at least not right now. So we have time before we need to worry about that.”

  “Don’t be so sure,” Remington said with a grimace. “The king has a lot of guards, Genesis. You know that. There are more than enough of them to carry out two separate attacks at once if necessary.” He clenched his jaw. “For the record, though, I hope you’re right.” He looked at me again, his facial muscles relaxing. It suddenly became evident how tired he seemed. “Either way, we need to rest for a while so that we can be prepared.”

  I nodded. I could only imagine how difficult and tiring the journey had to have been for him and the other Hawks; it didn’t take a much to know Prince, Leni, and Leni’s treacherous mother hadn’t made it any easier for them. And I practically got a headache just thinking about the caution required for so many women to sneak out unnoticed. It had been a pain just for my little group, so I couldn’t fathom what they had all gone through.

  I felt simultaneously smug and worried about the hissy fit Prince was likely throwing right about now upon noticing how many people had snuck out against his orders. With the fragile ego he had developed ever since taking on the role as Arnazuri chief, he wasn’t going to take too kindly to being outright disobeyed by the people he was supposed to rule over.

  While we were understandably worried about the king’s potential retaliation on Black Forest in the near future, something told me we also had to worry about whatever punishments Leni was likely convincing Prince he would have to bestow on us once we returned from our mission.

  On the other hand, if our mission went smoothly and according to plan, maybe it would teach Prince a lesson about being such a jerk and going against everything the Arnazuri community stands for.

  One thing at a time though, I reminded myself in order to solely focus on the issue at hand.

  I turned around to face my girls, seeing that Shiva had been standing nearby and undoubtedly listening in on my whole conversation with Remington. I nodded at her. “Let’s clear out the cave so that they can get some rest while we keep watch from out here for a while. I think I’ll go out and get some food too.”

  “I’ll go with you then,” Remington said.

  I looked back at him and shook my head. “No, you need rest more than anybody after all you’ve been through. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

  “Yeah, she caught us an amazing feast of wild rabbits last night,” Shiva said, grinning.

  Remington smiled. “I bet she did. She was always the second-best hunter in our tribe. After me, of course.”

  I slapped him on the arm. “Second best? After you? Yeah, right. You know I can outdo you any day.”

  Shiva smirked, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of us.

  Laughing, Remington gestured toward me as if having another retort in mind. But he suddenly halted, his expression instantly going from relaxed to alert. He tilted his head slightly, the familiar motion he made whenever he was rotating an ear in the direction of something he’d heard that sounded out of place.

  My body reacted reflexively, a surge of fear rushing through me. My ears automatically tuning in, it wasn’t long before I heard it too.

  “What’s that?” someone asked.

  “Shh!” I said, listening and hoping with all my heart that my ears were deceiving me. But they weren’t. The unmistakable sounds of hoofprints on the ground echoed up to us on the rock.

  I closed my eyes for an instant, swearing rapidly in my head. When I reopened them, Remington and Shiva were right in front of me, my fear reflecting through their own eyes.

  “No time to rest,” I said. “They’re here.”

  CHAPTER 27

  My words sent waves of shock to everyone around me. We all grew gravely silen
t, the fear in the air abundantly palpable.

  I instinctively locked eyes with Remington, trying to relay to him that it was time for us to spring into action. I knew he was tired and hadn’t anticipated being ambushed so quickly after sending word out to the capital. Nevertheless, I needed his level-headedness to help keep me grounded and focused on executing my plan.

  I quickly deduced I wasn’t going to have the luxury of his calmness and rationality this time, though; he looked even more panicked than I felt. He stared off into the distance, his eyes wide and expression being one of utter disbelief.

  He simply wasn’t ready.

  We had all known the king wouldn’t waste much time in sending out his guards, but we had no idea that they would come for us so quickly.

  This was much too fast.

  I knew that everything was now entirely up to me, and if there was one thing that was for certain, it was that we couldn’t afford to idly stand around in shock any longer. We needed to act. Immediately. Otherwise, I would be completely at fault for everything going wrong.

  I glanced at Remington again, but he still hadn’t snapped out of his shock. I quickly swore under my breath and got ready to take charge.

  “Okay,” I said, my voice low but sharp and projecting out to everyone surrounding me. I spoke as rapidly as I could. “We don’t have much time. In fact, our time is already up. So I need everyone to spread out. The king’s guards are here. We have the advantage being on top of this rock, though. If we lie flat on our stomachs, they won’t be able to see us from down below, and they won’t know how many of us there are in the first place.” I paused for a fraction of a second. “We’re terribly outnumbered, but they sure as hell don’t need to know that. So stay as low to the ground as possible. But whatever you do, please try to keep me in view. Keep track of where I am at all times because I’m going to let you know when it’s time to run. So be on the lookout for my command, all right? And when I give the signal to run, you better run.”

  My group of girls nodded immediately and began spreading out, already following my command.

  In contrast, the other Hawk members—the males in particular—all turned to Remington instead.

  Remington, however, was looking at me with his brow furrowed in concentration. For an instant, he looked confused and it seemed as if he wanted to say something to me. But he then abruptly turned toward the other Hawks and gave a curt nod. And just like that, they sprang into action, following my orders right along with the girls.

  Luckily, I was too relieved to be offended.

  “Hey, Genesis! What do we do with him?” Shiva asked, dragging Tonabi forward. “Give him to me.” I grabbed hold of Tonabi’s ropes. He was frantically looking around, his eyes shining with simultaneous excitement and anxiety. I knew he’d thought he was finally close to being rescued, but the sudden appearance of Remington and our gun-bearing Hawks had given him second thoughts, making him realize that perhaps his rescue wasn’t going to go as smoothly as he’d believed it would.

  Moving quickly, I retrieved a cloth from my knapsack and stuffed it into his mouth, quieting him before he even got a chance to think about yelling to his friends racing toward us from below. The whole entire plan would have been ruined if he had managed to warn them about the quicksand.

  Once I had Tonabi’s mouth properly stifled, I saw that the Hawks were spreading out all around me and dropping to the ground, flattening themselves just as I had instructed them to.

  Needing to keep Tonabi secured though, I realized that I had a bit of a problem.

  “Hey!” I said, to a couple of guys running past me. They stopped and looked my way, their postures tensed and crouched over as if they were literally trying to shrink out of sight. “Help me with him. Hold him down. My hands need to be free so I can give the signal.”

  They each came to my side immediately. One took hold of Tonabi’s robes, and the other gripped him under the arms. Tonabi momentarily tried to dig his heels into the ground, but they overpowered him in no time, leading him away from me and forcing him down onto the ground.

  Satisfied, I dropped to the ground right where I was, lying flat on my belly and even sucking it in if it meant flattening myself a few more centimeters. And like everyone else, I kept my gaze down, waiting for the king’s guards to come into view.

  It was so quiet, I thought I could hear everyone’s racing heartbeats.

  Meanwhile, my mind raced just as much as my heart. I tried to envision the next several minutes and how they needed to play out in order for this mission to go successfully.

  Would the guards fall for my plan? What were the odds of them already knowing about the quicksand? My entire plan depended on them not being aware of what they were walking into, so if for some reason they already knew . . .

  We would be royally screwed.

  I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, willing the thoughts and questions away. At a time like this, there was no room for doubts.

  The rhythm of trotting horses coming our way grew louder, and the closer they got, the more obvious it was how badly outnumbered we were. I wondered if it was just my imagination that made me feel like the rock beneath us had started to tremble from the powerful force of the king’s oncoming army.

  The seconds ticking by somehow felt too long and too short at the same time. I pressed my sweaty palms to the ground, hoping it would cool them down, but had no such luck. The ground itself felt heated with anticipation.

  Careful to stay as flatly pressed to the ground as possible, I let my eyes dart around to my fellow Hawk members. From my position, I could see nearly a dozen sets of eyes trained firmly on me, and I could feel even more; they were all waiting for me to give the signal.

  Although I was scared out of my mind, knowing so many people were depending on me—that so many had gone against my brother’s wishes to do what they felt was right—I knew it was my responsibility to stay strong.

  Just like it was my responsibility to avenge Jason and everyone else who’d been unfairly slaughtered due to the king’s horrific antics.

  And it was my responsibility to honor the memory of the great Arnazuri kings and queens of the past, whose legacies had been wiped away from us and disrespected by the Kingfishers.

  Feeling as if I suddenly possessed all their collective strength, I took a deep breath and shifted my gaze back to beyond the rock.

  My mind was set. The king’s guards were going to fall and fail. They simply had to.

  “WE KNOW YOU’RE HERE, SO SURRENDER YOURSELVES RIGHT NOW IF YOU WANT TO LIVE.” The loud and haughty voice drifted up to us from the grounds below through a megaphone. The cockiness of the voice made the blood in my veins freeze.

  All around me, I could virtually feel everyone’s eyes boring holes into my flesh, watching and waiting to see what I was going to do.

  Taking another deep breath, I knew it was time. It was now or never.

  I lifted my head and let my voice rip from my throat. “NICE TRY BUT WE WOULD RATHER DIE THAN SURRENDER TO YOU!” I bellowed down on the guards who had positioned themselves below us, no doubt with guns aimed in our direction.

  Boldly, I stood, letting myself be seen. I felt the blood drain from my face when I saw that there had to be at least five hundred guards surrounding us.

  I shuddered, thinking of what could have happened if they had gotten there just a little sooner, before Remington as the other Hawks had managed to make it up the rock. The realization of how close they’d all been to getting slaughtered almost made me sway on the spot.

  It had been far too close for comfort. I now fully understood why Remington had been so shocked; it had stricken him how closely he’d come to leading so many of our people straight to their deaths.

  There was no point in freaking out over the near tragedy now, though. The important thing was that it hadn’t happened, and we still had a fighting chance.

  Plus, I was starting to feel more confident that things could and would go in our favo
r.

  The collective movement of the guards below was thunderous as they all shifted to look in my direction. As I stared down at them, they looked like a sea of lavishly decorated ants. While it had been my intention to be seen, I didn’t want them to get too close of a look.

  Satisfied that my appearance had registered just good enough, I darted out of view, running in the opposite direction down the hill.

  “NOW!” I yelled.

  The collective rushing of footsteps sounding behind me let me know that everyone was obeying my orders without question. They began descending the rock, hot on my trail. Along the way, a few scattered yelps and screams let me know that not all of them were graceful on their feet. After all, not all of them had been trained like Arnazuri hunters; only those of us with official hunter’s training could pull off such stealthy movement across such complicated terrain. And while I hoped no one was hurt, there was no time to stop and check.

  Please, Eagle-Headed God, let us all make it, I prayed in my head.

  The instant I made it down the hill and to the next landing, I turned around, letting my eyes do a quick scan of the Hawks who had made it with me.