Burn

by Keri Arthur

She considered this for a moment and then said, I keep to peaks. They don’t like peaks.

  Which perhaps explained why the Mareritt had built so many tunnels. It also meant the network of tunnels under Zephrine might have survived the rest of the city’s destruction. Those tunnels—or at least the ones that riddled the peaks—had been the home of kin long before the external city had been built. They might be needed again if the graces still locked within the icy heart of the coruscation could be revived.

  If they’d survived, that is. There was no guarantee that they had, despite my inner certainty that Emri, at the very least, had to be alive.

  Oma jumped into the air and flew into the clouds. I turned at the sound of steps and watched Kaiden approach. Though there was definitely some movement restriction that suggested soreness and bruising, there was no sign of a limp.

  “Where’s Oma going?” he said.

  “To eat.”

  “She won’t find much prey across these mountains—the red hart herds that once inhabited this area have been all but hunted out by the Mareritt.”

  “She’s a drakkon. She can cover more ground in half an hour of flight than we could in a day.” I shrugged. “How far away is the next checkpoint?”

  His gaze moved past me. “Probably six or seven hours—the rougher ground will limit the scooter’s speed.”

  Meaning we’d arrive there right on dusk. I motioned toward the vehicle. “And the gates?”

  He hesitated. “Blasting it probably won’t delay them long enough to be advantageous now. Besides, we’ve limited ammunition. I’d rather keep it for the fight ahead.”

  I nodded. “I’ll drive. You get some rest.”

  He studied me for a second, no doubt internally debating the wisdom of letting someone with so little experience driving ground vehicles be in control. But I was the fresher of the two of us and carrying fewer injuries—and the ones I did have would be healed by sunset. Even if he was kin, he was male and therefore wasn’t as fully blessed with the first ancestor’s gift of fast healing as those of us who rode drakkons.

  After a short nod, he stepped into the scooter’s back seat. It was probably even more uncomfortable for him than it had been for me, thanks to the fact he was taller and broader.

  I climbed in and shut the door, then started the vehicle and carefully accelerated through the gates. Once I’d gotten used to the vehicle’s foibles, I sped up, concentrating fiercely on the ground ahead as I guided the scoot through the pass’s twists and turns.

  The hours sped past.

  Vibrant fingers of color were spreading across the sky by the time we neared the final checkpoint. As I slowed the vehicle, Oma said, What we do?

  The timing was no doubt deliberate. Drakkons could track the location of kin through the telepathic link, so she would have been aware of my whereabouts in relation to the next checkpoint at all times.

  Can you see the next checkpoint?

  Yes. Mareritt on walls. She paused. Can flame?

  Is there a tank between the checkpoint and us?

  What tank?

  A metal box with a long nose.

  She paused. Yes.

  I immediately stopped the scoot. Kaiden leaned forward. “What’s wrong?

  “They’ve put out another welcome wagon.”

  He swore softly, then leaned over my shoulder and quickly tapped one of the screens I’d been ignoring. After a moment, a map appeared, showing our location in relation to the checkpoint. In between the two was what looked like a shadowy blob, which meant the tank was sitting between energy lines. Otherwise, its outline would have been sharper.

  “Is Oma’s fire enough to take out a tank?”

  “A full-sized drakkon would be able to, but I have no idea if she can.” I studied the blob for a second. “It might be better if she takes out the Mareritt on the wall first and then hits the tank. If nothing else, her fire should be hot enough to force them out—”

  “And make it easier for us to pick them off.” His fingers flew across a couple of screens, and the scooter began to crawl forward. “I’ve put it into auto mode—”

  “Why didn’t you do that earlier?”

  “Because it only works at low speed. Once the scoot nears this point”—he pressed another shadowy area on the map, although this one didn’t look anything remotely like a vehicle—“we’ll grab the gear and jump out. With any luck, the Mareritt will be too busy lining up the scooter to notice us scrambling through the shadows.”

  “Won’t they see there’s no one inside through the windows?”

  “Not in this light.”

  I passed on his plan to Oma and then added, When I give you the word, come in from the other end of the checkpoint and cinder all those you see. Then hit the tank.

  Her anticipation surged and her thoughts became more distant as she flew away from us. Kaiden removed the guns and ammunition from the storage units, then handed me my sleeping roll. I slung it over my shoulder, then rolled my neck, trying to ease the gathering tension.

  Once we were closer but still out of sight of the tank, Kaiden stopped the scoot while I opened the door and scrambled out. He handed me the weapons and ammo, then hit the resume button, followed me out, and closed the door. The scooter moved on, its silver body gaining a bloody sheen in the quickly fading light of day.

  We shouldered the gear and ran toward the canyon’s wall, keeping close to the shadows and moving as fast as the rock-littered ground would allow. The road held no such dangers, and the scooter crawled along unimpeded; it would soon be visible to those in the tank. We had to be in position before that happened.

  Kaiden’s speed increased. I followed, concentrating on the ground, on not falling over. As the scooter turned into the final curve and the road straightened, Kaiden scrambled up the rock scree and then dropped onto his stomach. I did the same and peered over the edge. The tank sat in the middle of the road, a dark spider lying in wait for its prey.

  It didn’t have to wait long.

  The scoot appeared. With a puff of smoke and a soft whoomph, the tank fired. A heartbeat later, the scooter exploded into a thousand bits.

  Kaiden handed me a rifle and ammunition. “Tell Oma to attack.”

  I did so and began loading the rifle—a process done on autopilot. My gaze was on the checkpoint.

  Oma dropped out of the clouds, a streak of gleaming red. She sprayed fire across the full length of the wall, cindering everyone in a heartbeat, then banked sharply and dropped lower. Another stream of fire ripped across the courtyard.

  Those in the tank must have seen what was happening, because it reversed, its gun tracking around as it headed back to the checkpoint.

  Oma, the tank!

  She circled around and swept toward the vehicle. The tank fired, but she flicked a wing and dipped sideways. The shell flew past her belly and hit the canyon’s wall, spraying debris into the air.

  They didn’t get a second shot. Her fire hit the gun, then the tank. She banked around and hit them again. Her second blast didn’t hold as much heat, but it didn’t really need to. The men were already scrambling out of the vehicle.

  I raised the rifle and started firing. I took out one; Kaiden took out two. Oma flamed the fourth and then moved back to the checkpoint. She landed on the wall, spread her wings wide, and roared her satisfaction to the darkening skies.

  “You might want to tell her to move,” Kaiden said. “I need to blast the gate open.”

  Oma, thanks again for the help.

  Like burning Mareritt. Feels good.

  I bet it did—especially after being their captive for so long. We’re about to blow open the gate. Do you want to find somewhere safe to roost for the night?

  What you do?

  We need to keep moving.

  She considered this for a moment, and then her head bobbed. I roost. Find in morning.

  With a final roar to the fast disappearing daylight, she leaped high into the air, her wings shining gold as she rose toward the
peaks.

  “You know,” Kaiden said, his gaze on Oma, “a drakkon working for rather than against us is something I’d once hoped for but never thought I’d live to see.”

  “If we can figure out a means of disrupting the signal between the Mareritt and the drakkon, you might well see more of them. You want to shoot that gate so we can keep moving?”

  “There’s that bossiness coming out again.” He hefted the hand-cannon and pushed to his knees. “Are you sure you weren’t just resting on your laurels because you didn’t want to challenge Sorrel for leadership?”

  “Positive.” My voice was dry. “I was deemed far too reckless to ever lead a grace.”

  “Sounds like there’s a story or two behind that decision.” He sighted the cannon and then fired. The shell whistled toward its target and hit the gates dead center. The resulting explosion not only took out the gates but part of the wall on either side.

  “I will admit to an unwise misadventure or two.” I rose and then grabbed his arm, steadying him as he climbed somewhat awkwardly to his feet. No matter what he might say, the leg obviously wasn’t 100 percent.

  “Thanks.” He pulled free. “I think our wisest course of action is to grab another vehicle and get the hell out of this area before any more reinforcements can be sent to this end of the pass.”

  “How far away is the nearest military encampment?”

  He slid down the scree and then turned to catch my hand and help me down. “In tanks or movers? Probably somewhere between one day and three, depending on whether they’re sent from the division near the coruscation or from New Zephrine itself.”

  “Is there a safe place anywhere near here to rest up? Or do we run straight to the coruscation?”

  “My first instinct is to head straight to the coruscation, but I don’t think we should risk it after the mess we’ve made of the checkpoints.” His expression was grim. “We’ll need to know what their troop movements are and what further restrictions might have been enforced within the nearby towns before we go any farther.”

  “But how are we going to do either of those?” I followed him across to the road, my gaze on the checkpoint more than where I was going. While I doubted there were any Mareritt left alive in that place, I wasn’t about to risk either of our lives on a doubt.

  “There’s a comms point three hours away. We’ll rest there the night and wait for info.”

  “I gather it’s not in another town?”

  “No, although there is one close. But we can’t risk entering at night.”

  Especially when we were wearing Mareritt clothing. They might be a whole lot more complacent than the Mareritt of my time, but I had no doubt that now they knew they were dealing with kin—or at least someone with kin-like powers—they’d be pulling out all stops in an attempt to recapture me.

  We clambered over the gateway remains and moved cautiously into the final checkpoint. After ensuring there was no one left alive, we grabbed another scoot and got out of there.

  It was tracking toward midnight by the time we reached Kaiden’s safe place—yet another cavern, this time perched high above a valley. There were long, scattered lines of lights dotting the darkness far below, suggesting the settlement followed the valley’s base rather than climbing its sides.

  Kaiden switched off the scooter’s engines but didn’t immediately turn off the pale yellow headlamp. The cave wasn’t particularly large and was split in the middle by a small spring running from the rear of the cave. There were multiple boxes, shelves that held weapons and other stuff, and several beds on the right, while a rudimentary cooking area lay to the left. The latter suggested there was power available here.

  “How do you keep the wildlife out of these caves?” I asked as I followed him out. “A tunnel mouth wide enough to fit a scoot through is certainly large enough for fossa or even cardinal bears to get through.”

  And while the fossa—who were smallish carnivores closely related to the mongoose—did tend to stick to the treetops, cardinals were well known for raiding human camps in search of scraps.

  “There’s not many cardinals left these days, especially in the occupied zone—the Mareritt have a shoot-on-sight policy out on them. Fossa aren’t strong enough to break open the boxes.”

  Kaiden moved across to the shelf and broke open half a dozen glow sticks. I turned off the headlamp, and the shadows drew closer. The sticks provided little more than pale puddles of blue light that barely caressed the rough red walls, but at least that meant they weren’t likely to be seen by any soldiers patrolling the area.

  Kaiden placed the sticks in several spots around the angular cave, then walked across to the kitchen. There were a couple of putrid-smelling bags and five boxes sitting against the rear wall; he moved them all to one side to reveal a niche carved into the wall. Inside were six medium-sized batteries and a panel on which sat a dozen switches and lights.

  “That doesn’t look like any comms station I’ve ever seen,” I said somewhat dubiously.

  His smile flashed, bright in the shadows that still surrounded us. “Technically, it’s not actually comms but rather a series of switches that, when used in previously set patterns, will inform our people below that we’re here and what we need.”

  I crossed my arms and watched, trying to remember the pattern in case we ever got separated and I needed to repeat it. Although given I now looked like a Mareritt, it was unlikely I’d get anything more than a bullet in the head if he weren’t with me.

  After a few minutes, the lights above the switches flashed, the pattern different to the one Kaiden had sent. He grunted in satisfaction and then shifted the rubbish and boxes back.

  “They’ll be here an hour after the city gates open.” He rose and walked over to the cooking area, picking up two pots and handing them to me. “You want to fill both up? There’s not much here in the way of rations, but there are some shamoke beans and some broth we can reconstitute.”

  “That sounds utterly delightful.”

  “Beggars can’t be choosers at this point in time.”

  Indeed. I shoved one of the pots under the mini waterfall pouring out of a fissure in the rear wall. It didn’t take long to fill. “Will they have time to uncover all the information we need before they get here in the morning?”

  He nodded. “Or enough for us to get by, at least. Our biggest problem will come from the fact that the Mareritt will probably have figured out where we’re headed and fortify the entire lake area.”

  I walked back, the movement splashing water over the rim of both pots. “Is there any place near the lake where we could view the coruscation but not be within the watch zone?”

  He hesitated. “Yes.”

  “I hear a ‘but’ in that reply.”

  “That’s because the only possible viewing area is altogether too close to the military encampment.”

  I frowned. “Why would they still have a major encampment near the coruscation? Esan didn’t mount a secondary attack on them, did they?”

  His smile held a bitter edge. “With what? Drakklings and kin too old to flame?”

  “Both Esan and Zephrine had full complements of ground warriors, Kaiden. We never relied on just the drakkons.”

  “Except few of Zephrine’s ground soldiers survived the ice attack, and while Esan’s forces were busy attempting to regain the fort via Kriton, the Mareritt wiped out our aeries and then attacked us with their drakkons. Esan barely survived.”

  I scrubbed a hand across my eyes. Perhaps it was just as well I’d been flung two hundred years into the future. Even if I had survived the clash with the coruscation, how long would I have lasted against a Mareritt force that had obviously spent decades planning its attack?

  “So why the encampment near the coruscations?”

  “We suspect it was initially because they were unstable, and the Mareritt wanted to be ready to deal with any resulting problems.”

  “And when nothing eventuated?”

  He shrugge
d. “The encampment is midway between the old pass and the tunnel. It’s a good location to station a ready-to-move force.”

  “How far away is the White Zone from there?”

  “A day’s drive in a scoot.”

  So, not far. “Why would they have detoured a prison pod to pick me up rather than take me to that encampment?”

  “Maybe you didn’t fall into the lake. Maybe whatever gave you freedom from the coruscation jettisoned you across the mountains.”

  I frowned. “Even if that were true, I still fell some distance into water. There’s not many lakes large enough to break such a fall in the Talien farmlands.”

  “If that’s where you were picked up. We have no real idea, remember.”

  “It’s very inconvenient, this not remembering.”

  “Yes,” he agreed dryly. “You want to grab a couple of bowls from that shelf over there?”

  I did so and held them out while he filled them. The soup didn’t particularly look inviting, but it was at least hot and probably more nutritious than it appeared. It was also better than dining on yet more bread, cheese, and dry meats.

  “How far away is the coruscation from here?”

  “Three or four hours on foot.”

  “We can’t take the scoot?”

  “We can’t risk using the road, and while there is a path through the foothills, it’s too narrow and rough for the scoot.”

  I nodded. While I didn’t fancy the prospect of walking, we would at least be harder to spot on foot.

  Once we’d finished the soup, I rinsed the bowls under the spring water, then put them back on the shelf and followed Kaiden across to the other side of the cave.

  “Single beds,” I commented, claiming one. “Looks like you’re out of luck tonight, warrior.”

  “Which is probably just as well.” The devilish light in his eyes had my pulse rate tripping into a higher gear. “I want to be at peak strength when we finally give in to desire.”

  I raised my eyebrows, amusement bubbling within. “Just so you know, I’m not really into rough lovemaking. So if you are...”

  I let my voice trail off and that wicked light got stronger. “That is very disappointing to hear, given the many tales I’ve heard of the... shall we say vigorous?... sexual exploits of the kin.”