Splinter (Trapped Souls Book 1)

by Ricki Delaine

  They were at the walkway again, before the horror of the inner courtyard. Protector and Lady. They were talking, but Ria couldn’t make out the words. It didn’t seem to matter though, for the viewpoint changed again, zooming in closer. Smaller details she hadn’t noticed before became obvious now, jumping out at her. The woman wore an ornate mother of pearl comb in her hair. The man. The man’s eyes roved over her face as they spoke. There was a solicitous courtesy in his voice, but his gaze showed a depth of feeling that belied his tone. A glance at the woman showed that it wasn’t unwanted, or surprising.

  What were they to each other? Apparently, that wasn’t what Kit wanted to show her. She felt pulled to what the lady held, almost hidden in the grip of the delicate fingers at her side. A rough stone, semi-translucent. Green.

  An uncut emerald.

  The scene faded and Ria came back to herself, more confused than she had been before.

  Chapter 13

  Mako heard the rustle of underbrush and had just enough time to draw his sword and lurch to his feet before the Mamoru stormed into view, scowling. Without deigning to speak, the man took Ash’s reins, leading the animal around to face the direction they had come. Swinging into the saddle, it looked like he was going to ride away and leave them there, just like that. But he stopped and looked back, just as Ria burst out of the brush, looking panicked and out of breath.

  “Let’s go.”

  Confused and not a little irritated, couldn’t the man let them in on what he was thinking before he acted? Mako asked, “What did you find?”

  “Nothing that will help.”

  Looking worried, the girl from the village pushed past Mako, and was now standing beside the black stallion. “Please. Let’s at least try to figure out what it all meant.”

  “It meant nothing. I’ve wasted enough time. I need to go back.”

  It was obvious that she didn’t have a response for that and truth be told, Mako agreed with him. They’d wasted enough time. But he wondered what Ria was talking about. What had they found out back there?

  As much as he wanted to help the lady, they needed a plan before they went back. Pure and simple. Before his brain told him what a stupid idea it was, he was stepping in front of the girl, shaking his head at the other man. “You’ll throw everything away if you go back,” and he pushed down his irritation at Ria enough to agree with her, “without taking a moment to think.”

  “Thinking is all I have done, besides waste time. Step aside, Mako. This is not your concern.”

  “You made it my concern when you put a knife to my throat.” He didn’t see Ria’s eyes snap over to him at the words, but he suspected she was surprised. Though it felt like kicking a man when he was down, Mako knew that saying it this way might be the only way to make an impact. “You made it my concern when you were injured so badly, it was left to me and a helpless villager to tend to you, running away like thieves in the night.” He didn’t say, “It became my concern when you made it so I’d have to stop you to restore my honor.” Theron grimaced, looking away.

  After a few breaths, the Mamoru finally nodded, looking back at him. “If you want to come with me, I’d be grateful. Your help would be a gift I cannot refuse, but,” he shook his head bitterly, “I can’t spare any more time chasing shadows.”

  Mako knew not to take exception to what he was saying. Theron wasn’t implying he and the girl had lost time for him. He’d hardly call being unconscious and near death for two days wasting time, but Mako wasn’t about to argue with the black cloud of anger circling the other’s head. “What do you hope to do?”

  Before the Mamoru could answer, the girl from the village spoke, her voice sharp with worry. “There is an army of guards at the palace, but there is also something worse. Something evil. You didn’t see it, Theron. Please.” Mako saw the effect her words had on the other man, and the expression that flashed across the Mamoru’s features shook him. The almost frantic desperation there made the guard frown. This man’s need to return to the palace for the Emerald Lady ran much deeper than Duty, or Honor.

  What exactly was the lady to him?

  He looked at the village girl, whose eyes hadn’t left the Mamoru and who, even now was making another attempt to dissuade him, worry thick in her voice. Absently, he heard the other respond, “We’ll talk more when it’s time to camp, Ria.” The girl blinked, but took it for what it was. At least he wasn’t planning to leave without them.

  That was Mako’s cue, it was time to go. He turned back to his horse, adjusting the saddle. He saw the young woman nod, turning away and wiping a hand across her eyes.

  Mako wondered if the girl knew that the Mamoru was in love with the future Empress.

  ˜ ˜ ˜

  That night they found refuge in Mistwood, but it was an uneasy sort of rest. The talk he had promised Ria didn’t happen, all of them infected by the mood of the surrounding trees and exhausted by the day. It was better, it likely would not have gone well. The utter silence of the gloomy forest, even at night (perhaps especially at night) left them all on edge. Even the campfire appeared less cheerful. However, the evening passed uneventfully and as it had become his habit, the boy faded into the woods as soon as they made camp. He reappeared once again towards morning, bringing more eggs and this time, a small pheasant.

  After the meal, they saddled up in silence and moved into the cool morning mist. They had corrected their path the day before, after the detour to the tree spirit. Theron estimated they’d lost about six hours in taking that alternate path.

  The feeling of eyes on them increased, as the group followed their new route. Kit jogged alongside Ria’s horse, seemingly oblivious of the gloom.

  Theron knew that the other man with them was nervous. Riding at the back the group, the Protector watched the former guard’s head turn to view the murky shadows surrounding them. First left, then right.

  Left. And right.

  The man was wise to be nervous. They were being followed. The hope that they would be able to leave Mistwood un-assaulted was fading quickly. It was obvious to Theron at least, that their unwanted traveling companions were closing the distance between them quickly.

  Theron still couldn’t be sure what followed them. It wasn’t men, that was certain, but animals didn’t behave this way. Even wolves, a growing threat to men as the lack of prey made them desperate, hunted differently. They would have attacked or abandoned the pursuit by now.

  “Tsst. Mako.” Keeping his voice low, Theron waited until the guard looked back at him. He lay a hand on the hilt of his sword, looking significantly at the trees surrounding them. Eyes narrowing, Mako nodded.

  Theron glanced ahead. Ria was there, watching their former guide. Unlike before, the boy was not chafing at the slow pace. Instead, he was skipping, almost dancing, in the carefree manner of a child, while easily keeping up with Ria’s horse. As Theron watched, the boy bent over, retrieving something from the ground and then grimaced comically, tossing it away, making Ria laugh. If the Protector weren’t so distracted by the oppressive sense of danger (and he wondered how the girl could manage not to notice) he might be chuckling himself.

  Another rustle of sound pulled his attention back to the right. For a moment, he caught the glimmer of eyes, reflecting in the dim light. It was to the front of his horse between him and the girl, several paces ahead.

  Theron nudged his mount forward, closing quickly on Ria. He saw that Mako had slowed enough to close the gap between he and Ria as well. The boy had ceased his antics. Kit had caught what the girl had not, settling into the now familiar slow jog, eyes alert and wary. Theron felt a flare of relief. If their luck held, their stalkers would notice their alertness and stay away.

  He opened his mouth to voice a warning to Ria. A breeze swept by, stirring Ash’s mane and bringing the pungent smell of musk and earth with it. An odd stillness settled into the air, making Theron frown. With a tug on the reins, he stilled the horse, gazing into the shadows surrounding them. The eyes
he thought he’d seen earlier were gone. In fact, he didn’t have any sense anymore, of their mysterious followers. Until a leaf dropped silently into his field of vision, young and bright green, the stem broken and bleeding white sap. The hair on the back of his neck rose; he looked up. The canopy of green moved, changed color.

  Took shape.

  A lizard-shaped creature the size of a man hung upside down above, its head twisted grotesquely, nearly one-hundred and eighty degrees in order to watch him. His eyes widened. Its mouth opened slowly, jaws gaping wider than they had any right to. Theron pulled roughly on the reins and Ash danced to the left, his hooves crunching in the leaves. “Mako, Ria! Above us!”

  But Ria was screaming as a brown and green shape dropped in front of her horse. Too far away to do anything, Theron watched Ria grabbing at the reins as the horse reared. She let out another cry as she was thrown, landing hard on her side. The lizard-creature darted for her and she scrambled to her feet and jumped back, her eyes wide and frightened. At the edge of his vision, he saw Mako pull his sword with a yell, and then he was doing the same. The one above him was moving, horrifyingly fast. Abandoning stealth, it rushed toward the end of the branch it was on. Something snapped at the air next to his face and Theron jerked away. Was that its tongue?! Droplets of something landed on the saddle near his thigh and it sizzled, burning into the thick leather. Cursing, he pulled back and Ash responded beautifully, just as that snap came again, where his head had been a moment before. He shouted a warning, “Watch it!”

  “Watch what?” Mako responded, voice tight. “Busy over here!” Theron risked a glance that way. Mako was holding one off with his blade, trying to keep an eye on it where it was rushing in and dodging back on the ground, while also watching to the right, above his head. Theron could see movement there, a ripple of color that said another lizard-thing was there, still camouflaged, but moving.

  “Acid, they have acid for spit!”

  “What?! Are you kidding me?”

  He didn’t have time to respond, because the one above him reached the end of the branch and leapt. It twisted to land nearby, stunted legs wide to absorb the impact, slitted green-black eyes glittering malevolently. Now that it wasn’t hiding its color, it was hard to miss. Bright green, with bold black markings, it was terrifyingly similar to a particularly aggressive viper that lived in the mountains to the north. Worse, if you had the misfortune to step on one and it bit you, you wouldn’t make it home.

  And he knew now, what these things were. As the one that faced him reared up onto its hind legs, narrow but nearly as tall as he was (sitting on his horse!), the name popped into his head. One whispered in the drunken stories of travelers. “Otokage.” They were known for striking from the shadows. Often they couldn’t be seen at all, you only knew they were there from the sound they made – the rustle of leaves, or a snake-like hiss when they attacked. People didn’t know much about them, but it looked like he was about to learn more, firsthand. Long and sinewy, their tails were longer than their bodies. Their arms and legs seemed stubby and shorter than they should be. Their faces were stretched and reptilian. There was a hint of glittering scales across bare chests, arms and legs, becoming obvious on their heads, hands and feet. It was as if the tokage, the lizards that hunted insects in the stables and around the palace had been magicked from four-inches to the size of a man.

  This one hissed, its tongue flickering out towards his sword grip. He yanked back to avoid it. It was weaving, like the snake it looked like, and its movements made it hard to predict. He had to though, he had to get to Ria. She wouldn’t be able to defend herself. He had a horrible image suddenly, of an acid coated tongue snapping across her face or somewhere else, and the sizzle as it burned through her clothes to reach skin.

  Keeping Ash moving to avoid the otokage, he watched the thing follow them. Astonishingly, it was holding a thin branch that looked like it had been sharpened on one end and burnt to harden the point. A spear. It was using it, trying to stab at his legs and horse. He couldn’t spare any more time here. Releasing his foot from the right stirrup, he leaned out, pulling his head to the left as the thing’s tongue whipped past his ear. It caught the very edge of his hair and the crackle of sound was unnerving, so close to his face. But his sword struck home, skewering it right through its gaping mouth. Its hiss turned into a death cry, and it dropped into the churned dirt at his feet.

  Barely sparing the dead thing a glance, he sat back up, his foot automatically finding the stirrup again. Ria was caught between her horse and one of the otokage. She flinched, dodging and letting out a cry when its tongue snapped at her, squarely hitting the bag she had tied to the horse. She was focused on the creature in front of her, so didn’t see the hole that appeared under the wisp of smoke that blossomed there. Theron did, though. He didn’t know how badly she’d be hurt if one of those hits landed on her.

  She’d had the presence of mind to grab a knife from somewhere, but wasn’t having much luck using it. The creature was too quick and she was having trouble just staying out of range of its tongue and makeshift spear. He saw her glance up, though, and caught her eye.

  She wasn’t far, and he couldn’t risk a misstep, staying on the horse. Dismounting, he ran forward just as Ria changed direction. His heart skipped as she was almost stabbed, but the spear-tip caught only cloth and then she was backing away and to the left. He realized what she was doing. The move put the lizard’s back to him. Gods, but the thing was tall. As he ran up behind it, he jumped over the curve of its tail. It must have sensed or heard him, because it started to turn. It only took a moment to run it through, sliding the sword between its ribs, ignoring the gut-wrenching feel as the blade severed its spine. Kicking one leg up on the beast, he pushed off, yanking his sword free. Grabbing Ria’s arm, he pulled her away from the still-thrashing thing.

  As he was looking her over, just to make sure it hadn’t caught her with its acid, he heard a shout of pain. “Mako! You okay?”

  “No!” The answer was cut short by the sound of something falling. Turning, Theron tried to see what the other man was up against, but all he could see was the side of Ria’s mount.

  Jumping towards Mako’s location, he pushed the gray aside and came face to face with two otokage. One was turned away, but the other jerked around to face them. For whatever reason, the moment it saw Ria, it focused on her completely. Hissing, the scales on its head stood up. Theron saw its tail curl inward. It used it to push off, lunging past him – the spear it carried was heading straight for Ria’s chest. It was going to reach her before he could stop it and Ria was hemmed in by the gray. She had nowhere to go. The creatures’ smell of musk was choking around them, mixed with the bitter sting of acid. Throwing her arms up protectively, Ria’s gaze sought his. He was shouting something wordless and desperate and he knew, it was going to kill her.

  In the next breath, the thing was falling, landing heavily at Ria’s feet. The spear clattered as it hit the dirt.

  A few steps later, he saw what killed it. The hilt of a small blade was protruding from one eye-socket. Shocked, he looked up to see Kit with another throwing knife just like it, dyed red with the blood of the other otokage, the partner they’d seen earlier to the one now lying on the ground. It must have been attacking the boy. The three of them turned to where Theron could see Mako, wiping his sword on the body of one of the lizards. The edge of the metal was stained with blood, the tip smoking from the acid spattered across it. He was cursing steadily under his breath. “Careful!” The former guardsman’s voice was harsh and edged with pain.

  Theron heard Ria make a distressed sound. Mako’s mount was on its side, a few feet away, near the edge of the woods. It had been injured, the rough edges of the wound on its throat red and sluggishly bleeding. Heeding Mako’s warning, he put a hand up, stopping Ria from moving any closer.

  Jaw clenched, Mako jerked his chin towards the animal. Two more otokage were there, whole, hissing, and using the downed horse as a shield.
A third was on the ground next to them, evidence of Mako’s sword shown in the deep slash wound on its side.

  When the otokage saw the others approach, all armed, something in them seemed to break. Turning angry eyes on the four travelers, hissing, those scales shuddered briefly. Grabbing their injured companion, they dragged it back into the shadows of Mistwood.

  Leaving the four of them blood-spattered and alone, as utter silence descended.

  Mako lifted his arm to sheathe his sword, wincing. Theron saw he’d removed one of his shoulder protectors. It was on the ground, a hole the size of a walnut burned through the thick leather. There was a matching hole in the former guard’s shirt.

  “How bad is it?”

  Mako grimaced, hissing. He shifted his shoulder, reaching up to pull the cloth away from his skin. He shook his head. “I’ll live. The leather took most of the damage.” He laughed shortly. “It’s not really bleeding. The acid spread a bit, but mostly cauterized it.”

  “Spread?”

  “Yeah.” Mako looked under his collar, muttering dismissively, “It’s not too bad.” Doubtful, Theron nodded. From the way Mako was moving, it sure seemed like it was worse than he was making it out to be. They’d have to take a better look at the injury later, when they were somewhere safer.

  Ria voice broke into the brief silence. “What was that?!?” Her voice was shaking. “Why did those things attack us? What are they?” Her voice held a rising edge of panic. Theron heard the aftermath of the violence she’d just witnessed and his heart sank. Whether Ria admitted it or not, it was his fault she was here.