Battle for the Valley

by C. R. Pugh

  I circled around the area once and then turned to Ravyn. “Let’s rest here tonight. We’ll catch up with the others in Linwood tomorrow.”

  “I told you I’m fine,” she snapped.

  Even as she said it, she was popping open her bottle of painkillers. Ravyn hadn’t said a word the entire hour nor had she made eye contact with me. I was not sure if her sullen mood was due to the pain in her knee or if she was simply furious at me. The anger I could live with.

  “Is your tattoo still giving you a warning?”

  Ravyn shook her head. “Either they’re moving slow or they lost our trail. That doesn’t mean we should stop.”

  “There’s no reason for us to keep up this pace when it will take us another full day to reach Linwood,” I argued. “We will rest for the night and move on tomorrow.”

  Ravyn heaved a dramatic sigh and plopped down against the trunk of one of the smaller sequoias.

  I turned and watched the water in the stream trickle by. It looked to be about knee deep – the perfect place to bathe. “You should wash the blood off your skin,” I suggested. “The stream … it might be cold, but it’s probably bearable.”

  “I said I’m fine,” she barked.

  Clenching my jaw, I lifted my eyes upward to stare at the sky. I’d had enough of her biting words. Before Ravyn had found out about being my wife, Tallon had spoken to me, urging me to be myself and stop looking at her with pity in my eyes. Perhaps Pierce had been right. Love was making me stupid.

  I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. It was time to take Tallon’s suggestion. I needed to be the person Ravyn had come to care for – a commander.

  I pivoted to face Ravyn and bent down to start unlacing my boots.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, eyeing me with suspicion.

  Never taking my eyes off her, I said, “I’m getting in the stream.”

  I kicked off my boots and then removed my shirt. Ravyn’s eyes immediately dropped to my tattoos. I chuckled when her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed pink. While we were together on the hunt, she had told me how much she liked the thorny vines wrapping around my arms and snaking across my chest.

  “Get up,” I ordered, dropping my shirt on the ground and striding toward her.

  “Leave me alone, Thorne,” she said with a scowl.

  “Not until you get in that stream and wash the blood off,” I said. “You look like the very demon you were rumored to be two weeks ago.”

  “I don’t care!”

  Placing my fists on my hips, I heaved a frustrated sigh. “Take off your boots, Ravyn.”

  “I’m not one of your Warriors that you can command,” she snapped. “And I’m not your wife either!”

  I reached down and pulled Ravyn to her feet. She squealed as I lifted her up and slung her over my shoulder.

  “Put me down!” she protested, pounding my back with her fists and kicking her feet.

  I tightened my grip on her legs and carried her to the stream. “If you don’t hold still, Ravyn, you’re going in the water with your boots on.”

  Ravyn stilled immediately at my warning. There was nothing worse than soggy boots, especially when the weather was turning chilly.

  “Stop treating me like a child!” she wailed.

  “Then stop acting like one. You’re worse than Lenna and she’s only ten.”

  While she was still slung over my shoulder, I held her tight with one hand and unlaced her boots with the other. In a few moments I had yanked both of them off her feet.

  Ravyn squirmed again. “My blades!”

  “Stop wiggling,” I barked. “Your daggers are still in your boots. They don’t need to get wet and neither does your gun.” I slid her pistol from her waistband and dropped it by her boots.

  “Fine! I’m barefoot and unarmed,” Ravyn said through gritted teeth. “Now will you put me down?”

  “Of course. You’d better hold your breath.”

  “What?” she gasped.

  I was already dropping her into the shallow stream. Ravyn went under briefly and came up sputtering. Keeping my trousers on, I stepped into the water and waded against the current toward her.

  Ravyn sat up on her knees and wiped her hair back from her face. “I can’t believe you just did that, you pig!”

  I crouched down next to her, trying to ignore how her soaking wet clothes clung to her curves. “You want to call me the pig right now?” I asked with a smirk.

  “I’m in the water, Thorne,” she said, her words sharp. “Leave me alone.”

  I shook my head. “You’re not done yet. The blood has dried to your skin.”

  “I can clean it myself,” Ravyn insisted, giving me a scathing look. “Go away.”

  “You’re not getting rid of me so easily.”

  Before Ravyn could react, I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. I cradled her and gently lowered her back down in the water until she was completely submerged except for her face. Ravyn struggled against me, kicking her feet and pushing against my chest.

  “Be still. I’m not hurting you.”

  “Let me up!”

  “No!” I barked. “I’m not letting you go back to Camellia looking like a bloody mess. She’s already seen your parents covered in blood. I’m not going to let her see you like this.”

  Her beautiful blue-green eyes glittered with rage. “I hate you!” she bellowed. “I hate you!” she yelled again, but this time a sob hitched in her throat and tears began pooling up in her eyes.

  “I don’t believe you,” I said, my voice gruff with emotion.

  Ravyn’s face crumpled. Her body trembled with quiet sobs. I wiped the tears sliding out of the corners of her eyes. The water darkened to a deep crimson around us as my fingers combed through her raven hair.

  “You can rage against me all you want,” I said quietly, continuing to caress her face and hair. “Don’t hold it in. It’ll only make it worse.”

  My heart broke for her, but sadly I knew how she felt. I was still raw with my own grief. I had taken out all my fury over Hawke’s death on my Warriors. If Ravyn had to lash out at me in order to let go of her own anger, I was strong enough to take it.

  I drew Ravyn up into my lap and held her in my arms. She didn’t fight me. Instead, she curled into me, burying her face in the crook of my shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” I said softly as she cried. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there in time to save them. I hate myself as much as you do.”

  “They’re dead,” she cried. “My father’s dead and I didn’t get to tell him …”

  A lump formed in my own throat. I felt the same about Hawke. There were so many things left unsaid between Hawke and me.

  I swallowed my emotions back and said, “I know.”

  “My mom and dad are dead,” she moaned into my chest.

  “I know. Mine too.”

  Without a word, I took her hand in mine. I scooped up some water and splashed it over her skin, scrubbing away all evidence of her captivity. It was worse around her wrists where she had most likely had her hands tied. Underneath the black crusted blood there should have been bruising, but because of her healing gift her skin was healthy and new. Sickness roiled in my belly thinking of her suffering. I took a deep breath and continued my ministrations. Afterward, Ravyn took care of her face and neck until her skin was white as snow again.

  Eventually, I helped her out of the water and got a fire going. I grabbed my long-sleeved shirt off the ground and held it out to Ravyn.

  “Change into this. I’ll turn my back.” Ravyn hesitated, so I added, “You’ll freeze in those wet clothes once the temperature drops tonight.”

  Ravyn peered up at me, her eyes still red and swollen. “What are you going to wear?”

  “I’ll be fine as long as the fire burns,” I assured her.

  “Thank you.” She gave me a small smile and took the garment.

  My heart beat a little faster. I turned around and stared at the stream while Ravy
n changed clothes. Ribbons of red curled through the water as it moved downstream. Briefly, I wondered what Pierce, Tallon, and the others were doing. Had they made it to Linwood safely?

  “Did something happen to your parents?” Ravyn asked, interrupting my thoughts.

  “What?”

  “When I told you my parents were dead, you said ‘mine too.’ What happened to them?”

  “Oh. Do you remember me speaking of my father, Elder Cadmar?” I paused, but when Ravyn didn’t answer, I went on. “He wasn’t my real father after all.”

  Ravyn stilled behind me. “What do you mean?”

  “I found out a lot of ugly truths while I was back in Peton,” I explained. “Apparently my mother was cheating on my … on Elder Cadmar for a while.”

  “You can turn around now,” Ravyn told me.

  When I turned to face her, my mouth went dry. Ravyn was wearing nothing but my shirt and sitting with both legs tucked underneath her. Her face was on fire. Though my shirt was too big for her, she was taller than most girls. I could still see glimpses of her bare, muscled legs peeking out from under the material.

  I cleared my throat and sat down across from her, trying not to stare. “What were we talking about?”

  “You were telling me about Elder Cadmar,” she replied, tugging the material down over her thighs a bit more. “So Elder Cadmar died? Or your real father died?”

  I shared all that had happened while recovering from my wounds in Peton: that Hawke had been my true father all along, the lies of the Elders, the soldiers that had infiltrated Peton, and my relation to Pierce. Reluctantly, I confessed that Gunter was not the friend I’d thought he was. Ravyn sat stunned. Her eyes glittered with a mixture of anger and sorrow.

  “I’m so sorry, Thorne,” Ravyn whispered after I had finished recounting every detail. “And I’m especially sorry about Gunter.”

  We sat in silence for a while, neither of us knowing what to say. Ravyn grimaced as she shifted, adjusting her legs beneath her. If I hadn’t been gawking at her I might have missed it.

  “Are we going to talk about the bullet lodged in your knee?” I asked.

  Ravyn frowned and her eyes hardened. “How did you …?” She rolled her eyes. “Kaelem told you.”

  I shook my head. “He should have told me,” I grumbled. “But, no. When we stopped earlier, Pierce mentioned he heard something scraping against the bone.” Ravyn narrowed her eyes in confusion and I explained. “Exceptional hearing. It’s his gift, like my night vision. Archer was the one who guessed it might be a bullet.”

  She pursed her lips together and stared into the fire. “Yes, it is a bullet.”

  My hands clenched into fists. “Did Wolfe do it or …” I bit back a curse. “It was Kieron wasn’t it?”

  Ravyn didn’t have to say a word. I knew it had been Kieron by the way she avoided my gaze.

  “It’s not your concern,” she snapped. “I’m going to try and sleep, since you demanded we stop.”

  I pinched my lips together. Ravyn sprawled out on her side, yanked the shirt down again to maintain her modesty, and closed her eyes.

  Once I was certain she was fast asleep, I took out my whetstone and began my ritual of sharpening my blade. I was too wound up by Ravyn’s ever-changing moods to sleep. One minute she was melting into me and the next she was lashing out with her sharp tongue. There was more I needed to say, but I was uncertain if she would ever be ready to hear it.

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  Table of Contents

  3

  Audrick

  I kept my head down as I passed through the corridors of the compound. Soldiers were still scurrying back and forth, attempting to right the mess that I’d made. I had to fight the urge to smirk at my own genius. My grandfather, the General, would never know it had been me who’d set off the explosion or helped Ravyn escape.

  No one dared bother me. Everyone in the compound knew that the guys in the white lab coats were the General’s scientists – his most valuable assets. Unlike the other scientists, I had also inherited my father’s love of computer engineering. It was my job to maintain and repair anything that ran on electricity, including the generator and all our computers.

  The serum had been my discovery, to my shame. I’d destroyed the recipe some time ago and had refused to write down the ingredients or instructions again. It was all in my mind. Grandfather hadn’t realized it yet and I wasn’t about to call attention to it. If he killed me in a fit of rage then the recipe for the serum would die with me. That was my leverage against them all. They needed me alive so they could continue their ridiculous scheme.

  I had been against the idea of inducing immortality from the start. It wasn’t natural, and it wasn’t as if Ravyn was going to live forever. At least, I didn’t think she would. Time would ultimately age her, maybe a bit slower than was normal for others, but eventually her body would wear out the same as anyone else’s.

  Grandfather wouldn’t listen to reason. He insisted that she was the answer to all his problems. His big idea of being the savior of the continent was absurd. We had been observing the clans for years. People that lived above ground were exposed to more dangers, but they still thrived and were oftentimes healthier than the people that lived here underground. We were well-fed and had everything we needed, but our community did not live any longer than those living above ground. I wasn’t going to sacrifice an innocent, young girl in order to help Grandfather cheat death. Ravyn had been through enough.

  And I was tired of playing my grandfather’s games. He’d become a monster.

  I turned the corner and strode to the stairwell. Shoving open the door, I stepped into the darkened shaft and took the stairs two at a time. Our main generator had been damaged in the explosion. Only some of the electrical devices still worked because of a smaller back-up generator. The cameras, half the lights, the door locks, and the elevators had stopped running altogether, allowing Ravyn to make her escape.

  Grandfather had been so furious I thought he might have a heart attack. He’d blamed the entire catastrophe on the fighters from Peton. We had seen them on the monitors briefly before the explosion and he’d assumed they’d somehow planted the bomb. Ravyn had fled and was once again out of his grasp.

  Once I reached the second level of the compound, I exited the stairwell and entered the hallway. Only half of the fluorescent lights were running, so the halls were dim.

  If my calculations were correct, there were now over a hundred mind-controlled super soldiers at Grandfather’s disposal. Ravyn had killed many of them out in the Valley, but Grandfather kept them coming, sending them out to hunt for her. Keeping track of them all had become impossible.

  I’d been sickened by his brutal methods to brainwash these men and women, and those like Ravyn, who were almost all still kids. It was only after watching Ravyn return to her right mind again and again that I began to be truly intrigued by her. I realized that not only did her physical wounds heal, but her mental wounds as well. I had never informed anyone of that either.

  Keeping my eyes forward, I followed the flow of traffic down the long hallway away from the elevator and stairwell. I was headed to the surveillance room where the security monitors were located. Grandfather had been on my case for hours about getting it all back up and running again. Of course, that would take time. Even I could not easily undo what I had done to blow the security measures to bits.

  Grandfather was already inside the surveillance room when I arrived. He stared at the blacked-out computer screens, his body rigid. His slicked-back hair was nearly black, with gray streaks running through it. His body looked strong and not a day over fifty, though I knew my grandfather was well over sixty years old by now. He had been using Ravyn as his own personal blood donor, turning back the clock. Grandfather was one of the few who could blend his blood with hers.

  He turned his furious gray eyes to me. “What is being done about our security systems, Audrick?”

  I tried to control my h
ammering heart. “Th-the main generator has to be up and running for anything else to fall b-back online. There’s not enough power in the b-back-up generators to power everything. W-we are working the problem as quickly as we can.”

  Grandfather snorted derisively. “This should not have happened. I want to find out who is responsible, Audrick. They will be punished severely.”

  My stomach churned in dread and sweat began to bead up on my forehead. Grandfather didn’t notice. I was always nervous around him.

  “Get to work. I want these monitors repaired before sundown. And I want her found.” He gave me a murderous look. “Once the computers are back online, we should get a read on the chips we implanted in TS1 and TS2. I want both of them found.”

  Grandfather marched by me, bumping my shoulder along the way as he stormed out of the room.

  Once he was gone and the door had slammed shut, I doubled over and swallowed back the urge to vomit. He still did not suspect me.

  The microchips had only recently been implemented since Ravyn’s first escape a month and a half ago. Grandfather had thought our system impenetrable and inescapable. After her unexpected escape, he had assigned me and the other scientists to chip everyone immediately. We had been keeping track of Kieron and the other soldiers for a month now. If anyone left the compound or tried to escape, they could be tracked.

  But how had he chipped Ravyn? He hadn’t asked me to do it, and none of the other scientists were ordered to see to her, I was certain of it.

  Then I remembered the bullet.

  Grandfather could have placed a chip inside the bullet that his captain, TS2, had shot into Ravyn’s knee. How could they have known the bullet wouldn’t be mangled, ultimately destroying the chip? The device must have been tiny. There were three other scientists inside the compound. Anyone of them could have created and installed it into the bullet. After TS2 had shot her, they must have confirmed the chip was still operational.

  Luckily, the blast had blinded them to her whereabouts. For now.