Battle for the Valley

by C. R. Pugh

  “I know,” she agreed. “But I still have a bad feeling.”

  “Come sit with me. I’ll keep watch for a while so you can sleep.”

  Ravyn shook her head, still searching the darkness. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

  She gazed up at me for a moment. A frown marred her beautiful face and her eyes darkened in dread.

  I caressed her cheek with my fingers. “I won’t be able to rest until you do, little warrior.”

  “I’ll join you in a minute.”

  I nodded and reluctantly walked away, leaving Ravyn to her thoughts. Taking up my pack, I moved into the small clearing between the trees and set my supplies down by one of the larger sequoias. Turning to speak with Pierce, I nearly collided with Camellia. Wisps of hair were falling out of her braid again and sweat was glistening on her forehead. She was exhausted from our journey today.

  “Where should I rest?” she asked. “Ravyn seems so preoccupied. I don’t want to bother her.”

  “Stick close to any of my Warriors,” I suggested. I pointed to where I’d laid my pack behind me. “You can sleep here beside us. Ravyn and I will be keeping watch here.”

  Camellia gave me a wry smile. “Thank you. I’m sorry that I’m not much use to anyone.”

  “When we’re able, we’ll give you some training. And don’t discount your gift. It saved my life back in Linwood. It may save your life again in the days ahead.”

  Camellia ducked her head and brushed past me, taking a seat on the hard ground behind me. She did not seem happy about having a defensive gift. There was almost a fear attached to it.

  I thought back to the skirmish in Linwood, when Two had been dragging her away through the trees. When he had pointed his pistol at me, she had used her gift to incapacitate him through the mere touch of her hands.

  Why had she not used her gift before that moment to break away from him? I wondered as I watched her drop her pack and settle down on the ground. She could have escaped him easily before that moment. And how had Camellia even discovered this strange gift? I winced when I thought of all the terrible things that could have happened to unsuspecting victims of her touch. If Camellia had been startled or frightened and had lashed out, someone could have been hurt. Camellia was not like General Wolfe. She was gentle and would not enjoy doling out pain to others. I hoped that Ravyn and Camellia would be able to speak about it soon.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the Warriors spreading out their blankets. “Don’t unpack anything,” I said.

  Laelynn and her siblings startled at my abrupt order. My tone was harsh, but I wanted them to understand the urgency.

  Laelynn’s brows pinched together. “Why not? I thought we were in a safe place.”

  Kaelem watched me for a second, picking apart my thoughts. He nodded and explained, “He’s worried about an attack during the night. We’d best be prepared to pick everything up and run.” They began rolling up their blankets and stuffing them back into their packs.

  Camellia was laid down a few feet to my right. She already looked asleep. No doubt she had overworked herself carrying that crossbow. Pierce had chosen a spot on the other side of Camellia, a few feet away. Archer was propped against a tree ten feet in front of me. Camellia was surrounded. Nothing could get to her without coming through one of us.

  “Does she have the gift of foresight or something?”

  I spun around to find Laelynn standing a few feet away. Her arms were folded across her body, warding off the chill in the air, and she shuffled her feet nervously. I glanced at Ravyn over my shoulder. She was still standing at the edge of the clearing, staring into the darkness.

  “No, but she has a sixth sense where danger is concerned. I trust it.”

  “She senses something?” Laelynn asked.

  “Not yet,” I assured her. “But I feel the same. Someone or something will be following us. It’s just a matter of time.”

  Laelynn nodded. I assumed that was the end of the conversation and was about to sit down to rest when she took a cautious step toward me.

  “Listen …” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder. “I need to tell you something.”

  My brows knitted together. “What’s wrong?”

  Out of my peripheral vision, Pierce’s head tilted to the left. He was listening.

  She took another tentative step closer to me and lowered her voice even more. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell Ravyn.” Laelynn bit her lip and peered back over her shoulder at her brothers. “Something … important.”

  My eyes flicked up to Laelynn’s brothers. They were sitting in a small circle, talking amongst themselves – all except Kaelem. He was chewing on a pine needle and watching us.

  What is Laelynn hiding? Was it about her brothers?

  “I can tell Ravyn for you,” I murmured. “She’ll be back in a minute.”

  “They didn’t want anyone to know,” she said, almost inaudibly. “I should have said something to Ravyn sooner. I was a fool …”

  I leaned in closer to her, straining my ears to her words. What was she afraid of? “Didn’t want anyone to know what?”

  She glanced at her brothers out of the corner of her eye again and tucked her hair behind her ear. “We were all fooled.”

  My stomach clenched as I gazed into Laelynn’s terrified eyes. “Fooled about what? Who’s been fooling us?”

  “Laelynn!” Hagan growled, interrupting us. I’d been listening so intently, I hadn’t heard him draw near.

  The blood drained from Laelynn’s face when he grasped her upper arm.

  I gave Hagan a threatening glare. I glanced at the other siblings. Nash and Haldar were still talking quietly as if they hadn’t noticed a thing. But Kaelem had not moved. He was still leaning back against the tree, chewing on the pine needle, watching us.

  Was Kaelem or one of her other brothers conspiring against us again? Was Laelynn trying to warn us?

  “We were only talking about Ravyn,” I told him, trying to keep my voice natural and turning my mind back to Ravyn. If Laelynn was warning me about her own brothers, she was taking a great risk. I did not want to give her secret away with my words or thoughts.

  “Laelynn needs to rest,” Hagan snarled. “Whatever she has to say can wait until tomorrow.”

  Laelynn squeaked when he pulled her away from me, back toward their own group. I ached to go after them and pry Laelynn’s confession from her, but if there was some sinister plan afoot, I did not want them to be aware that I was suspicious of them.

  That plan was ludicrous, of course. Kaelem could read all our thoughts. If he was our enemy once again, then he was already aware of my suspicions. Had Kaelem had another change of heart about us? Journeying back to the compound to rescue Ravyn with me had been brave. If he had wanted Ravyn gone or dead, he would have left her in there and refused to help us.

  Wasn’t it Laelynn that had forced him to help us? Laelynn had warned Kaelem that he would not be welcome to go home with the rest of her family if he hadn’t gone to rescue Ravyn. Perhaps Kaelem had not wanted to rescue her after all. What was he hiding?

  Was it possible that Hagan was our betrayer? I would be a fool to forget that he had been the one to stab Ravyn, and I never did find out why.

  I watched Laelynn and Hagan rejoin their siblings. Laelynn twisted her arm out of Hagan’s grasp and dropped down next to Kaelem. Kaelem wrapped her up in his arms and whispered something into her ear. Nash and Haldar gave them a concerned look but went back to their conversation.

  What was that all about?

  A moment later, I felt Ravyn’s hand slide into mine. I lifted her hand to my face and kissed her palm.

  “Don’t try to distract me,” she said with a smirk. “I saw you speaking with Laelynn. What’s going on? Why was Hagan so angry?”

  I pinched my lips together. We couldn’t speak here, so close to Kaelem. Ravyn had been right. Kaelem’s gift was a curse to the rest of us. I needed him to believe my though
ts had shifted to something else … something he wouldn’t want to listen in on.

  Giving Ravyn a mischievous grin, I tightened my hold on her hand and pulled her away from the brothers and back into the trees outside the clearing. We were within shouting distance from my Warriors and I knew Pierce would be able to eavesdrop on our conversation.

  Once we’d hidden ourselves behind a tree about fifty feet behind Pierce, I wrapped my arms around Ravyn’s waist and drew her up against my body.

  “Thorne, what are you …?”

  My mouth was on hers before she could argue and I kissed her soundly. We were both breathing hard when I lifted my face away from hers a minute later. I placed feather-light kisses across Ravyn’s cheek and heard her gasp when I grazed her neck with my lips.

  “Thorne, it’s not a good time for this,” she breathed. Her fingers dug into my shoulders.

  “I know,” I whispered into her ear. “I’m trying to turn his mind away from our thoughts.”

  Ravyn stiffened against me and I knew she understood my meaning. When she tried to pull away, I tightened my grip on her and kept my mouth a breath away from her ear. “Keep thinking about our kiss.” I trailed my fingers down her spine, along the curve of her lower back, and then cupped her backside, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  “Thorne!” Ravyn squeaked.

  “If that doesn’t turn his thoughts away, I don’t know what will,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, just tell me,” she hissed, jerking my hand back up to her waist.

  I snickered again. “But I’m enjoying this.” Ravyn groaned when I placed another kiss behind her ear. “Laelynn was trying to warn me of something,” I mumbled against her ear.

  Ravyn stilled again. “What did she say?”

  “She didn’t get a chance to reveal anything. Hagan interrupted us.”

  “We can’t trust them, Thorne,” she said, burying her face into the crook of my shoulder.

  “We will go our separate ways as soon as we can manage it. We need to watch our backs until then.”

  Ravyn nodded against my shoulder. “What about Laelynn? She can’t be …”

  “I don’t know how we’ll protect her, Ravyn.”

  She curled her arms around my neck. “I know.”

  “Did you ever find out why Hagan put a knife into you two weeks ago?”

  Ravyn slid her hands back down my arms and took a small step back. Gazing up at me, she shook her head. “I assumed he was trying to injure me so I couldn’t fight him anymore. Why? Do you think it could be something else?”

  I frowned. “If those brothers were trying to turn you over to Wolfe, why did Kaelem change his mind and help me bust you out of the compound?”

  “Well, he changed his mind when I helped save his sister from the compound.”

  “You already saved his sister,” I pointed out. “You told me you saved her from those two men in the Valley before you even met them. Why was that not enough to gain their loyalty?”

  Ravyn stared off into the forest, thinking through my words.

  “I think there’s another motive, something we can’t see yet,” I told her. “All the contradictions …” I shook my head. “Ravyn, it doesn’t make any sense. There’s something else going on here.”

  Once Ravyn had taken a minute to think through my words, she met my gaze. “They’ve decided to travel back to Ahern. I think we should go too.”

  “What?”

  “If your guess is correct, that means there’s another threat. We can’t make plans to bring down Wolfe until we’ve taken care of it. We should stick with them and find out what it is.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair. “This is crazy.”

  “Maybe.” Ravyn worried her lip for another long minute and said, “Who was it that told me he could handle whatever comes?”

  “Don’t throw my own words back at me,” I growled. “Camellia wasn’t with us during the hunt.”

  “I think Camellia has her own defensive gift. We shouldn’t underestimate her.”

  I heaved a reluctant sigh. “Perhaps if it’s life and death she wouldn’t hesitate.”

  “They can’t overpower all of us, Thorne. Let’s follow them for now and see where it leads.”

  “And if they turn on us?”

  Ravyn’s eyes hardened. “I’m going to enjoy getting my revenge.”

  Back to Map

  Table of Contents

  9

  Ravyn

  A few hours after Thorne and I had sat down against a sequoia to rest, I was still wide awake and watching the forest. The moon had come out, though it was difficult to see through the canopy overhead. Thorne had dropped off to sleep, along with the other Warriors. Haldar had woken Hagan about an hour ago. Hagan made eye contact with me for a moment, but then we each continued to search the woods for enemies.

  The Warriors would berate me for not waking them for each of their shifts, but I wasn’t able to sleep. I was on edge, knowing it was only a matter of time before the General’s minions found me.

  I peered over at Camellia. She was sleeping on her side, her arms tucked into her chest. My sister looked so peaceful and timid. How was I going to protect her from a threat out here in the Valley when I had no idea when that threat would arrive or what it might be? Was it going to be the General’s soldiers or would Kaelem and his brothers reveal their true intentions? How were we going to find a safe place in the dark?

  Thinking of all the obstacles we might face tonight had my stomach in knots.

  Calm down, I thought to myself. You haven’t even felt a tingle of warning yet.

  I took a deep breath and wiped my sweaty palms on my trousers. Everything would be alright. Thorne would help me lead Camellia to safety. He could see in the dark.

  The crossbow brothers changed shifts two more times over the next few hours. Nash took watch after Hagan and Kaelem took his turn after Nash. Kaelem raised an eyebrow at me when he noticed that I was still awake. His eyes scanned the group, noting that the Warriors were all asleep. He shook his head at me, but kept his silence.

  Mind your own business, I silently told him, narrowing my eyes. I still don’t trust you.

  Even in the dark I saw him flinch. His eyebrows pinched together and his mouth turned down in a frown as if he had no idea what I was talking about.

  If you threaten us, we will kill you.

  I broke eye contact with him. The confused expression he wore grated on my nerves. I should never have trusted him in the first place.

  Half an hour into Kaelem’s shift, I saw him stiffen. He rose to his feet, crossbow in his hands.

  What do you hear?

  Kaelem waved his hand to shush my thoughts. I glanced around the clearing at the other Warriors. Pierce was wide awake now and staring at Kaelem as well. What was he hearing?

  Then I felt that familiar tingle. Something was coming.

  Gripping my rifle, I surged to my feet. The movement jolted Thorne out of his slumber. Pierce and Kaelem were already rousing the others while I knelt down to wake Camellia.

  “What?” Camellia mumbled, still groggy with sleep. She opened her eyes and stared up at me. “What’s going -”

  I pressed my hand over her mouth, halting her question. Her eyes widened in panic. I gestured for her to stay silent and helped her to her feet.

  Pierce, already a step ahead of me, snatched up Camellia’s pack and tossed it to Thorne. Without one word of complaint, Thorne slung the bag over his shoulder. When Camellia reached for her crossbow, Pierce yanked it out of her hands and looped it onto his own back along with his rifle. They were preparing to run and knew Camellia would fare better without either of those burdens slowing her down.

  Continuing to watch the trees to the north, Pierce asked, “Make a stand or run?”

  Brock, Tallon, and Archer gathered around us to listen, all of them armed and ready.

  “Soldiers should not be able to overtake us,” Thorne replied. “Can you hear
what’s coming?”

  My stomach churned in dread. “They’re coming from the compound, aren’t they?”

  Pierce nodded. “Whoever it is, they’re coming fast.”

  I furrowed my brow in confusion. “Running?”

  “It sounds like one person,” Pierce stated.

  “It is one person,” Kaelem confirmed. He’d walked up to our huddle without anyone noticing.

  “What if it’s one lone barbarian?” Tallon asked.

  “I don’t think it’s a barbarian,” I replied, shaking my head. One lone barbarian would not have triggered the warning sensation in my tattoo. One barbarian was not a threat to us.

  Tallon folded her arms over her chest. “How do you know?”

  “Ravyn’s right,” said Kaelem. “It’s not a barbarian. It’s …” He paused to listen again. “… it’s Kieron. And he’s frightened.”

  I turned to search the dark forest and gripped my rifle tighter. “Frightened of what?”

  Kaelem lowered his eyes, concentrating on Kieron’s thoughts, and swore under his breath. “We need to run. Now!” he shouted.

  Kaelem dashed back to his siblings, grabbed hold of Laelynn’s hand, and took off, sprinting south, away from the compound. I was so stunned that I didn’t immediately follow after them.

  Just as the siblings disappeared into the trees, Kieron burst through the brush and into the clearing from the north as Pierce and Kaelem had predicted. Camellia screamed, seeing Kieron again. She had only known him as the dark soldier that had killed our parents. I hadn’t had a chance to explain how his mind had come back to him.

  “It’s him! Shoot him!” Camellia shrieked, pointing her accusing finger at Kieron.

  “No, Camellia,” I told her. “He’s not -”

  “Run!” Kieron bellowed, sprinting across the clearing. “Sabers! Get out of here!” He raced by us and disappeared into the trees after the crossbow brothers and Laelynn.

  “He’s right. Go!” Pierce grabbed Camellia’s hand and took off after Kieron with Archer, Brock, and Tallon on his heels.

  Frozen in place, I stared at the forest. My heart was pounding again and my feet felt like they’d been weighted down with lead. The General had sent his savage pets out into the Valley for me again. Did he want all of us to die this time?