Grant mercy unto me, gods of old, gods of river and wood, gods of sand and stone.
Farrow didn’t slow when I swung a leg over her side or hesitate when I leapt from her back. I hit the slick ground hard, rolling my ankle. A crisp snap made my gut lurch. I had broken enough bones to understand the sound. Agony was all I knew for the first step, but the glaive made a decent crutch.
Gritting my teeth, I limped toward Fynn. Ghedi reached him before I could and turned him onto his side. Blood covered the road where ice shards or a stone had sliced open his scalp. Fynn blinked, a bit dazed, but he sat upright with help. Once I was certain he was in no immediate danger, I rallied.
“Leave him,” I called to Ghedi. “The box is ruined.”
He patted his pants pockets. “A flint. That’s all I’ve got.”
“I have a glaive and a net.” I grimaced while hobbling past him. “We’ll make do with those.”
Ghedi’s scowl told me what he thought of my plan, but I didn’t hear him offering an alternative.
“Hurry.” I pushed myself harder, thankful for the numbing cold. “We must secure her.”
“I told you the herbs have made her…” He trailed off when he spotted the squirming bundle.
“Not docile enough.” Small weights were attached to the edges of my net to aid in casting. I ran those smooth stones through my fingers while Ghedi closed in on her. Wincing as I forced my ankle to bear my weight, I tossed him the glaive. Silk mesh slid over my hands while I shook the net loose.
Ghedi couldn’t hit the broad side of an ursus, even with a spear. My aim was our only hope.
“Hold,” a masculine voice barked from behind me.
I tensed with my arms outspread, the weight stones clacking in the wind.
Ghedi’s voice was as familiar to me as the silence kept by the others. Whoever this male was, he was not one of us. Oh how I hated being at a disadvantage, but I trusted Ghedi would guard my back.
“Give me a minute,” I called over my shoulder. “Then I’ll hold whatever you want.”
“Is that right?” His voice rose over the eager grunting of an ursus. His mount, I was sure, since ours had abandoned us. “Tempting offer, but since I can’t see your face, I think I’ll pass. Lower your weapons. Both of you.” His mount jangled its harness, primed for the chase if either of us bolted.
As a hunter myself, I appreciated the beast’s thirst for the kill.
But not when my brothers and I were its intended prey.
“Zuri?” Ghedi awaited my order.
“Drop the glaive.” No sense in getting both of us killed.
He watched for signs I would do the same. “Let you play martyr? Not a chance.”
“Do it.” I tested the wind with my net. “Someone has to get Fynn and our ward to Erania.”
Ignoring me, Ghedi called to the guard. “We’re transporting a prisoner.” His lips twisted on the word. “We have papers from Paladin Vaughn of the Mimetidae. I trust you will find them in order.”
“Paladin Vaughn sent you?” the guard asked at length.
Ghedi reached into his coat and flashed the carefully folded sheaves. “That’s his seal there.”
“Drop your weapon,” the guard repeated. “Bring your papers. Hands out. Very slowly.”
With a nod, Ghedi let the glaive clatter between us, close enough I could swipe out a leg and toe it to me. But I’d have to trust my bad ankle to prop me while I did, and I couldn’t. It was too wobbly.
While Ghedi attempted to secure the guard’s goodwill, I returned my attention to our ward. The promise of violence saturated the air, and she must have scented potential for a fresh meal. Her cloth cocoon began writhing. Not good. I cut my eyes toward Ghedi. He was almost in reach of the guard.
Glancing back at the road, I swore when a pale arm burst through the fabric to claw at the snow-covered ground. Forget diplomacy. Either we acted now or lost our ward and the tatters of our once-sterling reputation. Losing an employer was unfortunate. Losing our cargo? That was unforgiveable.
Praying Ghedi’s letter kept the guard occupied, I eased closer.
“You there,” the guard bellowed. “Don’t move. Drop your—is that a net?”
“Zuri…” Ghedi warned.
“See that?” I pointed at the struggling bundle. “If I don’t restrain our ward before she gets loose, we may not live to regret it.” I lifted my hands over my head. “This is all I have. Let me contain her. I swear that’s all I’ll do. Let me toss this net. After that, you can take your time reading our papers.”
“Am I not reading fast enough for you?” A stubborn note spiked his tone.
“It’s not that.” I forced patience into my voice. “But I must—”
“All you must do is stand still until I’m satisfied of your purpose.”
Sounds of material shredding turned our heads as a second flailing arm join the first.
Time was up. I had to act.
Exhaling, I forced myself one more cautious step forward.
“I’m warning you, female,” the guard growled. “Hold.”
“I can’t.”
Dirty blonde curls popped from the rip in the fabric.
I spread my legs as far as the pain allowed and took aim.
“Throw your weapon,” he warned, “and you leave me no choice but to do the same.”
Beneath the wild mane of hair, a delicate face as pale as the moon lifted toward the sun.
“Then neither of us have much choice.”
I cast my net.
She twisted aside at the last second, and the mesh glanced off her back. That ethereal face flushed with rage, and her red lips parted on an earsplitting wail of fury.
“Zuri,” Ghedi cried. “No.”
Pain slammed into my shoulder, and I staggered forward. At first I thought it was Ghedi shoving me aside, but this hurt. My hand crept upward until my fingertips touched warmed metal. The hilt of a slender dagger stood proudly from the joint, its length piercing through my back. A wave of nausea threatened to buckle my knees. An accidental brush against the grip sent agony racing down my arm.
The howling wind, the stark landscape, my brother, all of it faded to welcoming blackness.
Until a shrill voice near my ear jolted me back from the edge.
“Hungry.” Fetid breath blasted my neck.
I turned my head slowly and found myself nose to nose with our ward. Her fair complexion did nothing to mask the network of yellowed veins pulsing in her neck. When she leaned closer, her pink tongue darted out to wet her cracked lips. The sharp metallic stink of old blood burned my nostrils.
Her citrine eyes glittered while she crooned deep in her throat.
“There’s food in my bag.” Not that I knew where my ursus had gone. “I’ll get it for you.”
I stumbled backward in my haste.
“No.” She grasped the hilt of the guard’s dagger where it protruded from my shoulder and tightened her grip to prevent my escape. “Hungry now.”
With a vicious twist of her wrist, she ripped out the blade.
I tried to scream. I did. But there wasn’t enough air in the world for me to make a sound.
“What in the gods’ names is that thing?”
I shook my head to clear the ringing. The guard. Had he asked me something?
“Hang on, Zuri. I’m coming.”
Now that voice I recognized. Ghedi. Fear for my brothers cleared the panic shrouding my mind. I locked my knees and studied my opponent. Her tongue curled around the blade while she licked the blood from its razor edges. That dagger was my only chance at surviving. I knew that. Ghedi was too far away, and her teeth were far too close. Mercy be. Before she finished savoring her treat, I lunged.
Clasping her spindly wrist, I wrenched her arm until I gripped the dagger’s hilt in my palm. Her startled cry rattled my eardrums. Never had I been more grateful that she had been kept as a pet. Oh, she had a hunter’s primal instincts. But she had never been left to fend for
herself against the likes of me. Already I saw the herbs had done their work. She was moving slower than before, not by much, but enough that her drug-induced lethargy gave me an edge. It was keeping me alive, and I knew it.
“Don’t.” Ghedi slid to a halt. “Zuri—no.”
Making good use of the distraction, our ward tackled me, and we toppled onto the ground. Tangled as she was in her blankets, her greatest advantages were still bound tight to her back, and I planned to keep them that way. Before she shredded the material, I brought my knee up hard beneath her ribs. She grunted and rolled aside, onto the snow. I crawled to her, straddling her. Her claws tore chunks from my coat while she thrashed under me. When I raised my arm, I heard Ghedi bellowing.
“Wait,” he cried.
I didn’t dare. I sank the blade through her shoulder, pinning her to the frozen road.
“The net, Ghedi.” I scrambled off her. “Get the net.”
A firm hand grasped my collar and tossed me aside. I lay panting with my cheek mashed against the road while Ghedi hurled my net over her. With supreme patience, he began spinning fine strands of silk from his fingertips and sewing our ward inside the net. The flimsy cage couldn’t hold her, but it would slow her down. Erania must not be much farther if armed guards were patrolling this road.
We had only to make it that far.
The guard stood at my hip, watching the spectacle. “What is that thing?” he asked again.
I rolled onto my back and stared up at him. “That is a private matter for your maven.”
He offered me his hand. “You need help up?”
“No. I think I’ll stay here a while longer.” I waved in Ghedi’s direction. “Help him.”
To his credit, the guard didn’t hesitate. Crossing to Ghedi, he knelt and held our ward still while Ghedi continued his bindings. While they worked, I tilted my head back and sought Fynn. He lay with his back to me. As thick as my brothers’ skulls were, I still worried he might have cracked his.
Nothing short of having his brain scrambled would have kept him out of a fight.
Ghedi leaned over me, his hand hesitating above my wound. “How bad is it?”
“Not bad,” I panted. “I’ve had worse.”
“Stop bragging. Tell me the truth.” When none was forthcoming, he sighed. “Your ankle?”
“I won’t make it to Erania on foot.” For that matter, I doubted I could stand again.
“She can ride Gris,” the guard called. “He’s stout enough to carry two and drag…that.”
“Drag?” I craned my neck to spot our ward.
Ghedi nodded. “We’re going to use the poles and the net to make her a new litter.”
“Good.” I let my eyes close. “Very good. Especially the part where I ride the ursus.”
“Oh no, you don’t.” He shook my shoulder. “Don’t even think about nodding off.”
I hissed at him through my teeth.
“Asher will be leading Gris since he knows the way. I will be guarding our ward and our backs. That leaves you to keep Fynn alert until we reach Erania.” Ghedi frowned down at me. “What is it?”
“Asher?” I scowled at the guard. “When did you two have time for introductions?”
“A grunted name is not an introduction.” He clasped forearms with me. “Brace yourself.”
Using his weight as leverage, Ghedi leaned back and, with a loud grunt, hauled me onto my feet.
I found the scream I had swallowed earlier, crying out until my voice went hoarse.
“Shh.” He wrapped his arms around me. “The worst is over.”
I cleared my throat. “I might have lied about the having-had-worse part.”
His chuckle was deep and soothing at my ear while I rested my forehead on his shoulder.
“Come on.” He hooked an arm about my waist. “Loop your good arm around my neck.”
“What about Fynn?” I winced at how my stretched muscles pulled against my wound.
“Let me worry about him.” Ghedi led me to Gris, who snuffled my coat with interest.
“Knock it off.” Asher strode to his mount and thumped the boar’s nose. “You’ve already eaten.”
Together Ghedi and Asher lifted me onto Gris’s saddle and helped me gain my balance.
“Don’t use your heels.” Asher made certain my feet were out of the stirrups. “He hates that.”
I grasped the collar of Asher’s coat. “What about the others?”
He wrenched free of me. “They’ll be in the stables by now.”
I tried to read him when I asked, “They won’t be harmed, will they?”
Asher patted my thigh. “As long as they follow orders, they’ll be fine.”
I groaned. Following orders was not what my brothers did best. Still, until they knew our fate, I believed they would behave. Failing that, they were brawlers who knew how to handle themselves.
“How far are we from the stables?” I would rather arrive before their tempers got the best of them.
He scratched his chin. “About a half hour as an ursus walks.”
“Can we get there faster?” Thirty minutes was a long time to leave them to their own devices.
“Dragging a litter, no, we can’t. Why?” He waited. “Do your brothers listen as well as you do?”
“They’re males,” I scoffed. “They listen half as well and understand even less.”
“I understand perfectly well.” Ghedi glared where Asher’s hand still rested on my leg.
“We males do speak a common language.” Asher tightened his grip. “Who is she to you?”
“My little sister,” Ghedi said, fangs punching through his gums.
“Merciful gods.” I aimed a kick to Asher’s gut that sent him stumbling. “I appreciate your help, but not that much, and not in that way. Keep your hands to yourself, or I will snap off your fingers and feed them to Gris, who, by the way, doesn’t seem particular about where his next meal comes from.” Though I listed to one side thanks to that kick, I straightened my spine. “If you don’t mind, I have a delivery to make and fees to collect. Ghedi, bring Fynn and secure our ward. Asher, lead or get out of my way.”
Asher took the reins.
Chapter 2
Gris hunched his shoulders and tucked his head against the biting winds, causing Fynn to slump forward. Every time I grasped his shirt collar and tugged him upright, my wound screamed in agony.
Asher had led us from the road into a rolling valley. The slope played havoc on our balance, and Fynn listed more and more toward my weak side, groaning softly while we descended into the basin.
“Wake up.” I screwed my thumbs into his sides. “We’re almost there.” I hope.
“No.” Asher hooked a finger through Gris’s bridle and pulled him to a halt. “We’re here.”
“Where is here?” Nothing here was worth stopping for. “You said we were going to Erania.” I sat up straighter, bracing on Fynn’s shoulders to see what lay ahead.
Fenced pastures nestled alongside sprawling barns. Heavy snow covered the buildings, and not a single track marred those flawless surfaces. The entire valley gave the impression of hibernation. No wonder ursus were at home here. Even spring’s thaw, such as it was, might not crack this icy façade.
What a bleak prospect for its inhabitants.
“If we’re in Erania, where is the city?” A torrent of flurries blinded me past this plateau.
“You’ll see.” Asher loosed a shrill whistle.
An answering tune perked Gris’s ears. He raised his nose and snuffled the air.
I tightened my grip on Fynn when Gris began pawing the ground. “What’s gotten into him?”
“They’re opening the doors.” Asher rubbed Gris’s ears. “Steady, boy.”
The high-pitched whine of metal scraping against metal made me grimace.
“Took you long enough,” a gruff voice called.
Peering around Fynn, I spotted an older male shuffling down a snowbank on his way to us. His grin bare
d a mouthful of yellowed teeth. He smoothed a hand down his round gut. “Well, hello there.”
“Save your breath.” Asher jerked his chin toward me. “That one won’t fall for your charm.”
While the new guard ogled me, scratching his chin, I smiled for him. “How are my brothers?”
“Left them bound in an empty stall.” He popped his knuckles. “Big one’s got a busted nose.”
That would be Tau. His nose already crooked at an odd angle, so not much damage done there.
“Let’s sort the details inside.” Asher urged Gris forward. “I’m freezing my arse off out here.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” The guard waved us on, and Asher followed.
With Fynn blocking my view, I was blind to our approach of the enormous hatch. But when hot air ruffled my hair, I knew we were close. The path tilted sharply downward, leaving me to clutch at Gris’s fur. Over us, a stone ceiling soared. To either side, a well-lit cavern stretched in all directions. Below us, rows of stalls held ursus in every color as well as an assortment of braying livestock.
“What is this place?” I marveled at the enormity of it all. It was an underground city the likes of which I’d never imagined possible, but even this splendor fell shy of my lofty expectations for Erania.
“These are the winter stables,” Asher said. “You saw the summer stables on our way here.”
Once reaching the stable floor, Asher led Gris up the center aisle and tied him to a hitching post.
My eyes were drawn toward the ceiling. “And the city?”
“It’s over us, around us, below us.” He chuckled. “Consider this the service entry into the nest.”
While scanning the stalls as we passed them, I spotted a familiar face. “Is that my ursus?”
Asher followed my line of sight. “Aye. Farrow and the others are here.”
“How do you know her name?” Our ursus were not branded.
“Easy.” He grinned. “More than half of the domestic ursus in the northlands are bred here. I’m not great matching faces to names, but Farrow took a bite from my calf the first day I was in Erania.” His lip curled when she chuffed. “I made a point of knowing her so I could avoid the vicious sow.”
Araneae Nation: The Complete Collection Page 93