by Wendy Knight
A small, dark form launched through the air, landing on the soul stealer, strangling it with her sparkly white scepter. "Lil Bit!" Scout screamed, and Ashra made a hard right, plowing through the demons between them and Trey.
Trey reached out as the soul stealer released him and snatched Lil Bit from the sky. "That was risky, Lil." He breathed, trying to calm his racing heart.
She smiled sweetly and swung her scepter, shooting flames into the closest demon's face. "I know."
Chuckling, he shook his head. "You are too much like your sister."
Lil Bit patted him on the chest and struggled to her feet, balancing on Torz' broad back before she launched herself into the air. Dumbfounded, Trey only watched her go.
Scout screamed, half in panic, half in pure fury, before Lil Bit landed easily on her own unicorn, and they soared away. Trey swore he could hear her laughing in glee.
He met Scout's eyes, smiling ruefully. Hers were full of tears, and she shook her head. "She's going to be the death of me."
"We've got them on the run! Let's chase them all the way back to Aptavaras!" Tate yelled, swinging his scepter around his head like he thought it was some type of lasso. The rest of the army followed, and they chased the demon horde clear to their gate. Ash and the blood of their enemies rained down on the silent city below.
"For Paradesos!" Iros yelled, and Trey belatedly realized they were heading home. Torz nickered and tucked his wings. They fell through the sky and through the split, emerging on the other side in Paradesos.
The Leerhas were waiting for them. Torz had escaped mostly unscathed, and Trey only had the one wound that was easily fixed. His brothers and Lil Bit were all fine. The armor protected them, as did the sheer numbers of the Irwarros army.
Scout and Ashra, however, hadn't fared so well. They never did, because Ashra was reckless and Scout was just as crazy. They were the first into battle and the last to leave. When things looked insurmountable, they were the ones flying into the midst of it. It was always a shock seeing Scout pull her armor off, a bloody, sometimes broken mess.
And Trey loved her even more for it.
She met his eyes, and he realized she thought they were still fighting. He'd never had a chance to talk to her before, and even though in his mind they were good now, in hers there was still pain. He saw it in her eyes, and saw it in the way the Leerhas had trouble healing her. Scout wore her pain like an armor of its own, and he once again had to fight through those barriers.
He patted Torz on the neck and left his side, wading through the injured to get to Scout's side. She was in the midst of yelling at Lil Bit, a rare thing. "You were supposed to be out recruiting, not in Paris! And suddenly you’re flying through the sky like you've got wings—"
Lil Bit had the sense to look ashamed. "I'm sorry, Scout. Trey needed me there more than I needed to be elsewhere."
They both noticed Trey then, and Lil Bit took the distraction as a chance to escape. Scout said nothing, just looked up at him.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, brushing a silky curl away from her cheek. "If you have secrets, it's for good reason and I should know that."
Her bottom lip trembled. "I don't want to have secrets."
Trey cursed his own stupidity. With more control than he knew he had, he nodded. "When you're ready to tell me, I'm here."
Impulsively, she leaned up on her toes and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her there, reveling in the taste of her, the mix of lilacs and blood, sweat and roses. His hands tangled in her silky waves, and he vowed to never move.
This. This is heaven. This is my paradise.
11
Scout slept without dreaming for two and a half weeks. Ariston left her alone, but his Taraxippus devoured everything in their path, fighting with a fury for which only Scout knew the cause. Ariston was angry at her, and he was taking it out on the entire world below them. Scout no sooner had trained new recruits than they were called on to fight, and too many of them didn't come home.
"I don't understand it. He's had hundreds and hundreds of years. Why is he suddenly so aggressive now?" Iros stared at the maps in front of him, littered with flags—everywhere that Ariston had attacked in the last month. There was almost no blank space.
"He's going to run out of souls to steal soon," Aella said quietly. "And he's not sending his souled Taraxippus out to fight." She shook her head, her hand closing around Iros's. "He's saving them to come here."
"What are our numbers like?" Trey asked. He trained with Scout, and he knew how many they were losing. "How many Irwarros are left?"
Iros sighed, ran a hand over his face, and met Havik's eyes. Scout turned to search his gaze, too, shocked by the sadness there. “Not many.”
"Lil Bit is coming back with fewer and fewer recruits. She's running out of places to search for volunteers." Scout's voice cracked.
"Our ground troops are doing admirably, at least. Will reported no major losses."
Scout blinked. She hadn't realized Iros was in contact with Ari's army. Her parents were there. It would be easy for Will to let it slip Scout was hiding them under Ari's protection. But Iros only looked at her fondly. "We'll win this war, yet, Scout. Don't despair. We've still got your heart and Lil Bit's soul. They are unconquerable."
Scout smiled weakly. Would he say that if he knew she'd met with Ariston to save her parents?
“Yes. He would understand, Scout.”
Scout met Ashra's gaze, hope clenching in her chest. "I hope so," she murmured.
"Excuse me?" Iros leaned toward her, and Scout had to scramble to get back into the conversation. "I said—I said I hope so. I hope we are still able to bring peace and encouragement to our army."
Iros patted her knee. "You have no idea the peace you bring to us all. Even me."
Trey's gaze nearly bored a hole through her soul, but she ducked her head and prayed they saw her discomfort as being embarrassed by Iros's kind words. Still, Trey's gaze didn't falter. He knew her too well.
As soon as the meeting ended, she hurried out. The night was dark, and she never knew what the next day would bring. Staying up late and partying were so a thing from her past. That kind of behavior would be a death sentence now. Even Kylin, their most anti-warrior, went to bed at a reasonable hour.
"Kind of grim, huh?" Trey's shoulders were hunched like the weight of the world rested on them. Scout untucked his hand from his pocket and wrapped hers around it, hoping she could bring him, at least, some peace.
"Yeah."
He sighed and brought her fingers to his lips. Scout leaned her head against his shoulder, tipping the world sideways.
Reading her mind, Trey said, "Makes you see the world differently, huh?"
She nodded even as her feet skidded to a stop. He looked down at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What did you say?" she whispered.
"Uh…that it's kind of grim?"
"No. Seeing the world differently." Scout's mind raced while Trey stared on, baffled.
"Yeah…?"
"We need a new plan." She whirled to face him. "We're losing our recruits and our unicorns. We can't just keep riding all carefree into battle."
"I don't think it's carefree…"
She didn't let him finish, her mind racing. "The Americans turned the tide of the American Revolution by their guerilla-type warfare, instead of just marching into battle, like the British," she continued in a rush.
"There's not a lot of places to hide when you're flying through the skies, Scout."
"There isn't? I think there is. We just haven't been looking for them." Dragging Trey behind her, she whirled back toward Iros's hut. "We need a new strategist."
Iros looked up, and Aella peeked around the corner of the bathroom where she was brushing her teeth. "What?"
"Don't take this the wrong way. Trey and I love brainstorming with you, but we need to bring someone else in. Someone with new ideas, new plans. New things we haven't done yet." She was babbling,
and she didn't care.
Iros pursed his lips, tapping idly on his chin. "We've been fighting the same way for hundreds of years…" His eyes lit. "That's brilliant, Scout!"
She grinned, finally pausing to breathe. "We can ask the recruits at training tomorrow. If they have any revolutionary ideas, bring them to us. We'll see where it goes."
Trey kissed her temple, squeezing her shoulders, and she beamed at him. Aella, too, smiled. "It's a wonderful idea, Scout. Now go to bed, because it's late.” And she winked.
Scout bounced back to her own hut. Trey was staying with her again, even though Ariston hadn't visited her for several nights now. And Scout didn't mind one bit. A whole night's sleep without Ariston's head games? And a whole night's sleep in Trey's arms?
Yes, please.
Lil Bit was curled on her side, her stuffed bunny tucked securely under her chin. It didn't matter she was a big, tough twelve-year-old now. That bunny got her through the night. Her lips were curled in the faintest of smiles, but her eyes stayed closed as Scout blew out the candle.
Lying next to Trey, listening to his heartbeat under her ear, Scout thought maybe, just maybe, she really could help win this war.
The cold pulled her out of sleep and into his nightmare before his voice did.
"Did you miss me?"
Scout groaned, her eyes fluttering open. "No."
Ariston stood in front of her, his back to the castle with its dark turrets and screaming demons and the cries of trapped souls. He smiled, but her single word hurt him, she knew.
"I actually got some sleep." She wasn't sure why she was trying to soften the blow. He was sending soul stealers out to kill her every day. Wasn't that worse than being rude? But she continued anyway. "Which is good, since you've gone on a killing spree lately."
Ariston lifted one shoulder casually. "Since you refuse to help me, I had to further my own plans."
Scout swallowed hard. "And are you close, Ariston? Are you close to having an army to march on Paradesos?"
Ariston just smiled.
"Fine. But you should know, I have an army to stop you. You won't make it inside."
"You mean my brother's army? They've yet to stop me from any of my endeavors, Scout."
"Except the one you've been planning for hundreds of years."
Ariston's face lit in a cruel grin. "Oh, it isn't my brother's army that stops me. It's the souls. I find it difficult to stomach shredding and rebuilding so many souls in a short amount of time."
Scout clenched her teeth. If anything, the cries behind him had gotten worse. "Is that what you're doing now? Did you bring me to Aptavaras so I could hear it as you torture them?"
Ariston sighed, his attention suddenly on his nails, as if she bored him. "No, actually. I have another bargain to make with you."
Scout crossed her arms over her chest and glared, hoping he couldn't see the fear underneath it. "What is it this time?"
"I give you Trey's parents for another dance."
Scout's heart stopped, and she strode forward several steps before she caught herself. "You found them?"
Ariston nodded. "The terms, which were agreeable before, will be the same."
Scout knew this kind of decision required thought and planning and contemplation or any other kind of pause, but she didn't do it. "Okay."
Ariston raised an eyebrow, apparently as surprised as she was at her quick answer. "Wonderful," he said drily.
"Tomorrow. Do I have your word no harm will come to Ashra?"
Ariston inclined his head. "You do."
"Okay. Now let me go so I can get some sleep."
Ariston chuckled and waved his hand through the blue-lit air. As he faded, she heard him again.
"I wait."
Trey knew he should wake her, pull her out of the nightmare she was trapped in. He'd been about to, but Lil Bit had stopped him. "Wait," she said quietly in the darkness. He hadn't even known she was awake.
Scout mumbled, "You found them?"
Trey jerked his hand back, staring at her in hope or apprehension or he wasn't sure what. Had Ariston found her parents? Or his? Is that why Lil Bit had made him wait? He blinked in the darkness, but he couldn't make out Lil Bit's face, and he didn't dare raise his voice for fear of waking Scout, which a moment ago was all he had wanted to do.
And then Scout gasped and sat up, shaking. She was covered in goose bumps, and her skin was icy cold. She covered her mouth with a hand and turned toward Trey.
He pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair. "It's okay. You're okay. You're safe now."
"It's so cold there," she mumbled.
"I know. But you're here now. You're safe."
She snuggled closer to him, and he pulled the blankets up tight around them both, trying to get her warm. "What did he say this time?"
Scout didn't answer for several long seconds. Trey held his breath, and he could almost feel Lil Bit holding hers as well, although she remained silent. "He said we can't stop his army."
"He's wrong," Trey said automatically.
"I hope so."
"Anything else?"
Scout, again, was silent, and he couldn't read her eyes in the darkness. "No. Nothing else."
Trey's heart fell. She was lying to him.
What do you think she's doing? Fighting for the enemy? Liam's words echoed through Trey's head and he swallowed hard. No. Scout would never.
But she had just lied to him, and no matter how hard he argued with himself, that fact didn't change. She hadn't simply forgotten. Her long silences had proven that. He sat up, tossed the blanket off, and nearly sent Scout tumbling to the floor. "It's almost morning. Troops will be waiting."
Without another word, he left.
Truth was, it wasn't even close to morning. But he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon, so he absently grabbed his ball and went down to the valley, tossing it back and forth from hand to hand.
"We haven't played football for a while." Iros's voice nearly stopped Trey's too-slow heart, and he spun toward him.
"Holy crap, Iros. I didn't hear you," he said, pointing out the obvious.
Iros grinned. "I'm stealthy." He held up his hands, waiting for the ball.
Trey tossed it. "You can't play football with just two people."
Iros shrugged and tossed it back. It spiraled perfectly, of course. Trey could see, in another life, Iros being an NFL quarterback. The way he could lead their army into battle? He'd do that with his team, and they'd come out winning every time.
But Iros had lost. He'd lost a lot in these many hundreds of years. He'd lost Aella. He'd lost his brother. He'd lost too many friends and loved ones—human and unicorn alike. He'd lost battle after battle, not able to contain the soul stealers.
Until Scout had come along.
She'd believed because she had no other choice, and she'd led Trey straight to them. Now they had a mighty army, and they won battles and kept the demons subdued. She risked her life every time she went into battle, Ashra and Scout both, to save the lives of those around them.
Could he really believe she was helping Ariston?
No. No, he couldn't. Whatever she was doing, it wasn't to help the enemy. It was, knowing Scout, to save someone else at the risk of her own peace.
"She's dancing." Iros's voice broke the heavy silence.
"Scout?" Trey asked stupidly. Since no one else ever danced, it was pretty obvious who Iros meant.
Iros didn't answer, saying instead, "Did you two fight?"
"What makes you say that?"
Iros chuckled. "She's up there escaping the only way she knows how, and you're down here escaping the only way you know how."
Trey shrugged. "It's a long story."
Iros didn't press him for answers, but started throwing the football harder, in all different directions, so Trey had to focus on the ball and not on his own thoughts.
Iros was kind that way.
By the time Iros dropped the ball at Trey's feet, the recruits
had gathered around them to watch. Trey hadn't even noticed. The sun was up, and the unicorns had assembled, too. Iros clapped him on the back and held his hand out to Scout, who came forward uncertainly.
Trey searched her face, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. She kept her gaze fixed firmly on Iros. "Scout has had a stroke of brilliance," Iros spoke to the recruits around them. "She thinks you might have different ideas of how we can fight, different plans, different maneuvers. She's opening it up to you—if you've ever wanted to be a battle strategist, now is your chance. Give it great thought. Thousands of lives hang in the balance."
"No pressure," Scout muttered, but everyone heard her and laughed nervously. Iros grinned at her, ruffled her hair, and strode away, back to his maps and his plans.
"During the American Revolution, the colonists turned the tide of the war because of their guerilla warfare.” Scout began. "The British weren't expecting it—they were fighting the way wars had been fought for centuries. Because of that, the colonists succeeded and eventually won the war. We need that. We need something to shake everything up, turn the soul stealers on their heads. If you have any ideas—no matter how insignificant they might seem to you—bring them to me. You never know what might be the spark that changes everything."
The recruits buzzed excitedly, but no one came forward right away. Scout paused momentarily and then nodded. "Let's get to work."
Between Scout and Trey, they worked the recruits hard. By the time practice was over, even the unicorns were lathered with sweat. "Scout?" A girl walked up, twisting her hands, her cheeks blushing pink. "We're—we're sort of all panicking. Do you think…" The red in her cheeks deepened, and she glanced back at her unicorn uncertainly. Trey smiled, seeing the strength of their relationship already. The unicorn tossed her head encouragingly, and the girl turned back to Scout. "I was one of the souls in the cage. When you would dance. Can you…can you dance for us again?"
Scout threw her arms around this girl and held her tight. "Of course I will," she murmured against her hair. "But it helps even more if you dance with me."