Nodding towards it, he glanced at Declan.
“That one?” he said. “It’s not the closest, but it’s the highest, and it’s got an unobstructed view. We should be able to see most of the valley from there.”
Declan followed his gaze. After a pause, he nodded, his expression unmoving.
Glancing at the others, he made the hand signal for them to move out.
IT TOOK THEM longer to reach the top of the bluff than Torek anticipated.
He could feel it took longer than Declan had wanted.
They moved fast, using a steady, military jog up an old, zig-zagging hiker’s trail for part of it, then climbing quickly and methodically once the trail ended, about three-fourths of the way up the cliff face. Even so, the going could be slow; the bluff was high, the hand-holds and foot-holds at times difficult to find. They had no ropes, so they had to make do free-climbing, doing what they could to stagger their lines so if one fell, they wouldn’t bring the rest down with them.
None did fall. Luckily, they all were experienced climbers.
Now Declan and Torek lay on a flat rock overlooking the highest edge of the formation.
They had only four sets of binoculars.
Declan had one. The other three in their group––Jax, Oli and Kalgi––had the other three pairs and were looking in the other three cardinal directions, scanning the horizon for some sign of Chandre and her people.
Declan seemed relatively certain they were still traveling north, so Torek stayed with him.
For a long pause after they slid forward on the rock, Declan didn’t speak.
Torek squinted against the glare, trying to see ahead as well, but shadows messed with him, even on the relatively flat plain.
“There.” Declan pointed, handing Torek the glasses.
Torek raised them to his eyes, following the line of Declan’s arm.
“You were right, brother. They’ve got company. At least one seer.”
“Shadow’s people?” Torek said, squinting at the dark shapes he could see through the dense magnification. Looking at the group, he located Brooks, the American president first. Then he found Chandre and frowned. “She’s injured. Chandre.”
“I saw that, yes.”
Torek handed the glasses back to him. “I don’t know if they’re allies of theirs, brother,” he said. “They look like captives. Chandre’s wrists were tied. Her gun is being carried by one of the newcomers. And they may have a seer with them, but I’d swear most of them are human.”
Declan raised the glasses, frowning as he reassessed the scene.
“I think you’re right,” he said.
“What should we do? If it’s only one seer, we should be able to overpower them easily enough. Well enough to bring Chandre and the President back with us. Balidor will want to talk to the one. The Bridge will want the other.”
Declan nodded slowly, his mouth hard.
“We’ll stick to cover for now,” he said. “Wait until it’s dark.”
Torek nodded, not speaking, but studying the other’s face with some trepidation. From his expression, Torek wondered if Chandre would make it back to be questioned by Adhipan Balidor or by anyone else.
Just then, a voice rose in his mind.
There is no need to wait until dark, brothers. The words were calm, measured, smooth as velvet. Do you take responsibility for these trespassers? One carries the mark of the Dragon. Does she belong to you, too?
Torek looked at Declan, who looked at him.
From each seer’s expression, it was clear the other heard it, too.
After a bare pause, Declan answered the voice.
The one you have on the stretcher… she is a murderer, sister. I would exercise extreme caution with her, wounded or not. She killed many of our people. Declan’s voice was flat, but polite. She also took the human woman you have in custody. Both have value to me and my people, if for different reasons. Are you willing to parlay?
We will parlay, the voice responded, equally polite, if a touch amused. Did you plan to be open about the fact that this “human woman” of yours is the last leader of the fallen human regime of the United States of America?
Torek snorted a little, aiming a wry smile at Declan.
Declan shook his head, smiling back.
I did not mean to mislead you, respected sister, he sent, letting amusement touch his own thoughts. I confess, my personal focus is on the murderer. Perhaps we can discuss the particulars over food and drink?
Have you no interest in who we are? she sent, her thoughts again lilting in amusement. Usually I prefer to know the name of the people with whom I offer to break bread. Or has the apocalypse rendered such pleasantries extinct?
Declan and Torek exchanged looks.
Torek snorted then, unable to contain his amusement.
After everything they’d been through over the past week, encountering a charming female out here in the middle of nowhere, with their quarry in tow, struck him as amusing.
Who are you? Torek sent, his thoughts reflecting that amusement.
I am Luriaal of Tsohanoai. I speak for the remaining tribals of this region.
Navajo? Torek ventured.
Mostly, yes. Some Hopi, too… and Zuni. As well as a few smaller tribes. Many died here, too, brother. Those who survived have banded together to survive whatever comes next. We have Pueblo tribes from far east of here, and others from the north. More will be coming from Zuni soon. In fact, she added wryly. We stumbled across your friends on our way back from a diplomatic mission there. These days, our alliances are ever-evolving. But we are fortunate, and wish to help others who are peace-loving, and who could use the help.
Torek glanced at Declan, asking a silent question.
The other male frowned, then nodded, granting permission.
I am Torek, Torek said, focusing back on the female seer. My companion is Declan. There are three more of us. We speak for the Bridge and Sword.
There was a silence.
In it, Torek wondered if she was speaking to others with her, or simply absorbing his words. He glanced at Declan when the silence stretched, but the other male appeared to be listening too.
Then the female’s voice rose, unchanged from before.
Come down. We will wait for you at our next outpost, brothers.
She sent a snapshot of the exact location and Declan nodded, glancing at Torek. He understood the map, and how long it would take to get there.
Understood, Torek told her. And much appreciated, sister.
Torek saw a pair of bright silver eyes in his mind, a tilting smile.
I look forward to speaking in person. Until then, brothers.
Before Torek could reply, the presence vanished from his light.
TOREK PINGED THEIR lights forward, well before they got in visual range of the camp.
He sent out a polite ping again when they climbed over the last red-rock ridge.
By then, the sun was sinking down below the horizon.
He could see the large campfire burning down below. Walking single file, he and the rest of his team made their way down a narrow, steep trail, one that might have been carved into the rock by goat hooves, rather than people’s feet. Even gripping the rock with their anti-grav boots, they had to be careful as they zig-zagged down the bluff.
The whole time, Declan kept their lights visible in the immediate area of the Barrier.
Torek still had no idea how many seers they had with them.
He supposed it didn’t matter. He had no intention of harming these people––not unless they were attacked. If this was some kind of trick, it was a convincing one. Everything about these people seemed to connote a willingness to handle this issue civilly.
Declan called into base that afternoon, as they made their way back down the bluff they’d used as a lookout’s perch.
Torek had listened in on that discussion, along with Oli, Jax and Kalgi. None of them said much apart from Declan, however, who spoke to Bali
dor and Yumi for over twenty minutes, detailing everything they’d experienced since they left the highway.
The orders from the Adhipan leader had been clear.
Bring Chandre in alive.
Torek almost wondered if Declan let them listen in so he’d be more likely to follow the orders he’d been given.
Balidor also told them to stay more or less where they were, that there was a good chance they would be coming to meet them, either in Denver or somewhere else in the vicinity.
Torek couldn’t help but find that curious, too.
As they reached the bottom of the narrow trail, he jumped down with the others to a flatter area littered with boulders.
Seeing a tall female approaching, with silver eyes and a flavor of light he recognized, he broke out in a grin. Her eyes met his briefly when he did, and she inclined her head, her eyes holding that glint of mischief and humor he remembered from her mind.
She was a beautiful seer, he couldn’t help noticing, with very unusual coloring.
Long silver hair hung past her shoulders, the same color as her eyes, and clearly neither dyed nor the kind of thicker, coarser, gray strands one got in old age. She dressed in the same style as the humans who stood around her, in dusty blue jeans that hugged her slim hips, cowboy boots, a red and black bandanna around her neck, and a long-sleeved flannel shirt. Under the flannel, a dark tank top gave him a glimpse of her curves.
Her hair and height––which stretched a good four inches over the tallest of her human companions––marked her difference more than anything. Even something in her light resonated with the lights of the humans around her.
Looking at them, with his aleimi that time, instead of just his eyes, Torek realized they were particularly bright for humans. He got a sense of resonance with the land here, and a higher connection, one he did not know, but that evoked a great, white bird.
“Yes.” She smiled at him as she approached, flicking her hair over one shoulder gracefully. “They are caretakers here. They and their ancestors before them have guarded the construct over these lands for thousands of years.”
Torek gazed through the Barrier at the high-up structure she showed him with her light. Once she had, he realized he’d been feeling it for days now, ever since they’d passed the last town north of the highway.
He nodded, thoughtfully, then met her gaze and bowed.
“I am Torek.” He wasn’t sure how he became the spokesman for their group, but Declan hung back, with his light as well as his body, so Torek stepped subconsciously into the role. He motioned at Declan himself first. “This is our commander, Declan of Urishde, who became Adhipan Declan. He trained directly under brother Balidor…”
He went around with the other three in the same way, introducing them formally via their clans and their previous military affiliations.
“…We all serve the Bridge now,” he finished, returning his eyes to her. “And the Sword, by extension. Brother Balidor is with them now, as is brother Wreg, who served as military general in both seer rebellions under Syrimne d’Gaos.”
Luriaal nodded, glancing at her companions before returning those silver eyes to him.
Apparently they wouldn’t be getting the same formal introductions around all of their number, at least not yet.
She smiled at him wanly instead, her eyes growing sharper for the first time.
“And our beloved intermediaries, the Bridge and Sword. Do they still walk this world? When I read that one…”
Her head motioned to the right, and Torek’s eyes followed.
For the first time, he realized Chandre lay near them, on the same pine-bough and cowhide stretcher he’d seen through the high-powered binoculars. She stared back at him, her face tense, her dark red eyes holding an open fear, her chest heaving under the armored shirt she wore.
“…She seemed to believe she had killed them both in Beijing.”
Torek turned back to Luriaal, frowning.
He glanced at Declan to find the big seer glaring at Chandre on the cot, his eyes murderous.
“Is this true?” Luriaal pressed. “For we do not allow killing on these lands. If you’ve come here for that reason, to avenge your intermediaries, we will have to ask you to go. For we cannot hand over prisoners knowing they will be killed, any more than we can do the deed ourselves, or watch it being done without some attempt to intervene. You will have to deal with your grief in some other way.”
Declan turned, staring at her, his mouth hardening to a frown.
Preempting what he could see forming there, Torek stood between them, holding up a hand in a peace gesture.
“The Bridge and Sword live. If her intention was to kill them both, she failed.”
He glanced at Chandre, and was surprised to see a wave of what looked like genuine relief go over her expression and light. She closed her eyes, pressing a hand to her forehead as she murmured what looked like prayers under her breath. Frowning at her for a beat longer, he tore his eyes off the ripples in her light, turning back to Luriaal.
“…They are both alive,” he repeated. “Therefore, we still answer to them. They have said they want both of your captives brought in alive.”
Torek looked at Chandre again, unable to help himself when he felt the relief on her once more. Still frowning, more in puzzlement than anything, he looked back at Luriaal.
“She has committed the crime of murder, however,” he said. “She killed six of ours in total. Five in cold blood. One who fought back died shortly after from a fatal wound. She has injured two others of our brothers. She also killed numerous humans… at least twenty that we know of. There is reason to be cautious of her, no matter what she may have told you about who she is, or her motives behind these things.”
Luriaal nodded thoughtfully. Her silver eyes went to Chandre too, pausing there for a few beats before she looked at Declan, her gaze wary, then back at Torek, who she still seemed to acknowledge as their leader––or their spokesman, at least.
“Sister Chandre is under our protection at the moment,” Luriaal said, eyes steady. “She is also wounded. So while we appreciate your concern, we feel we have the matter of her, and her safety, well in hand.”
Turning towards Declan, she lifted an eyebrow artfully, her silver eyes holding an added meaning before she looked back at Torek.
“But you, too, are our guests. As such, you are all welcome to eat with us so we can discuss this problem in more detail.”
Torek opened his mouth to answer, but Declan cut him off, his voice a growl.
“You presume to have authority over these individuals? After what Torek just told you?” The Adhipan seer glared at her, right before he turned his glare back on Chandre. “Even after being told who we are? And who we answer to?”
If Luriaal was fazed by Declan’s demeanor, or the threat inherent in his words, it didn’t show on her face. Her silver eyes remained far-seeing as she assessed his.
“I heard brother Torek say the Bridge and Sword wish these prisoners to be returned to them alive,” she said calmly. Looking back at Torek, she jutted her sharp chin in Declan’s direction. “This one has murder on his light. I understand the loss of friends and lovers can be painful. You have my sympathy. All of you. But we cannot permit that.”
She looked around at the others, pausing briefly on Jax that time, then again on Declan. Her eyes shifted back to Torek, her voice sharper.
“If you cannot control him, we will be forced to.”
Jax let out an incredulous snort, but Torek shot him a warning look, holding up a hand between Luriaal and Declan a second time.
“We are willing to listen for now,” Torek said, looking back at Luriaal. “We trust you will be willing to do the same. And that you would be open to negotiating any particulars with the Bridge and Sword personally, if they were to come here.”
There was a silence at his words.
That time, Luriaal frowned faintly, glancing at her human companions. For the first time, it stru
ck Torek how quiet they were, not only in their speech, but in their minds, which were as still as a windless lake. Their eyes remained still as well, and far-seeing, throughout the conversation.
They didn’t even fidget, the way most humans did.
“That would be amenable to us,” Luriaal said, when the pause ended. “In the meantime, perhaps we can help facilitate a dialogue between sister Chandre and your own team here. I think perhaps there are things I should share with you that I found in my probe of the mind of sister Chandre. Things you might wish to question her about more closely.”
Torek exchanged a look with Declan, then with Kalgi, another ex-Adhipan seer.
Kalgi frowned faintly, her light amber eyes flickering over Declan briefly, as if trying to assess his mental state without reading him outright. Clearly, she was worried he might do something rash in regard to sister Chandre, as well.
Declan’s face had reverted back to expressionless, though. His Adhipan training appeared to have kicked back in entirely.
Looking at him, however, Torek wondered.
He’d heard a faint meaning in Luriaal’s words about losing friends and lovers.
Had Declan lost more than he’d said in Chandre’s raid?
Pushing the thought from his mind, Torek made a respectful gesture to Luriaal, bowing also to her human companions, who remained as stone-faced as before.
“As you say, sister,” he murmured. “I suspect we are all ready for some food and friendly talk, after all we have been through in these past days.”
Smiling at him faintly, Luriaal turned, motioning for them to follow.
She began walking soundlessly back to their main camp.
Torek glanced at the humans who stood on either side of the hole Luriaal left in their lines.
The humans didn’t move to follow her. Their expressions didn’t change.
They simply stood there, rifles propped in the dirt.
When Torek began to follow the silver-eyed seer back to the campfire, walking between and among those silent humans to reach her, the humans continued to stand there, following him with their eyes. They watched the others in Torek’s group as well, as the other four seers filed between their ranks after him. The humans neither smiled nor frowned, but seemed to be measuring them all the same.
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