The Warriors of Valishna (Cartharia Book 1)

by Spencer Reaves McCoy

  "Breathe," he told her, "Come on... breathe." He put a hand to her chest, above her lungs. They were shallow at best. When she didn't move, Eldrin let out another curse. He felt within his belt, but he already knew he didn't have any medical supplies with him.

  He didn't have much time and he knew it. He swept his gaze over his surroundings once more. It had already been over a minute since he'd found her.

  He began digging through one of his belt to find one of the first weapons he'd been rained to work with when he joined the group. "Please let this work," he said to himself as he dug it out. "Please let this work." It was a blow dart gun. Four had given it to him. Unlike the Guard, the special ops team believed you should be equally skilled in every weapon.

  Eldrin aimed the small gun to he ground and blew through it to make sure there were no darts still inside. One flew out and stuck to the ground. By the time has finished, Six was lying limp and no longer coughing. He pulled out the small dagger from he ground where ehe'd tossed it upon removal and said a quick prayer under his breath.

  The cut that he made in her throat was small but certainly not shallow. He ignored the new blood welling up and quickly slid the tube into her throat. When she didn't move, he closed his eyes and breathed into the tube. He did this twice and then pulled back. Six gasped.

  Eldrin let out a sigh of relief. Another minute passed of Six struggling to draw air through the tube. Eventually, she reached up and yanked it out, drawing in a gulp of air.

  "You're breathing," Eldrin said, "Oh god, you're breathing. For some reason you were choking. It wasn't your lungs, because I could feel them working, but you weren't getting any air and you were suffocating and--"

  Six's eyes grew wide with alarm as she seemed to register where she was and what had happened, "No, they must have been doing it."

  "Who?" Eldrin asked.

  "The soldiers," she whispered. He could see panic growing in her eyes, though her voice was steady enough. "They saw me. I ran. I shot at one of them, but he caught me with his knife. I couldn't focus enough to block their manipulation. So they choked me. Cut off my airways."

  "That wasn't a soldier," Eldrin said, "That was me. THat's my blade."

  Six shook her head, ignoring the pain flaring in her body. "No! I saw them! They chased me! They were chasing me! Look, that's why the weapons weren't stopping. I was trying to attacking them, I removed the manipulation block... that must have been how your blade hit me... They're... they..."

  She trailed off. Eldrin followed her gaze.

  Standing around the clearing were six Lamonte soldiers.

  "I told you she was here," one of the males said with a smirk. He leered down at Six.

  "You didn't say she'd have someone with her though," another one said back, "or that he'd do our work for us, stabbing her. I'm not complaining though. It's another chance for information. He won't be as fun as the girl though..."

  Eldrin exchanged a glance with Six. He could see how much pain she was in, but she was ignoring it. He raised his index finger slightly but she gave a minute shake of her head. She held up two fingers.

  "What do you want?" Eldrin asked. He tried to sound overly scared. It wasn't difficult. "I just want to help this girl. She's my little sister. She was lost in the woods. Can you help us?"

  "That's cute," one of the women said, "We've been following you for a while though."

  "What are you talking about?" Eldrin asked, rubbing a hand across his face. He let outa whine, "You're scaring me. We want to go home."

  The woman glared at him, "Stop that. You're degrading yourself. We know perfectly well that you're not a helpless child. We know all about you. How you block manipulation on objects, and on yourselves. You're going to tell us how it works."

  "Nobody else seems to know how to do it," the first man said, "We would know. We know a lot."

  Eldrin stretched out his legs, not bothering to get up, "I think you've mistaken us for someone else. We have familiar faces. That's what my mom always said. Isn't that right?"

  Six nodded but didn't speak.

  "She can't talk," Eldrin informed them. "She's mute. That's why she has a hole in her throat. I tried to fix it."

  "Pretend all you like," this time it was one of other women who spoke up, "But when we're done, you'll talk plenty."

  "Get up," the first woman said, "both of you. You're coming with us."

  Eldrin shrugged, "If you want. I hope you're taking us home, though."

  As he shifted, he caught Six's eye. This time, she tapped one finger against the ground. He nodded very slightly. A go ahead. It would be risky in her current condition, but they didn't have much of a choice at this point.

  Six rolled over quickly, covering the distance between herself and her weapon, and snatched up her bow and a handful of arrows. She threaded it while she left to her feet and even though she was injured, when she let an arrow fly, it hit its mark.

  Eldrin, at the same time, used his foot to knock his dagger into the air. He flung himself up, caught it, and used it to gash the throat of the woman who lunged at him. They acted so quickly that none of them had a chance to prepare.

  "Stop them!" One of them yelled. She cleared her sword from her scabbard in seconds and drove it towards Six.

  More nimble than she, Six ducked down, avoiding the blade. She dropped her bow to the ground again and instead used her hand drive one of her arrows into the chest of another man who lunged at her from behind.

  Eldrin spun on his feet and kicked up wards and out at the woman with the sword. HIs feet caught her jaw and she stumbled back fro surprise and pain. He lost his dagger in the spin.

  "Kill them!" she screamed at the two other men who were standing there.

  "We can't manipulate," one cried out, "They're blocking it! We can't manipulate!"

  "Use your bare hands then," she screamed out as Six used her foot to fling the bow back into the air once more. She caught it deftly and strung another arrow.

  One of the remaining soldiers threw himself at Eldrin, who immediately retaliated with a hard clip to the man's jaw.

  "You bastard!" the soldier cursed, doubling up his own its to slam into Eldrin's stomach. The other one hurried to join in.

  Getting pummeled backwards by both of them, Eldrin cut his eyes around, looking for an opening. When none came, he felt his belt. The rest of his daggers were back at camp. He cursed himself silently.

  Six shot her last arrow but it missed the woman by inches. She died out, ducking down long enough to steal Eldrin's dagger from where it had fallen. She was bleeding heavily again.

  Eldrin's eyes caught a glimmer of silver on the ground. He let the latest punch send him sprawling into the dirt and smirked despite the ringing in his head. He blinked back the stars, and felt around. His fingers found the dart he'd blown out earlier and he brought it up, driving it deeply into the leg of one of the men.

  The man immediately crashed down. The poison in the dart was a strong tranquilizer that would last for hours and eventually kill the man if no medicine was administered.

  Six was trying to duel the woman with a sword with only a dagger. She kept getting pushed further back. She wasn't exactly steady on her feet either.

  Eldrin jumped back to his feet and took another blow to his jaw. The second fighter was still coming at him full-force. Still having plenty of energy, the man began to drive Eldrin back towards Six and the woman.

  Allowing himself to be shepherded, Eldrin waited until he felt Six's back touch his. It was a portion they'd practiced enough. Neither of them needed spoken words to know what to do next. They both dropped tot he ground together. The woman with the sword cut off the man's head in a swift, clean movement. His body wriggled around for a moment before falling down too.

  Without hesitation, Six turned, standing fluidly beneath the woman's outstretched arms, slamming Eldrin's dagger into her throat.

  Blood spewed out, covering them all. She felt backwards, dead.

  Eldri
n and Six exchanged a look of triumph, surrounded by the six fallen Lamonte soldiers. It would take a lot more to out-number the two of them. Eldrin was no longer a child amongst them, after all. He'd been trained.

  Then Six swayed on her feet before crumbling down herself, joining the dead bodies, unconscious.

  It was nearly evening by the time Eldrin got Six back to camp. She sometimes became conscience and other times, she needed carried.

  After the fight, Eldrin had taken time to make a makeshift bandage--created from his blood-drenched shirt--over the hole in the throat and the one in her chest. It would have been better if he could have sewn up the cuts, but he had no supplies.

  Arriving with her caused immediate commotion.

  "What happened?" Three demanded. Her eyes flashed with intense anger and confusion as she looked over the young woman and her injuries.

  "She was caught by Lamonte soldiers," Eldrin said.

  "Soldiers?" Three demanded. Her eyes widened in alarm and deadly intent. She put a hand to her weapon belt.

  Eldrin shook his head, "We kill them all."

  Three glared at him for a moment before relenting with a single nod, "How many?"

  "Six," he told her, "Four men, two women. There might have been more following us though. We should send men out to check."

  Nodding, Three gestured with her head, "Put her down. She needs medical attention."

  "And who here is going to give it?" Eldrin asked, rolling his eyes once more, "None of you even wrapped Two's ribs. She could have punctured a lung."

  "Put he down," Three snapped, "You can attend to her. Four told us you used to be a priest. You should have mentioned that sooner. Can you manipulate on her?"

  "Not anymore," Eldrin said, "I can't heal any longer."

  "I'll have someone bring over stuff to tend to her wound, and at the same time, you can explain exactly what happened," Three said, running a hand over her face, "We're already behind on traveling and we can't waste any more time."

  "Are we still leaving tonight?" Eldrin asked as he gently laid Six down own a skinned hide that Seven had brought over.

  Three shrugged, "Six will be fine once you've attended her."

  Eldrin sighed, knowing it would do little good to argue. A few minutes later, Four showed up with the medical supplies Eldrin would need.

  "I'm not a healer anymore," Eldrin told everyone gathered. When nobody replied, he sighed again, then removed the bandage from her throat first.

  "They slit her throat?" Four asked in alarm.

  "Really?" Eldrin asked. He rolled his eyes and splashed a small amount of liquor it over the cut. Six thrashed around in her state of unawareness. He gave her a sympathetic look. "Have none of you had any training?"

  "Of course we have," Three said. "We just didn't spend years on it. We had medics."

  Eldrin shook his head and began to tell the story of the Lamonte soldiers. He tended both wounds while he told the events and answered questions. It took nearly an hour and a half before he was completed.

  "Great," Three said at the end, "Just great."

  Angrily, she strode away a few yards. Seven quickly followed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We have to change anyway."

  "I know," she said, "But..." her voice faded away as the two of them moved further away from the injured woman, Eldrin and Four.

  Four hesitated a moment before smiling, "That wrap really helped Four with her pain and mobility."

  "Imagine that," Eldrin said. When Four merely raised a brow, he sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just been..."

  "A long day," Four filled in, "I understand. It's going to be a long night too, though. You're not going to enjoy it."

  Eldrin stood up angrily. "What is it? You and Two mentioned it earlier as well. What are we going to do tonight? Some ritualistic sacrifice that I'm missing?"

  Four started to chuckle and then stopped himself when he saw the look on his friend's face. "I'm sorry. It's just... you haven't really moved bases with us before. I keep forgetting you haven't gone though the procedure yet."

  "What procedure?"

  "I'm not supposed to mention until it's time," Four said, "Because of how you'll react."

  Eldrin shook his head, "I don't care what you're supposed to do. Tell me the truth if we're friends, Four."

  Four fudged, stepping slightly away. He glanced down at Six, who was now sleeping peacefully. He sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

  "Yes," Eldrin said firmly.

  "Then come with me. I suppose it's time anyway." Four bit his lower lip with a sigh and gestured for Eldrin to follow.

  "Is Five in?" Four asked, as he approached Seven and Three.

  "He is," Three responded looking between the pair, "Did you tell him?"

  "Not yet," Four said, "But I'm going to. If you want to be part of it, you might want to round everyone up. I'm not keeping this secret anymore. It's time. He's one of us now."

  Three looked at Four, who looked back, determined. She glanced at Eldrin, who looked even more so and sighed, "Fine. Get Two and meet up at Six's beside."

  Four started walking again with a nod. Eldrin raised both eyebrows and followed. His confusion and curiosity was rising by the minute.

  "So why is this--whatever it is--such a secret?" Eldrin asked as they approached Two. She was resting on top of a pile of skins.

  "Because you won't like it," Four told him.

  Eldrin raised his eyebrows again, "I don't like a lot of things around here. What's one more thing?"

  "This might have pushed you over the edge before," Four said, "And we still couldn't let you leave. Especially once you found out..."

  "Right," Eldrin said. For a moment, he considered getting angry but he knew it was futile most of the time. They had reasons for keeping things from him, whether he agreed or not; whether he liked it or not.

  "Are you awake?" Four asked, stepping up beside Two. He kept his voice low and gentle.

  Two blinked a few times and then opened her eyes to smile, "I am now. How late is it? I wanted to nap so I'd have energy to move with."

  Four nodded. "It's actually pretty late. We're running behind schedule. Six was attacked."

  Two sat up quickly, "Is she okay?" She put her hand to her ribs but otherwise showed no indication of being in pain.

  "She'll be fine," Eldrin spoke up, "She just needs some time to heal. It's going to be hard traveling with her. We should make her a travois but I know that's probably not going to happen."

  Four chuckled and shook his head, "It would be too loud and she'd never allow it. She's a tough kid. She'll live."

  "I suppose," Eldrin agreed reluctantly, "But honestly, how have you handled injuries before me?"

  "There were more of us," Four said, "We lost a lot of men during missions."

  "So are we still leaving tonight?" Two asked, sitting up. She swung her legs around and came to a full stand, ignoring the hand that Four offered out.

  "We are," he confirmed, "we're just about about to start the process. We're meeting over at Six's bed so she doesn't have to move just yet."

  Eldrin sighed.

  Two nodded. She turned to Eldrin, smiling, "Thank you again, by the way. The wrapping did wonders."

  "It's nothing," Eldrin told her, "It's something any of us should have been able to know to do."

  "I know," Two said, peering at him, "It doesn't diminish what you did though. So thank you."

  Four nudged Eldrin, "Just accept the thanks. It's the easiest thing to do in these circumstances."

  "You're welcome," Eldrin finally conceded with a roll of his eyes, "I'm going to start teaching all of you how to handle basic medical practicing." Both Four and Two grinned at that.

  "Let's go then, " Two said. The three of them went back to Six's side.

  Everyone in the camp was waiting there. Six was standing next to Seven and a man that Eldrin had only seen a few times in passing. He was lanky, short, and had wispy blonde hair and piercing
eyes. He could only be the mysterious scout, Five, who went ahead to plan out their routes and attacks.

  Eight was standing there too, with her arms folded over her chest as she looked down at Six.

  "Finally," Three said, gesturing for the three of them to approach.

  Two and Four moved to flank Three, leaving Eldrin to stand alone.

  "What's this all about?" Eldrin asked, folding his arms as well. He scanned each face and found them to be void of any emotion. It was something they were all great doing; not showing their feelings or thoughts. Eldrin had always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, though.

  Well, almost all of them were like that. Everyone but Six. She was awake and seemed rather cheerful for someone who had just had a brush with death.

  "Are you alright?" Eldrin asked her, "How are you feeling?"

  "Better," Six said in a raspy voice, "Much better."

  Eldrin nodded, feeling relieved. He looked back to the rest of the group.

  Five was the one who spoke, "We're going to be changing our faces."

  "What?" Eldrin gave him a blank stare.

  "We have been training for a long time to prepare ourselves against everything we come up against," Three chimed in, "and we already understand everything we must give up in order to do so."

  Four shaved uncomfortably. Eldrin thought he looked sad. "You don't have the luxury of that time. Six didn't either. But it is necessary."

  "What do you mean, changing faces?" Eldrin asked. He looked between their solemn expressions.

  "It was an experiment done by the Arinford Guard a while back," Five said. "It was deemed to unsafe and too painful to continue. But this is a technique we've moved forward with. We manipulate ourselves, so we look different each time we move to a new camp."

  "You manipulate yourselves?" Eldrin asked, still trying to get a firm understanding.

  "Watch," Three commanded. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. As he watched, her face slowly changed. Her skin bubbled up in excess wrinkles and pools. Her bones made a deep grinding sound as they moved in her face, grating together and sliding. Her eyes, nose, and mouth stretched and twisted.