“Perhaps you are right. Human women do have a tendency to become angry and punish their mates with silence,” he said thoughtfully. “But I still think it is more likely to be one of two other possibilities.”
“That thiss iss a trap?” she guessed and there was a certain eagerness in her voice. Talon’s thirst for blood and death had been deadened by the newfound compassion that Justan’s human memories had given her, but she still found the thought of a pitched battle at her brothers’ side an exciting prospect.
“Yes,” Deathclaw said. “It could be.”
The Protector could be angry that Justan was consulting with the enemy. If he found out that Deathclaw was approaching he could have a group of men lying in wait to capture him when he came close. Justan had dismissed that suggestion when it had been put forward to him the night before, but Deathclaw was not easily convinced. After all, the Protector had tried to kill Justan the first time they had met.
“Then I will be ready,” Talon said. “What iss the other possibility?”
“It could be that Jhonate is simply inept at using her own wood to communicate,” Deathclaw replied.
“We sshould assume the trap,” Talon suggested.
“Indeed,” Deathclaw agreed.
If Jhonate’s range for communication was truly only a couple miles, they would need to be well within the city before Deathclaw would be close enough to the palace to reach her. They travelled closer to the city, staying off of the roads.
Avoiding the Roo-Tan scouts was an easy matter for the two trained raptoid assassins. They traveled without making a sound and Talon’s pheromones kept them hidden from the sensitive noses of the wary dogs that the Roo-Tan used to pick up the scent of stealthy intruders.
The only difficulty would be getting into the city without being seen. Centuries of enmity and attack from the Roo-Dan had made the Roo-Tan a wary people. That combined with current events made for a city at high alert.
The raptoids waited until nightfall when visibility would be in their favor. By the time the sun had set the moon was already on the rise, which took away some of their advantage, but Deathclaw knew that stealth was all about reducing the chance of discovery in every way one could, no matter how small it seemed.
Preparedness was also key to a successful assault. Deathclaw had scouted out an ideal weak point in the city’s defenses long ago while Justan was in a boring series of meetings. At first he had considered the city’s canal system an obvious weakness, but had discovered one wet and miserable afternoon that the entrances and exits of the waterways were barred.
This meant that the twelve foot white stone wall that surrounded the city would have to be scaled unseen. The height was not a problem, but there were guard towers erected at regular intervals along the walls. There were a few sections where the towers did not have good visibility, but trios of Roo-Tan guards patrolled the outer perimeter at all times of night. In the end, Deathclaw had decided that the answer was a simple matter of timing.
Deathclaw and Talon approached the southwestern wall of the city in an area where a farmer’s orchard had been grown relatively close to the city wall. The gap between the trees and the wall was perhaps twenty feet at the widest. The raptoids crouched silently in the shadows of the citrus trees and waited for the next guard patrol to pass.
“If there is a trap it will be sprung soon,” Deathclaw decided. If the ring he wore was being monitored they would know he was close.
“I will go ahead,” Talon said. She darted across the open space, a spectral figure clad in her black robe, and jumped using her claws to scale the wall.
Once she was inside, Deathclaw waited for the chirp that would be her signal the path was clear. The next guard trio approached the orchard and was walking in front of him when Talon chirped her signal. Deathclaw kept still, observing the guards’ reaction to the noise, but the men, most of them with Jharro swords, continued by as if nothing was amiss.
He soon joined Talon on the other side of the wall. He let out a chirp of his own, letting her know to continue on. If there was a trap, Talon was his one advantage. There was no way they could know about her.
She went ahead of Deathclaw, sliding from shadow-to-shadow as she looked for possible ambush. Talon would then signal that the way was clear and Deathclaw would join her. The raptoids made their way through the city in this fashion, utilizing alleyways and occasionally slipping into canals to avoid notice by the humans that traveled the streets.
Deathclaw moved with trained precision and stony silence pierced only by the occasional signal. They found no trace of human deception and yet his heart beat with excitement. Unbeknownst to him a smile spread his lips.
He was on a hunt with his sister, working in tandem like two raptoids should. She was not maniacally torturing him or killing the random people that passed by her concealment. This was what he had envisioned when he had originally set out to save Talon from Ewzad Vriil’s keep. Perhaps she was fixed after all.
There was only one moment where he feared that all was not right. He had watched from across a well-lit street as Talon moved into the shadow between two houses. She was quiet for some time and her signaling chirp sounded half-hearted.
Deathclaw had darted across the street to join her and found his sister standing in front of an open window, quietly watching as a soft song floated through the air. Deathclaw looked inside and saw a Roo-Tan mother nursing an infant. The woman sang a soft lullaby as she rocked the child.
Deathclaw drew back in concern, afraid that Talon’s old tendencies were resurfacing. Her face was hidden by the hooded robes she wore. He grasped his sister’s shoulder and turned her to face him, ready to fight her if need be. What he saw wasn’t as he feared but was still disturbing.
Tears streamed from the raptoid’s eyes. Her nightmarish face was full of regret, haunted by past sins. He dared not give her any chirp of encouragement so close to the open window, but gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and gestured that she should move on. Swallowing, Talon turned and slid into the darkness, leading the way once again.
They continued from street to street until they were as close as Deathclaw dared go. Jhonate was somewhere just over two miles away, likely on the palace grounds. He signaled and together he and Talon scaled a stack of buildings four stories high.
Once on top of the roof, he peered into the center of the city where Jhonate’s presence was. With his enhanced vision he could just make out the soft glow of the well-lit Protector’s Palace.
He focused his thoughts into the ring and called out, Jhonate bin Leeths.
There you are, Justan, came Jhonate’s relieved voice in his mind. I had sensed that you were nearer to me but did not expect you to be this close. What has taken you so long? What did the Stranger want with you?
Deathclaw frowned. How did Jhonate not sense that the person wearing the ring was not her betrothed? Perhaps she really was just inept. This is not Justan. It is Deathclaw.
Her thoughts changed from relieved to worried. What happened? Is Justan alright?
He is, Deathclaw assured her. But he is not yet able to return. He sent me to deliver an urgent message.
Very well, she said, her thoughts now more perturbed than concerned. What does he wish me to know?
He wishes you to deliver a message to your father. Fist will be arriving at the border of Malaroo tomorrow.
Tomorrow? she said in surprise. I thought Fist was in the Trafalgan Mountains fighting Mellinda’s evil.
Deathclaw hesitated as he tried to decide how much he was allowed to tell her. He was, but Fist succeeded in destroying the evil. Now he is approaching the border with a small group.
Jhonate had difficulty understanding how Fist could have gotten from the mountains all the way to the border so quickly, but she did not question it. Who is in this group?
He is with Squirrel, Rufus, Maryanne, Lenny, Charz, and three Academy guards. They are coming to help us in the coming battle, Deathclaw explained. Ju
stan asks only that the Protector allow them to pass the border and if possible provide them an escort to Roo-Tan’lan.
An interesting group, Jhonate said, her thoughts tinged with hesitant approval. I can see why he felt that those particular people would need help getting here. Is that the full content of the message I am to pass on?
It is, Deathclaw replied.
Very well. I am in a late meeting with my father and the clan leaders now. I will tell him right away.
Jhonate’s thoughts broke away for a moment and Deathclaw sensed that she was speaking aloud to someone. He could not make out the words, but from the tone of her thoughts the reply she was given was not a pleasant one. There was a rather heated exchange before her thoughts were focused on him once more.
He will have them brought here, but we are unhappy with the dearth of information. You must tell me more, was her stern command. What did you learn from the Stranger? Was the Gnome Warlord with him? Does Justan know anything of their designs on the Roo-Tan?
I cannot tell you anything else, Deathclaw replied. Justan understands your worries but asks that you and your father trust his judgement. He will explain more when he arrives in a few days. For now it is only important that you make sure Fist and his group are allowed into Malaroo.
That is it? Jhonate said and her sternness was giving over to anger. He gave you my ring just so that you could deliver a message for my father without having to appear in person?
He felt this would be the best way to avoid confrontation, Deathclaw explained.
Justan thinks he is avoiding confrontation, does he? she scoffed. He sent you here asking me to be his buffer with my father and had you give me nothing else? No personal message for his betrothed?
Deathclaw hissed inwardly. There was one more thing that he required I tell you.
It had better be good, she said.
He says . . . the rest came out in a mental mumble.
What was that? Jhonate replied, confused.
The raptoid sighed. It is not the kind of thing I feel comfortable conveying-.
Spit it out, Deathclaw!
He loves you and misses you, Deathclaw said hurriedly.
Jhonate said nothing for a long moment. Are those simple words supposed to deflect my ire?
That is not the way he put it, Deathclaw said.
Already at a low boil, her outrage built in intensity until it spilled through their connection. Justan leaves me standing here in front of the nation’s elites, many of whom lost family during the treaty disaster, with nothing to tell them and he thinks that it will all be forgiven because he misses me? Do you know what I say to that??
It is best I stopped talking to you now, Deathclaw decided and took the ring off of his finger so that he would be subjected to no more of her ravings.
He looked to Talon. She had been watching his face the whole time, trying to make out the beats of the discussion through the subtlety of his expression. She smiled. “Will there be a fight?”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head, but after giving it a second’s more thought, placed the Jharro ring on the rooftop next to him just in case. Jhonate would likely be upset finding it left up there, but at least she wouldn’t be able to follow him back to Justan.
“We should leave before they come looking for us,” he said.
* * *
Tarah sat in the Protector’s Conference Room, her eyelids heavy. The meeting had gone much later than usual and she had been asked to wait in one of the chairs at the side of the room in case the Protector wanted her thoughts. The meeting was covering a range of subjects including the movements of Mer-Dan troops, which was where her particular area of expertise could come into play, but the discussion had quickly turned into infighting by the different clan heads.
It was all so tiring. The frustration of the different Roo-Tan noble houses was understandable since each of them had lost many lives in the disaster, but it was hard to stay sympathetic when they all seemed ready to use the tragedy for political advantage.
Finding it impossible to stay interested in the current argument, her mind wandered. She switched to spirit sight as Beth had taught her and looked at the faint smoky line that emerged from her chest and pointed to the south. Somewhere, many days travel southward, Djeri was alive and in danger.
“Bored?” said Esmine, appearing directly in front of Tarah’s gaze. Tarah sat up alertly and the rogue horse’s child-like form assured her, “Don’t worry. I’m not scaring nobody. Only you can see me right now.”
Tarah relaxed. Yes, I’m bored, she replied mentally.
“Do you want me to make things more interesting?” Esmine said with a girlish grin. She swept her arm across the room. “I can make everybody naked . . .”
The clothes on all of the representatives faded. Bare cheeks abounded.
No! Tarah put a hand over her eyes, her face reddening. Don’t make me see that!
Esmine sighed. “Okay fine. You said you didn’t want to be bored.”
Tarah braved a peek between her fingers and saw that the clothes had returned. She was relieved until she noticed that one person remained nude in the sea of delegates. Why, Esmine? Out of everyone, why is Jhonate still naked?
Esmine cocked her head, gazing at the woman who was standing there with one hand on her staff watching two house members disagree, completely unaware of what the rogue horse was doing. “I was just wondering what Sir Edge is so interested in. Humans are so strange about what they find attractive in a mate.”
Well, stop it, Tarah said. She was tired of the rogue horse’s antics. Put her clothes back on. There’s no reason for me to see.
“Fine, but I really want to understand this,” Esmine insisted and Jhonate’s clothing and breastplate reappeared. “What do you think the reason is, Tarah?”
I don’t care, Tarah replied. Different people like different things.
“Hmm,” said the child, stroking her chin thoughtfully. It was a new gesture she had seen lately and she was always looking for excuses to try it out. “Her body is much different than yours. She is shorter and narrower, with a smaller chest. Yet Sir Edge is a big man. Is that it? Is it the size difference that attracts males? A big man like Sir Edge enjoys a human woman with a more slight physique while a dwarf like Djeri likes you, a taller and more muscular woman?”
Stop this conversation now, Tarah growled. She had no desire for her body to be compared to Jhonate’s lithe form. Tarah took after her father. At six feet tall and broad of shoulder she had spent enough of her life feeling awkward about her physique. Look, we can talk about what humans find attractive later. I just want this stupid meeting to end so that I can go home and dream again.
Esmine’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout and she moved to sit in the empty chair next to Tarah. “Are you going to try something different in your dream this time?”
I have to, she replied, giving it some thought. There had to be something she could do besides the two choices that were presented to her in the dream. Theodore told me to try altering different parts of the dream. There has to be something I can change.
“Is he going to be in the dream with us again?” Esmine asked. She clasped her hands together. “It’s so much fun when he does it.”
No, Tarah replied. She’d had Theodore accompany her two nights in a row and though the imp had been well-behaved at first, his antics had soon gotten out of hand again. You’re enough trouble on your own.
“Sorry”, Esmine said, slouching in her chair dejectedly. Then she perked up. “Hey, look at Jhonate.”
The woman was standing stiffly with her eyes tightly closed, her lips moving slightly as if in whispered communication.
“Wonder who she’s talking to,” Esmine said curiously.
Just leave her alone, Tarah replied, though she couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. It looked like she was straining, as if communicating mentally at a distance. This could only mean she was using that Jharro ring that she had given to Sir
Edge.
The woman opened her eyes again and, looking troubled, approached her father. Jhonate whispered something into her father’s ear and he grabbed her arm and led her a short distance from the rest of the group. They had a low but fierce conversation that Tarah strained to hear.
Esmine had no such difficulty. “Jhonate says that Deathclaw contacted her using her ring. Sir Edge has some people coming to the border that he wants the Protector to let through.”
The Protector looked particularly vexed. What is he saying?
“He’s demanding more information,” Esmine said.
Jhonate closed her eyes again and this time her father watched her intently as she spoke to Deathclaw. Many of the house members had noticed the exchange by now and much of the room was focused on them rather than the two clan leaders still having their argument. Jhonate’s expression grew more and more fierce and when she opened her eyes again, her gaze was absolutely murderous.
“He cut me off!” she snapped aloud.
“How far away is he?” the Protector asked well aware that their conversation was no longer private.
“A few miles perhaps,” Jhonate replied. “He is somewhere in the city south of here.”
“I’ll call the guards to round him up and bring him back here,” Xedrion said, his gaze fierce.
Sir Hilt trotted over to him. “Are you talking about Edge?”
Jhonate looked at the room full of open stares and her glare tightened. “Deathclaw. He delivered a message from my betrothed but refused to answer any of my questions.”
“Then definitely don’t send any guards,” Hilt told the Protector. “Believe me, if Deathclaw feels threatened, your men would only get hurt. I will go with Jhonate. She can track him by her ring.” He looked over to Tarah. “I’ll take Tarah with me too.”
Xedrion’s jaw tightened. “Go. And get me some answers. I do not understand why Sir Edge is doing this.”
“Yes, Protector,” Hilt said.
“Wow,” said Esmine excitedly. “Some fun tonight.”
Hilt jerked his head at Tarah and she followed him and Jhonate out of the room. They jogged down the hallway and were headed towards the Palace’s outer doors before anything else was said.
Behemoth (The Jharro Grove Saga Book 6) Page 18