Shadow Warrior (Sky Raiders Book 3)

by Michelle Diener

  “You couldn't have kept him away.” Kas's lips twitched. “He and Dalanial Varn seem to have hit it off.”

  Garek made a face. “Well, I'm more or less awake now. We should go.”

  Kas looked at him, and Garek saw the mentor he remembered from his early days of coming into his Change, rather than his future brother-in-law, in his face.

  “Taya is worried. She says you don't get enough sleep.”

  Or enough time alone with Taya, but Garek decided he wouldn't mention that to her brother. “I'm the only one who can fly the craft, and we're about to go to war.” He shrugged. “It won't be long now, either way. If we're right, the three armies are heading back through Dartalia for the Corridor, and when we get there, we won't just be fighting them off, but the sky raiders, too.”

  “I want to come.”

  Garek didn't know why he hadn't expected this, but he hadn't. “You have Luca and Pan Nuk to worry about.”

  “I know, but I still want to go. I want to see them defeated. Have a hand in the defeat.” Kas blew out a breath. “Eli wants to come, and Pilar, too.”

  Garek rubbed his forehead. “I can't stop them, that's on Aidan, I suppose, and Dix. It's her camp, and she's the general of Dartalia.”

  “I can stop them, I'm town master, but I don't want to. And I want to come as well.” Kas gave a short laugh, shook his head. “Luca has been through enough, so I'll be the responsible father and stay. But I'll let Eli and Pilar and whoever else wants to go, go.”

  Garek smothered a yawn and got to his feet.

  Someone--most likely Taya--had put a mug of water and food beside his mattress, and he scooped them up and walked out to the back as he gulped the water down.

  There was a small group gathered at the bottom of the ramp. Min and Luca were stuck to Taya's side, each with an arm around her, and Quardi was holding court from his wheelchair with the lieges of West Lathor and Dartalia.

  Garek grinned at the sight.

  “He can walk pretty well now,” Kas said from beside him. “But it tires him after a while, so he keeps the chair handy.”

  That was good.

  His father looked up and saw him standing there, and gave a wave. “Garek. You're awake.”

  Everyone looked up at him, except Luca, who broke free of Taya and ran up the ramp to fling himself at Garek. He was just able to hand off his plate to Kas in time to catch him.

  “You're going to fight the sky raiders.”

  “Maybe,” Garek conceded.

  “Aidan says you are.”

  “They might not attack again, but probably they will.”

  “Will you fight them in the sky craft?”

  Would he? “I can't fire anything at them from the sky craft, so probably not.”

  “What if you had someone who could call the earth Change onboard?” Kas asked. “You could work with them the way we did on the Endless Escarpment. Blind the sky raiders with dust and create cover for our own people, only this time from the air.”

  That might work. It would feel better to have the mobility of the sky craft, to keep watch on where the enemy were.

  He slid a look at Kas, who sounded like he was trying to talk his way back into going.

  “Are you going to help Garek?” Luca must have heard the same wistfulness in Kas's tone.

  Kas hesitated, and then took Luca's hand, led him down the ramp and to the side.

  “What's going on?”

  He'd seen Taya kiss Min on the cheek and then make her way up the ramp slowly, giving him time with Luca, and he drew her into his arms, loosely threading his fingers together to trap her in his embrace.

  She didn't seem to mind being caught.

  “I think Kas is gauging how much Luca will mind if he comes along.”

  Taya sighed. “I wish he would stay here. Pan Nuk needs him, and Luca needs him even more.”

  “He's a protector, and he knows he can't protect anyone if the sky raiders come back. He wants a hand in ending them.”

  “I can understand that.” She pressed her head against his shoulder, and they watched Kas crouch down in front of Luca, who put a hand on his father's shoulder, and waved the other one around.

  Min walked up to them, and Kas rose. It was a shock to see him slide a hand around Min's waist and pull her close.

  “Kas and Min?”

  “You didn't see the way that wind was blowing?” Taya's voice bubbled with happiness. “And to think how rude he was to her when she first came to our side of the camp.”

  Garek chuckled. “I think she has something to say about his going, too.”

  But it was difficult to say what, Garek conceded. They all looked very serious.

  “You ready to go, Garek?” Aidan came up the ramp, pushing his father's chair in front of him.

  Garek bent to give his father a one-armed hug, and Quardi thumped him on the back.

  “You'll need equipment,” Garek said as he pulled back. “Dix will know if they have some of the things you'll need to smelt ore at the camp, but they won't have much.”

  “Eli and Pilar are bringing my things.” Quardi himself had a hammer on his lap, and a few other tools.

  The others started walking up the ramp; Susa and Dix, Dalanial Varn, and then what looked like the whole of Pan Nuk, some carrying equipment for Quardi, others with packs slung over their shoulders.

  Kas met them at the bottom of the ramp and gave a nod of permission.

  Eli slapped his back in thanks and strode up the ramp, holding one of Quardi's massive pots in each hand, with a pack slung over his back.

  The others followed, turning briefly to say their goodbyes before they walked into the ship.

  Garek counted fifteen.

  Kas turned to look up at them, and Garek, who hadn't yet set foot on the ground of Pan Nuk, walked down to him, with Taya's hand linked in his.

  “I'm staying,” Kas said. “But we'll get ourselves ready. If things don't go the way we all hope on the battlefield, then the three armies will have a hard time making their way through West Lathor.”

  Taya threw her arms around Kas, Min and Luca in a group hug, and Garek gingerly joined in.

  He saw the flash of laughter in Kas's eyes at that and sent his old mentor the smirk he knew used to drive him mad.

  Then everyone not going edged back, and he and Taya walked into the sky craft.

  “Your fellow villagers are determined to fight,” Dix said as he sat down in the pilot's chair.

  “They've fought the sky raiders before, with a lot less going for them, and won.” Garek lifted the sky craft into the air.

  Dix crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, then, let's hope we can achieve that outcome again.”

  Chapter 27

  The three armies sat, not exactly hunkered down, but not moving forward, either, at least a half day from the camp in the Dartalian Corridor.

  Garek kept the sky craft high above them, although anyone with sharp eyes would have seen him.

  He hoped the fact that Aidan and Taya had spotted sky raider craft following them three times since they'd gotten closer to Dartalia meant they were one of several sky craft in the air.

  When they'd made certain they had accounted for all three of the armies, he turned back to the camp, keeping high, and Aidan made a quiet sound of warning, as if they were walking the walls, not flying high above any harm, and pointed down.

  “Three armies scout party,” Dix said, following his finger.

  “Two,” Eli said, pointing to the left.

  Garek climbed higher, and hovered. It seemed unlikely the scouts could have come through unseen in the light of day, so Garek guessed they'd slipped in under cover of dark the night before, and now they were trapped until the light fell again.

  One group had climbed the hill to the left of the camp and lay flat against the ground, just out of sight.

  General Hanson had obviously instituted patrols, but they were in groups of two and as he watched, he saw two guards take a path jus
t below where the scouts were lying, missing them completely.

  The guards were following the curve of the path to the valley floor, headed for the camp, and missed the second group, who were hunkered down below the path in the reeds of the river.

  “Put down in front of the camp, with the back ramp pointed toward the river, and I'll get them,” Dix said, voice grim.

  “I'll help,” Aidan said. “And Pilar can choose a few others to come with us.”

  “I'll take another group and go after the ones on the hill,” Eli said. There was something in his tone that worried Garek a little.

  “You got some pent up anger there, Eli?” he asked as lightly as he could.

  “Seems the sky raiders had some Baritan help in my first and second abductions to Shadow. This lot are traitors.”

  Garek grunted in agreement. The man had a point.

  “I don't think they know much about the betrayal,” Taya said, sending Eli a troubled look. “The lieutenants and generals must, or they wouldn't have turned around and come back. However much the sky raiders have misjudged how long it would take our troops to recover, and the troops of the three armies to get here, the leaders must surely have been told the sky raiders would strike and clear the way for them to reach the border. But the scouts and the general guard? I don't think they know.”

  “Why do you say that?” Eli seemed a little calmer already.

  “Because, like us, I don't think they'd agree with it. And the Harven particularly wouldn't agree, because we saved the whole village of Cassinya. They were given the Harven Welcome when we returned them to Luf.

  “Their liege may have betrayed us all, but his people are victims, too. I was given help from the Harven when I was taken to Luf. I was given a lot of help.”

  Eli gave a nod, but Garek sensed some reluctance in it, and decided he wouldn't want to be the scouts on the hill when Eli found them, regardless of Taya softening his rage a little.

  He put the sky craft down between the camp and the river, and as soon as the ramp lowered, Dix and Aidan ran straight out with Pilar and a group of Pan Nukkers.

  Eli's group were right behind them and there was a palpable sense of excitement that they were going straight into action.

  Susa followed behind, and Garek rose and stretched.

  “Garek.” Taya's voice held a tone that brooked no delay, and he ran to the back, saw Hanson racing at them, guards in formation.

  “Stand down, General.” He barked it, because Susa looked like she was about to be impaled by a knife that stopped suddenly, and then drifted back to the hand of its thrower.

  Which turned out to be Etta.

  “Garek.” Hanson gave the stand down signal, and then looked behind her as a man in Dartalia uniform came running.

  “My liege.” He bowed to Susa and shot Hanson a horrified look.

  “My apologies.” Hanson kept her back ramrod straight. “We saw the sky craft, and we were afraid of another attack. I didn't recognize the group of guards who ran up the hill, they weren't wearing a uniform, and . . . oh.” She caught sight of Aidan as he, Dix and their team returned with three captured scouts, and Garek could see her color rise.

  “Who was on patrol?” She barked the question and no one answered.

  The silence stretched out.

  “We saw the scouts from the air. I don't think they would have easily been found by a patrol.” Taya's attempt to to smooth and soothe seemed to have the opposite effect.

  Hanson shook her head, disgusted. “There is an issue of cooperation here.” She looked at the man beside her. “Lieutenant Criss has been suspicious of us since he came back from unconsciousness, and the disappearance of Commander Dix has disturbed him greatly. I tried to explain she'd been taken back to Valian, but . . .”

  “But it was difficult for me to believe that. And I see now that every word you told me was the truth. My apologies, General.” Criss thumped a fist over his heart. “Sincerely. You stood watch over us while we were down, and then we didn't thank you for it.”

  Plenty of guards had run up behind the two leaders, and Garek noticed more than a few winces.

  Hanson, caught short by the apology, gave a nod of acceptance. “Who ran up the hill?” she asked, turning her gaze to Garek.

  “A few former guards from my village. There's another group of scouts on the hill.” As he said it, a shout rang out from that direction and then the distant sounds of a fight drifted down to them.

  Hanson seemed to grow grimmer at the news, and Etta, who'd run up beside her, looked a little sick and edged away, moving toward the sound of the fight, and using hand signals to call two others to come with her.

  “How far away are the three armies?” The way Hanson asked, he realized she'd been expecting a full assault at any time, and he couldn't blame her for being a little jumpy.

  After all, it didn't make sense to knock everyone down and then give them time to recover and get back up before an attack.

  “Half a day away.” He saw her relax a little. “We think they made a mistake with the timing, and also, that maybe Favre and Kadmine aren't as happy with the idea of sky raider help as the Harven.”

  “And even with the Harven,” Taya said, “I think it's just the senior officers. I don't think it's the guards themselves. I believe they haven't been told.”

  Aidan and Dix reached them, striding ahead of Pilar and a few others marching the three spies toward the camp.

  “General.” Aidan gave Hanson a respectful bow, and she returned it. No sign of any cracks between them in front of their allies.

  “General Dix, it's good to see you are well. We were worried.” Criss bowed as well.

  Something in his tone made Dix frown. “Surely General Hanson told you I'd been taken home to give a report to the liege?”

  Criss cleared his throat. “You have to understand we were all disoriented by the attack. When I came to, it was to find you missing and the camp being run by General Hanson.”

  “Ah.” Dix thought it through. “How much apologizing do I need to do, Lieutenant?”

  Criss sent Hanson a sidelong look, and Dix's face grew stony as she noticed the fidgeting of some of her guards.

  “A lot, it seems.”

  Hanson gave a sudden grin. “I'm a stranger, you were missing, and they woke up after a very unnatural attack.” She let it go with a shrug, and everyone seemed to breathe out in relief.

  “Is it safe to come out?”

  Garek looked back to see his father at the top of the ramp.

  “Seems like it.”

  Quardi rolled down in his chair, and looked around. Pointed to a flat spot near the river.

  “Then let's get started making shadow warriors.”

  Chapter 28

  Every time a sky craft flew overhead, everyone in camp went still, watching it, tense and ready to dive for the special cover the guards calling an earth Change had built.

  Taya knew how they felt; that strong, almost overwhelming fear of being hit by white lightning. Of being prepared to do almost anything not to be hit again.

  But first, she checked to see if it might be Garek.

  It never was.

  The ships that patrolled the skies were all small fighter craft.

  Garek had taken Susa back to Valian, gone to fetch the rest of the Iron Guard from their original camp in West Lathor and brought them to the Corridor camp, and then gone on to Gara and Juli for more guards. He wouldn't be back with them until late in the night, and it was only dusk now, but she still felt a flutter in her heart and a quick frisson of excitement, until she confirmed it wasn't him.

  “Why don't they attack?” Dalanial Varn asked.

  He'd taken up a seat beside Quardi, seemingly fascinated by the process of smelting the ore.

  They were still waiting for the fire Quardi had started to reach the heat he needed, but as the Star had almost completely set, the firelight was comforting, the flames spreading a warm glow over the camp and drawing those wh
o were off duty.

  Taya watched the sky craft move away in the darkening sky high above them, and then looked over at Varn. “They don't want to make the same mistake again. Until the three armies are within sight of us, I don't think they'll hit us again.”

  “What's the delay, then?” Quardi stoked the fire hotter and Pilar wiped sweat from his forehead and threw on more fuel.

  “The top leadership will have to break it to their troops that they're working with the sky raiders. I think some are probably resisting doing that. As soon as the sky craft swoop down and hit us, that secret will be out.”

  Whoever was leading those armies would have to concede at some point that they had to either advance, and let the sky raiders knock everyone out so they could find Taya unscathed by arrow or sword, or retreat, and end this whole thing.

  “So when Dix or General Hanson's scouts let us know the armies are on the move, we have to look to the skies for the attack, not to the end of the valley?” Pilar's disgust was palpable as he tossed more wood on the fire.

  Taya saw Varn wince, and she guessed he knew that Pilar would not be alone in the feeling of betrayal, the loss of respect, and that it would taint Kadmine for a long time.

  A shout from the head of the valley stopped all conversation, and while they waited for whoever was running toward them, the Star slipped beyond the horizon.

  Taya moved with a few other guards to the trail the lookouts would be using, and Dix was suddenly beside her.

  She said nothing as the first scout reached them, sides heaving.

  “Small group of maybe sixty are moving,” he managed to get out.

  “Oh.” Dix took a step back. “Clever. They're coming under cover of darkness and with a small, hand-picked group. What do you bet they're going to pretend the group coming this way somehow managed to capture us all by themselves? No one but them will see the sky raiders and their white lightning.”

  Taya sucked in a hard, painful breath. That was clever. It was better than she had assumed they would come up with. But after all, they were motivated. The three armies wanted West Lathor, and the sky raiders wanted her.

  “What do you suggest?” Hanson must have been just behind her, and it took Taya a moment to realize the general was speaking to her.