“Time to talk?” Taya lifted a sleep-tousled head off the pallet and hid a huge yawn behind her hand.
“Time to talk.” Anger still rode him, and the panic-inducing fear that he had lost her for good still lingered.
That she had overcome the odds, and walked out alive and unharmed, was a testament to her, not a point in favor of his enemies.
And they were now all his enemies.
Before last night, he'd hesitated to think through the more destructive options in dealing with the three armies, but now those options were on the table.
He could walk through their ranks in the inbetween, and destroy swathes of them. And if they didn't lay down their weapons and concede the fight, he would do just that.
“Where'd you go?” Taya was crouched beside her pack. She held a comb in her hand, but her eyes were on him.
“Nowhere good.”
She rose and tied her hair at her nape. “Let's go talk to Hanson and Dix, see if we can work out a way to turn this around.”
He nodded, but he realized he had no problem going down the roads he was considering.
Harven and its allies started this; they were the trespassers, not him.
And he protected his own.
He bypassed the ladder, jumping to the ground, and held out his arms.
Taya jumped after him, and he called his Change and caught her in the air, sent her tumbling to the ground in careful somersaults the way she used to love him doing when they first fell in love, before he was sent to walk the walls.
He protected his own, and no one was more his own than Taya.
They walked to the big fire, found Quardi and Pilar fast asleep on thick pallets, blankets covering them, and big wooden vats of water with feather-tipped arrows standing in them like strange flowers in even stranger vases.
They turned away, leaving them to sleep, and Hanson waved them over to where she stood with Dix, Kima and Dalanial Varn.
“You look better,” Dix said, her focus on Taya, but Garek had a feeling she was also talking about him.
He had been a little . . . crazy last night when he'd arrived back from a round trip of Juli and Gara with troops and supplies to find the camp under attack and Taya abducted.
He'd dealt with some of the three armies' attackers before he'd flown off to find the sky craft that had taken Taya--he remembered that much--but he hadn't waited around to see what had become of them.
“Thank you.” Taya accept two bowls from a guard who'd run over at a signal from Dix, and she handed one to him.
The bowls were full of hot porridge, and he realized he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon. He decided it might be better for everyone if his mouth was too full to take part in the conversation. At least initially.
Dix looked around the group, and everyone fell silent, waiting for her to speak. “So, as we discussed last night, there were two sky craft, and one dropped a sky raider off just outside the camp, and he came in on foot, while the second ship landed here.
“Taya's theory that they've added a layer of protection to their suits so they can get close to shadow ore without it affecting them makes a lot of sense, but fortunately for us it isn't foolproof, because it can still be pierced.”
Garek looked up from his bowl at that. “The suits were different?”
Taya nodded. “They didn't look different, but the sky raider got right up behind me, put one of those white lightning devices against my head and cut my belt off, and my shadow ore knife definitely touched his suit without effect.”
“How did he get the jump on you?” Dalanial Varn asked.
Garek looked over at him, and the councilor raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I'm just curious.”
“I wasn't expecting him, for a start,” Taya said. “I thought there were only two of them, but it was mainly because Criss had coated my spears with water so we could sneak right up on top of them, and when the sky raider saw me and shot, the white lightning reacted with the water. It exploded, and my ears were ringing and my eyes were blinded. Even if I'd known he was behind me, I couldn't have done anything about it.”
“They shot at Tuin, and it had the same effect on him, but some of it also jumped off his spear and caught his body and he went down.” Hanson rubbed a hand over her face, and Garek noticed she looked haggard.
He felt a fleeting moment of guilt for his and Taya's night off. But it only lasted a second.
“Is Tuin all right?” Taya asked and Dix nodded.
“So, the question we're all dying to ask is how did you escape?” Dix's gaze was riveted on Taya's face.
Garek looked at her himself, and tried to see her through the eyes of a stranger. She was of medium height, slim in build. She looked more dangerous that she used to, with her guard's trousers and jacket rather than the dresses she used to wear, but still, not very imposing.
“I thought Eli would have told you,” she said, and tapped her sleeve.
Hanson and Dix bent forward, trying to see what she was pointing to.
“What is that?”
“It's a shadow ore needle. It was in that vial of water I took onto the mothership. I still had it in my pocket. I destroyed the sky raider's white lightning device with the two I had and then threatened to bring down the sky craft unless he landed and let me out.”
“Just like that?” Hanson breathed.
“Just like that.” She grinned. “The device going pop and dying was all it took. And, to be honest, I think I could have brought the ship down, and he knew it.”
“And he let you off between us and the three armies?” Hanson asked.
“Yes. Nearer the three armies than this camp. Some guards came out to investigate from the camp when they saw the sky craft land and then take off again, so I had to go into the river to hide. It made for a chilly walk home. And there were sentries all along the river. I had to edge past them on my way.”
Thinking about it, thinking about what could have gone wrong, Garek felt the anger rise up in him again. Taya must have sensed it, because she leaned into him, the warmth and vitality of her centering him.
“So how long after I got taken did the clean-up crew arrive?” Taya threaded her fingers through his, and he suppressed a grin at the way she was managing him. It was working, too.
Hanson's gaze focused on their clasped hands, and then lifted her gaze to Garek's, humor lighting her hazel eyes. “Not long. Maybe a half hour. By then, we were ready and waiting for them.”
“How many did you capture?” Garek had landed in the middle of the fight. Had been told of Taya's abduction, and had lashed out at the invaders.
“We have twenty dead, thirty prisoners.”
“How many did I kill?” Garek didn't really care, but he decided it was best to acknowledge his part in it.
“Ten.” Hanson shrugged. “You're a potent weapon on any battlefield, and I would have you in my unit any time.”
Garek inclined his head, taking her words as the high praise they were.
“You did to them what you did to the Harven lieutenant who tried to attack Susa.” Dix was watching him. Like Hanson, there was no censure on her face, only interest.
He nodded.
“But you did it faster. It was like you ripped the air out of their lungs.”
“I was making a point with the Harven lieutenant. I was just trying to kill the attackers.”
Hanson cleared her throat delicately. “Well, we can thank you for that, because they came a lot quieter after seeing their fellow guards collapse and suffocate. Some ran, and we got a few of them, but when the guards found Taya, they gave up the chase and came back.”
“It's always good to let a few escape anyway,” Dix said. “Mysterious deaths and a total routing always add a nice flavor of fear to the enemy camp.”
Garek grinned in agreement.
“I've spoken to the Kadmine prisoners.” Dalanial Varn had been standing to one side until now, but he stepped foward. “They were told the Harv
en had some secret weapon that would lay everyone in the camp out, and all they would have to do was deal with unconscious guards.” He looked down at his feet. “I had to walk away from them at that point.” He breathed in deeply through his nose, rubbed his eyes, and then looked up. “One of them has been asking to speak to me again since then. Do you want to hear what he has to say?”
“Always good to hear what your enemies have to say,” Dix said, and Garek saw Varn wince at that.
The councilor was in the uncomfortable position of representing Kadmine on the state council, and yet having no control over the Kadmine liege and his army. He obviously wanted to believe the Kadmine cohort had been duped by Harven, and didn't understand what they'd gotten into.
Whether that was true or not, they would have to take responsibility for what they'd done so far, and one of those consequences was the disrespect of their neighbor, Dartalia.
They had less to lose with West Lathor, because since Valtor had become more self-involved, West Lathor's relations with the other Illian states had fallen away. But Garek guessed the loss of Dartalian goodwill would hurt Kadmine. And they deserved it to.
While they waited for Varn to fetch the prisoner, Garek looked up into the clear blue sky.
He was expected back in Juli this morning, to fetch more troops and to coordinate with Aidan and Vent, but he wasn't leaving Taya again. The princeling would just have to wait.
There was no sign of a sky craft anywhere, but that could change in moments and as he scanned the skies, he realized that Taya was doing the same.
“How long have you been able to draw the air out of peoples' lungs?”
He looked to the left, saw Hanson was standing watching him with a hint of fear in her eyes.
He moved away from Taya, stepping closer to Hanson. “For a while.”
“You could have done that to me, to anyone in our camp.” Hanson made it a statement of fact, so he nodded.
“Aidan knows this?”
“The princeling knows,” he agreed. “And what I did to the trees in that forest, I can do to people, too.”
She sucked in a breath. “I'm only standing here because you wanted the Iron Guard back, aren't I?”
“You're standing here because Taya wanted to see if you could teach her how to better call her Change, and because if it were iron she called, not shadow ore, then she would be in the same position as your recruits, and I'd want someone like you to stand up to someone like Valtor for her.”
Hanson gave a slow nod. “I thought I knew why Aidan insists you are going to be his general . . .” She paused. Frowned. “Are his general. But it's more than your tactical acumen. You're--”
She fell silent as Varn arrived back. Beside him was a large Kadminian, arms restrained behind him.
Dix looked over at Garek, and he gave her a nod of acknowledgment. He'd bring the prisoner down if he tried something.
She waved the two guards who'd brought him away, so they had some privacy.
“You wanted to speak.” Her words were cool.
“I wanted to speak to Councilor Varn.” He looked around the group suspiciously, and when his gaze fell on Taya, he couldn't help the widening of his eyes.
Garek's hands twitched. “See someone you were supposed to hand over to the sky raiders?” he asked neutrally.
“What?” The man's gaze snapped to Garek, eyes even wider than they had been. “Not the sky raiders, the Harven . . .” His voice trailed off as he looked at the faces around him. “They were going to give her to the sky raiders?”
“Who do you think was going to knock everyone here unconscious?” Varn asked him, disgust in his tone. “What do you think the Harven's 'secret weapon' was?”
The man was shaking his head. “No. It was some herb. They had a spy who was going to put it in the food and . . .”
Dix snorted. “And in a small, tight-knit team, we wouldn't notice someone sneaking in and dropping something in each pot? And then everyone was going to collapse and lie helpless?”
“What is your name?” Varn asked him, and there was a weariness to the slump of his shoulders.
“Fredic.” The guard looked around the group again. “What went wrong with the plan?”
“The reason the sky raiders want Taya so badly is because she is dangerous, and she proved that last night when she foiled their attempt to hit us all with a weapon that shoots out lightning.” Varn folded his arms over his chest. “They flew off in panic, and I can only assume the communication between the sky raiders and the traitors in the three armies isn't instantaneous, because no one warned you we were waiting for you to arrive.”
“The traitors--” Fredic blinked.
“What would you call Baritans who collaborate with the sky raiders?” Garek asked softly.
“I--” He swallowed. “I didn't know about that. I swear, I didn't know.”
“Well, now you do.” Varn shook his head.
“What about you, you have a sky craft?” Suddenly defiant, Fredic pointed to the ship.
“That's because I stole it from the sky raiders up on Shadow, while I was rescuing Baritans who'd been abducted. And that surely is common knowledge.” Garek held his gaze, and eventually he conceded the point with a nod.
“I had heard that, but some of the Harven are whispering about it not being true.”
Taya made a sound of such outrage, all eyes turned to her.
“That they would do that, when they saw us bring back a whole Harven village worth of captives to Luf.” She shot a look of horror at Garek. “This is Habred trying to rewrite history so he can go after West Lathor even though he owes us for saving his own people.”
“I've seen the camp on Shadow where the sky raiders kept their captives.” Varn looked Fredic straight in the eye. “I've spoken with Dartalians who were captives as well, and with some West Lathorians who were taken not once but twice, and I can confirm this is all true.”
“So the Harven have lied to us.” Fredic's gaze was fixed to Varn's face.
Varn shrugged. “Nothing would make me happier than if the Kadmine liege and commanders are all innocent dupes. But why did they not get Council permission for this war, if that's the case? And why have they insulted Dartalia, one of our closest allies?”
Fredic shook his head.
There was silence; a crushing, heavy silence.
Eventually Dix waved at the guards and they took the Kadminian away.
“What do you think is keeping the other sky raiders?” Dix looked up at the sky.
“Maybe they're still working out how to use the shadow ore on the enemy mothership. Maybe they betrayed us.” Garek had known it was a gamble. It might still pay off, but they had to forge ahead as if it wouldn't.
“What's next for you?” Hanson asked, looking at Garek with that direct gaze.
“Taya and I are due in Juli, and then if you like, when I come back with troops, I can go to Luf, bring more of your people back here?” He had turned to Dix as he spoke.
She nodded. “I think that's a good idea. I'd like more Dartalians here, and it would be good to get word from Susa.”
“Don't you think I should stay here?” Taya looked between them. “If the sky raiders come back--”
“We have shadow ore arrows,” Hanson interrupted her, perhaps a little too quickly.
Taya frowned, looked at Garek, then sighed. “You won't go without me, will you?”
He simply smiled, and held out his arm.
She took it, shaking her head, and walked with him to the sky craft.
He had Taya safe and by his side.
It was as good as it could be in the current circumstances. And Garek had learned to take whatever good he found with both hands.
Chapter 32
They were being followed.
Somewhere between Dix's camp and the Dartalian capital of Valian they'd picked up a small sky raider fighter.
Taya kept her gaze on the burnished glint of light off the silver wings of the cra
ft and ignored the glorious colors of a sky lit up by the setting Star.
“They want to stop us from landing, maybe?” She glanced at Aidan, standing beside her, but his gaze remained fixed on the sky raiders following them.
Garek hunched forward. “Maybe. Or they just want to know what we're up to.”
“Unless they're waiting for us to land so they can blow us up like they did those other sky raiders.” Despite his dark words, Aidan looked rested and energized. When she and Garek had arrived in Juli earlier today, he had been ready to go with the troops he'd assembled for Garek to ferry to Dix's camp. Ready to fight.
Taya put out a hand to steady herself as Garek tilted the sky craft to the right, and Aidan did the same.
“You're changing course?” Aidan looked down at the ground far below them.
“Even if we lose them for an hour or so, that would give me time to talk to Susa, load up some troops.” Dix spoke from her pallet on the floor. She half-sat, half-lay, slumped against the wall. Taya thought the general probably hadn't slept in nearly two days.
Even when Taya had first picked up sky raiders following them, she hadn't moved, and now she closed her eyes and slid all the way down so she was lying flat.
The sky craft suddenly moved faster, and Aidan turned to look at Garek. “Where are you--?”
“Those storm clouds.” Garek pointed, and Taya noticed what she'd in truth been looking at for minutes--a bank of dark purple clouds hanging low on the horizon.
“How will that help?” Dix asked, eyes still closed.
“Water,” Taya said, shooting Garek a wide grin. “The clouds are full of water. They can't track us in there.”
“Huh.” Dix forced herself up onto her elbows.
Aidan tapped the window with a fist. “I could coat the craft in water from the clouds.”
Garek gave a slow nod. “That should make us just about invisible to their systems. Although they could still see us with their eyes.”
“It's nearly dark. If we can hide in there until the Star sets, we can sneak off without them any the wiser.”
“I think that is going to be a little harder now.” Taya pointed, and Aidan's lips thinned in disgust.
Shadow Warrior (Sky Raiders Book 3) Page 20