by K. F. Breene
They passed a moment in silence as Alena felt that weird sensation again. It was almost as if a finger was tapping her on the shoulder.
Alena bent forward to look out of the gate. A blur of a black shape slid behind a tree up on the hillside.
Frowning, Alena walked her horse forward a couple steps so she could see.
A tall reed waggled in the breeze. Nothing else moved.
“Are the cats out?” she asked into the hush.
“Out there somewhere, I think. Why? Did you see something?”
Alena stared at that tree so hard it started looking distorted. Nothing moved, save the brittle leaves hanging desperately from the trees. “Nah.”
“Are you sure?” Leilius clicked his tongue, having his horse walking forward to even up to her. He looked out the gate. “You should never second-guess yourself.”
“I thought I saw a black shape, but…”
“And you think it was the cat?”
Alena shook her head, feeling that weird itch between her shoulder blades subside. “No, I don’t think so. I’m just jumpy, I think.”
“Okay…” The word was drawn out in a wishy-washy sort of voice. Leilius shrugged with one shoulder. “But if you think we should check it out…”
“We’d check it out?” An image of the man fighting Shanti last night flared in her memory. His sleek movements and inhuman speed paired with the glimmer on his blade. She sat back farther in her saddle. “It was probably nothing.”
A shout sounded somewhere in front of them, and then was answered off to the right.
Alena glanced back out through the gate. A man, his face half covered in black, stood next to the tree. Staring at her.
A zing of adrenaline zipped through her body. Her hair follicles tingled in fear. “Oh no!” Her hands jerked to the right of their own accord. Dragging her horse’s head toward him. Why? “Leilius. Quick. Help!”
“What? What’s happening?” Leilius spurred his horse and brought up his knife. “Where?”
The man took off at a run, immediately masked by the wall.
“There’s someone out there. One of those men!” Alena spurred her horse to the gate, but then stopped. “Should we follow? What should we do?”
The blood drained from Leilius’ face. “Not follow!” Fear coated each syllable. “Let’s get S’am.”
“What about the people watching the rear exit? They are completely exposed!”
Indecision froze Leilius’ movements. He stared at Alena with wide, fear-soaked eyes. Then his expression hardened up and his brow settled low. “We have to warn them. Let’s go!”
“What about S’am?” Alena said, spurring her horse forward.
“We don’t have time.”
“We’re supposed to think to communicate, remember?” Alena dug her heels into the horse’s sides.
“Don’t worry. I’m terrified. I’m communicating enough for the both of us.”
Lucius’ horse neighed. It shook its head, its ears flattening. A black shape slid under cover like a phantom. He sat forward in his saddle, focusing hard on that area. His hand held his sword in a painful grip.
A feline tail flicked before disappearing.
Lucius heaved a silent sigh.
He shook his head and walked his horse forward, hoping some distance from the predators would calm it. “We shouldn’t have those things around the horses in battle.”
Timken, a man Lucius had come to know quite well when the Graygual had taken over the city, squinted as he looked at the rear gate. They sat on the hillside overlooking this side of the city, taking down anyone trying to escape from within. “It’s hard to say. They were handy last night. They took down two men that would’ve escaped.”
“They’re useful, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t work well with the horses. The last thing you want is to be thrown before you even reach the battle.”
Timken spat. One of the women in front of him glanced back with a scowl.
Horses off to the right started neighing and stamping their feet. One danced left, having its relatively inexperienced rider clutching her reins. Lucius clicked, getting the horse walking. He made his way down the back of the line as two Graygual sprinted through the open gate. The archers were ready. Two arrows were loosed immediately, followed by three more. Four arrows stuck in the man closest, and one went wide, barely glancing the leg of the other. The first man sank to his knees as the other faltered, his hand going for his thigh. Two more arrows flew, sticking in his side and his arm. He stumbled, dropping to all fours, before rolling to his unharmed side.
“Should we go finish him off, sir?” Abigail, a middle-aged woman who Lucius had incorrectly assumed was shy and reserved, fingered her knives.
“He’s dying already, I think.” Lucius’ horse pranced and stomped the ground.
A black shape shook the foliage on the hill above them.
Lucius turned with his bow held up, waiting. The horse blew out a breath and pawed the ground.
A speck of black zipped further down the hillside but to the right, this cat moving off with the other.
Lucius sighed again, this time more audibly. He didn’t know what was worse—the cats or skilled Graygual. Both were unpredictable and deadly.
“You ladies need better communication,” Timken was saying, unaware of the danger behind him. “If you are this still and close, call out your man. Then hit your mark. There is no sense wasting all our arrows on the same man, or getting one but missing the other.”
Another man fled the city through the gate. His sword was out but it didn’t look like he had much of an idea of what to do with it.
“Mine!” “Mine!” “Mine!” “I’ll get him!”
A slew of arrows flew out, all of them hitting their mark. Timken’s chest deflated as he shook his head.
Another blur of black caught Lucius’ eye away up left. The third cat, following the others.
He squinted into the glare of the sun as he passed out of a shadow and stared at that area. Wanting to be sure.
A Graygual burst from the city gate, followed by three more.
“Right!” “Left!” “On…the—” Arrows flew before the women could work their mouths to tell which man they had chosen. Enemy screeched and stumbled. One guy staggered into the wall and slid down, a line of red streaking the grime. More arrows flew, crashing into the falling Graygual. One arrow hit someone already dead.
“In a battle, this would waste arrows,” Timken boomed. “You need to think first.”
“Sorry, sir,” one of the women drawled.
Timken braced his hand on his thigh and spat, earning another look.
Lucius glanced out to the right, looking for the retreating feline, when the thunder of hooves came around the city.
“Hold your fire,” Timken said, staring off toward them.
Lucius scanned the trees again, not seeing any movement, before turning to the newcomers. He put up his hand to block the sun, realizing it was Leilius and Alena, pushing their horses hard. One of Alena’s arms came up and did an arc above her head. She waved it furiously.
“She’s yelling something.” The woman at the end of the line sat forward on her horse, as if that small lean would solve the problem of distance. “Can anyone hear her?”
Lucius found himself leaning, too, before doing a quick glance at the gate. No one emerged.
“Attack?” Trise cupped her ear. “It sounded like she said attack…”
Lucius kicked his horse forward, feeling a growing unease as the two galloped toward him. Another flash of movement caught his eye, another black blur. Unlike with the cats, his horse ignored it.
Warning washed over him. The world slowed down as implications froze his blood. He turned in time to see a knife flipping end over end. It stuck into the side of Timken’s neck with a moist smack. Surprise lit up his friend’s face. The next moment he was falling.
“Get down!” Lucius screamed, kicking his horse toward the thrower.
“Move!” Lucius yelled in panic, slapping a horse on the butt as he passed. The animal whinnied and started forward, carrying the rider away.
A man in black popped out from behind a tree, knife at the ready. Lucius spurred his horse on, ready to try and deflect. The man’s arm went up.
“Mine!”
“I’ll get him!”
An arrow stuck the tree by the man’s shoulder. He turned sideways as another flew by, barely missing. The Graygual straightened to throw again, his body positioning and technique perfect. An arrow zipped by his arm, catching his tunic. The throw went wide.
“Up there!” Alena raced into their midst with her bow raised and ready. She reached back and pulled an arrow from her quiver, nocked, and sighted, all in a smooth, practiced movement. She released.
Bushes shook high on the hill as someone ran. The man in front of Lucius followed suit, leaving a smudge of blood on the bark as he bumped past.
“Haw!” Lucius shouted, kicking his horse to run. A glimpse of black emerged ahead, and disappeared just as quickly, the man running through a tangle of brush. Lucius was there a moment later, stomping down the foliage.
“Did you see where they went?” Alena called, out of breath.
Lucius hopped down off his horse. He heard the tread of hooves coming in his direction.
“Make sure that gate is covered,” he yelled, bending to the ground. No tracks marred the ground leading from this location.
“Mine!” someone shouted below.
Knife in hand, Lucius squinted into the trees, willing movement. Wanting to know which direction he should expect an attack from.
A horse crashed through the brush with Leilius on top, his knife out. “I don’t see anyone, sir.”
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” Lucius scanned the area.
“If they cut trees like we did, thinning them out, this wouldn’t be so dense.”
Lucius spared a glance for the kid. It was an odd comment to make at that moment. He let it go. “Did Shanti send you to warn us?”
“No. Alena saw someone head this way. We didn’t have time to tell S’am.” Leilius’ expression fell. “We didn’t make it in time, either.”
“That wasn’t your fault.” Lucius backed down the hill, motioning Leilius away. “You head down and cover the others. I’ll—”
“Mine!”
“Don’t shoot!”
“Hold up!”
“Oops, shit!”
A blast of needles raked across Lucius’ mind, making his legs go weak and his hands numb. Women screamed and Leilius moaned. Lucius clenched his jaw and fought back the pain, bracing for the Inkna.
The feeling cleared a moment later. “Watch that way,” he instructed Leilius.
“What have you found?” Shanti’s voice sounded like a bell.
“Up here,” Lucius hollered.
A moment later a black shape zipped from the right. Adrenaline spiked as Lucius lifted his bow. A feline head appeared above a tangle of brush. A rush of relief washed through him.
The feeling was short-lived.
The animal homed in. Its head dropped slowly before it moved in his direction. Like it was stalking its prey, the animal kept Lucius in its sights. More movement, from the other side, announced a second cat, crawling forward with the same slow stealth. They snarled, showing long white teeth.
“Shanti!” Lucius called, putting his hands out to the side to make himself seem bigger. The urge to run raced through him, something that didn’t even happen with the enemy.
A swear announced Shanti jogging toward him. The cats, as if verbally called off, stopped in their advance. Their teeth disappeared, but they didn’t relax.
“They’re after the wrong person,” Lucius said to Shanti, his hands still spread out wide. He followed her back down the hill, still not showing his back to the hillside.
“What happened here?” Shanti asked, her gaze taking in the two of their company who lay dead before looking at Alena, trying to steer a crying woman away from the carnage. The rest of the women, their faces white and eyes tense, stared at the enemy gate. They didn’t plan on leaving their station.
“I saw two of them wearing the same garb as we saw last night.” Lucius sucked in lungfuls of air, shaking with the pent-up adrenaline.
Shanti blew out a breath, glancing at the cats before turning her gaze up the hill. “I’m concerned with these numbers. Is Xandre close, or is he entrusting this task with those he deems worthy?”
“Or both…” Lucius bent, feeling for a pulse in Timken. Nothing. “He’s had a lot of time to train. Surely he’ll be able to spare a few by now.”
Shanti was quiet for a moment, glancing over the fallen. Rohnan wandered closer with his staff in one hand. He put a palm on Shanti’s shoulder.
“You need to teach those cats to follow a scent,” Lucius said.
“They know how to follow a scent, but they’ll only do it when they feel like it.” Shanti gave a small shake of her head and looked at the city. “Pull everyone inside. Quickly.”
“His knife throwing was perfect,” Lucius said as he helped lift the fallen.
“They are the absolute best this land has to offer.” Shanti scanned the hillside again.
“Let’s hope not the absolute best.”
“Let’s hope.” She looked behind her. “We’ll be staying here for the night and planning out the next steps. I don’t think our new friends will be going anywhere.”
“They’ll pick us off one by one.”
Shanti’s eyes flashed. “Only if they survive the night. I’ll be inviting them to a hunting party.”
“But they can sense your mind power. They’ll know exactly where you are, right?”
“Yes, they will. It’s a good time to see if they will engage. Xandre isn’t the only one prepared to lay some bait and make assumptions based on the results.”
Lucius’ stomach flipped with her implications. “Does the Captain know about this plan?”
“No. It’ll be a lovely surprise, don’t you think?”
11
“Cayan, we can’t both go.” The knives felt tight against Shanti’s leg. Tingles worked down her spine in anticipation of what awaited her outside the walls.
Cayan looked up at the black sky where the slivered moon and glimmering stars provided very little light by which to navigate the wild hillside. “You need someone to watch your back. I’m going.”
Rohnan shifted in the corner where he sat cross-legged. He put one hand on the double bladed staff lying in front of him. “He is trying to be rational, Chulan. Soon he’ll just get pushy.” Rohnan hefted his staff before standing. “The night is growing old. We should go.”
Shanti offered them both a weary sigh. “The two of you try my patience.”
“Likewise.” Cayan touched his sword before stalking to the door. He spared a glance for the three cats curled into each other at the opposite end of the modest room. “We should bring the cats.”
Shanti hesitated. “The cats will stay by our sides and either keep the enemy away, or get a blade in the gut if the enemy comes close. The enemy will have noticed them last night. They will expect them, and be ready.”
Cayan’s frustration sullied the air. “Daniels was dead set against this plan.”
“It is a wonder you are going along with it.” Rohnan headed toward the door. Shanti followed, thinking exactly the same thing. Cayan usually dug in his heels against a plan as admittedly harebrained as this. That he was going along with it made her nervous.
Because Daniels was right. This wasn’t the best of ideas. The problem was that there was no other way. She said as much as they made their way to the Honor Guard where Sanders waited, as rigid as she’d ever seen him.
“Are we ready?” Shanti asked quietly, feeling the press of the unknown from beyond that wall. She knew they were out there, wa
iting. Watching.
“Where is everyone else, S’am?” Gracas asked.
“They are spread around the wall of the city,” Marc replied, hunched over with a knife in hand. “Didn’t you see them when you were on your way here?”
“So it’s just us going?” Leilius’ eyes were large in his narrow face.
“A few from each group will head out as we do,” Shanti replied.
“Let’s go over the plan one more time,” Cayan said in his deep and confident voice. He was trying to sell this to the others as a good idea.
Judging by the doubt plain on his face, Sanders wasn’t buying it.
“There are at least two Graygual out there,” Shanti said, itching to feel the weight of her sword in her hand. “We don’t care about the Graygual. We care about the Gifted with the Graygual. He’s the one we need to capture or kill.” Shanti eyed everyone, masking the holes in her plan with Cayan’s level of confidence. “These Graygual have never been beaten before. Without our Gifts, the challenge of Cayan and I must be alluring to them. I wager they’ll want to pit their strength against us. They will want to prove their dominance.”
“But will they? That’s the question,” Sanders said.
“My feeling is, they will.” Anticipation filled Shanti. She had that same desire, but for bigger results. She wanted to send a message to Xandre: she was still the best. And she was still alive.
Not only that, but she was going for him.
“And when they do engage, they’ll bring their Gifted closer,” Cayan said. “That’s when you guys make the grab.”
“Unless this Burson-like character can also track and fight, sir,” Sanders growled.
“Inkna are not trained to fight. They are too valuable to lose, and most aren’t coordinated anyway. This one won’t be any different,” Shanti said.
“This plan is ludicrous.” Sanders yanked out a knife. “But if we’re doing it, there’s no time like the present. I want to get some sleep sometime tonight. We’ll have a long road ahead of us tomorrow.”
“That is what I love about this army,” Rohnan said in a whimsical voice. “They never think about failure. Their confidence is infallible.”