“Well…no, but…uh… Man, Jackson’s gonna kill me.”
Noah covered his mouth and tried to mask his smile with a cough. He failed.
Tristan glared daggers at him.
All pretense of hiding his grin disappeared, and a full-blown laugh erupted. Noah held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, dude. Ryleigh’s just not the sitting around type. When something needs doing, she gets it done. Jackson should realize that by now.”
“Yeah, but he’s still gonna kill me.”
Noah shrugged. “You’re probably right.”
Tatiana stepped forward. “Ryleigh can come with me.”
Tristan threw his hands up and turned away. He gestured toward three soldiers. “Go with them. Take a straight line into the jungle, not too far. If you come to anything unusual, turn back.”
They nodded their understanding.
She’d accept his orders without argument. For now. Ultimately, the soldiers answered to her.
She still didn’t love the idea of leaving Mia behind.
Mia laughed. “Stop beating yourself up, Ryleigh. It’s not your choice. I’m staying to search for a portal. Period. End of discussion.” A small smile flickered at the corner of her mouth, and she shook her head.
With Jimmy and Lucas and Nahara, she should be safe.
“I love you, little sis.” She held her breath and waited to see if Mia would answer with her usual response.
Mischief twinkled in her eyes. “Love you too, big sis.”
“Let’s go.” Ryleigh started off beside Tatiana, grateful for even a small sign of the old Mia.
The three Guardsmen, Garreth, Bryce, and Jarin, led the way into the thick jungle.
Ryleigh followed with Tatiana at her side.
The instant Ryleigh stepped beneath the thick canopy, the air cooled. Her sweat soaked shirt gave her an instant chill. She regulated her temperature with little trouble.
Even following behind the Guardsmen, the brush made moving forward difficult. Thick shrubs and bushes overlapped in a tangled mess of sticks and thorns. Her jeans protected her legs, for the most part, but branches and twigs repeatedly raked her bare arms.
With Kiara’s warning about infection still at the front of her mind, she tried to heal the scrapes and scratches as she walked. She searched the underbrush and ground for footprints, broken twigs, flattened leaves, waste, any sign another living being had tread through the jungle. It was as if they were completely alone.
The cloying scent of flowers, too reminiscent of funerals, overwhelmed her. Ever since she’d attended her parents’ funeral as a child, the scent of flowers had brought images of death. The loss of her grandmother had only reaffirmed her aversion. She pressed a hand to her roiling stomach. The last thing she needed right now was the reminder of death.
“Everything okay?” Tatiana’s gaze lingered on Ryleigh’s hand against her stomach.
She hadn’t realized she’d stopped walking. “It’s fine.”
Tatiana frowned but let it drop. She shoved a long branch out of the way and held it aside for Ryleigh.
Ryleigh and Tatiana tried to follow the path the Guardsmen created, separating the brush as best they could with their hands, but the thick jungle closed over, swallowing them up an instant after they passed. If they paused or slowed for too long, they’d be lost for sure.
Despite the humidity in the jungle, the heat dried her mouth and throat. Her lips had already begun to chap. “We’re going to have to find water. Especially for the kids.”
“Once we search the immediate area, we can send a few of the soldiers out to search for water.”
True enough, but until they had a better understanding of the blackness Noah had seen from the treetop, and the buzz she was now certain was magic, they had to stay focused on figuring out where they were. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing anyone else.
She trudged forward, the flowery odor clinging in the back of her throat. Death invaded her thoughts again. This time, instead of her parents and grandmother, her thoughts turned to Elijah. She blinked back tears. She’d grown to care a great deal for the sensitive prophet, despite her annoyance with him and Mia of late.
Electricity arced through her, stopping her short.
“Are you sure you’re all right, Ryleigh?” Tatiana kept an eye on the Guardsmen moving forward in front of them. “We could go back for a while, maybe take a break if you want?”
Ryleigh waved her off and untangled a thorny vine from her hair. “I’m really okay. I just…” She choked up. After freeing herself from the vine, she pushed through another shrub and held it aside for Tatiana. Mindful of the unnatural silence of the jungle surrounding them, she spoke softly. “It’s increasing.”
“What is?”
“The intensity of the magic.”
Tatiana stopped and lifted her braid off her neck, then let it drop over the front of her shoulder. “Do you want to go back?”
She stared at the ground, following the imprints the Guardsmen left in the mud, the squish of the mud sucking at their boots the only sound. “Tell them to hold up.”
Tatiana did as she asked.
The three Guardsmen backtracked and huddled around her.
She whispered as quietly as she could. “There’s something—”
Garreth held up a hand, then pressed a finger to his lips.
The three men spun around, then stood still, scanning the jungle for any sign of whatever had startled them.
Something rustled through the underbrush.
Her people held their positions, frozen in place, gazes darting frantically in every direction.
Ryleigh counted off the seconds in her head.
Garreth narrowed his eyes.
She held her breath, the silence deafening.
Jarin crept forward with Bryce and Garreth at his back. He pushed a thick bunch of branches aside and jumped back.
Ryleigh and Tatiana guarded their backs.
“Hold up,” he whispered. He extended a hand through the gap in the bush. “It’s solid.”
She squeezed in beside him. “What is?”
“I’m not sure. It feels sort of like a wall, but it’s got a little give to it.” He indicated a patch of black between the branches.
She pressed her hand against something dense, with just a bit of spring. Like the thin rubber mats they’d used for gymnastics in Phys. Ed. class a lifetime ago. A jolt of electricity sizzled through her hand and up her arm. She yanked her hand back.
Something whooshed toward them.
Ryleigh ducked and spun.
Jarin clutched his throat and fell. His eyes rolled back, then closed.
Garreth fell beside him.
She scrambled toward the tree Tatiana had taken cover behind.
Bryce doubled over and dropped to the ground, blocking her path.
He was still breathing.
She had to find cover.
A woman peered from behind a tree, her features delicate to the point of frailty. Long, blond hair laced with silver shimmered around her like an aura.
Ryleigh backed away from Bryce, angling herself away from Tatiana, hoping the woman wouldn’t notice her.
The woman blew one short, hard breath into a tube.
A sharp bite stung Ryleigh’s neck. Darkness inundated her peripheral vision, then overcame her. As she fell, her head slammed against something hard. Blackness claimed her.
* * * *
Jackson guided Ophidian around the mountaintop for the third time. No use. They’d been over every square inch of these mountains. If any sign of life existed, they’d have found it. He waved the Death Dealers down toward the dragon caves.
Max still paced back and forth over the same small section of the plateau. When Ophidian landed in his path, he darted around him, then resumed his pacing, stopping occasionally to sniff the ground or the air.
Jackson had no idea what was wit
h the wolf, but he combed the area again. The plateau was made of hard packed dirt and rock. The sun beat down hard on that spot, keeping the ice and snow to a minimum. Some of the dirt had loosened, possibly from Max’s pacing. Jackson bent and brushed some of the loose dirt and small pebbles aside.
A vibration in the ground reverberated through his arm and into his shoulder.
“Did you find something?” Dakota yanked his helmet off and crouched beside Jackson.
“I don’t know.” A pulse of electricity, similar to the energy used to call a portal, arced through his hand.
Dakota pressed his hand to the ground beside Jackson’s and frowned. “It feels… I don’t know…weird, though.”
“Yeah.” Jackson didn’t know what to make of it. He stood and brushed off his hands, then approached the pile of weapons. He pressed his hand against the ground beside the weapons but didn’t get the same buzz as he did from the spot a few feet away.
“Jackson.” Dakota lifted a sword from the pile and ran his hand over the blade. “This is Noah’s.”
Everything in Jackson stilled.
Noah. He still loved Ryleigh.
Jackson could see it in the way he looked at her sometimes, the sadness in his eyes, the longing. He accepted it, because along with his newfound emotions came the realization you couldn’t turn them on and off at will, and because Noah treated Ryleigh with respect and fondness. His playful teasing sometimes grated on Jackson’s nerves, but he’d accepted it.
Ryleigh was his. He didn’t doubt her loyalty for an instant.
But Noah did love her. He wouldn’t have left her. Not for anything.
And his team, the men who’d become the Queen’s Army, seemed equally loyal.
“Are you sure?”
Dakota dug through the pile, pulling a weapon free now and then. “Positive.”
Ryleigh’s bloody sweatshirt in the clearing brought a more ominous mood. Had Noah found it in the castle and taken it when he fled? “How can you be sure?”
“It’s not only Noah’s weapon. Tristan’s sword is here, and Jimmy’s mace.” He lifted the weapon with him when he stood. “I rode with these men to Argonas. I’ve trained with them. I could have been mistaken about one, but not all. Some of these weapons belong to the Queen’s Army. And Lucas’s bow is here too.”
He didn’t doubt Dakota, but he really wanted him to be wrong. “All right.”
They’d searched the entire plateau and the area surrounding it. Rocks, ice, a scattering of trees. Chances were there would be no signs of anyone passing unless there had been a struggle. Other than a few broken branches, and the stuff they’d found on the plateau, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Yet an entire group of armed, well-trained men had disappeared. Without their weapons. Despite his personal animosity toward Noah, the man was a good soldier.
And he couldn’t dismiss the wolf’s odd behavior.
Jackson gestured toward his men. “There’s nothing out there.”
Dakota squinted into the setting sun. “It doesn’t seem like it.”
“All right. The only signs of life we’ve found have been right here on the plateau. The weapons and Ryleigh’s sweatshirt.” Her blood-covered sweatshirt. Maybe that’s what Max sensed. Maybe he scented her blood. Jackson pulled the sweatshirt from the satchel at his waist and unrolled it. He held it out to Max.
He sniffed tentatively, then whimpered and backed away. After circling the plateau once more, he curled up in the center, lowered his head onto his paws, and whined.
Giving up, Jackson tossed the shirt onto the nearest rock and headed for the cave entrance. “We’ll search the caves. It’s the only other thing I can think of.”
“Maybe we should search the castle again.” Dakota tapped a steady rhythm against his sword handle, a habit he often indulged in when agitated.
Jackson paused and considered going back. “The castle was empty. The only sign of life we’ve found has been right here. Maybe Chayce was able to disarm the men and imprison them below ground. We have to check. Besides, I have no idea when Chayce and his savages will return.”
“How can you be so sure they will?”
Because Chayce had fought too hard to turn and walk away after he’d won. And because he was too arrogant for his own good. As soon as he could, he’d be arranged on the throne, gloating.
“He’ll come back.” Jackson would bet anything on it.
“We didn’t have time to search even a small portion of the castle. What if people are hiding there?”
“Look, Dakota. I know you’re frustrated. And angry and worried. I understand. But the castle felt empty. And parts of it are in flames. It makes more sense people evacuated.” He worked to soften his tone. “And it makes more sense we’d be able to help the people who were able to get out.”
The fact he might be making the wrong choice ate at him. He had no way to know the castle was empty, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling in his gut. “Besides, Harrison said he saw Mia leave with the pups, and we have good reason to believe some of our soldiers escaped.” He gestured toward the pile of weapons. “I won’t believe those men would have left the castle unless they were dragged out or had people with them to protect.”
Dakota huffed out a breath and nodded.
“We’ll search the caves first. If no one’s there, we’ll check the dungeons. Hopefully, Darius and Vaughn will be on their feet by then. I’d prefer to search the dungeons with as many men as possible.” The thought of leading his men down the dark, narrow stairway into the dungeon brought a chill. If Chayce had savages down there, he’d be sure to lose a few.
“You can’t possibly think Vaughn will be able to join the search. What if we come under attack? There’s no way he could fight in his condition, even if he improves dramatically.”
“No. Vaughn can’t fight, but if he’s stable, Ranger can leave him and come with us. And maybe Darius.”
Dakota looked back toward the castle, then entered the cave behind Jackson and jogged to catch up. “We’re not taking the dragons?”
“Not yet. We’ll walk in first. The dragons will trample any evidence of people having passed through the tunnels.” He understood Dakota’s hesitation. He’d feel safer astride Ophidian too, but he couldn’t chance missing anything.
The kids sat in a small circle against the side wall. They appeared content enough, playing some sort of game with small rocks.
Dakota checked Darius.
“How is he?”
“His color is better. He seems a little stronger, but I still can’t wake him.”
He had a feeling Darius could probably answer a lot of their questions. No sense dwelling on it, though. If they couldn’t wake him, they’d have to find their own answers.
“Jackson.” Ranger stood from Vaughn’s side.
“Is he doing any better?”
Ranger shrugged, but the fear darkening his eyes answered for him. “I’ve done what I can. We have to find a healer, hopefully Kiara, since she’s our strongest. Any luck?”
“No. We have a pile of weapons on the plateau, but our search of the mountain came up empty.”
“So now what?”
“We’re going to search the caves. It seems some escaped. The weapons on the plateau belong to Lucas and some of the Queen’s Army.”
“You think they’re in the caves?”
“I have no idea, but it’s the only thing I can think of.”
“All right. I’m coming with you.”
“Will Vaughn be all right?”
He glanced back at Vaughn’s pale, still figure lying on the ground. “I don’t think my presence will make a difference right now. I’ll be of more help to you.”
Jackson nodded. He understood Ranger’s need to feel like he was doing something useful, and his frustration at not being able to help Vaughn more. Hell, he shared the feelings. “Sure. Leave two men with him and Darius and the kids.”
The D
eath Dealers crept through the dark cave, silent, searching for even the slightest disturbance. When they reached the tunnel at the back of the cave that would wind its way deep into the mountain, Jackson nodded for them to continue.
Every so often, Jackson pressed his hand against the hard dirt floor. The vibration he’d felt on the plateau still bothered him, but so far it hadn’t been repeated anywhere else. He briefly entertained the idea they’d called a portal and escaped to the human realm, but if Dakota was right, and members of the Queen’s Army were among the missing, it would have been impossible. All of them had died in the human realm—he shoved away a small niggle of guilt he had no time to indulge in—and they could never return. He was starting to wonder if the strange feeling had only existed in his imagination.
The stench hit Jackson first. The same rotting odor that had hung over the caves in the mountains of Argonas.
He slowed.
The air thickened, choking him.
Several of his men coughed.
Jackson ran a hand over the rocky wall. Something dark glistened on one jagged edge, and he carefully avoided touching it. Something evil lurked in these tunnels. The overpowering urge to set fire to it all ignited in his gut.
He motioned two of his Death Dealers toward him.
When they approached, he kept his voice a whisper. “Go back. Take the kids, Darius, and Vaughn out onto the plateau. Circle the dragons around them.”
They nodded and started away.
“Wait.”
They turned back.
“Put Max in the center of the circle and stay with them.”
Confident he’d made the children and his injured men as safe as possible, and relieved they’d be out from beneath the ground, he returned to his search. When they reached a fork in the tunnel, he stopped. Numerous tunnels branched off, weaving their way throughout the mountain. They’d have to split up.
Keeping Dakota and Ranger with him, he split the remaining Death Dealers into teams and assigned each a tunnel system to search. They’d never make it through all of the tunnels, but there should be some sign of life, somewhere, if anyone had passed through.
Battle for Cymmera Page 12