A large, hulking object rolled through the grass. The details got obscured in darkness, but it seemed boxy, and definitely not alive. The object halted at the entrance. Two men who had pulled it stepped away and talked to the guard.
“It’s a cart,” said Senri.
“Holding what?” asked Lanan.
“Does it matter?” Yahn turned from the encampment. “It could be supplies, weapons, blasting powder. They obviously do not belong out here so close to the western shore, no matter who owns them, if anyone owns them. We leave and report this at once.”
“Wait,” said Senri. The cart shifted once more, toward the firelight of the camp. The cart crawled into the light. Senri squinted as she tried to see beyond the shadows. Something felt wrong about it. It felt warm, as if it had a belly full of life. The warmth did not feel like livestock did, however. Senri furrowed her brow, confused. As quickly as the feeling came, it vanished, leaving her blinking against shadows once more.
The cart rolled completely into the light. Bars rose up around its edges similar to one that might hold a wild animal. Instead of paws scratching at the encasing iron, hands did.
“Slaves,” said Yahn.
Senri’s stomach clenched with unease.
“Or prisoners,” said Nat.
“You have to be at war first.” Yahn shook his head. “We’re leaving.”
The hands captivated Senri, the large ones, the small ones. Children’s hands. Tiny heartbeats fluttered in terror. The heat ebbed. She had never felt life like this. It startled her. “We can’t. We need to save them.” She rose and took a step forward. Yahn grabbed her and yanked her down into the shrub.
“How many of them are there? Thirty?” Yahn snarled. “And you think you can take on all of them?”
Senri backed away from Yahn, throwing his hand off her. “We have to do something.”
“We get reinforcements. We outman them,” said Yahn. “We do it the smart way or we die.”
The sensation of those trapped people struck her again. She breathed. Is it getting hotter? Senri felt a pulse beating within the camp. People hundreds of them. “They have more. More than just that. Those people might be dead or gone in ten days.”
“What choice do we have?” Yahn stood and closed a fist around her arm. “You think I want that to happen?”
Lanan stood as well. “He’s right, Senri. They outmatch us.”
Senri looked between the two. She felt dizzy, overwhelmed by the feeling of heat snapping in and out of her senses. It surrounded her. She rubbed her eyes. Her hands burned. “Alright,” she said. “We should—”
Mercenaries leapt at them. Senri drew her sword, but the heat overcame her once more. A club met her stomach and she wheezed, but could not draw enough air to satisfy her lungs. She panicked, breathing in short gasps before her vision faded. She plummeted into oblivion.
Chapter Seven
“TELL ME AGAIN.” ALINA tapped a finger against the desk. She had turned quiet study time into a debriefing from Nin. The two had barely received a moment alone in days between her lessons and meetings with officials. Not to mention, Regent Velora insisted on her accompanying him in his duties. “Who did you send?”
“Four Warriors,” said Nin, just like she had told her the first time. “You need not know anymore.”
“Nin, how many Warriors do I know? I doubt knowing their names or talents will put me at any risk, and knowing you, they are most likely arranged to discover this encampment in the most accidental way possible.”
Nin grinned and looked away. “They might run across it in the middle of a routine patrol. But do not concern yourself with any further details, Highness.”
“Nin, did you send the blonde?”
“Which blonde? The new recruit?” Nin asked. Alina sensed she had the truth at hand, though Nin refused to say it outright. “Why would that matter?”
Alina sighed and shook her head. She turned to a pile of papers she was supposed to be reading through. They were new tax regulations and the Regent wanted to discuss them with her. Instead of concentrating on the documents, the vision of the woman came to mind. No matter how often she dismissed it, she could not erase the image from her mind. Something about the stare held her attention. Under different circumstances, she might have considered it attractive.
“Your Highness?” asked Nin. “Why would it matter if the blonde one went?”
She pushed aside the papers and rubbed her forehead, a terrible habit she had been scolded for doing as a child. “It’s nothing, Nin, I envisioned the woman standing in the market.”
“Another vision?” Nin stepped in closer, lowering her voice. “And you did not tell me?”
“It happened before we met.” Alina waved a hand at Nin. “On the ride into the city. It was minor, nothing like the spectacle you witnessed.”
“Spectacle or no, you had a vision of this woman in the city.” Nin paced back and forth. “What if she dies? What if I just rewrote the course of time?”
“You sent her?” Alina asked. She rose from her chair. Nin stopped pacing.
“Well, I did not know of your vision beforehand,” Nin yelled. When Alina’s eyes widened Nin quieted her voice. “Highness, you must be open with me from now on about anything and everything. Otherwise I cannot guarantee your safety. The girl with the Warriors has something significant to do with you. That is why I sent her. She may be the only one capable of obtaining whatever information there is; but if you and her are supposed to be here in the capital together then I may have just ruined any chances we had.” The maid turned away from Alina and crossed her arms.
Alina frowned. “And so what if I saw her in the markets. It might happen after her return. Why not let me worry about my visions and you concentrate on the state of people’s souls.”
Nin turned, her eyes flashing. Her voice came out low, threatening. “Don’t you dare make a joke of this. You have no idea what hangs in the balance of what we do.”
Alina stilled. The people trapped in chains, her people, all suffering surfaced in her mind. The sight sucked her into a shallow vision, one giving her brief glimpses of faraway lands.
“Forgive me, Nin,” she said, withdrawing from the sight with a blink. “I did not mean to make light of the situation. But I do realize what we are risking. I saw it, and I have yet to experience a vision that failed to come to fruition. We are fighting against the grain of time and so much more. Yes, Nin, I know what hangs in the balance.”
Nin took a deep breath, as if she might say more. Instead, she curtseyed and said, “I apologize. I have matters to look after.” She left without another glance at Alina.
Alina stared at the floor and crossed her arms. Nin’s claims unsettled her. The thought that the Warrior may die made Alina’s stomach pitch. She shook her head. Ridiculous, she knew, having only conversed with the Warrior once and for a limited time. She had no reason to feel worry for one person over all the others who risked themselves for her. Yet the blonde haired Warrior seemed important somehow. Even though her vision had been a whisper in the markets, it still whispered strongly the same thing Nin worried about: that this woman should not fall to harm.
***
Senri opened her eyes to a blindfolded darkness and breathed in a damp heat that stuck in her lungs. She sat upright, her bottom sore from sitting on the hard ground. When she tried to shift, her hands were tied behind her back to a pole and her feet tied at the ankle. The back of her head ached.
“Hello?” When she spoke, her voice cracked in a hoarse whisper, her throat dry and lips split. She had been unconscious for a while.
“Senri,” whispered someone next to her.
“Nat?” She turned in the direction of the voice. Her neck protested.
“Keep your voice down. They already beat Yahn for talking too much.”
“Is he here?” Senri whispered.
“Sleeping, or trying to. Don’t know how he fell asleep in that position.”
Senri cursed
the blindfold over her eyes. Not even firelight filtered in from under the seam. “You don’t have a blindfold?”
“They chained our wrists to the tent top after we used the stone to escape,” he replied. “That’s when they took the blindfolds. I don’t think they understand how reading works though. We can still feasibly escape. We only needed you to be conscious.”
“Right, when do we—”
“Guard’s coming. Act asleep.”
Senri shut her mouth and sagged her head and shoulders. Footsteps crunched against the dirt as someone walked into the tent. She tried to breath normally, but her heart pumped far too quickly to draw the even breaths of someone at peace. She hoped the person did not notice.
“Quiet now, are you?” a man asked in a thick accent. No one answered him. “Good, maybe next time I talk about the other girl.” The guard chuckled and exited the tent. She waited a few more seconds before talking to Nat.
“Where’s Lanan?” she asked.
Nat remained silent. Blood pounded in Senri’s ears.
“They took her,” Nat finally replied. “She tried something with the water and they hauled her away. Think they need her for purification. Not much but stagnant puddles around here.”
“She won’t help them,” said Senri.
“She will if she thinks it helps us.”
Senri swallowed, thinking of Lanan working with the camp water, making it drinkable for their captors, chained, beaten, maybe worse. “We need to leave.”
“Well, now that we have one less body to tote away, that’s a possibility again,” said Nat. “Yahn,” he whispered a little louder. “Wake up. We’re leaving.”
Someone on Senri’s other side groaned. “She done with her nap finally?”
“I’m good as long as I can work heat into my hands,” said Senri. Even as she spoke, she willed the fire into her fingertips. She felt her fingers heat up against the rope binding her wrists. “Should we leave now?”
“It’s the middle of the night. I don’t think we will have a more favorable time,” said Nat.
Yahn coughed. “We break our bonds on my count. Then we find Lanan and go.”
“Weapons and armor?” Senri asked. Gustav had made her such a beautiful sword. Guilt twisted through her.
“Secondary,” said Yahn. “You two do what I say, when I say it, and we might not need them. We make our move in three, two, one.”
The countdown happened too fast, but Senri seared through her rope all the same. She reached out with shaking hands to burn through the rope around her ankles. She had never faced a foe like this, outnumbered, weakened. They might die. The bonds snapped off and she stood on trembling legs. Rock shifted and chains cracked as Yahn and Nat broke free of their restraints. She pulled the blindfold off and blinked into the darkness.
Yahn moved to the front, leading them toward the exit. He tackled the outside guard to the ground and the earth sucked him under, his screams silenced. Senri’s eyes widened. Nat extinguished the torch and Yahn walked into the shadows, avoiding the well-lit areas of the camp. Senri had no idea how he knew where to find Lanan. Perhaps he felt her tread on the ground from years of working with her. Perhaps he searched blindly.
They moved along the perimeter of the camp, ducking behind the dark tents. Senri’s instincts yelled at her to run, to break free of the stifling, overwhelming heat of the camp. Death filled this place. But she ignored the instinct, knowing she could never abandon Lanan and live with herself. Yahn pulled up the sides of tents and peeking under. He finally stopped at one and ducked under. Nat and Senri followed.
Huddled in a corner lay Lanan. She had been stripped of her armor and clothed in rags. Her face had been bruised and smudged with grime. Her hands and feet were covered in muck and bound. She slept on the dirt, her body twitching against the night air. How can she be cold when I’m sweating? Senri stooped and severed the bonds quickly. Lanan woke with a jump, pulling away. Yahn bent down and covered her mouth in case she screamed.
“It’s us,” he whispered. “You’re okay. We’re leaving.”
It took a moment, but the horror faded from Lanan’s eyes. They watered and Yahn scooped her into his arms, holding her close. Senri could not remember seeing her ever looking so frail. Lanan sobbed into his shoulder. Red marks marred her wrists. She had struggled against something. Senri wanted to help, kneel down and take her friend’s hand, but she did not. Senri’s heart beat wildly and the impulse to run coursed strong in her veins.
“They’ll find us if we stay,” she whispered.
Lanan pulled herself from Yahn. Streaks of tears broke through the dirt on her face, but determination had set in her eyes. She stood up with Yahn’s help. “I can walk,” she said, but did not brush his hand from her arm. The four of them left out the back of the tent. Instead of walking away, Yahn led them around toward the front entrance.
“I heard one say they found our horses,” he whispered. “We need transportation to make it back.”
Something about this plan seemed terrible to Senri. Why not run to the forest? They could easily dodge them in the trees. But without the swift transportation or any weapons they would quickly succumb to hunger or be recaptured. Am I not a Warrior? Find your courage.
Much of the camp lay sleeping and the guards had spread thin, assured that their captives had the fight beaten out of them. Yahn found the armory and pulled them inside. This time, Nat took care of the guard inside, scooping up rock from the earth and smashing the man’s skull with it. He fell down, blood trickling from the wound. Nat laughed, most likely out of shock. “I think I killed him.” His face took on a greenish hue.
“And he deserved it,” growled Yahn. “Get a weapon.”
Senri glanced around. The armor and weapons matched with a symbol of a seven-pointed sun setting over an ocean engraved on every piece. Senri pulled on a breastplate and greaves. If they were going to escape, they might find time with a disguise. She belted some of the daggers from the weapons rack, but stopped when a familiar glint caught her eye. The engraved steel grip of her sword rested on a table with the other confiscated weapons. They had even left the sheath and tie for her belt. Senri secured it around her waist.
“Hey,” she called quietly. “Our weapons are here.”
The other three approached the table and armed themselves. Nat had already donned as much armor as possible and even wore a full helmet. Senri took one of the half-plate helms instead. As long as no one got too close, she would be fine.
Lanan’s arms trembled, bruises traveling up her shoulders and neck. Senri approached her friend. Lanan frowned at the armor. “I know I should dress.”
Senri took up a breastplate. “I’ll help.”
Lanan slipped on the breastplate and Senri helped her with the gauntlets and greaves. Her shaking stilled some when Senri bucked the sword to place. “Thanks,” Lanan muttered, her hand drifting to the weapon.
“Still might want to avoid fighting,” said Senri. She held Lanan’s shoulders, trying to catch the woman’s gaze if only for a second, but Lanan’s eyes wandered. She kept glancing at the tent entrance. Senri shook her head and looked over at Yahn and Nat. “Are you two ready?”
“Just about,” said Nat. They buckled the last pieces of armor into place.
Yahn nodded. “We head out the back. I saw the make of the camp when they took me out to be whipped. The stables are just ahead of us.”
“Should we try for a distraction?” Senri asked, remembering pieces of her training.
Yahn shook his head. “A fire or an earthquake would not work. They know we have powers. They’re not idiots, sadly.” He paused and took a deep breath. “So, we stick to the shadows and leave without drawing any attention. On my lead.”
The three of them followed Yahn to the back of the tent. After he ducked under the flap, Nat and Senri helped Lanan through. She shook worse than the rest of them. They remained by her side, each holding an arm as they led her through the black shadows, always keeping Y
ahn in sight. They paused at one of the gaps.
Yahn had led them to the open corral where some horses had been left out for the night. Even in the dark, faded tones of moonlight Senri recognized Stomps standing with a few other horses, including the others from their party. Their saddles and supplies had been stripped. Damn.
“I’ll pull some fence posts free. Then we leave,” Yahn said. He walked over to the corral fence and tugged at the posts. The horses shook their manes. Some whinnied and stepped back. The ones familiar with him moved closer.
A voice cried out in the dark. “Hey!” The rest came out garbled, a tongue unfamiliar to Senri. The man walked forward, still yelling, his tone changing to a threat when Yahn refused to answer him. Torches and lamps flared to life across the corral as guards came out. Yahn swore and tossed another uprooted post aside.
“Come on!” he said. The guards ran now, Yahn’s language ruining whatever his disguise had granted. Senri wanted to listen, but Lanan stood by her, paralyzed, and she and Nat struggled to move her from their cover.
“I’m not going back,” she muttered. “They can’t get me.”
“Move and they won’t,” yelled Nat.
Lanan finally stepped toward the horses. Senri kept looking from the horses to the approaching men. It would be close but they still had time. The stifling heat of the camp threatened to suffocate Senri no matter how deeply she breathed. The haze seemed to block her vision. Her heart pounded, her sight wavering as the temperature rose.
Another yell sounded out. Senri felt the heat draw closer. She turned and saw another man approaching them, running, arms outstretched with a sword waving in his grasp. She felt as though her fever had broke. She let go of Lanan, pushed her and Nat away, shouting, “Run!” as she charged toward the attacker. He raised the sword to strike. She deflected it with her left gauntlet then reached forward and seized his face. Heat poured from her hand, burning his skin. He screamed into her palm. The heat of his body washed over her. She pushed all she had back into him. She breathed in, no longer hot. When she blinked again light flooded her eyes. It dazzled her, her hand burning white hot while the man’s life ebbed underneath.
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