Nova collided with the metal bars and bounced back, falling to the floor. Pain flowed up her shoulder, sending numbing tingles down her arm and making her hand spasm. She staggered to her feet and threw herself against the cell door but it wouldn't budge.
More guards swarmed down the trapdoor, surrounding Orion and showering him with punches and kicks. Blood created colourful patches across his face and flew in bright arcs through the air.
Nova gripped the bars. "Orion!"
Aart yanked on his cell door. "Stop it! You bastards are going to kill him!"
The soldiers ignored them, pummelling Orion until he lay in a motionless heap on the floor, eyes rolled back in his head and bloody bruises covering his body. By the time they stopped, blood and teeth spattered the floor of the prison.
A commanding voice barked over the chaos.
Nova looked to the top of the ladder and saw the man who had been in charge when they were captured. The red trimming of his black tunic brushed against a pool of blood as he descended the ladder and surveyed the scene.
He waved his hand at Orion. Four guards leapt forward and carried Orion down the hallway, tossing him into his cell. He landed and rolled like a lifeless corpse, coming to rest against the far wall of his cell.
The guard that Orion had knocked unconscious leaned against the wall besides the stairs. He shuffled forward; face pale.
Nova gripped the bars, craning her neck to watch Orion. He made a lumpy shadow on the floor of his cell, and he still hadn't moved.
"What did you bastards do!"
The man in black rounded on her and without saying a word he slammed the hilt of his sword onto her fingers where they gripped the bars. She screamed and snapped her crushed fingers away cradling them to her chest. Blue bruises spread out from her knuckles.
The man in black spoke loudly, he seemed angry. He yelled at the guard who'd been knocked out. The guard stared at his feet and bowed every few seconds.
The leader barked a final command and the guard nodded once. He took his sword from its scabbard and laid it on the ground. He then knelt beside his sword, in the middle of the hallway, and bowed his head.
The leader took one step forward, lifted his sword, and swung it down. The blade sliced through the guard's neck in one clean sweep. His head toppled loose and rolled across the floor in a shower of blood that soaked the floor and splattered across the walls.
The man in black stepped away from the spray and wiped his sword clean on the back of the guard's cloak sliding it back in its scabbard. He pointed at Orion's cell and then down at the body. He stared into each cell in turn and each time he pointed back at the guard. His gaze rested on Nova for the longest; he stared deep into her eyes as if maybe he could communicate by telepathy if they just looked at each other for long enough.
He needn't have bothered; Nova got the message loud and clear; if they tried anything like that again, they'd all lose their heads and be just like the man on the floor.
She pursed her lips and refused to acknowledge him. He turned on his heel and climbed up the ladder out of sight, leaving the other guards to carry the body up the ladder.
After just five minutes all that was left of the grand escape was a pool of blood on the floor, a different guard standing at the base of the trapdoor, and the severed head.
"You forgot the bloody head!" Gus bellowed after the last of the guards. They ignored him and slammed the trapdoor shut.
"Orion!" Nova called. She went to the front of her cell, careful to keep her fingers away from the bars.
"Oi, buddy," Aart said.
He knelt at the side of his cell so that he was only an arm's length away from Orion. He reached through the bars, his shoulder pressed hard against the metal. He stretched his fingers out, just managing to grip hold of Orion's arm and shake it. No response.
"Can you see if he's breathing?" Nova said.
"I can hear him," Aart replied. "It sounds like he's trying to breathe through a cup of water. Those bastards must have broken his nose four times at least."
"It's that fucker's fault," Gus said, nodding to the other prisoner who was once again sitting in the middle of his cell without acknowledging them.
"We'll deal with him," Nova said. She fully intended to make good on that promise. If it wasn't for the low-life in the cell opposite her they could have been free and Orion wouldn't be lying at the bottom of his cell, half-dead.
"Is he going to make it?" Tanguin whispered.
"It'll be touch and go for the next few hours," Aart said, voice husky. "It depends whether his airways stay clear. I can't bloody reach him enough to turn him over."
"Why couldn't they just put him back in his cell like normal people?" said Tyra. "They just kept kicking."
"They're animals," said Gus.
"I know I'd like to hunt a few," said Nova.
She wanted to hurl. Whoever these people were, they were violent. The looks on their faces when they were beating Orion had been full of joy. They actually enjoyed knocking him to within an inch of his life.
"Why'd they kill the guard?" said Tyra.
"A better question is why'd he let them?" said Gus.
Aart shook his head. "He just knelt down and took it."
"He was being punished," Nova said. "The big guy in black was pissed with him letting Orion out I guess."
"Yeah but what was with him just laying down his sword like that?" said Gus. "If someone tried to tell me off for getting my face smashed in I'd hit 'em with my fist, not let them chop my head off."
"They're like the ancient Samurais," Tyra said in a low voice.
"What?" said Nova.
"An ancient civilisation; they had a strict honour code. This seems a lot like what I read about."
Aart slammed his palm against the cell bars and they rung. "They're all mad. Crazy nutcases and every second we spend here is a second too long."
"I'm not surprised they're all mad," said Tanguin in a whisper. "If I had to live on this food I'd go crazy too."
Nova clutched her injured shoulder, purple blotches spread down her arm, joining the bruises from her knuckles. "Too true."
"Next time we'll need a better plan," said Gus.
Tanguin crawled to the front of her cell. "How is he?"
Aart's forehead rested against the bars separating his cell from Orion's. "Still alive."
Tyra waved at the severed head. "Why the hell did they leave that there?"
"A warning," Nova replied.
The head lay right next to the door of her cell, staring up at her with sightless eyes. The mouth hung open in an 'o' of surprise. Some of the guard's long, dark hair had come loose from its bun and lay pasted across his face with dried blood.
"When we get out of here, I'm gonna kick their arses," said Gus.
Nova nodded and clenched her uninjured hand into a fist.
CHAPTER FIVE
They left the severed head on the floor for seven days.
The rotting meat let off a stench that filled every corner of the cells like a thick blanket, suffocating and inescapable. Maggots swarmed the eye sockets, chewing through the soft flesh and leaving gaping holes, like tunnels, leading into the skull. Chunks of blackened flesh fell loose from the bones and splattered to the floor where they gradually disintegrated into puddles of rancid fluid.
The guards didn't bring any food, leaving the Hunters with just the water they could lick from the walls. The only daylight they saw came through the trapdoor when the guards changed shifts and even that was just a bright splash amongst days of darkness.
Nova's stomach rumbled through the first day and on the second reverted to a constant ache. Fatigue and hunger filled every inch of her body until the only thing she could think about was getting more food. She'd start with the traitor prisoner, if she had to.
She huddled against the corner of her cell and stayed there, conserving energy. She let her head rest against the wall and drifted in and out of disturbed sleep.
; Her companions looked to be doing the same. Tanguin lay curled in a ball at the back of her cell, Tyra sitting beside her. Aart leant against the bars close to Orion, who still hadn't woken since his beating.
"Still breathing," Aart announced every few hours, his voice fainter each time.
Gus sat with his back to the guard, facing into the corner of his cell and humming.
Nova frowned, tilting her head to see around his broad shoulders.
Gus's left boot lay in front of him, the rubber from the base torn aside to reveal a thin strip of metal laid into the base.
Nova stifled a gasp, her eyes flying to the guard, but he stared into the distance, oblivious.
Gus took the metal strip and rubbed it against the hard floor, scraping it back and forth. His humming covered the noise as he sharpened the thin strip into a deadly weapon.
Nova bit her lip. At least one of them was armed, that would come in handy when they next tried to break free. She fiddled with the pebbles at her side. Surely these people wouldn't starve them to death; there was no point in it.
On the seventh day after Orion's beating (or as close to seven days as Nova could estimate) the man in the black cloak with red lining climbed down the ladder. He stood at the base of the trapdoor, hands held behind his back and his chest puffed out as he surveyed them with a satisfied smile.
Nova didn't have the strength to stand but she glared at him with clenched teeth. He stayed like that for at least five minutes, gazing at each of them in turn. It was exactly what he'd done when they were first captured, only now he looked triumphant rather than angry.
He locked his gaze on Nova and spoke to the guard. The man hurried forward and fumbled with the keys at his belt. He inserted a long key covered in specks of rust and the lock clicked open. He opened the gate and stepped in.
Despite her exhaustion, Nova leaped to her feet and held up both fists, keeping her back to the wall and ignoring the dull pain throbbing from her injured hand.
The leader's eyes flashed as he spoke and gestured for her to come out with a quick flick of his hand.
She shook her head and stayed where she was, eyes watching the oncoming guard. There was no way she'd be lured into some kind of trap and beaten into a pulp like Orion. If this bastard wanted to take her down, he'd have to fight for it.
His face glowed red and he spoke louder and faster. The guard jumped forward and snatched at Nova's arms. She spun out of his way and lashed out with her fist, hitting him square in the jaw and sending him stumbling backwards.
He spat blood into the corner of the cell and came at her again.
She tried to dodge but her weakened muscles wavered and he dived around to her back, wrapping his arm around her neck. He used his other hand to hold both her wrists, pinning her against the wall. Rough stones gouged grazes up Nova's arms and into her chin.
She kicked backwards and slammed her boot down on his toes but he tightened his grip on her neck and her vision darkened. She hovered on the very edge of losing consciousness and stumbled. He held her upright by her neck and pushed her forward. She had no choice but to lurch out of the cell to where the man in black waited.
He grinned at her, revealing yellowed teeth, and stepped up the ladder in front of her. The guard behind her jerked her forward, forcing her to climb up to the trapdoor. She strained against the guard to look back at her companions but his grip was too strong.
"Get your arses out of here!" she bellowed, before her head was shoved out of the trapdoor and strong hands grabbed both her arms.
They hauled her out of the hole and into bright sunlight.
She squinted against the glare, her eyes taking in a grim circle of soldiers, all wearing swords on their right hips and long brown robes with red stars sewn over their chests. They kept their eyes forward as if Nova wasn't there; the only ones paying her any attention were those holding her in place.
The man in black gestured and the soldiers closed in around her, forming a tight column before marching forward. The flow of people pulled Nova forward, washing her away from the trapdoor to the rhythmic beat of footsteps, led by the man in black.
He guided them away from the hole in the ground and around the edge of the village. This time the villagers didn't look up, instead scurrying away from the procession and hiding out of sight. Nova pondered their actions; she couldn't work out why they'd be scared of their own soldiers, unless they were scared of her. But that didn't make much sense; she couldn't do anything while she was trapped in a platoon of soldiers.
They marched around the edge of the village to the winding path that led up the hill to the mansion. The compact path crunched under Nova's feet, loose pebbles skittering away behind her. Her exhausted legs wobbled although she tried to hide it. She'd been cramped inside a tiny jail cell with almost no food for so long that it was a wonder she could walk at all. Even so, she refused to show weakness in front of her new enemies, so she bit her lip and kept walking.
She ignored the stars that flashed at the edge of her vision and the pounding headache drilling into her temples. Sweat sprouted on her forehead, dribbling down her cheeks and into her eyes, she flicked it away and kept marching, keeping pace with soldiers all the way up the hill until they got to the tall fence.
Here more guards with red stars waited. They pulled open a wooden gate twice the height of a man and four times as wide. They stood like an honour guard on either side of the path and bowed as the man in black walked past. He ignored them as he marched into the courtyard beyond. The way he walked made Nova certain that this was his house, confidence and arrogance leaked out of every pore on his body.
Nova had expected nothing more than grass inside the courtyard; instead she was surrounded by a garden which looked cut straight from a fairy tale. To her left, an intricate pile of rocks with water cascading down from the top created a chest-high waterfall. The sound of falling water tinkled and cast the whole garden in a blanket of calm. At the base of the waterfall flowed a small stream that ran across the garden and ended in a pond the size of a small pool.
Plants with leaves as big as Nova's body dotted the grassy garden. For a moment her heart beat faster as she thought of the carnivorous plants she'd encountered on Drigoon, but these remained still, calm. Every plant seemed deliberately placed to compliment all the others and contrast with the rocks that sprouted intermittently from the ground, covered in bright green moss that looked soft enough to sleep on.
Nova would have liked to stand admiring the garden for hours, but a sharp jab in her back reminded her to keep walking. She stumbled forward with the rest of the soldiers, casting a dark glare over her shoulder.
An arched wooden bridge carried the path across the thin stream and Nova's boots clicked as she crossed it.
At the end of the garden rose the mansion itself. Wooden boards made up the outer walls and the decking that looked out on the garden. Six soldiers stood outside the main door, but instead of red stars these had indigo crosses on their chests.
The man in black stepped forward and gestured for Nova to follow. She strode forward, keeping her chin high. The soldier nearest the door stepped forward and patted his hands over her body.
She gritted her teeth and stopped herself from kneeing the man in the face.
After a thorough search, the soldier nodded and the six new soldiers with indigo crosses formed a box around Nova, marching her inside the house. As soon as they got inside, the man who had searched her pointed to her feet and spoke.
"I don't know what you want," she replied. She tried to keep her voice calm; if they'd just let her get a language patch from Crusader they would be able to talk and the whole situation would be a lot easier.
The man pointed to her shoes and repeated the words.
Nova sighed and looked around. They were in a small entrance room without any decoration. Many shoes, which looked like sandals, lined the wall. She looked back at the soldiers. They all wore socks without shoes.
She shrugged a
nd pulled of her boots. She tossed them to the side where they landed in a heap on top of a bare pair of sandals, scattering clumps of dirt across the floor. The man in black lunged past the soldiers and snatched Nova's shoulders, shaking her. He spat words, mixed with spittle at her from a glowing red face, waving at her and then her shoes.
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared back at him. He refused to back down, kept pointing to her shoes and waving at the air.
From the inner door a small woman darted into the entrance room and stood Nova's boots together in a neat pair beside the sandals. She straightened the sandals and rushed out of the room as quickly as she'd entered.
The righted shoes seemed to calm the man in black because he stopped yelling, but his face remained bright red and his nostrils flared. He stalked away from Nova and into the room beyond, his back like a rigid pole. The guards led Nova after him.
The room beyond had paper-thin walls painted with intricate designs of white flowers and people fetching water from a well. One screen had a painting of the village with the mansion towering above it.
The guards stepped away from Nova and took up positions next to the walls. With them out of her way Nova's eyes locked on a man wearing a gold-trimmed robe. His hair and eyes were dark, almost black, like everyone else Nova had seen so far. Speckles of grey coloured his temples and highlighted his strong face. Everything about him screamed cunning and Nova warned herself to be careful around him. He sat on a pile of red cushions, his hands steepled in front of his face.
CHAPTER SIX
The man in black stepped forward and bowed low. He crouched down so that his head scraped the wooden floorboards and held his hands out, palms up, towards the seated man. He held the pose until the seated man spoke and only then did he raise his head.
The man in black glanced back at Nova and his face dropped. All colour drained out of his cheeks and it looked like he was choking on his own tongue. His horrified gaze flicked between her and the man on the cushions. A fountain of words poured out of his mouth as he scurried, on his knees, to where Nova stood.
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