Kingdom of the Damned: Provocation (KIngdom Journals)

by Tricia Copeland

  “There are three of us, only one of him.” I nod, convincing myself we’re capable of stopping Crow. “He doesn’t fully know how powerful we are. If there’s anyone who can best him, it will be us.”

  “He may have many warriors with him. I won’t risk your life.” Will’s grip on my arm tightens.

  “You saw, he can’t control me. You need me. This is what you trained me for. We’re wasting time. Who knows how many of our people die as we stand here arguing.”

  “She’s right.” Jacob wraps his hand around Will’s forearm, pulling it from mine.

  We weave through the structures and reach a field. A single large teepee occupies the center of the space. Black feathers attached to the top of a tall pole whip in the wind. The wind makes it difficult to discern scents or make out heartbeats. There’s no sign of Crow. Fifty feet of flat grass stands between us the teepee. Will traces a circle with his finger, indicating that we should fan out.

  Then Will signals for us to approach the structure. I crouch low, wondering whether to run or creep. Seeing Will and Jacob taking slow careful steps, I copy their strategy, watching for traps. A loud boom sounds, and the ground gives way under my feet. I reach for something to hang on to, but dirt caves in on all sides. Gravity sucks me down, and I fall twenty feet before the earth stops moving.

  Hearing Will’s dove call, I scramble over rock and earth to him. Jacob reaches us seconds later.

  “Well, this is fun.” Jacob swipes dirt from his eyes. “Does he think we can’t get out?”

  I clutch both of their arms. “As one?” I ask.

  Will and Jacob nod, and we push off and jump to the ground above. Spear in hand, Crow stands in front of the teepee opening. Beside him stand a line of five boys, the tallest I recognize from before. The smallest, at about two feet tall, clings to the child beside him. My skin crawls as a chill settles over me.

  Crow raises his arms. “Pheta,” he yells, dancing in a circle.

  A ring of fire fifty feet high surrounds the field just beyond the fissure.

  “He just trapped himself,” Will whispers.

  I look between him and Jacob. “How many men can fit in the dwelling? Twenty?”

  “Aye, that seems about right.” Jacob crouches beside me.

  “Humans, easy to kill.” Will smiles.

  I tug on his coat. “Innocent humans.”

  “Perhaps.” He shrugs. “What’s the plan?”

  I look up to see a line of warriors exiting the teepee. Spears in hand, and bows and arrows on their backs, they form a line between us and Crow. Crow leans down and whispers to the boy beside him. The boy guides the other three children into the teepee.

  “That’s unfortunate. Children taste good,” Will comments.

  I slap Will’s chest. “Quit making folly.”

  “What, no pre-dinner humor?” Jacob quips.

  My stomach turns as I contemplate taking a life. “Stop, both of you.”

  “IyayA,” Crow yells, puffing out his chest.

  The word is foreign to me, but the order becomes clear as his warriors cock their arrows and launch them at us. I dodge a couple and then catch two. One after the other, I aim them at the fighter’s legs and bring two down. Within seconds, half of Crow’s small army lie frozen on the ground.

  “Vampire venom, a potent paralytic,” Will whispers beside me.

  “What’s the plan?”

  “We wait for him to tire his resources and attack.”

  “IyayA,” I hear Crow yell again.

  A stream of arrows enters the air. I swing my arms, batting the tips from piercing my skin. One grazes my arm. Crouching to the ground, I suck the blood from the wound and spit it in the dirt. The venom is bitter, and I extract two more mouthfuls of blood to make sure I got it all. The siege ends, and I pick up an arrow and launch it at a warrior, landing it in his thigh. Grabbing his leg, he falls to the ground a second later.

  I hear a cackling sound and look up to see Crow doubled over in laughter. At first, I guess him to be deranged. Then, I spin trying to locate Will and Jacob. My eyes dart between their forms. Will lies on the ground, propping himself up with one arm, trying to pry an arrow from his thigh. An arrow protrudes from Jacob’s rib cage, and I jump to his side.

  A growling sound grows beneath us. Looking to Crow, I see him kneeling on the ground, both fists on the earth. Knowing that the dirt may fall out from under us any second, I fit my fingers inside Jacob’s chest and ease the arrow out. The bladder within the arrow is punctured, and Jacob’s chest heaves in jerking motions.

  “Anne.” Jacob coughs and blood pours from his lips.

  “Shh.” I run my hand over his chest.

  The ground quakes beneath us. I rip his coat and then his tunic to find the wound. The earth under me shakes and buckles, and I clutch Jacob’s chest. With a loud roar, the dirt falls away. I hug Jacob to me with one arm and grab for roots with the other as we careen down. Dirt and rubble block my view, and as we descend, it grows dark. Keeping track of body lengths, I try to count how far we’re falling. One, two, three, five, ten, twenty lengths pass by.

  Our speed is dizzying, and I fear losing consciousness. “Jacob, you with me?”

  “Yes, Queen, you’re almost cutting off my circulation. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Just as I’m registering fifty-one body lengths, Jacob’s body hits bedrock, and I slam into his chest. Dirt and rocks crash onto my back. The rumbling subsides, and the weight on my body stabilizes.

  I try and clear the dirt from my eyes. “We have to get out of here. Can you move?”

  “A bit. The injured side is painful, but the rest of me still works.”

  Kicking at the dirt atop us, we dig our way to the top of the pile six feet up.

  “Will!” I yell, squinting into the darkness.

  “Here, Your Highness.”

  The space brightens as the dust settles around us. I follow the sound of his voice, tugging Jacob behind me. “How’s your leg?” I ask as I reach Will.

  “It’s been better. I’ve been forcing blood out of the wound, and the burning is easing.”

  “Good, okay. Jacob, let me see your side.” I focus on my other champion.

  He winces as I lift his tunic. Dirt cakes the wound, and I wipe it away. Kneading the area with my fingers produces no blood. “It’s already healing, but we have to get the venom out.”

  “A one-lunged body guard won’t do you much good, eh, Queen?” Jacob reclines on the rubble.

  “Stop quipping. We’ve got to stop Crow before we have no army left.”

  “Talk about hell.” Jacob’s eyes pan to the space above us.

  I press my lips to his wound and suck. A small amount of bitter fluid enters my mouth. Spitting it out, I repeat the process.

  “Now you can’t deny that you love me, suckling my breast like that.” Jacob coughs up a fistful of blood and dirt.

  “It’s your rib cage and quit talking. Why are males like this? Making light of dire situations?” Leaning over, I fit my mouth over the wound and draw out more liquid.

  Will chuckles. “Have to make it look like we’re strong. You know, preservation of the species and all. The toughest male gets the female. Just like the lions we ran across in Africa.”

  “For Mother Earth’s sake, just stop talking so I can concentrate. Figure out how to get us out of here.”

  “No way out but up. I say it’s fifty feet at least. Too far to jump.” Will rubs his hand down the injured leg and stands.

  He paces while I work on Jacob’s side. After a few more hard pulls, the wound reopens. I suck mouthfuls of tainted blood and fluid from between his ribs. After ten rounds, the blood is clear, and I fit the skin together and hold it in place.

  “Give me a little bit, and I’ll be as good as new.” Jacob draws in a long breath. His face is pale, and I cup my hand to his cheek.

  “You’re cold.” I cover his torso with my vest, and he shudders. I look to Will.

  “We’re not
in a hurry.” Will’s eyes cut to me and then up to the sky. He takes a seat beside me.

  I rub my palms over Jacob’s chest, trying to warm him. My mind is so jumbled, I can’t think. What of Mambi, Gregor, and my people above? What is Crow’s plan? His energy can’t be limitless. Feeling Jacob’s breathing even out and seeing his color return, I stand. The chasm isn’t wide. I can touch each side with my outstretched arms. Climbing won’t be hard. Perhaps Crow won’t expect us to make it out. Will his guard be down?

  Jacob sits up, and I squat next to him. “How goes it, friend?”

  “I liked it much better when your arms were around me, Queen.”

  “Good as new, eh, chap.” Will grabs a root and pulls himself up a few feet.

  We start up the wall of the fissure, me in the lead, Jacob in the middle, and Will bringing up the rear. I keep a steady slow pace, giving Jacob time to recover. A few feet from the top, I spot a snake, and grabbing a root, I swing over to catch it.

  I pass the animal to Jacob. He pierces the skin with his fangs and drains the vessels. Skinning it, he passes the meat to Will and me. Listening for heartbeats, we hear six, five racing faster than one, meaning the boys are still with Crow. Will breaks a root in two and starts to whittle the end with his knife. Jacob and I find sizable sections and do the same, taking care to be as quiet as possible. Will communicates a plan to us, using his hands to demonstrate what we need to do.

  When he counts down from three on his fingers, we launch ourselves out of the ditch. Landing, I see Crow standing in front of the opening of the teepee, arms folded over his chest.

  “I’m learning much about vampires today.” He lifts one palm. “ophíič’iyA.” Crow makes a circle with the other.

  Confused, I stick with the plan and start running for him. Will and Jacob don’t follow, and I spin to see them frozen in place. Picking up fists of dirt, I throw it into their faces. They blink but don’t move. I sense something warm behind me, and then Crow’s huge arms pin me to his chest. He smells of sweat, excrement, and venom, and my stomach turns.

  “Who has the power now?” Crow spits in my ear.

  Kicking at his legs with my boots, I fling my head back. His jawbone cracks, and he yells out. Doubling over, I fling him over my back. He lands on the ground with a thud. Will and Jacob shake their heads, and their eyes meet mine. They rush towards us and pin Crow’s arms and legs down.

  “Do it, Anne,” Will yells. “It’s got to be his head or his heart.”

  My feet feel stuck to the ground, and I hear my breath drawn in through my nose, to my lungs, and back out again. My heart thumps in my chest—ba boom, ba boom, ba boom. A falcon cries from the sky. The seconds seem to spread out like an abyss.

  “Anne, do it!” Jacob repeats Will’s order.

  Under their grip, Crow struggles to move his arms, his legs. My eyes meet his, and he holds my gaze.

  “Até.” The word comes from behind, and I turn to see a line of five boys.

  “Anne,” Will calls out. “His injuries are healing. We can’t hold him for long.”

  Across the fissure, movement catches my eye. Village women step to the edge. Seeing them fuels my abhorrence for the being on the ground. Still, my hand shakes as I reach for the makeshift stake Will whittled. Gripping it with both hands, I raise it above Crow’s chest. Breath held and eyes shut, I use all my muscle power to slam it through his ribs and into his heart. Warm liquid hits my temple, and bile rises in my throat.

  “Anne, open your eyes. You must rip his heart out. You must finish this. Be the queen that you are.”

  Will’s voice is but a whisper on the wind as a humming sound grows in my ears. Lifting my eyelids, I see the women jumping, cheering, hugging each other. I look down at the monster below me, cheek flaccid on the dirt.

  I run my blood-stained fingers over Crow’s eyes, closing his lids. Swallowing, I wrap a hand around the hilt of the stake and jerk it sideways, breaking the vessels connected to the organ. Yanking it free of the ribs, I lay Crow’s skewered heart on his stomach.

  “He doesn’t get to keep this. He doesn’t deserve to return to Mother Earth whole.” Will lifts the stake holding the gouged organ, jogs to the side of the canyon, and throws it in.

  Several women jump and wave from the other side, and I refocus on the boys behind me. As I approach, they back away. I raise my hands to assure them I mean no harm and realize my fingers are coated in blood. Blood of their dead father. Bloody tears gather in my eyelids.

  Hands wrap around my shoulders. “Anne, let Jacob get their mothers.” Will’s voice sounds like velvet in my ears. When I face him, his eyes hold mine for a second. “Careful, Anne, I know you’re dying inside, but you have to be a strong leader right now. Just like in Asia, summon your inner strength. Think of all the people you saved. Your people, the native people, the settlers he would have killed. Remember the female younglings he massacred.”

  I blot my eyes with my sleeve, spread my shoulders and stand tall. I step around Will to see Mambi, our army, and Crow’s warriors filing in behind the women. I take a deep breath and approach the edge of the fissure.

  “Chief Black Crow is no more. We will abide with you to help bury your dead and rebuild your village if you desire.” I jump the gap and approach Flying Brook. “How many men did the village lose?”

  “Only five. Your army healed many with their blood.”

  Gregor approaches. “Our goal was to stop them. We healed the ones with wounds.”

  I look to Mambi. “And how many did we lose?”

  “Many have scars from the venom, but we were able to drain the poison from most of the wounds before it was too late, save for three.”

  “Three? Who?”

  “Anjun, from—”

  “China.” I finish her sentence. “Who else?” Tears form in my eyes, and I wipe them away.

  “Nirav and Caleb.”

  “India and Germany. We should write to their families.” I want to hug someone, for arms to wrap around me and tell me that I’m okay, not a monster like Crow. I long to be enveloped in Elizabeth’s warm scent. But, I offer my arm, and each of the survivors grip it in turn.

  We build burial pyres and rest the bodies on top, lighting each one in succession, honoring their memory, until we come to Crow’s. The villagers topple the stand over and carry his form to the edge of the fissure. Screeching and howling, they throw him into the gorge and kick dirt on top.

  Some from our tribe team with the village hunters, returning with six deer. The women grind corn and cook cakes as four animals roast over a line of fires. Mambi and Gregor string up two of the does, slitting their throats and collecting blood in bowls. We pass the basin around our group, savoring the salty red liquid.

  Torn between the abyss of grief, sheer horror at the action I performed, and the almost overwhelming love flooding my heart from seeing our two groups meld into one, I stare into the fire.

  “Are you okay?” Will wraps an arm around my shoulder.

  “Sure.” I force a smile, trying to keep tears from forming in my eyes.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  “Don’t say that.” I shake my head. “I hate myself.” I hold up my palms. “How many lives did you end? How do you live with yourself after killing?”

  “Alec was my third, and honestly, you saved me. I don’t know who I would’ve become if it weren’t for you. I hated myself too. I had to shut every emotion off, just to stop the mass of guilt that sat in my chest. But, you did the right thing. He was evil and had to die. Look at all these people you saved.”

  I hate that I like the feel of his arm around me. Across the fire, Jacob’s eyes meet mine. They narrow, and he stands and storms off. Still, I can’t muster the strength to tell Will to move his hand.

  Will leans down and speaks into my ear. “What do you need, Your Highness?”

  Biting my lip, I fight the tears that threaten to form. I stand up. “I’m tired. I need rest. I should say good night to the elders.”<
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  Finding them feasting on deer, I bid them goodnight. They’ve prepared a teepee, and women escort me to the structure at the edge of the village. Inside, a fire burns in the center, and a carved-out log holds steaming water.

  “I will be just outside.” Will bows as he exits.

  One woman unbraids my hair, while the other two prompt me to remove my boots and clothes. Lifting a leg over the edge of the log, I slide into the hot water. The vessel reminds me of the tub at home and a time I was happy. A tear spills over my eyelid, and I fear the women will flee in disgust. One of them dips a cloth in the water and dabs my cheek. She hands me the rag, and I clean my skin, while they work on my hair. When finished, they retire to the fire, and I lay my head back on the soft wood and soak until the water cools.

  Sitting in front of the fire, they comb out my hair. I dress in their soft linens and wrap a fur around my shoulders. My lids grow heavy. I watch the orange flames dance in front of me. The women add logs to the fire and wave goodbye.

  As they exit, Will enters and sits beside me. “Can I say that you look beautiful?”

  I keep my eyes fixed on the fire. “Yes.”

  “Do you feel better?”

  “Some.” I shiver and gather the fur around my chest.

  “You can rest, and I will keep watch. Take as long as you like.”

  An almost overwhelming loneliness, a need to feel connected, loved, washes over me. I lean over, resting my shoulder on his bicep. He wraps his arm around me, hugging me to his side. His warmth envelopes me, and I pull my legs up, snuggling into him. He kisses the top of my head and wraps both arms around me.

  His shirt is soft and smells of the same leaves the women added to my bath. I realize he must have bathed too. An image of Crow’s open chest flashes through my mind, and I want to cry, kick, scream—anything to get it out of my head. My body starts to rock, and Will squeezes me tighter.

  He presses his lips to my hair and runs his hand down my back. I wind my hands around his neck and kiss the soft skin. His fingers grip my thigh, and the need to be closer to him almost overtakes me.

  I jump away, and tears spring to my eyes. The warm blood runs down my cheek, and I swipe it away. “I’m sorry.”