by CM Raymond
“Guess this all makes sense,” the man said as he drew his dagger and cut Karl free. “But you might need to help me explain it to Vatan.”
“Oh, sure, kid. Nothing to it. A woman smart as her… She’ll totally understand.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I’ll never talk ya witch; just finish it now!” the wounded roamer screamed into Hannah’s face.
He was propped against a tree with Laurel’s vines holding him place. His face was seriously swollen from where a bola or a stray rock hit him in the face, but Hannah didn’t imagine he was very pretty to look at before.
Dardanus’s men wanted to string him up the moment the fighting stopped, but Hannah convinced them to let her try talking first. They needed the intel, and she was hoping that he would be more likely to share it with her.
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll get to that last part... If you don’t cooperate. But let’s get serious, shall we?”
His eyes narrowed at the calm demeanor of the foreign woman who knelt over him.
“We already know how this will end. You refuse. We torture. You refuse… blah, blah, blah. Finally, you tell us exactly what we’re looking for. Let’s skip the blah, blah, blah.”
The man said nothing. Instead, he spat his dirty saliva on Hannah’s face. She wiped it with the back of her hand. “OK. First time I’ve actually had someone have the balls to do that to me.”
She landed a fist to the bruised side of his head and felt it go a little squishy. He grunted in pain.
“Geez, man, you gotta get that looked at. One last chance, and then I bring on the blah, blah, blahs.”
“Screw you, witch. What are you gonna do to me?”
“Me?” Hannah grinned. “Nothing. You’re not really worth my time. But my friend Devin is hungry.”
“Devin?” his eyes grew with confusion. “Who’s he?”
“Ah shit, you’ve already made another mistake. Devin’s a she, and she’s terribly cute—until she starts chewing on your face.”
Hannah made a clicking sound with her tongue, and the squirrel crawled out of Laurel’s sleeve and ran over to Hannah’s side.
“All right, Devin. Do your thing.”
The squirrel crawled up his chest and the man tried to scurry away.
“Laurel, a little help here?”
“My pleasure,” the druid said. Her eyes turned green, and the weeds around the man grew thicker, enveloping his wrists and ankles, holding him to the tree.
“What... what the hell is this? You’re a bunch of freaks!” he shouted.
“Yeah. We are freaks. And Devin is freakishly hungry. So, it’s time for you to talk. What do you know about Samet?”
“Bite me.”
“You heard him, Devin.” She looked down into the squirrel’s black eyes. “Left cheek. If you will.”
Devin jumped, landing on the man’s face. He screamed as the squirrel’s claws groped, trying to find purchase. Finally digging in, Devin bit down on his cheek and then again.
“Shit!” the man screamed.
“Yeah, I know,” Hannah crooned. “It’s pretty bad, right? Listen, I’ve heard some pretty bad things about you roamers. And you weren’t exactly nice to me when I came into your camp. I mean, you were actually going to roast me over the fire. Sure, I was only pretending to be lost. All a part of my master trap—but you didn’t know that.”
Hannah spotted a particularly dirty spot on her cloak and dusted it off nonchalantly as she continued with a sarcastic smile. “So, I shouldn’t feel too bad about putting you through all this pain. But I’m feeling generous today. Chock it up to my girlish nature. All your homies are dead around you. You’re the last one left. I get all that honor stuff, but come on, we all know you’d sell your own mother if it got you what you wanted. Nobody’s going to know. Tell me about Samet.”
“Please,” he cried. “Just end me.”
Hannah sighed. “What’s your name?”
He paused for a second, searching her words for some trap. Finally, he said, “Altan.”
“Al, listen, we’re the good guys here. You’re the bad guy. We don’t want to kill you, we just want to know where our friend is. Now, tell me about Samet.”
The man stared up at her indignantly. He was a man of twisted principle, but it was becoming clear that even perverted principle was not easily shaken.
“OK,” Hannah said. “Time for the game changer.”
Reaching down, she began to loosen the belt around his waist.
“Sorry to do this to you, Dev, but I need you to go south on Al here.”
“OK, I think we’re crossing a line here—” Hannah could hear Dardanus behind her. Laurel placed her hand on his shoulder. “She knows what she’s doing. Where we come from, it’s an effective interrogation tool.”
“You... you wouldn’t,” the man said with a whimper.
“YOU WERE GOING TO COOK ME OVER THE FIRE!” she yelled. “Do I look like the kind of person who would bluff about this?”
“I... I…”
“Devin, chop chop. We don’t have all day.”
The squirrel blinked twice and then scurried down the man’s abdomen.
“Shit. No! I’ll talk. I’ll talk.”
Hannah smiled. “There we are, Al, all of us reasonable, human beings. I guess the way to a man’s heart is through his—” she glanced down at him “—twig and berries. Now, tell me about Samet.”
Al’s breathing increased, chest heaving up and down. “I don’t know any Samet, I swear. Never heard his name before.”
Hannah’s eyes flashed red as she entered his mind, checking to see if he was being honest. “Good start, Al. I know because there was one thing you were right about. I am a witch, and I can tell when you are lying. So, don’t pull any shit, or Dev here will be dining on your bolas, understand.”
Altan nodded.
“OK, next question. If you weren’t up here because of Samet, what brought you and the others up to this hill?”
His eyes moved from Hannah to the beast on his torso and back. “We were sent here to investigate the thing.”
“What thing?”
He stared at her, his eye twitching.
“Tell me what thing,” Hannah said, “or Devin will go to town on your thing.”
“It’s crazy, but…” He paused, collecting his words. “The thing in the sky. We’ve been watching it, like it’s from the Gods or something. We were to come, find out what it was, and bring it back to our home. That’s all.” The man started to weep. “That’s all. You just came and got in our damned way. Kent thought you might know something about it. You might be able to tell us.”
Hannah leaned in close to the man’s face. She could feel his breathing on her cheek. “I do, Al. I do know about it. That thing, the thing in the air brought me here. It brought me to you. And you know what?”
“What?” he whimpered.
“I think it brought me to put an end to all the shit you and your people are doing to the folks who live around here. If you think this is bad, just wait until I’m back aboard my ship. I can visit your home and wipe it off the map.” She leaned in closer. “Give me a reason not to. Why should I let ass maggots like you live?”
“Wait... wait, OK. I remember now. We saw some of the long-armed bastards the other day. They were wandering through the hills.”
Hannah looked up at Dardanus. His expression somehow even more sober than ever. “Were they OK?”
Al looked confused. “OK?”
“Were they injured or held captive?” Dardanus asked. He leaned down close to the man.
“I don’t know. They looked fine to me.”
“Was there a boy with them?” Hannah asked, pointing to Aysa. “About her age.”
“A boy? No. I don’t know. We gave them a pretty wide berth. We were only after the thing in the sky.”
“Where did you see them?”
Al described the location to Dardannus, who nodded knowingly. Hannah motioned to Laurel. “
Release him. We’ve got what we need.”
The druid’s eyes flashed green again, and the weeds retreated. As quickly as they did, Altan took off into the woods—with the speed of a desperate man.
“This is a mistake!” Cal shouted. “We should kill him now.”
“I won’t kill a man in cold blood,” she said. “He gave us what we need. Let’s just get on with it.”
Cal shook his head. “Letting him go, it will mean trouble later. Mark my words.” He pointed a meaty finger in her face. “And that will be on you.”
Hannah pushed his hand aside, and stepped right up to him, face to face. “If trouble comes, then I will rip out its guts and wear them as a dress. Got it? Now, are you going to give me trouble?”
The big man seethed, but then backed away. He had seen what she could do, and he wasn’t a fool.
Hannah turned and looked at the other Baseeki. They were all staring at her, awed by her power and her resolve. Even Dardanus had a smile on his face, impressed with the girl.
“Drag the bodies over there.” She pointed to a place well beyond the camp. “And bury your dead. We camp here for the night. Tomorrow, we find your prince.”
Without a word, the men did exactly as she said.
****
Parker continued to pace the cell, ten steps in each direction. He’d wear a hole in the floorboards if Karl was gone much longer. In his mind, he ran through the scenarios of what exactly the meeting meant, and what was taking so long. He also, in the depths of his heart, hoped he wouldn’t be next.
He had already been tortured once, and it wasn’t an experience he was hoping to revisit any time soon.
Sitting on his bunk, perfectly reposed, Hadley mumbled silently with his eyes closed.
“The hell are they doing with him, anyway?” he asked the mystic.
Hadley kept his eyes closed. “Torturing him,” he said casually.
“What? How do you know that?” Parker asked, but Hadley kept quiet.
Parker stared for a second, then kept talking to himself. “That settles it then. We need to get out of here.”
He stopped pacing long enough to give the bars a shake, drawing a little attention from the porter in the corner of the room. Lowering his voice, he whispered, “We need to break out. Go save Karl and get the hell out of this crazy little town.”
Hadley kept up his trance as if he were the only human remaining on the face of Irth.
“Damn it! Stop that. How can you take this all so casually? You need to do something.”
Hadley slowly cracked his eyes open. They were covered over in white, which still freaked Parker out a little. “I wasn’t doing nothing,” he muttered in a monotone. “In fact, I was doing more with my eyes closed than you’ve done in days.”
Parker furrowed his brow, assuming that the mystic was using his gifts, but it still made no sense. He was about to say so, when their door opened. To Parker’s disbelief, Karl walked through with one of the guards who had hauled him away. They were talking and laughing like they were the oldest friends in the world.
Parker turned to look at Hadley, but the mystic was grinning from ear to ear. “That’s what I was doing.” He nodded toward the two men just as Karl landed a hard pat on the guard’s back.
“All right, then, Drake. Say hello to your good mother for me. And keep yer head down, OK? Stay away from Vatan until I get the chance to clear all this up.”
The guard nodded like a fool. “You got it.” He paused, his face tightening in a serious expression. “And, Karl, I can’t thank you enough. This conscience thing is really going to change things for me.”
“Aye, kid. It did for me. Yer a good fella. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.” He gave him another slam to the back and shoved him toward the door.
Karl turned back to his cellmates, holding his ribs and wincing when they were finally alone. “Damn, fool has a hell of a hook, I’ll tell ya that much.”
“And now,” Hadley said, “a clear conscience, thanks to us.”
The two laughed, and Parker looked more confused than ever. “Spill it. What the hell happened?”
Karl lowered himself onto his cot and held out his empty mug between the bars for the porter to fill it. “Let’s just say I take back all the nasty things I ever said ‘bout them mindnuts livin’ in the clouds. Hadley here did a little mystical tinkerin’ inside that boy’s noggin’. Certainly saved me little hairy arse.”
Karl filled in Parker on the details from his end, allowing Hadley to drop in commentary whenever he wanted.
“Once I was done connecting that douche with his inner voice, I got him talkin’ a bit about some other things, too.” He took a long slug from the mug, allowing the tension to build. “Seems nothin’ is quite what it seems around here.”
“How so?” Parker asked.
“Fer starters, let’s just say that Vatan and Sef don’t precisely see eye to eye on all matters. In fact, that lass convinced my man not to tell the chief ‘bout our little conversation in their torture shack.”
Parker nodded. “Remember the two of them at the meeting? He was supposed to talk with us, but she seemed to be the one wearing the britches.”
“Aye, and who had the biggest balls.”
Parker turned to Hadley, who was taking in his friends’ glee. “Well, now that you’re feeling better, can you take a look under the hood? See what Vatan is really up to?”
“Maybe, but not unless I can get close to her.” Hadley called for his own mug of ale. “There’s not too many things I can do from afar. Maybe Julianne could, but not me. All I did from here with Karl’s friend is plant a few mild suggestions.” He pointed at Karl. “That guy did all the heavy lifting.”
“That’s why I’m so damn sore?” Karl snorted. “Or wait, was it the asskickin’ I got while I waited for yer mind tricks?”
“But,” Hadley continued, “if I could get close enough to her, preferably without her knowing, then I can get in and really see what’s what.”
Karl tilted his glass at Parker. “So, we need to get the mindpilot outta here. And that one, young Arcadian, is up to you.”
Parker smiled. “I think I have some ideas on that front. At midnight, we make our move. But there are other things to be accomplished first.”
Karl’s bushy brows pulled in over his blue eyes. “Like what?”
“First, you need some rest.”
“And second?”
“We’re getting piss drunk!” Parker replied with some excitement. The rearick laughed. “Finally, something in my wheelhouse.” He raised his mug again. “I’ll drink to that.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Gregory’s jaw dropped as the group of remnant, twenty or so in all, crested the rise below them, charging for the top. He couldn’t tell if they were male or female, but it was clear they were all scary as hell.
“Shit bucket!” he yelled, his face turning green. There was no time to hide—the remnant clearly saw him—and it was doubtful he could out run them. He stood, paralyzed, until Sal bit his sleeve and began to tug.
Gregory looked down at the dragon, and he realized that Sal was telling Gregory to climb aboard.
“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.” His face turned even greener.
Sal tugged harder, with a sense of urgency in his black, beady eyes.
“OK, OK, just let me get my tools. We need them.”
Gregory sprinted for the bow of the ship, Sal right behind him. He bent, grabbing the bag of tools he was using, and took a flying leap onto Sal’s back. He landed, but his momentum was too great, and he swung off the slippery scales. He spilled to the ground, along with his tools. Before he could respond, five remnant were on him.
He kicked, punched, and swung his wrench, fighting to save his own ass. It was over, and he knew it, but he thought he just might be able to take a few of the soulless bastards with him. One of the beasts bit down on his shoulder. Swinging wildly, Gregory caught him in the skull with the tool, and the thi
ng rolled off him. With a quick kick, he nailed another one square in the crotch.
The others were too much, and he curled up into a defensive ball and tried to remember the Arcadian last rights.
But he wasn’t alone.
Sal’s roar shred through the clamor, and his talons ripped the flesh of the remnant, giving Gregory the chance to roll out to safety. He launched to his feet and backed up against the ship as Sal shredded the remaining remnant in the first onslaught. As he did his job, many more caught up with their faster companions.
“Sal!” Gregory screamed. But before the dragon could respond, a group of seven had him surrounded. Glancing over their shoulders, he saw more and more crest the rise. There were scores of them.
It was lost.
Reaching down, he snatched the magitech torch from his tool bag, which he used to loosen rusted bolts. He turned the knob as far as it would go, and then busted out the regulator. The contraption hissed with potential.
Gregory pitched it at their feet in the middle of the circle. He contorted his hands, like Hannah had taught him, and sloppily flung them in the direction of the torch. Miraculously, his eyes turned black, and a small stream of fire shot from his hands. It was puny, and he knew it.
But it did the trick.
When his fire reached the torch, it ignited the tiny magitech core, releasing magical energy in every direction. Three remnant screamed and cursed, running off as the unharnessed power burned their flesh.
“Didn’t see that coming,” Gregory said, impressed by his own ingenuity.
But his celebration didn’t last long. The remaining four advanced.
Gregory did the only thing left he could. He acted.
Raising the wrench, he shouted, “Damned remnant, behold, Gregory the great!” He gripped the wrench tightly, praying it would stop quivering in his hand. “Turn back now, and I will spare your lives. Continue, and I will end your meaningless existence.”
The creatures stopped, looked at him and then at one another and laughed their asses off.
“I’m gonna eat him screaming,” a particularly nasty looking female shouted.