Jael frowned. “You haven’t seen her?”
“No. And I was hoping to catch a few winks—” Tan grew still. “Wait. She hasn’t been with you?”
“No. I haven’t seen her since last night.” Jael scanned the camp. Almost everything had been disassembled and loaded onto transports to return to the main encampment. After tonight’s raid, the dragon-horse warriors would fly to the meadow near there so the wild herd could return to their high plateau. A cold weight began to form in her chest. Where was she?
Second hopped off a chow wagon and waved the driver on down the mountain. “You look better,” she said as she approached. Her steps slowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Alyssa’s missing,” Tan said.
“Missing?”
Jael spotted Nicole on the edge of the meadow, shooting nervous glances their way as she shouldered her personal pack. When their eyes locked, Nicole started toward them and Jael met her halfway. “Where’s Alyssa?”
“I was hoping she was with you.” Nicole looked worried. “Last time I saw her was last night. She was, uh, she was—” She stopped and bit her lip.
The cold in Jael’s chest was growing, its weight crushing her lungs. She grabbed Nicole’s head and tore into her thoughts.
“Can’t do this. I can’t do this.”
“Let me help you to your tent. Then I’ll go find Han for you.”
“No. I…I need to be alone. This is all too much. I’ll be okay. Need some solitude to regroup.”
She abruptly disengaged and stepped back. Nicole gasped, and Tan wrapped a supporting arm around her as she sagged.
“Stop it.” Second grabbed Jael’s shoulders and shook her. “You could have hurt her.”
Jael grabbed fistfuls of Second’s shirt. “Something’s happened to her.”
“This is my fault. I shouldn’t have let her go off alone,” Nicole said, her face pale.
Second covered Jael’s hands and gently pulled them from her shirt. “This is nobody’s fault. Alyssa is an adult. A very resourceful adult.” Her gaze and voice were calm and steady. “She traveled more than half a continent alone to find you. She bears the Advocate mark, and the locals will honor that.” She tapped Jael’s head, then her chest. “Trust me. If something had happened to her, you’d know it.”
Jael closed her eyes and breathed deep, struggling to center herself. In all her lives, she’d never felt this kind of soul-deep fear. She touched Nicole’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you. Alyssa would hate me, if she doesn’t already.”
Nicole’s smile was thin. “It wasn’t your probe. I’m an empath and I wasn’t prepared for…your distress. Just find her, okay? She doesn’t hate you. Her love for you is confusing her. You aren’t the enemy, but she’s still sorting that out.”
Jael nodded. She’d faced battle and death many times in her previous lifetimes, but she’d never felt the hopeless panic that threatened now to consume her. She reached deep and unsheathed the only weapon she had to battle it. The darkness turned her icy fear into hot fury. “Tonight, the pyres that burn will belong to this Prophet and his Natural Order.”
Chapter Twenty-five
The burly believer stood, legs spread and arms crossed over his wide chest. “The Prophet doesn’t conference with women.”
Alyssa tamped down her irritation at his arrogance. “Camila is a Chief Advocate for The Collective. She speaks for the citizens in this quadrant of the region.”
“I am authorized to let you speak to Ruth. She can explain to you the role of women in The Natural Order.” The sun was winking its last over the tops of the surrounding mountains, and night was falling fast. The believer half turned from them, his attention shifting to several men climbing a ladder to a platform bolted to the top of one train car. “But it’ll have to wait until after the gathering.”
“Of all the arrogant, idiotic—”
“Emilia watches all the news bulletins. She said this group’s ‘natural order’ bases leadership on gender, like in ancient times,” Camila said.
Citizens were beginning to crowd onto the long loading platform next to the train and the wide grassed strip abutting the train cars that extended beyond the platform. Word of the supply train had spread fast, and more than half the region’s population had turned out.
Alyssa grabbed Camila’s hand and pulled her through the throng. “Come on. I’m not giving up.”
*
When the high-powered spotlights illuminated the platform, Cyrus was glad for the dimmer lenses he wore. He strutted from one end of the platform to the other, relishing the feel of the crowd’s attention riveted to his every move. He stopped center-stage and tapped his IC to activate the amplifier.
“I come to you tonight, asking that you open your minds and your hearts to a life-saving message.” His voice boomed into the moonless night. “Unprecedented winter storms, then tornados and mudslides in the Third Continent. Devastating drought in the Second Continent. Unrelenting rain and floods in the First and Fourth continents. Millions of citizens have been killed by these catastrophic events.”
He paused and ducked his head in a show of grief he didn’t feel. “My mate and my son were killed in a mudslide.” He wiped at nonexistent tears and cleared his throat. He could have been an actor, but this was more. He was The Prophet. He was the voice of The One. “Without warning, the side of a mountain collapsed and buried our entire hometown and most of its citizens.” He paced the platform.
“These plagues of nature have devastated crops. Widespread famine threatens because the limited production of our protein manufacturers cannot sustain our population.” He balled his hands into fists and held them out. “The World Council has shown itself impotent in the face of these disasters. The Collective solution is to spread our scarce food supplies to every corner of the earth so that we’ll all starve together.”
The crowd shifted restlessly, and many eyed the freight cars. Simon murmured into his IC, and believer guards discreetly moved into position next to each car.
Hands still raised, Cyrus opened his fists in a beseeching gesture. “Overcome with grief at the loss of my family, I asked myself: What can be done? I climbed to the highest peak near my home where the air was not clouded with the smoke of funeral pyres and filled with the cries of my neighbors mourning their families. I fasted until the vision came to me, clear as crystal.”
He smiled to himself and lowered his hands. He had their rapt attention now. “I have spent my life studying the history of our world, and I realized that we are simply repeating mistakes made by our ancestors because we have forgotten…no…we have ignored a simple truth.” He raised his hands and shrugged. “All humans are not created equal.”
A murmur ran through the crowd and Cyrus raised his voice to make his point. “In nature, only the strong prevail because it is necessary for the evolution and survival of the species. All are not created equal. It is The Natural Order of things, and we humans have rejected it. All are not created equal in nature, and our stubborn resistance to this fact has disrupted the natural flow of our universe.”
“He speaks lies.”
Alyssa leaned around Camila, but saw only a few faces turn their way. The backside of the train had been dark, and the few guards posted there were peering between the cars at the crowd on the other side, so they climbed atop the railcar adjacent to Cyrus’s stage. “I don’t think they heard you,” she said.
Camila tapped her IC and repeated her accusation through the amplifier. “He speaks lies.”
Cyrus glanced their way but didn’t acknowledge them. “Are you strong enough to embrace the truth, to acknowledge The Natural Order and live it, my brothers and sisters? Those of you who join us will share the resources bestowed on believers who no longer refuse our natural path.”
“And what of those who refuse your blackmail?” Camila asked. “Will they go hungry because you and your followers are thieves who have raided the distribution centers and stolen the food meant fo
r their children?”
The railcar swayed slightly and Alyssa twisted to look behind them. “Uh oh. This doesn’t look good, Camila.” Guards were scrambling onto the railcar’s top and making their way single file along the narrow roof toward them. “We need to get out of here.”
Camila, in an athletic move that belied her mature years, leapt from their car onto Cyrus’s stage. Alyssa measured the distance. Camila was taller and had long legs. No way she’d be able to make the same jump. She turned and balanced herself, then swept the feet out from under the first man. He grabbed at the man behind him and they both tumbled off the car.
“Heh. Even Jael fell for that move once.”
The next guard, slender and dark-haired, spread his arms to hold the others back. It was a standoff, but Alyssa only needed to hold them back long enough for Camila to speak.
“You know me. You know I speak the truth of The Collective,” Camila said. “This man is to be pitied. His grief has driven him insane.”
“I am The Prophet,” Cyrus roared. “I am chosen to restore The Natural Order.”
“This train is filled with supplies,” Camila said. “If you’ll help unload it, you’ll be given what your family needs. The remainder will be inventoried and redistributed to the rest of the region.”
The crowd moved forward, intent on their mission. The guards slid open the doors to the cars and more believers jumped out.
“This can’t be good.” Alyssa tried to project calm, but her attention was divided between the guards still waiting to jump her and what was happening below.
Cyrus screamed. “Only those who follow my truth will receive the bounty of The Natural Order.”
“Dung, you say.” A barrel-chested man raised his fist to Cyrus. “We’ll take back what is ours and send you on your way.” His declaration was met with supporting shouts from other citizens as they surged again.
“No. Stop. This isn’t the way to solve this.” The din of angry shouts swallowed Alyssa’s words.
The believer reinforcements were armed with weapons outlawed so long ago that the villagers didn’t know to be afraid. They began firing upon the advancing citizens, felling many with their bullets. The mob rushed the guards anyway, hurling rocks and wrestling the closest ones to the ground.
“Cease or the Chief Advocate will sacrifice her life for your insurgence.” The thunderous declaration vibrated through the night and the melee stilled. Alyssa gasped. Cyrus had his arm around Camila’s throat and a handgun pressed to her temple. His madness was a cold, impenetrable wall, and she felt without a doubt that he would carry out his threat. The citizens backed away, releasing the believer guards they’d captured.
Cyrus’s eyes gleamed, spittle dripping down his chin with every vicious word. “You have made your choice to live outside The Natural Order, and now you must live with the consequences. Let it be recorded. The faithful of The Natural Order will thrive, while its enemies—”
His last words were lost in a great swooping sound that filled the night. Alyssa ran down the car, prepared to leap onto the stage. She didn’t have a plan for freeing Camila, but she wasn’t about to waste the distraction she knew was coming. At the last minute, Cyrus turned to her, Camila still held fast in his grip, and Alyssa skidded to a stop. Camila’s gaze, calm and steady, held hers. Alyssa gestured at the sky and shouted to her. “Our reinforcements.”
Cyrus heard, too, and when he looked upward, Camila grabbed the opportunity to reassure the citizens. “Don’t be afraid. The defenders of The Collective have arrived. Move back, but do not—” Her last words were choked off as Cyrus tightened his arm around her neck and fired a bullet into her IC that was broadcasting her words. Blood dripped from Camila’s arm.
Only the swoop of wings and the thud of sharp hooves on the loading dock broke the stunned silence that followed the gunshot.
*
Specter settled on the platform, his great wings still extended in a display of power, and the icy weight in Jael’s chest lifted. Alyssa stood, apparently unharmed, atop a railcar, though eminent danger surrounded her. Second, astride Titan, and Tan, fierce in her war paint and mounted on the glittering Phyrrhos, settled on the roofs of nearby buildings, and Jael’s focus narrowed to the man on the adjacent railcar and the woman he held in a choke hold.
She reached with her mind. The woman’s mind was eerily calm. She was an old soul. Camila. The village’s Chief Advocate. His thoughts, however, were a jumble of insane rants. He was Cyrus. He was The Prophet. He was The One. He was deciding to turn his weapon on Alyssa.
No. I am the one you should fear. Look at me.
He frowned at the foreign whisper in his mind, but turned to stare at Jael.
“I am Jael, First Warrior of The Collective’s Guard. Release the Chief Advocate immediately.”
He sneered at her, but even amplified, his voice couldn’t match the cold calm of Jael’s. “I’m not afraid of your contrived illusions. Flying horses, indeed.”
Specter raised his head and screamed, emitting a stream of hot flame. The citizens moved away but didn’t run. The believer guards raised their rifles and readied to fire on him and Jael.
“No!” Alyssa’s stricken cry barely penetrated the darkness that steeled Jael’s course.
“In the name of The Collective Council, I pronounce you guilty of violating the directives of The Collective to hoard for your own cause at the cost of life and health to your fellow humans. I also find you guilty of heresy and conspiracy to spread heresy.” She lifted her hand and palmed a pulsating blue fireball. “I sentence you to immediate death and restitution in your next life.”
A gunshot sounded, and Jael’s fireball barely melted the bullet Cyrus fired before it reached her. A second gun report and Camila crumpled and tumbled off the railcar. Cyrus jumped after her, screaming when Jael’s flame licked at his face as he disappeared behind the railcar.
To arms!
Jael’s call brought a hail of dragon horses and their warriors down on the train. The pandemonium of battle erupted. Ear-splitting dragon screams competed with the report of automatic weapons. Citizens screamed and fled. Molten lead dropped from the sky as bullets melted in the flames that spewed forth to envelop the train and incinerate the believers where they stood beside it.
Amidst it all, Jael registered only one thing. A dark-haired guard sprang forward and tackled Alyssa so that they both dropped to the ground. Gunfire rang against the metal car and kicked up the dirt around them as they rolled several feet before the guard was up and dragging Alyssa down an alley too narrow for Specter’s wingspan. A half-dozen believers chased them, and Jael incinerated the last one before he could corner the building. She cursed and leapt from Specter’s back to follow.
*
Alyssa kicked and scratched, but the guard’s arm encircling her waist and lifting her off the ground held tight. After two quick turns, he ducked into a recessed doorway, where he pressed Alyssa so tight between the rough adobe wall and his long body that she could hardly breathe.
“Stop. I’m trying to help you.”
The harsh whisper was female, and Alyssa suddenly realized she felt no malice or deception from her. “I can’t breathe.” The woman shifted back and Alyssa relaxed. She heard footsteps run past the street where they were hidden and keep going. She waited a minute, then looked up into eyes as blue as Jael’s. “You don’t have to carry me. I can walk.”
“I hope you can run, because if those believers catch us, we’re both dead.”
Alyssa frowned. “But you were one of the guards trying to get us off the railcar.” She gasped. “Camila. I have to go back.”
“No.” The woman tightened her hold around Alyssa’s arm, then relaxed it again. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid it’s too late to help the Chief Advocate.”
Camila’s calm gaze flashed before her, and Alyssa wiped at the tears stinging her tired eyes. “This is my fault. I should have listened to Jael. I shouldn’t have convinced Camila to try to negotiate
with a madman.”
“Even I didn’t realize how mad he has become.” Sadness flashed across the woman’s handsome features. “She’ll be rewarded in her next life, right?”
Alyssa studied her captor’s strong jaw and buzzed hair, realizing now that she was probably in her mid-twenties but could easily pass as a teenaged boy. “Yes,” she said softly. She placed her hand over the one that still gripped her arm. “I’m Alyssa.”
“Hi. I’m Kyle.” She released Alyssa and edged forward to peer each way down the street. She grabbed Alyssa’s hand and tugged her from their hiding place. “Come on.” Kyle’s hand felt unnaturally warm, like Jael’s.
“That’s far enough.” They’d only gone a few steps when the cruel voice sounded behind them.
Kyle turned slowly and moved between Alyssa and the man holding a gun on them.
“I’ll admit that cutting your hair and dressing like a man threw me off at first. But, unlike your delusional father, I never trusted you. I knew you’d make a break for it at some point, deviant that you are.”
Running footsteps approached. “If we can get to a rooftop, I can get us a way out of here,” Alyssa whispered.
Kyle lifted her hands, palming a fireball in each. “More deviant than you know, Simon.”
He fired. The first fireball melted the bullet midway between them. The second melted the gun in his hand, and he screamed with pain.
Dragon Horse War Page 25