United (Exalted Trilogy: Book 3)

by Elizabeth, Tara

  Up ahead of me is a clearing filled with more people than I expected. Dozens of marauders swarm the small campsite that surrounds several tall silos. Along with Exalted guards, the silos have huge rusted-out holes speckling their walls. The roofs have been patched and patched again to keep out the elements. I suppose it’s more difficult to get around to the sides to repair them, or they like it that way for the light that spills in.

  The ground around the campsite is covered in dingy tents, fires for cooking, rain barrels, scrap metal, and just plain junk. On the north side of the camp is a large group gathered around one of the bigger tents. Women rush in and out with water and strips of cloth. That must be the medical tent. They have their work cut out for them. I didn’t see Ryker kill any of them . . . except for that crazy man that tried to kill me.

  I search and search for Jenna, but don’t see her anywhere. She must be in one of those silos, but which one? Perhaps I need a different line of sight. After sinking back into the deeper cover of the woods, I circle the camp.

  Once I’m halfway around, I cautiously creep closer once more. From here, I see much of the same but with one difference. Jenna is being led out of one of the silos by a male Exalted. Her hands are bound, and there is a gag in her mouth. The Exalted jerks Jenna to a stop so that he can talk to three rough-looking, male marauders. Her eyes look wild as she looks back and forth from the four men who are speaking around her and pointing. They look as if they are haggling over her ownership.

  It seems the rogue Exalted isn't happy with any of the offers and waves the marauders away. He yanks on Jenna's bound hands and drags her into one of the silos. No! How am I going to get her out of there with two Exalted guards, one Exalted inside, and who knows what else lies inside that silo?

  I need to create a distraction, and I need to do it now. Hopefully they won't be expecting someone to come after her so soon . . . or at all. She is a citizen after all, and citizens aren’t valuable to the Republic.

  I move one of my knives aside on my belt, and slide my finger behind it. The matches from my Third Trial are still there. A flame sparks to life after I strike the match across the side of the thin box. I reach out and touch the fire to the dry cloth of one of their tents. It only takes a second for the whole thing to go up in flames. And as I suspected, it throws everyone into a frenzied state. The women are screaming as they wildly run to their own tents to protect them and their meager belongings, and the men are shouting for buckets as they run toward the rain barrels. All the while, I’m heading toward the spot where Jenna is being held.

  Unfortunately, one of the two Exalted guards remains posted outside of the silo. Before I attack, I pause. Can I kill this man—can I kill him for my friend? I have to ask myself the question, because what other choice do I have? I can't get close enough to him to knock him out without alerting someone of my presence . . . There has to be another way in.

  The rusted-out holes.

  After sprinting around the back of the silo, I locate the lowest hole. It's small, but it's directly across from a tree. Scaling the tree is easy, even with my heart pounding in my ears. I try to shake the nerves off as I prepare to dive into the rusty hole. There's no time to consider what might lay waiting for me inside.

  I take a deep breath and jump.

  The raw rusted edge of the metal hole scrapes across my abdomen as I fly through. I tuck and roll on the dusty ground. There's no time to worry about my stomach or moral dilemmas now. I sling a knife at the rogue Exalted that is rushing toward me, ax ready in his meaty hands. My dagger pierces his throat. I turn before the life drains from his eyes.

  Two marauder women are cowering and weeping behind a crate, while Jenna is bound and silent near the door. Just as she's about to jump to her feet, the Exalted guard posted outside of the silo peeks in. His eyes flick from me to his dead friend on the ground to the noisy women and then back to me.

  The Exalted guard puts his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and blows. The whistle that sounds pierces my ears. With one hand to my right ear, I grab for my knife belt with my left. But before I can reach Jenna to cut her free, the guard jerks her up by her hair. He holds his long sword out to his side, inviting me over for a fight.

  As we face-off, Jenna begins to cry. She tries to wiggle out from the large man's embrace, but she's so small and nowhere near strong enough to escape his grasp.

  We need to get out of here now. The entire village will be in here any second.

  Jenna and I stare at each other, communicating in that silent way. She stops crying and nods.

  No more waiting. I launch my dagger toward Jenna and her captor. As it sails through the air, I watch as the rogue Exalted's face slowly changes from rage to realization. The knife is so fast that he doesn't have time to react more than that.

  Jenna squeals as the knife buries itself into the man's chest. She staggers and falls as he drags her to the ground with him. Spit flies from her mouth as she kicks and screams, fighting to get his heavy arm off of her tiny body.

  I rush to her side and cut the bindings on her hands. As I bend over my friend, Jenna’s eyes go wide. She shakes her head vigorously when she notices someone behind me. “Mena, behind you!”

  More shouting ensues as two young men rush me. They are on top of me in seconds, with more marauders racing toward the silo outside. I bend over when the first one is upon me, and toss him over my back. The second one receives a blow to his jaw. The hit knocks him out instantly, leaving me to wrestle with the first one again.

  Instead of hitting him, like I did to his friend, I grab Jenna by the hands, cut the rope on her still bound hands, and pull the chord away from her. It takes little effort to take hold of the young man’s arm and twist it behind his back. After I wrench his other arm behind his back as well, I use the rope to tie him up in Jenna’s stead.

  The men outside are only steps away from spilling into the silo. As their feet pound thunderously on the hard earth and their violent threats fill my head, I nudge Jenna behind me. We start to walk backward, inching toward the back of the enclosed silo.

  Jenna clutches my shirt in both of her hands and buries her face in my back. "There's no way out," she cries.

  Chapter 25 / Ethan

  “Uh, thanks. We appreciate this so much . . . But why are you helping us. You don’t even know us,” I say to the man before me. He says his name is Cap—the man that the half-breed in the forest mentioned.

  Cap chuckles and slaps me on the back, “You’re a funny one,” he says. “I’ll be over at the blacksmith, there. Come see me when you’re done.” The generous man walks away, leaving us to our meal.

  Val and I eat and drink greedily. My stomach rejoices when the cool water followed by warm stew fills the empty pit. There are so many flavors in the soupy dish that I’ve never tasted before. I stare into the wooden bowl and bring a spoonful to my mouth. There are chunks of meat and vegetables, rice, and some type of herbs. I sip the liquid, tasting it again. Mmm. It’s so good. This is probably the best thing I’ve ever tasted. The food at the Republic was beyond bland.

  “So good,” Val mumbles as she eats.

  I nod and shovel another spoonful into my mouth. As I near the end of my meal, I begin to take in our surroundings more thoroughly. There are no concrete or brick buildings like in the Republic. They have small wooden structures here. They use lots of natural elements, like this wooden bowl I’m eating out of and the hat on that man’s head. I watch the man with the straw hat as he feeds some excited chickens. He smiles and talks to them while he works.

  Val notices him too. She smiles. “I like it here,” she says. “Think there are other places like this?”

  “I don’t know,” I answer. I’d love to find out. "How's your head?"

  "It feels so much better since that lady cleaned it. And this food is a good distraction."

  "Good. So, you ready to go find Cap?”

  “Sure,” Val jumps up from her seat, feeling reenergized after a good meal.r />
  The two of us head for the blacksmithing area. Three men work over hot coals, firing and beating metal with their hammers. They are crafting more arrowheads than I can count, along with knives, swords, and axes. It would seem that they are preparing for an epic battle.

  Cap is inspecting the completed weapons. He seems to approve of everything he touches. He tells the three blacksmiths what a great job they’re doing and gives each one a pat on the shoulder. Once he notices Val and I watching, he excuses himself from the three men.

  He walks toward us as if he never fully healed from some sort of injury—not a limp but not a normal stride. “So, feeling better then?” he asks, glancing between Val and I.

  “Yes, thank you so much. It was delicious,” Val gushes.

  “Thank you,” I add.

  “Great. Now that you’ve eaten you can help out with training. You don’t mind, do you?” Cap asks.

  “Training?” My eyebrows draw together as I try to figure out what he could be talking about.

  “Sure. Things are heating up out there,” Cap says as he points off in the distance. “We have to be prepared for that. A few of our Exalted are training some of the villagers in archery.”

  “Is that what all the new arrowheads are for?” Val asks.

  Cap smiles. “Yes, mam.”

  "And the knives and axes?" I ask, secretly dying to get a set of those blades.

  "Well, those would be for our Exalted protectors. We're getting a lot of you coming in without weapons. We need you to be prepared as well. So, what'll it be?" The man cocks his head to the side, inspecting me from head to toe. "I'll bet you're a knife man," he says to me.

  "I am," I answer, my hands aching to hold them.

  "Great. Help yourself."

  "Thank you," I say as I approach the blacksmiths' area. The knives are beautifully crafted, much finer than the knives provided to us from the Republic. They feel perfect in my hands—like they were made just for me. Having these at my side will be an honor. I choose six of the best knives and grab a leather knife belt hanging from a nail on a post.

  While I'm arranging them the way I like, I hear Cap ask Val, "And you? Hmm. The sword. No. No. The bow. Am I right?"

  "You are," Val giggles.

  "Good. Good. You'll find what you need out on the training field. So, you two up for it? A couple of your buddies are already over there helping.”

  “Which buddies?” I ask.

  “Ryker and two young Exalted. Kwan and Trudi, I think it was. Mena is on her way with one of your citizens. And there’s one that goes by Az. Big fella.”

  “Az? He’s helping you? He didn’t try to kill all of you?” I’m shocked. I never would have guessed Az would help anyone except himself.

  “Nah. We had a chat. Nice guy,” Cap says.

  Maybe he's not talking about the same Az that we know.

  “Well, follow me if you two wanna help out,” Cap says. “We’d really appreciate it. I’ll get y’all some new clothes before we head over to the training field. Come on.” He waves as he saunters off, deeper into the village.

  Val grabs my hand and pulls me along after the man that kindly accepted us into his village. She’s leading me now. It’s an odd turn of events. “Let’s help them,” Val whispers. “It’s the right thing to do. We were headed here anyway—before we got ambushed.”

  We follow Cap to a wooden house with a thatched roof. There is even moss threaded between the reeds and straw that holds the roof together. Some of it hangs down off the side of the roofline, creating an ominous feeling about the little shack.

  Cap knocks a few times on the rickety door, but doesn’t wait long for an answer. “Beverly,” he calls. “We got some new Exalted showed up a few hours ago. Need some clothes for ‘em.”

  “I’m comin’!” a woman answers. We can hear her puttering around the little house. Once she makes it to the door, she swings it open. The woman is older with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles. When she smiles, even the apples of her cheeks crinkle up. “Well, look at you two! Oooh. So big and strong.”

  I can’t help but puff up a little at the mention of strength. I suppose it’s ingrained in me. Maybe it will lessen as the years pass. Who knows?

  “So you need some clothes. One sec.” Beverly lets the door swing wide as she hurries back into her home. The inside looks nothing like the dreary exterior. She has brightly colored curtains over her windows, there’s a sky blue blanket thrown over the back of a rocking chair, and even her own clothes match the green of the grass all around us.

  The woman returns with two neatly folded stacks of clothes. She hands one stack to Val and the other to me. “Thank you,” we both say.

  “Thanks Bev. We’ll see you at dinner. Tell the old man hello for me.”

  “Sure will, Cap. See y’all later,” Beverly says as she shuts the door.

  “Alright, you two hurry up and change. Just head on behind her house there so you don’t expose yourself to my people,” Cap instructs. He adds, “I know you’re not modest where you come from, but we are here. You can leave your old stuff on Bev’s porch. She’ll be excited to get the scraps.”

  Once behind the house, I tug off my filthy shirt and toss it on the ground. The replacement shirt is sky blue, like the blanket in the old woman’s home. I tug it over my head easily, but have a little trouble fitting my arms through the holes. It’s pretty snug, but I won’t complain. I’m grateful for something that doesn’t smell like dead animals.

  Before I pull on my pants, I glance over to Val. Her new tank top is a light shade of purple—it’s a color that I’ve seen Ambassadors wear. It looks nice on her. My eyes travel down to her bare legs. They are so long and lean. Her skin is tan and rich. It’s a shame that she has to cover them up. Once the thought passes through my mind, I instantly feel myself blush. A male Exalted blushing—what is going on with me?

  I quickly turn away, giving her some privacy. After casting aside my old pants, I pull on the new ones. They are a sad brown color with a drawstring waist. They’re good enough. I can move well in them. That’s all that matters.

  After gathering my old clothing from the ground, I cautiously turn back around to see Val dressed and ready to train the villagers. She’s wearing similar pants to mine. “That shirt is the same shade of blue as your eyes. It looks good on you,” she says as she passes me. She walks ahead of me, back toward the front of Beverly's house where Cap is waiting. I know Val’s anxious to find out about Mena—she'll want to speak to Ryker right away. I’m worried about Mena myself, but I have to admit that I’m still dreading seeing her. I don’t want to tell her that I failed her—that I just left her parents without even trying to rescue them.

  Val and I follow after Cap. He nods and waves to everyone we pass on our way to the training field. The people here seem to like him a great deal. I wish our leader had been more like this man. Well, I wish a lot of things had been different.

  “Here it is,” Cap tells us. We step onto a large field that’s been cleared of its corn.

  Ryker, Trudi, Kwan, and Az along with three other Exalted that I don’t know are leading the archery training of the villagers. The group is sad at best. There are only a handful of healthy-looking, regular men. I can’t help but say, “You’re training these people to shoot? Are you crazy?”

  “Maybe,” Cap says. “But it isn’t my choice. You see, the people here are free, and they want to learn to protect themselves and their freedom. It’s their right . . . And Ryker has brought us some bad news. We need to prepare ourselves. The Republics may attack us.”

  “He’s right,” Val says. “Come on, Ethan.” Val gives my arm a slight tug before running off toward Ryker. Once she reaches him, she throws her arms around his neck. She turns to hug Trudi and Kwan as well. Though they seem to be uncomfortable with the contact, they allow the embrace. They must still be on the Pump, or they're just coming off of it. Val keeps turning until she is facing Az. It’s only awkward for a second. Once Az cr
acks a smile, she throws her arms around his massive neck. It takes him a second, but he finally embraces her as well.

  I make it to the small group just as Val asks Ryker about Mena. “Where is Mena? Did something happen to her? Is she okay?”

  “Hey, Ethan,” Ryker greets me before answering Val.

  “Hey,” I say in return. “So where is Mena? Cap said she's not here.”

  “We ran into some marauders on the way here." Ryker looks lost without her. "They captured Jenna. Mena stayed behind to find her. They should be here soon.” Though his words are confident, his voice isn’t. I can tell he’s worried about her. Why wouldn’t he be?

  I could give him a hard time about letting her go off alone, but he doesn’t need the added stress. Plus, I know how Mena is—she’s physically strong and even more strong-willed. If she wanted to go searching for Jenna by herself, then that’s what she would do—and she obviously did just that.

  “Hey man, I’m sure she’s fine. Mena is strong,” I say to Ryker, though I don’t know what I’m doing comforting him. Mena chose him over me—I should hate him. But for some reason, I don’t. Maybe it's because I won't be the one to look into her eyes forever after I tell her how I failed her . . . It's the same with Val. Can I look into those doe eyes for all of our lives and be constantly reminded that I'm the reason she has a scar just above them?

  “Thanks,” Ryker says as he shifts uncomfortably. “So if you two are here, where are Mena’s parents? How’d you get away?”

  At the mention of Mena’s parents, I tense up. Thankfully Val answers the tough question for me. “We think they’re still being held by Dr. Fredericks. We were able to get away, but couldn’t get to them. The Exalted traitors had guns . . .” her words trail off.

  Ryker doesn’t say anything to make us feel guiltier than we already do. Perhaps he’s showing the same courtesy that we just showed him. Whatever the reason, I’m grateful. He does say, “Well, you two are here to help us train the villagers, right? Dixie, Conall, Everett, and Az have been doing a great job with them, but Val, you are an archer, aren't you?"