"But what if one of the tribes attacks her?"
K'lrsa threw her pack over her shoulder. "I'll take that chance. Badru, please stay here. I need you to help. We aren't trained to think like fighters. You are. Work with D'lan. Come up with a plan in case I fail."
He frowned, but at least he'd set his pack down. "Why should he listen to me?"
"Because you know what you're talking about and he's smart enough to realize it." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, waved at the others, and ran to where Fallion stood, waiting for her.
The sooner she left, the sooner she could return.
Chapter 31
It took her the better part of a day to reach the Tall Bluff Tribe. Fortunately, they were already on their way towards the gathering grounds and much closer than they normally would've been. She rode into their camp at sunset, demanded to speak to their council, told them what she had to say, emphasized how important it was that they make it to the gathering grounds as soon as possible, and left as soon as the moon peeked above the horizon.
They'd offered her a place to sleep for the night, but she'd refused. She still didn't trust that they were really allies no matter what her mother thought.
She flew Fallion through the night, only stopping to rest when the moon set. She stumbled into the midst of a skinny copse of trees—nothing compared to the actual trees she'd seen in the Daliphate, but enough to provide some shelter from animals or humans out roaming at night—and grabbed a bit of rest until the sun rose and she could continue her journey.
She found the Spring Winds Tribe early the next morning, delivered her message, and continued on.
And so it went until she found the Desert Storm Tribe at sunset on the second day. Again she was offered a place to sleep and again she refused.
She wanted to get back to Badru and the others as soon as she could. Even now they might be reaching the gathering grounds, facing off against their enemies. What if she was wrong about the plan? What if the Black Horse Tribe attacked them right away?
Fortunately, the path back was much shorter. On the way out she and Fallion had traveled in a gentle arc along the edge of the desert, but going back they were able to cut straight across. It was a more dangerous choice to fly over the desert, but not as bad in the winter months as in the summer months.
As Fallion flew over the sprawling desert dunes, she looked for signs of the Hidden City. She knew from her dreams that it was in the desert, but she didn't know where. And didn't see it as they traveled.
She tried not to worry about what the tribes were doing now. Had they believed her? Would they arrive in time to help her people reach safety?
As she and Fallion flew on through the night, K'lrsa struggled to stay awake. She'd had barely any sleep for three days straight. Even Fallion was showing the signs of exhaustion, his wing beats more labored than usual.
Her stone pulsed a soft silver, urging her towards the ground and the outlines of a small cave. She urged Fallion to land, curious.
It looked familiar. Like the cave where she'd left her father's sun stone and L'ral's bracelet. But it couldn't be the same one. Could it?
Regardless, the pull of the stone was strong enough she knew there was something in that cave she had to see.
Fallion landed outside the cave, his wings disappearing as soon as his hooves touched the sand. She found water and grain stored just inside the cave mouth and scooped them out for him before lighting a torch and stepping into the depths of the cave.
It was the same one. There was the scrawling note she'd left in Rider's script and there, her father's sun stone. Why had she left it behind? Why hadn't she kept it?
It was the only thing left of him.
She ran her finger along the colored strings her mother had woven. Knots of protection, strength, and love.
How had she thought someone would just find it and take it back to the tribe?
If they could, most avoided traveling through the desert. Even with the shelters it wasn't safe. Too many tricks and illusions to lead one astray.
She hesitated to grab L'ral's bracelet.
No point now, with F'lia gone. Maybe his mother would want it, but she didn't want to touch it.
He was a traitor. The worst kind.
Finally, she grabbed it just long enough to shove it into the bottom of her pack. Her father's sun stone she wrapped carefully in a small strip of cloth and tucked into the small pouch on Fallion's saddle.
She bedded down in the back of the cave and slept until morning, her dreams haunted by memories of that horrible day.
If only she'd listened to her father…He'd told her not to go to Toreem. But if she had, her whole tribe would be walking into a trap right now. And whether she'd done the right thing or not, it was too late now to turn back.
She'd made her choices, she had to live with the consequences.
Chapter 32
She spent the next day awake and restless to continue her journey, hoping she hadn't made a mistake by stopping in the cavern for the night. She could ride Fallion, but she didn't know if the Black Horse Tribe had scouts patrolling the desert. And it would be easier to see the camps from above at night.
She ran her father's sun stone through her fingers, thinking about what he'd tell her to do now.
She wanted to keep it. It was the only thing she had left of him. But she knew he'd want her to give it to her mother. And that D'lan would want it so his future grandson could wear it someday when this was all over.
She'd give it to one of them, eventually. But for now she tucked it back away within easy reach.
As soon as the moon rose, she continued her journey and reached the gathering grounds while the moon was high in the sky.
The Black Horse Tribe was still camped around the perimeter, even on the desert side. There were more tents now. It looked like a few of the Daliph's troops had joined them.
She longed to land in the center of the gathering grounds and take a long drink from the well hidden there in the midst of the curved rock formation, but she didn't.
Just because they couldn't kill her, didn't mean they couldn't hurt her. And they'd wonder how she'd bypassed them.
Instead, she turned Fallion towards where she'd last seen the White Horse Tribe.
She didn't have far to travel, just out of eyesight of the gathering grounds was their camp, ringed with the baru-hide barrier.
She landed Fallion far enough away no one would see and rode the rest of the way there.
They'd changed things. The barrier was higher. Smaller, too, everyone crammed into much less space than before.
As soon as the Riders at the gate saw it was her, they sent for D'lan. He met her in the center of camp, dark circles under his eyes, stumbling slightly. "D'lan, you look horrible. Are you getting any rest? Eating enough?"
He shook his head. "You sound like K'na."
"Well, you should listen to her."
"I'll rest tomorrow. I wanted to make sure we were secure."
"I noticed the barrier. And the horses are now in the center of camp?"
"Badru suggested it."
"And you listened?"
He nodded. "He was very persuasive. Tomorrow he starts us all on new drills so we'll know how to fight a man with a sword."
"How'd that happen?"
He laughed, smiling for the first time she'd seen since she'd been back. "Challenged our three best fighters to attack him. All at once. Took them out while most of us were settling in to watch."
She smiled. "Good. I'm glad."
"That he took our three best fighters out without any apparent effort?"
"No. That he found a way to convince you to listen to him."
"Good thing, too. I was planning on taking a small group and busting through the Black Horse Tribe line to reach the gathering grounds. He pointed out all the flaws in that plan pretty quick." He narrowed his eyes. "Anything else I should know about him? He seems pretty knowledgeable about all this."
She shrugged.
"The Toreem Daliphate is a very different place."
It pained her to lie to him, but Badru deserved her protection. So did Herin and Garzel, as much as she hated to admit it. "Now. Do you want to hear my report or not? Not that there's much to report."
"Did you find all the tribes?"
She nodded. "Didn't stick around to hear what they decided, but they all know now."
"You in love with Badru?"
"What kind of a question is that?"
"A brotherly one."
She shook her head.
"Well? Are you?"
She licked her lips, trying to find the right answer.
"If you have to think about it, the answer is no."
"No…It's not that, it's…"
How much could she tell him? How much did she want to tell him?
She sighed. "The moment I met Badru I knew he was that other half I'd been searching for. But…That doesn't make him perfect. And that doesn't mean it's always easy between us. So, do I love him? Yes. But I'm not sure if that means anything. Not if we can't find a way to live a life together."
"Well, he's welcome here. You know we're always happy to have new blood and a man with his skills is a good addition."
"I know. I'm just not sure he'll want to stay after this is all over."
"Would you go back to Toreem with him?"
"No." She said it sharper than she'd meant to, but it was the truth. She was never going back there. Ever.
"Huh. Well, you'll just have to bring him round to your way of thinking then." He winked. "Knowing you, little sister, you'll do it eventually. Now, I better get some of that sleep you and my wife seem to think I need. Tomorrow's going to be another long day. Your tents are over there." He gestured to where, even in the packed space of the new camp, two tents stood slightly removed on the other side of the horse picket.
"Thanks." She led Fallion away, almost happy.
They were still facing imminent death, but the thought of Badru eliciting that kind of smile from her brother, made K'lrsa's day. And, even though it didn't matter to her what anyone thought of the man she loved, it was nice to know her brother approved.
Chapter 33
The next morning, K'lrsa stood in the shadow of a tent and watched Badru walk the Riders through his fighting drills. He was very good at it. Patient, but stern. Capable. At ease.
Even the oldest and most stubborn of the Riders listened to him with respect. Might have something to do with the fact that he could put any of them on their back in the dirt without any apparent effort. And casually demonstrated that fact just as one of the trouble students was about to become really difficult.
He worked his students through the morning, making them repeat a handful of new maneuvers until they could all do them with ease.
He'd tried to get K'lrsa to participate, but she was too tired to learn something new.
Her mother was out there, though, getting thrown and throwing others with a grim determination. She'd been a Rider once and still practiced the hundred and five attacks every day, but it had been years since she was in fighting trim. Still, she was the first to manage a tricky combination of hand and foot attack that had an opponent trip right into the attacker's elbow.
When they finally broke for lunch, Badru threw his arm around K'lrsa's shoulders as they walked back to their tent. "So? What did you think?"
"Very impressive."
He grinned and her heart did a little flip-flop. He was sweaty and grimy but she loved him more in that moment than she ever had.
"I have a plan," he whispered, kissing the spot right above her ear.
"What kind of plan?"
"A plan that will get all your people onto the gathering grounds safely without any need to fight our way through."
"Really?"
He nodded. "I'll tell you about it over lunch."
As soon as they were seated with Lodie and Herin—for once Garzel was nowhere to be seen, neither was Vedhe—K'lrsa asked, "So, what's this plan?"
Herin snorted, but Badru ignored her. "We fly people into the gathering grounds."
"Fly them? How?"
"Easy. Each of us takes a passenger, we fly them into the center of that rock structure—you've noticed it has a u-shape and is hollow in the center?"
"A u-shape?"
"Like this. A curve with only a narrow opening at one end. There's plenty of room in the center for us to land and take off and for people to hide. I scouted it out."
"Did you land there?"
"No. I didn't want to risk capture."
"What if we can't? What if that's part of the protection of the place?"
"Grandmother, Lodie. Do either of you know of any reason the horses can't land in the gathering grounds?"
Lodie shook her head. "None that I know of."
"Doesn't mean it isn't a stupid idea," Herin muttered.
K'lrsa frowned. "Why? It sounds like a great plan to me."
"Until you get shot by one of those soldiers. A flying horse makes a pretty good target, you know. And can we really trust these people? All it takes is one to betray us."
K'lrsa nodded. It was a huge risk. But what other choice did they have?
She leaned forward. "Have you noticed that when the horses fly they don't seem to fly in the normal world?"
The others nodded.
"So maybe no one will be able to shoot us. Because they won't see us."
Herin shrugged. "Doesn't get rid of the risk of betrayal. You can't take this many people in one night."
Badru sat up straighter. "Then it takes us two nights."
"The risk…"
Badru stood, his hands clenched into fists. "It's better than sitting here waiting to die. Look. We'll take the children through first…."
"No, not the children" K'lrsa interrupted.
"What? Why not?"
She nodded at Herin and Lodie. "We need to take them through first."
"Herin and Lodie? Why?"
"And Garzel."
"Pzah. Why waste a trip on us?"
K'lrsa laughed. "You really have to ask why? Because you two are the only ones that know enough about the Hidden City for us to succeed in finding the weapon that'll defeat the Daliph's troops. We can get everyone to safety, but if we don't find that weapon it doesn't matter."
Herin nodded.
Badru turned towards the rest of camp. "Okay. So we take them first and then the children. I'll go tell D'lan our plan."
"No."
"What? Why not?"
She chewed on her lip, hating to say what she was about to say. "Because as soon as you tell D'lan, this whole thing is out of our control. He'll tell my mother, she'll tell the Council, and then we'll spend an entire night debating who should go first and whether we should do it at all. We will be betrayed if that happens."
She nodded to herself, thinking it through. "We take Herin, Lodie, and Garzel to safety first. Then we get my sister to round up the children for us."
"K'lrsa…He's not going to like this. I just gained his trust."
"I know. But it's the best way to get as many people to safety without someone betraying us."
Badru nodded, but he didn't look happy. "I hope you're right."
"I hope I am, too."
Chapter 34
As they ate dinner that night, K'lrsa couldn't help but stare in the direction of the horizon, wondering if the moon was up yet. She was grateful that the baru-hide barriers shielded them from the Black Horse Tribe, but they also blocked her view of the moon and sun. She'd found herself glancing at the horizon, trying to judge what time it was and running into the stupid barrier at least ten times already.
She wanted to drill a small hole through one of the hides so she could peek through, but instead she tried to force herself to eat another travel bar.
Too bad Garzel hadn't run out of the things yet.
She'd moved the horses next to their tent earlier in the day on the pretext that they wanted to be able to mount up as
soon as there was any sign of trouble. D'lan had thought it such a clever idea that he'd had the horse picket split into four and moved to each corner of the camp.
K'lrsa made sure to station the horses between their two tents and the barrier. It wasn't a perfectly hidden spot, but hopefully hidden enough to let them get away without too much attention. Of course, someone was eventually bound to notice a horse that glowed golden like the sun, but it was the best she could do.
Finally, when she figured the moon had to be up, she stood.
"It's time."
Herin followed her behind the tents. They'd debated whether to awaken each horse one at a time or to do them all at once. In the end they'd decided one by one. There just wasn't enough space available for three horses with wings to stand.
K'lrsa stroked the white teardrop mark between Fallion's eyes and willed him to transform. He shook himself and light shivered along his coat as his wings appeared. As always, she felt a wave of awe at how beautiful he was, but that was quickly followed by fear that someone would see him.
"Quickly," she whispered, mounting up and offering Herin her arm.
"As if I didn't know that," Herin muttered, scrambling up behind her.
As soon as Herin seemed settled, K'lrsa whispered, "Okay, micora. Let's fly."
With one smooth stroke of his wings, Fallion rose into the air. Immediately, K'lrsa felt a shift. The tents below them looked faded, drained of color. It was a more pronounced difference than she'd experienced before and she wondered if Fallion hadn't sensed their need for safety and shifted into the moon realm sooner than normal.
She clutched his reins as they rose over the camp, waiting for someone to point and shout, but no one noticed the horse flying directly over their heads.
She sagged with relief. She'd thought they'd be alright, but she hadn't been certain. Not until now.
They rode in silence as Fallion's wings beat a steady rhythm through the air. They were probably safe to speak, but she didn't want to risk it, and didn't have much to say to Herin anyway.
As they flew over the Black Horse Tribe camp, K'lrsa studied the sentries walking back and forth along its perimeter, bows in hand. Even though no one in the White Horse Tribe had noticed them flying, she still held her breath, waiting for someone to look up and point, to run after them, bow drawn.
Rider's Rescue (The Rider's Revenge Trilogy Book 2) Page 11