Kora’s eyes bulged. Her mouth was parted wide now, sucking in air one feeble gasp at a time, as Maravek’s fingers choked the life out of her.
“Preceptor Kerrigan,” said Maravek, “Put the boy out of his self-induced misery.”
Tess raised her gun again, but hesitated with her finger on the trigger. She didn’t like this. Not because she harbored any sympathy for either of the Akorites, but because of the obvious pleasure Maravek found in toying with their lives, torturing their minds until the last moment.
Her eyes shifted to Kora, who stared up at the sky with unblinking eyes. Her frantic kicking had dwindled to feeble twitches. And at that moment, seeing the enemy in utter helplessness at the hands of the beast she called her leader, a feeling blossomed in her stomach. Something she would have never expected to feel for Kora—pity.
Tess let out a breath, and her gun hand fell slowly to her waist. “With all due respect, sir, it’s not in my jurisdiction to carry out death sentences.”
Koldin shot her a glance, barely more than a flicker of the eyes.
Maravek’s eyes narrowed. “Nonsense. You just made that up. Get a spine, soldier, and put a bullet through him.”
Tess shut her mouth with tight lips. She didn’t move, despite her quickening pulse. She was playing with fire by disobeying a direct order from her superior.
“Oh, hang it all,” said Maravek with an impatient huff. He reached down with his free hand and grabbed the gun right out of her hand. He pointed it with a rigid arm a mere foot from Koldin’s temple. “Stand clear.”
The Preceptor who had cuffed Koldin stepped back into the circle of his comrades.
Kora revitalized her struggles, and tears gathered in her eyes.
An urge to do something, to stop him, burned in Tess’s chest like a furnace full of coals. But she couldn’t. This was the law. This was justice. She could only watch.
Maravek pulled the trigger. The shot rang out in the night.
Koldin’s head snapped back, and he toppled onto his side, dead.
Satisfied, Maravek gave a nod, and two fourth rankers scurried forward and dragged Koldin’s body away from the circle. Maravek opened his hand, and Kora dropped to the flagstones. On her hands and knees, her frame shook with spastic sobs and gasping breaths.
Maravek turned a scowl on Tess. “I’m not done with you, Kerrigan.” He nudged Kora with his boot as if she were a mangy dog at his feet. “Lock this one in the barracks and set a guard. Then, you come to me, and we’ll talk.”
Tess felt her cheeks sting. Maravek’s voice was relatively calm, but she knew that this could very well be the end of her career.
* * *
Daniel tore around the riverbank in panic. He shouted Litty’s name. The constant thunder of the river rapids muffled his voice and did nothing to calm the fear inside of him. Had someone found her? Had she wandered off on her own? What if she got to close to the edge of the water and—
“Daniel, stop,” said Ram, catching him by the arm.
Daniel tried to shake him off, but his burly friend held firm.
“Listen,” he said.
Daniel slowed his breathing and forced himself to do as Ram told him. At first, all he could hear was the rush of the swift current and the occasional echoing shout from Galaratheas. But then another sound reached his ears—a quiet splash, the plop of something hitting the water.
Ram pointed towards the opposite side of the small peninsula, where the gravel bank dipped back down into the river out of sight. “There.”
Daniel hurried in that direction, stones crunching beneath his hurried footsteps. When he reached the lip of the far bank, he stopped, and relief swept him from head to toe.
Litty sat near the water’s edge with her back to him, plucking stones from the bank and throwing them into the small eddies that formed near the shore. Her free hand covered her ear, as though she were trying to block out all the noise of the world. Daniel couldn’t see her face, but he imagined she was singing to herself.
When he was a few steps away, she finally turned, and when she saw him, a toothy grin spread across her face. She uncovered her ear and stuck out her other arm to show him the rock she was currently holding in her fist. “Look, Danny.”
Daniel smiled. He couldn’t help it. He sat on the bank next to her and laid a gentle hand on her head. “Hi, little one.”
Litty threw the rock, and it splashed into the water with a plop. She giggled.
“I missed you.” Daniel ran his fingers down her tangled hair. “You should be asleep, you know. It’s late.” He frowned. The simplicity of the statement struck him as being out of place, yet, despite the turmoil they found themselves in, it seemed like she was his anchor to life as it should be. And in life as it should be, it was hours past Litty’s naptime.
But for now, he ignored that fact and let himself enjoy sitting with her and not doing anything. He watched her choose two oval rocks from the stash between her feet and move her lips to the rhythm of a silent conversation between them.
Daniel’s smile widened. She truly had a beautiful mind.
The calm was shattered by an echoing gunshot.
Daniel whirled his head around. Ram stood a ways behind them, looking back towards Galaratheas. “What was that?”
“I don’t know, but I think it means we need to leave,” said Ram. He jogged over to the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “I’ll have you know, there’ll be more trouble for us yet before morning.”
“Right, of course,” said Daniel, staring down at Litty. “But where?”
“Back to the mountains. Out here on the plains, there’s nowhere we can hide. In the mountains, we can buy ourselves more time until we figure out what to do.”
“What about your friend?”
Ram hesitated, his eyes darting back to the fort. “I don’t know why he left, but whatever he’s doing, it’s his choice. We don’t have time to wait around for him.”
Daniel caught his eye. “Are you sure? You don’t look convinced.”
Ram bit his lower lip, but eventually gave a firm nod. “I’m sure. Let’s go. If we hurry, we can make to the first hills within the hour.”
Daniel reached down for Litty. As if she understood what was going on, she stretched up her arms for him to pick her up. She nestled against his shoulder. “Hang onto me, little one,” he said. “We’re going to have to walk again.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck.
Daniel and Ram splashed across the shallows of the river, climbed the opposite embankment, and struck a southbound course towards the dark shapes of the mountains.
Chapter Nineteen
The makeshift command center looked like a spooked bull moose had charged through it. The front door was broken off its hinges, splinters of wood dotted the floor, blood stained the wood near the door to the back room, and Maravek’s headquarters had lost several pieces of equipment to what could have only been a fit of rage from the First Preceptor.
Tess shook her head in dismay at the disorder as she made her way through the command center. At least some unfortunate low ranker had had time to remove the bodies of the two Preceptors while she saw to it that Kora was securely locked in one of the barracks.
Maravek spoke before she had even ducked through the narrow doorway into the circular chamber he’d set up as his provisional headquarters. “I’m not happy with you, Kerrigan.” He hadn’t raised his voice—yet—but his sharp tone reflected his statement.
Tess stood at attention across the round table from him. She loathed the fact that he was in here doing nothing, except maybe devising his choice of punishment for her, while his men were outside cleaning up the mess he had made. And she wanted to voice her disgust. She wanted to remind him that a true leader would be out there toiling alongside his underlings. But she didn’t, because she knew what would happen if she did.
She gave a curt nod. “I understand, sir.”
Maravek leaned forward on the table, chomping on
a lit cigar. “I told you to shoot the boy. You disobeyed a direct order, and you undermined my authority in front of one of the very people I fought a whole war to establish it over.”
“I know, sir.”
“I could have your stripes ripped off your shoulder right now—that is, if you’d bothered to show up in full uniform—and ship you off for insubordination.”
Tess sucked in a breath through her teeth and held it. This was it. This could be the end of it all. If he sent her back to the capitol, the best she could hope for was being demoted back to fourth ranker. Worst case scenario, she was serving time.
“But I’m not going to,” continued Maravek. “Like it or not—and at this point, I can assure you that I don’t—I still need you working under me. If the Akorite girl won’t squawk, then I’ll need someone to lead me back to their outpost.”
Tess swallowed. Her shoulders tensed. “Back to the outpost, sir?”
Maravek raised an eyebrow. “Still questioning me, Kerrigan?” His face tightened into a scowl. “The squad is preparing for a little venture into the Untamables. I suggest you do the same. I’m putting you in charge of the Akorite girl—we’re taking her with us, but if she puts a single toe somewhere I don’t want it to be, you will put a bullet between her shoulder blades. And so help me, if you fail me one more time…”
Tess gave a stiff nod. “Understood.” She paused, waiting for him to continue.
“We leave within the hour.” He said nothing more, his attention diverted to an unfinished topographical map of the surrounding mountains.
Tess hesitated. “Bryn Mawr will not be easy to capture, sir,” she blurted out. “I’ve seen it. It’s a stone fortress, built under the mountain like an anthill. If we stage an attack in their own territory, the Akorites will wipe us out.”
Maravek looked up from his map. His face was a slightly deeper shade of red.
Tess continued before he could speak. “The boy you executed was an assassin. He came to kill you. That’s what they want—that’s what Nikolai wants. Sir, if you attack Bryn Mawr, they will kill you, and the Order will be forced to take action. It could very well start the war all over again. Please—”
“Your concern for my safety is most touching, Kerrigan,” said Maravek with a smirk, “But you misunderstand me. I never said I planned on a counterattack.”
Tess stopped, confused.
“Yes, the boy tried to kill me, but he wasn’t alone. He was working with the other two—Daniel Black and his bumbling sidekick.” He jabbed a finger at her. “Mark my words, they were in this together. He’s the reason they escaped in the first place.” He straightened and folded his hands behind his back. “Black has nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, except Bryn Mawr. I’m going to find him before he makes it there and finish what I started.”
Tess bristled. “Daniel is innocent, sir. Surely you understand that.”
An amused grin tugged at his lips, as though she were trying to convince him that fairies were real. “Yes, yes, you can tell me that until I’m old and retired. But until Ider Grasp rises from his grave and shreds the report—your own doing, by the way—with his own cold hands, Daniel Black is guilty, and I’ll hear no more of your conspiracy theories.”
“But—”
“Leave, Kerrigan.”
Tess bit her lower lip, spun on her heels, and stormed out the door. She had pushed him too far for her own good. She was one misplaced step away from a one-way ticket back to the capitol. She felt torn. The Order needed her loyalty more than ever, and Daniel needed her help more than ever.
Outside, a small group of Preceptors was gathering field equipment, just as Maravek had said. He really meant to carry out his reckless plan, didn’t he? Of course. Tess turned her back and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, a headache developing in her forehead. This wasn’t going to end well for anybody.
“Tess,” came a greeting from behind her.
Moriah separated herself from the group and approached her.
“Maravek chose you?”
The third-ranker shrugged. “He hasn’t stopped to consider any potential involvement on my part. I couldn’t say no.”
Tess set to pacing back and forth in short lines. “No, no. I’m glad you’re coming.” She met her eyes and read the worry in them. “I don’t know how this spiraled so far out of control.”
Moriah shrugged. “We have to stop him.”
Tess snorted. “Ask a leaf to derail a train.”
“Daniel needs us.”
“I know.”
A new sound reached them from the skies—the throb of rotor blades. A helicopter appeared over the white buildings of the eastern ruins and made its way across the city’s breadth until it hovered and landed somewhere outside the western wall.
Tess’s brow furrowed. “What could he possibly—”
“Dogs,” said Moriah. “Hunting dogs. Maravek contacted the nearest base as soon as Daniel escaped.” She gestured back at the other Preceptors sorting through packs. “I heard them talking about it.”
“So that’s why he’s bringing small numbers,” said Tess. “If the chopper flies us back up the valley, Maravek will be able to cut Daniel off before…”
Moriah nodded gravely.
Tess edged closer to her and lowered her voice. “Maravek can’t know. For now, we have no choice but to play along with him.”
“What happens if he finds Daniel?”
Tess stared at the other Preceptors before answering. “I don’t know.”
* * *
The clouds swept low from the north, blotting out the sun, and thunder rumbled overhead like a restless herd of mountain elk. By the time Daniel, Ram, and Litty crossed the two-mile stretch of flatlands and made it over the gradual slope of the very first foothills, a cold wind had picked up. There was a storm coming, and it was coming quickly.
Daniel held Litty tight against him, ignoring the aching muscles in his arms and chest. He hadn’t put her down since they left the riverbank. If she walked, they would have to slow down. At any moment, he expected the Preceptors to show up on their tail. Speed was their greatest ally until they reached the cover of the forest-covered mountains.
They stopped for a moment to catch their breath and found shelter from the wind under two massive boulders that jutted out of the hillside and leaned against each other like toppled over building blocks. From there, they could look out over the moors. Galaratheas spread out below them, a field of white stone, like a vast graveyard set in the desolate landscape.
A jagged web of lightning flashed to the north, followed closely by another peal of thunder. Litty squealed and tightened her arms around Daniel’s neck, burying her face in his shoulder. Daniel stroked her back, but his eyes remained glued to the fort. A stream of dark figures, no bigger than ants from this distance, emerged from behind the outer wall and picked its way through the final stretch of ruins towards the foothills. Daniel counted at least seven or eight Preceptors, but it was hard to tell.
“They’re coming.”
Heavy drops of rain began splashing down.
Ram stood at his side. “Well, at least nature seems to be on our side for now. I don’t fancy getting soaked, but the rain will make it that much harder to track us.”
Daniel watched in silence as the Preceptors filed across the moors. “We should keep moving.”
Ram nodded. “To Bryn Mawr, then.” He stuck his hand out from under the cover of the boulders, letting the steadily increasing rain splash against his palm. “Mind you, I don’t know how they’ll receive us. Without Koldin …”
“We’ll figure that out when the time comes,” said Daniel. “For now, let’s just put some distance between us,” he pointed to Galaratheas, “And them.”
Ram cinched up the straps of the backpack. “Ready when you are, chief.”
Daniel crouched and set Litty on the dry ground under the rock. “We’re going to have to get a bit wet, little one.” He took off his denim shirt and wrapped
it like a blanket around Litty’s small frame. She looked like a rosy caterpillar in a cocoon. He pecked her on the cheek and grinned. “Just don’t turn into a butterfly while you’re in there.”
He hoisted her up and caught Ram smiling fondly at them.
Ram chuckled. “There isn’t anything you wouldn’t do for her, is there?”
They stepped out into the cascading curtain of rain and resumed their trek south.
Daniel tugged the shirt’s collar up around her head, trying to shield as much of her as he could. “No. There isn’t.”
Lightning flashed overhead.
Ram jumped, and lifted his eyes to the clouds in disgust. “This is going to be one miserable hike.”
The forest loomed ahead, a dark wall barely visible through the rain.
“Could be worse,” said Daniel.
“Do tell.”
“We could be headed straight for a forest full of tall trees, where the lightning will have nothing better to do than to roast us like two marshmallows on a stick.”
Ram blinked. “Three.”
“What?”
“Three marshmallows.” He pointed at Litty.
Daniel couldn’t suppress a laugh. “Two and a quarter.”
* * *
Tess followed the Preceptors ahead of her through the curtain of water the deluge sent cascading down the mountain and into the very same cavern system where they had taken refuge after the first Akorite attack. She let out a sigh. The flight in the chopper had threatened to turn her stomach inside out, and the subsequent trek up the mountainside had offered no refuge from the rain and wind. Her mood was getting fouler by the minute.
Already inside the cave, the hunting dogs, four brutes with not a single playful hair on their backs, whined and strained at their leashes as Andrale secured them in a dry spot. Maravek had labeled them a precaution, and Tess fervently hoped this would be the case.
Tess glanced over her shoulder at the figure outside the cave, barely visible in through the sheet of water. “You can come in, you know.”
A moment passed, and then the figure stirred. Her brooding eyes glued to the ground, Kora trudged into the cave. Her head hung low, allowing her dripping hair to hang in her face, sticking to her forehead and neck. Her wrists were cuffed behind her back, and a pair of rusty shackles that some overzealous fourth ranker had pulled out of the old armory secured her ankles. Maravek had found the suggestion morbidly humorous.
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