The Crimson Claw

by Deborah Chester

  Ampris grinned with pride. “Yeah.”

  He patted her side. “Good going, Goldie. Make something of you yet, see?”

  Ampris looked back in worry as the looters failed to follow them outside. “Your friends have to get out—”

  “Ain’t no friends of mine,” Elrabin said grimly, panting as they stumbled outside into the deep snow. “Took all my charm and wit to get them here in the first place.”

  “But—”

  “Drop it. I’ll explain someday, but this ain’t the time.”

  The cold air was a refreshing blast. Ampris gulped in air, her breath steaming around her face, and concentrated on forcing one more step, and then one more. The compound gates stood wide open ahead of them. She saw Toth guards lying sprawled on the ground.

  “Out the gate,” she said, gasping for air. “My friends . . . my other cub . . . keep going.”

  “You got that,” Elrabin agreed, glancing back.

  Ampris glanced back also and saw looters streaming forth in all directions, black silhouettes against the fire now raging through one side of the central building. An explosion rocked the facility, throwing looters in all directions.

  A fireball whooshed upward into the night sky, and debris and ashes swirled through the falling snow. Then the blast’s concussion reached Ampris and knocked her and Elrabin sprawling. Curling her arms protectively around Foloth, Ampris rolled over and over until her back thudded against something hard and immovable.

  For a moment she lay there senseless, Foloth wailing in her arms, then she came to and lifted herself on her elbows, shaking her head to clear it.

  Elrabin lay beside her, groaning and rooting his face in the snow until with a snort he lifted his muzzle and shook himself. Blood dripped down his face.

  “We alive?” he asked.

  She tugged on one of his tall ears, still so glad to see him she couldn’t find the words she wanted. “Think so.”

  He started coughing and dragged himself upright with another groan. “You okay?”

  “Yes,” she answered, although her leg felt like it was on fire. She’d overtaxed the weak muscles, but right now that hardly mattered. “Help me up. We have to find the others.”

  “Others?” he echoed in bewilderment while the fire roared across the roof of the building behind them. “What others?”

  Worried about Nashmarl, Ampris was already on her feet, limping along and nearly falling. She could no longer put her weight on her left leg at all. Drawing it up, she hopped forward, struggling in the ankle-deep snow until Elrabin joined her and put his shoulder under her arm again.

  “Okay, okay,” he said. “We’ll find them.”

  Outside the compound, the wind cut through Ampris’s pelt mercilessly. She squinted her eyes and lowered her head against it, worried about Foloth, wishing she had a blanket to wrap him in.

  “Elrabin, give me your coat please.”

  He shucked it off and she wrapped shivering little Foloth in its folds, tucking one end over his bare head. He was still crying, his tiny hands clutching her. She murmured to him, trying to soothe him, and knew she had to find Nashmarl before he froze in the snowstorm.

  She looked around, trying to get her bearings. The snow swirled into her face, clinging to her ears and eyelashes, clumping on her shoulders. By the light of the fire sweeping through the buildings, she could see the mountain range, and that gave her the bearings she wanted.

  “This way,” she said.

  They trudged in that direction, but before they’d struggled many steps, a shout caught their attention.

  Looking back. Ampris saw a cluster of huddled figures surrounded by looters. Her heart clutched and she turned around. “There they are.”

  “Who?”

  “My friends,” Ampris said.

  Elrabin muttered something under his breath. “Ain’t mine.”

  The group met them halfway. A tall Reject held Niruo at his side, but when Ampris reached them, he shoved Niruo forward to join the others. They swarmed Ampris, all talking at once.

  She smiled and nodded, paying no attention until she saw that Robuhl held Nashmarl safely in his arms. A little sigh of relief escaped her, and she gestured for Robuhl to come to her.

  Grinning as broadly as possible, Robuhl stumped toward her on his bowed legs. “We got out, Ampris!” he said in triumph.

  Paket’s chest was puffed out, and Matiril was yipping to the night sky. No one seemed to care about the cold or the snow. They were too excited, too happy.

  “Elrabin!” the Reject leader said sharply.

  Elrabin flinched, but he stepped forward. “Yes?”

  “Is that your famous Ampris, there with you?”

  “Yeah, Sollusk. She’s the one,” Elrabin said.

  The Reject pushed back his hood slightly and stared at her. “Ampris the Crimson Claw, the most famous gladiator in the empire,” he said. His voice was flat, carrying little admiration.

  Caution made the fur bristle around Ampris’s neck. She noticed how carefully Elrabin held himself, and understood that this Sollusk was someone to be feared.

  She met his gaze through the snow and shadows with her head high, looking fearless while she cradled Foloth in her arms. “I am Ampris,” she said. “For your actions in helping to destroy Vess Vaas, I thank you.”

  Sollusk accepted the compliment with a tilt of his head. “And these pathetic creatures?” he asked, gesturing at the huddled band of escapees.

  Ampris saw that they were starting to shiver, as was she. “My friends,” she said. “We’re going over the mountains, to seek the village of free abiru.”

  Sollusk’s laughter was hoarse and mocking. “Long walk. Better off if you go to Lazmairehl, live in the Skugvo with us.”

  Elrabin’s hand surreptitiously gripped hers in the darkness and squeezed hard, but Ampris needed no warning.

  “No, thank you,” she said clearly, understanding that Sollusk probably meant to turn them in for any reward the authorities might offer. “You are generous and kind, but we are set on the course we have chosen. Will you spare us blankets, or food? We can give you nothing in return but our gratitude.”

  Beside her, Elrabin rolled his eyes and muttered something, but Ampris went on meeting the Reject’s gaze. She held her breath, not sure what he might do.

  Sollusk pointed at Nashmarl, shivering in Robuhl’s arms. “What spawned such an abhorrent creature?”

  Ampris bared her teeth, but she managed to hold her anger in check. “The cub is mine.”

  The Reject flinched, and murmuring broke out among his band. Ampris held to her pride and reached out her free arm for her son. “Give him to me, Robuhl. Thank you for taking care of him.”

  The old Myal handed the shivering cub over. Nashmarl clung to her, burying his face against the warmth of her neck. She inhaled his scent, grateful he was safe.

  “That cub is not Aaroun, and not Viis,” Sollusk said harshly. “It is not anything. Who permitted it life?”

  Ampris’s anger boiled in her. Backing her ears, she said, “No matter how these cubs were created, they are mine. No one may say they cannot live. No one may say they should not be seen. We do not hide our cubs away. We do not reject them if they are not beautiful. The way of the Viis is not our way.”

  Sollusk flicked out his tongue, accepting her rebuke. “You speak boldly to me. Do you know that—”

  “Yes, you are a Reject,” she said fearlessly. “I know this. I think it is wrong of the Viis, to treat their own so harshly.”

  Again murmuring ran through the band of looters. Their leader lifted his hand to silence them. “Very well, Ampris. You show no fear. You speak like a warrior, and this I can respect.”

  “Shut up!” Niruo suddenly yelped. He shoved Matiril aside and stumbled away from the others, waving a side arm that made everyone come alert. “All of you, shut up!”

  “Where did he get that?” Elrabin asked.

  Ampris didn’t take her gaze away from Niruo, who
had trained the side arm on her. Holding her cubs tight, she glared at the Kelth and growled. Both Foloth and Nashmarl stopped crying instantly, instinctively knowing to stay quiet. “From Ehssk’s office,” she guessed.

  Niruo yipped like one gone mad. “The Viis left me in charge. I will not let you get away with this. You—”

  “Put it down,” Ampris said to him. “You’re guarding nothing. The lab is destroyed.”

  “No!” he yelled. “I have nowhere else to go. This is your fault, Ampris. I blame you for—”

  Elrabin growled and tried to step in front of Ampris, but she half turned and handed her cubs to him. His ears swiveled back in protest, but he could do nothing about it—he was too busy juggling the squirming cubs, who spat and howled at him.

  Ampris faced Niruo. “Put down the side arm,” she said. “It’s over, Niruo. Everything is over.”

  His eyes shifted and gleamed, catching reflections from the distant firelight. “They left me in charge,” he whimpered.

  Sollusk said something in disgust, but Ampris never took her gaze off Niruo. “Put it down,” she said, limping one step toward him. “I know you hate me, but I am not your enemy.”

  Niruo’s hand wavered, then another part of Vess Vaas exploded, making them all duck instinctively. Niruo fired, missing Ampris, who dodged with her old hair-trigger instincts. Elrabin yelped. Ampris whirled around in time to see him stagger and fall, his leg smoking from being hit. As he fell, he dropped the cubs, who bounced and tucked themselves instinctively so that they tumbled over and over in the snow.

  Rage burst inside Ampris. She turned on Niruo with a roar that made his eyes widen. Staggering back, he lifted the side arm to fire again, but Ampris launched herself in the old Wind as Air move that had once made her famous in the arena. She leaped up and over the bright flash of deadly plasma fire and extended her right arm with her elbow locked. Niruo screamed, and Ampris hit him in the throat with her fist, bringing him down with her body.

  His scream cut off abruptly, and his head snapped sideways. They hit the ground, but Niruo lay motionless beneath her. His neck was broken.

  Ampris rolled off him, tried to stand, and staggered on her crippled leg. Pulling herself upright, she found herself facing Sollusk, who gestured to her in profound respect.

  “Never have I seen such a move,” he said. “You are more than a warrior, Ampris. It would not be wise to offend you. We will give you the assistance you ask.”

  Before she could answer, he turned away and snapped out orders to his band to parcel out some of the loot, especially food rations and protective gear. The others stared at Ampris in awed silence. Matiril’s mouth hung open, and Paket was nodding his head.

  Ampris turned to check her cubs, scooping them out of the snow and licking their faces to reassure them before kneeling beside Elrabin.

  He lay there, panting, his eyes squinted with pain. He had already packed snow on his leg wound, the best possible emergency treatment. “I think it’s a graze,” he said, wincing. “Didn’t take my leg off.”

  Relieved, Ampris pressed her hand to his shoulder, letting the gesture convey what mere words could not. Kneeling there in the snow, while the lab burned steadily, shooting up smoke and ashes, she felt as though she had reached a distant place after a long, long journey.

  Elrabin touched the Eye of Clarity swinging around her neck. “We did it,” he said, trying to laugh and wincing again. “We’re free, Goldie. Just got to climb a mountain with my busted leg and yours, and what’s that? Hey, freedom. Sounds good, don’t it?”

  “It sounds very good.”

  He sighed, parting his jaws in a grin. “It’s over at last.”

  Ampris straightened. “No, Elrabin,” she said gently and lifted her gaze toward the mountains looming dark and massive beyond the flying snow. Her heart swelled with emotion. “Freedom means it’s far from over. We are just beginning.”