by T. A. White
He thought she wouldn't do it.
Very well then.
"Will you please train my apprentice to become a warrior?" Eva asked in a saccharine voice. She even added a sweet smile for good measure.
He grunted in amusement. She took that to mean he agreed.
*
Someone kicking her feet woke her. The sun was barely a thought in the sky, turning the land hazy, small wisps of mist and fog shadowing the mountains. Dew clung to everything, even Eva's bedroll.
She blinked dazedly up at Caden as he moved several feet over to kick the bottom of another's sleeping roll. Jason sat up, his hair sticking out, his eyes sleepy and expression groggy.
"What?"
Eva was in a similar state as she stared blankly around her. They were the only ones up.
"Get dressed. Time for training." The words were as staccato and sharp as the man who spoke them.
"What?" Jason asked again.
Eva finally noticed Jane and Drake standing off to the side, chatting as they waited. They had practice swords and held their bodies loosely. You would never have guessed how absurdly early it was from how chipper and awake they seemed.
Eva hated them instantly. After riding all day, she'd spent hours last night checking on all of the horses, including Sebastian. With Ollie injured, her workload had doubled. Jason had helped, but until she'd checked each one over herself, she wouldn’t have been able to sleep.
She was grateful Jason was the one now being called out, even if she wished Caden hadn’t woken her to see it. She flopped back onto her roll. If she was lucky, she might get another hour of sleep before she had to be up again.
Strong arms reached in and yanked her out of the blankets. She swore as Caden's eyes twinkled down at her.
"You too. Your training starts today as well," he informed her.
"Jason's the one who wanted this, not me." Eva’s voice was sleep roughened. Her eyes were gritty, and she had a feeling her cheek was red and creased from the bundle of clothes she'd been using as a pillow. Tendrils of hair escaped her braid to snarl around her face.
She looked a mess and she didn't care, if it meant she could get just a little more sleep.
She reached up and rubbed the side of her neck. It hurt from sleeping wrong on it all night. Or maybe it was everything over the last few weeks. Whatever it was, it had caught up to her in a major way. Even her aches had aches. She wanted no part of whatever Caden had planned.
One of his strong hands slipped up to massage the side she'd rubbed, making Eva's eyes go half-lidded in pleasure as he kneaded the knots. A groan slipped out of her. Whatever she might think of the man, he had magic hands. She was willing to overlook a few of his flaws if he'd keep doing that.
He finished and slapped her on the shoulder. "Come on. Time to train."
Eva glared at him but didn't move as the fox poked its nose out of her nest of blankets, blinked at the two of them before curling back into its warm pocket.
When had he climbed into her blankets last night?
She shook the thought from her mind. She had a feeling if she didn't pay attention, she'd end up training with Jason whether she wanted to or not.
"I already told you I'm not training," she growled.
"Not true. You said Jason wanted to do this, not you," he pointed out.
The sound that slipped from her would have been at home in Ajari's throat. "You understood what I meant."
"Perhaps next time you should be clearer when you speak. You know how us warriors are," he said with a sly smile.
"No, I don't." Eva wasn’t amused. She didn't hang around warriors. She cared for their four-legged companions. Total difference.
"Then perhaps it's time you learn."
She didn't want to learn. She wanted to sleep.
She rubbed her eyes. "Why do I have to?"
She didn't even care that her voice was perilously close to a whine.
"Because while you were making your argument for him to learn, it occurred to me you have even less familiarity with weapons or violence. Where we're going, you'll to need to be acquainted with both," he said calmly.
"I'm going to the herd lands," Eva snapped, sarcasm raising its head. "I hardly think a few lessons with a wooden stick are going to do much if the Kyren decide they don't like me."
Caden took a deep breath as if she was testing his patience.
Good. That made two of them.
"Ajari said you would be the only one welcomed in their herd lands. Is that still the case?"
Eva's eyes slid toward where Sebastian was snoozing while standing up. His ears pricked and she felt his agreement with Caden's statement.
The sour expression on her face was answer enough.
"Then you need to be prepared. The people who took him number more than we previously thought. You'll be alone. If one of them slips through, you need to be able to survive until I, or someone else, can get to you," he explained with more patience than she would have thought him capable of.
"Hence the training," she finished for him.
His hands squeezed her shoulders. "Hence the training."
"Does it have to be so early?" She couldn't resist one more complaint.
His grin flashed. "Darius wouldn’t appreciate you being the reason for another obstacle to this journey. You're welcome to ask him to delay our start, however."
"No, this time is fine," Eva said with resignation.
"I thought you might see it my way."
*
Eva cursed the sadistic Anateri commander as her arms and the muscles in her back complained voraciously. To make matters worse, Caia had decided a light canter was overrated and instead desired a vigorous gallop. Holding Caia back against Caia’s need to race ahead made for an uneven gait that jolted and jostled Eva's bruised limbs with every step.
Caia was lucky Eva didn't thump her between the ears. If she could lift her arms, she would have done exactly that.
"Tell me again whose idea this was," Jason groaned from where he bent over his horse, basically lying along its back.
If Eva was sore, he had to be doubly so. Caden and the Anateri had been ruthless with him
"You can thank the herd mistress for that," Caden said, riding up to join them. "She thought you'd enjoy a little of my individualized attention."
Eva struggled to lift herself upright from where she was slouched. "Because you told me that's what he wanted."
"And now you both have it," he said, giving her a beast's smile, full of teeth and smug superiority.
"You did?" Jason asked, his expression earnest.
Eva sat back and shrugged. "He said you might want something more than the life of a herd master."
Jason's eyes widened. "And you would let me?"
"It's your life. What you do with it is up to you."
He was quiet.
"Hardwick only accepts a few apprentices every few years," Jason said. "He won’t be pleased if one of them decides to pursue the warrior's life."
"Leave Hardwick to me." Eva waved away his concern. She wasn’t worried about that. "Either way, he'd prefer an apprentice who actually wants to be there. You've got talent, so he won't be happy to lose you, but you shouldn't let that stop you."
"This was the smallest taste of what life as an Anateri means," Caden said. "You can use this journey to see if it's something you'd like. At the end, I'll decide if you're good enough or not."
Jason gulped, excitement and fear crossing his face. He looked like he didn't know whether to thank Caden or back away very slowly. Eva knew what she’d do if offered the chance.
If this was a taste of only a fraction of a warrior’s life, she wanted nothing to do with it.
Fiona rode through the line. Spotting Eva, Fiona slowed, bringing her horse around so she could pace beside her.
"I hear you trained without me," she said.
Eva pointed at Caden. "Not my fault."
Fiona laughed. "It's a good idea. I should have t
hought of it sooner. Next time, wake me. I have a few easy moves I can show you. They're designed for someone small, like you, who doesn't have our strength."
"Fiona is a skilled warrior,” Caden said when Eva glanced at him. "I might have tried to recruit her once upon a time if she wasn't so obstinate and bull-headed."
Fiona's smile was taunting. "Admit it, you don't like having your authority challenged."
He raised an eyebrow. "And how many times have you allowed one of your warriors to challenge yours?"
"Never," Fiona said with an easy shrug. "That's why I prefer to lead."
"Everyone follows at some point," Caden pointed out.
Fiona's response was forestalled when Hanna came galloping from the back of the line. "Quit flapping your gums and follow."
"Keep your head on, I'll be there in a moment," Fiona shouted back.
"Trouble?" Eva asked.
"Probably, but I’m sure it’s nothing we can't handle," Fiona sighed. To Caden, "Perhaps keep her close for the next section."
He nodded, the skin around his eyes tightening faintly. "How close are we to the city?"
"Not far, but the pathfinder said he's uneasy. I've learned to listen when one of them get a feeling," Hanna said.
With that, she wheeled her horse, tearing toward the back of the line again. Fiona groaned before touching her heels to her horse’s side to follow.
Caden whistled. The Anateri who'd pulled back to give them a degree of privacy closed in on them again as Jason sat up, looking more alert than he had in hours.
"Is there a threat?" he asked.
Eva felt her stomach dip as knots tangled around themselves. Up the line from where they'd just come there seemed to be some disturbance as the riders came to a stop.
"Keep her close," Caden warned his people.
Eva's hands tightened on her reins as the tension of the situation increased. Any fatigue and tiredness dropped away as adrenaline sank like rocks in her stomach.
They passed the rest of those who'd stopped, making their way toward the front.
Several people called out greetings and questions. Caden and the other Anateri shook their heads, as lost as the rest. Galloping hooves from the rear announced Darius's presence as he joined them.
They stopped near where Reece had dismounted, crouching with one hand on the ground as he peered over the slight ridge and the half trail that meandered down it.
"What's the hold up?" Darius asked.
Reece shook his head. "I'm not sure yet."
Ajari loped toward them, and stopped, raising his head and sniffing the air.
"I think it's mist," Reece said, his expression troubled. "But it doesn't feel quite right."
No one remarked on his comment, all of them had at least some experience with Shea. No one questioned the pathfinder's ability to sense the mist.
"Something else," Ajari said. "I haven't felt this in a very long time."
"What is it?" Reece asked. "It feels broken and jagged, like glass dipped in blood."
"Your senses are better than I gave you credit for," Ajari said. "Perhaps your people haven't lost everything after all." His head turned toward Eva. "And you? What does the Caller sense?"
Until he asked, Eva had attributed the sinking, writhing ball of snakes in her middle to her own fear. With his question she realized the source wasn't her at all, but originated from outside her psyche.
She tried to put the emotion she felt into words, but it was too big.
"Dread," she finally said. "All I feel is dread."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The others traded uneasy looks.
Reece stood and wiped his hands. "We need to get to Slig as soon as possible."
"Why?" Ghost asked. "Pathfinders can deal with the mist. Right?"
The last word was said with a touch of uncertainty.
"We can, but it's always safer to ride it out from the safety of a settlement," Reece explained.
"The mist isn't what he's afraid of. It's what is inside the mist that worries him," Ajari said with a cool look.
Another Trateri unsheathed his sword. "I'm not afraid of beasts. My pigsticker should take care of any who dares test us."
Ajari's lip curled. Had he been human Eva thought he might have been tempted to roll his eyes. "Such arrogant mice. Your splinter will do little beyond amuse most of the things that now hunt these hills."
The man gave him a gap-toothed smile and stepped forward as if to prove his mettle.
Caden stopped him. "Even a splinter can cause rot and death if overlooked."
"Either way, the pathfinder is right. Better to have walls at our back, rather than face whatever is coming out in the open," Darius said. "How much farther?"
Reece shook his head, looking worried. "Not far, over that rise."
"Then we don't have any time to waste chatting." Darius raised his voice. "Move out, maximum pace."
The Trateri wasted no time, mounting up and falling into line like the well-trained warriors they were. The idle chatter and normal banter that characterized their exchanges were gone as the rest picked up on the tension riding the air. Hands dropped to weapons, loosening the ties for easy access as their eyes scanned the horizon and hills around them.
Steep ridges rose on one side with rolling hills on the other. Now that Eva thought about it, she realized how vulnerable they were. Before this trip she'd never had cause to think about choke points and ambushes. Now she was seeing trouble everywhere she looked.
The Anateri and Caden closed in around her, their eyes narrowed as they kept watch.
"Eva, what is it?" Jason called as he rejoined them.
"Trouble," she said.
Was there really any other answer?
Jason expression was vexed. "What kind?"
"The bad kind," Jane said. "If you can talk you can ride faster."
Chastened, Jason fell silent, bending forward as he melded with the horse, letting it do it have its head as he hung on for the ride.
A good thing too, because the pace picked up, with Reece and the other scouts at the lead riding as if revenants were nipping at their heels. The rest of the Trateri followed suit. Those who were able-bodied supported the wounded. At the back of the pack were the litters and the wagon Darius had re-purposed to carry those too wounded to ride.
It clattered and swayed, belching black smoke and sounding like a pack of beasts as the throwaways driving it asked for more speed.
"Just ahead," Caden shouted over the pounding of the hoofbeats.
Eva felt hope surge as she spotted stone towers not far in the distance. The city wasn't like the ones of her homeland, which were vast, she'd heard. Things of beauty built where beasts were nothing but myths. This was humble and austere, much like the land that had given birth to it.
Built from stone, it blended with the subtle grays of the mountains beyond.
Eva didn't care. It had the most important thing; a sturdy rock wall surrounding it to keep out troublesome beasts. A single incline and a small stretch on the plateau were all that separated them from safety.
A cry went up behind them.
"Mist," was shouted down the line.
Eva chanced a glance behind her, her hair flying, the ends stinging her face. Two hundred feet behind the last straggler, a wall of pure white with patches of gray stretched to the sky. Primal fear filled her at the sight. She'd grown up on bedtime stories about the mist. She knew on an instinctual level that getting caught in it would be bad.
"Ride, Eva," Caden called. "Just ride."
She turned around as the fox poked his head above her shoulder, observing the mist. He yipped before using her shoulder as a springboard and leaping to the ground.
"No! Wait! Come back." She tried to catch the fox, nearly losing her seat in the process.
She went to pull back on the reins, not wanting her small friend to be lost. Caden grabbed them.
"No time." He didn't release the reins, spurring his horse faster and d
rawing Caia with him. Her stride lengthened to keep up as sweat flecked her coat.
Eva chanced one last glance behind her as the fox bounded toward the mist. She'd never heard of animals surviving the mist, so had no idea what effect it would have on him. He didn't seem worried as he raced into its depths, which were now only a hundred feet behind the wagon.
"Be safe," she whispered.
The gates of the city were open wide, welcoming the first wave of riders as they entered at a dead gallop. Reece pulled up, waiting outside as the Trateri thundered by. His worried gaze was on the mist as it steadily gained on the rear of their caravan.
He kicked his horse in the sides, guiding it toward them as he raced in their direction.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Jason shouted, looking over his shoulder.
They watched the mist as it snaked over the ground, rushing faster and faster. Eva caught sight of Ajari running along the ridge above as Sebastian danced along the mist’s leading edge, dipping in and out with wild abandon before swerving to dive back in. Deep, so deep, she wasn't sure what she was seeing was even real, Eva caught sight of flickers of orange and red as if fire was trying to escape the foggy depths.
"I don't think so," Drake shouted as the mist leapt over the ground before crashing down in plumes.
He and Caden shared grim looks, resignation on their faces.
Not all of them were going to make it, Eva realized. Not with how slowly the wagon was moving. There was little chance of it outrunning the approaching danger.
Even as she watched, Reece thundered closer. He wouldn’t reach the stragglers in time.
Ollie was on that wagon. Her first friend. The man who had made this life possible. He was injured. There was no way he would be able to escape in time.
Above, Sebastian wove through the white, tearing out of it as thin ribbons of mist streamed behind him.
The mythologicals didn't fear the mist. They played in it as the children had played in the snow this past winter. Whatever hold it had on humans, it didn’t have the same fear for them.
She knew without asking they would ignore any pleas for help. Not when they still referred to humans as mice. Ollie wouldn't even register for them.