Jackal’s Gambit

by C A Ardron

  ‘Your point?’

  The Reptile warrior seemed to get a hold of himself. ‘I’ll take the offer back. Tigermoth might be impressed with it, if you can actually pull it off.’

  ‘I can pull it off.’ He watched Chameleon disappear before turning back to his invention.

  He could pull it off. All he had to do was wait until Swallow made her move on Jackal. She would not succeed in killing the general. She was severely underestimating his skill and intelligence. He smiled. He’d been wanting to get her out of the way for a while. Perhaps he should throw a couple of hints concerning Swallow's plans at Jackal, hurry things along a little.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Wolf strode through Lion's office door in the West Sector Predgarian Centre. The captain had his phone receiver in hand. He put it back in place atop the phone as Wolf deactivated his armour.

  ‘Am I interrupting?’ the grey light around Wolf faded, leaving him in his normal clothes and he sat on the chair by the door.

  ‘Not really. I just tried the Dakkonin again, there's still no one picking up.’

  Wolf remembered his visit to the Predgarian Temple. ‘You won't get an answer. When I was in Central I was told there'd been a raid.’

  ‘Really? Whereabouts?’

  ‘East Sector. All Dakkonin units in the area have been called to respond to it.’

  ‘No wonder the streets have been so quiet. A diversion, you think?’

  Wolf nodded. ‘Looks that way. Jackal wanted that teenager pretty badly.’

  ‘Yes. Badly enough to divert every Dakkonin in Steiron and bring out all his Elite.’

  ‘Not all,’ Wolf raised one finger. ‘We didn't see Cobra today.’

  ‘Thank the Light for small mercies,’ Lion muttered.

  Wolf studied his captain's serious expression. ‘Have you ever fought him?’

  ‘No. Have you?’

  ‘No, and from what I've heard that's a good thing. Isn't he cited as one of the oldest known Sarpiens in the world?’

  ‘Something like that, I don't know the specifics.’ Lion frowned, looking troubled.

  This in turn troubled Wolf. It wasn't like Lion to be so anxious. ‘What's wrong? 'You don't seem your usual self.’

  Lion grimaced, toying with an empty envelope. ‘That's a little difficult given the circumstances. That Unician almost died today, because we didn't know the specifics, because we aren't trained to fight Sarpiens.’

  Wolf was very surprised. Lion had never before questioned the Predgarian Order's ways of doing things. ‘I never thought I'd hear you say something like that. A Predgarian captain, questioning the wisdom of his Order's ethics?’

  Lion met his gaze steadily. ‘There's nothing wrong with our ethics or protocols. The system's breaking down, Wolf. We used to be on top of things, and so did the Dakkonin.’

  Wolf nodded. ‘But now's there's too many Sarpiens?’

  ‘Far too many. We can't keep up with them anymore.’

  Wolf wondered what was going through Lion's head, he didn't like the sound of his defeatist attitude. ‘I'm going to check in on Dove and Hawk, they've taken our guest upstairs.’ He stood, still looking at his captain. ‘Lion, we're Predgarians, we have to do what we can.’

  Lion looked up at him in surprise. ‘Of course, Wolf. I'll see if I can get any word on the Dakkonin. If we can't count on them, then...well, we can't leave the boy in Sarpien hands.’

  Wolf's eyebrows rose. Just what was he implying? He'd thought Lion was being depressive, but his captain had just proven his thoughts were the complete opposite. ‘We don't have the right training or knowledge for a rescue mission into the sclithe tunnels, Lion.’

  Lion smiled tightly. ‘We're Predgarians, Wolf. We protect.’

  Wolf stared at him with an unblinking gaze before slowly nodding. ‘Yes, we are.’

  He left Lion in his office to get on with things, wondering what he was planning. Wolf had joined the Predgarian Order to protect people. He'd grown so tired of having to stand by and watch the Sarpiens wreak havoc in the city. That's what it was all about for him, and what it was about for all Predgarians. The Dakkonin might hop from place to place looking for Sarpiens to kill, but for Predgarians, the safety of the people of Courin came first.

  If there was someone in danger, it didn't matter how hard it was going to be, or how dangerous, Wolf would be there to help, and Lion knew that.

  Putting what Lion had said about a possible rescue mission aside for the time-being, Wolf strode down the narrow corridor, past the kitchen and up the stairs. When he reached the top, he looked up and down the corridor, there were several doors in each direction.

  Predgarian Centres housed up to fifteen warriors. It had always been a bit quiet up here. Having only six warriors living in the Centre made the building seem big sometimes.

  His eyes fell on an open door a few feet down, noting it was an empty bedroom. He activated his medallion again. If the Unician was awake, then she couldn't be allowed to see any of them without armour. He thought that was a shame. It was going to be a shock for her to wake up with four masked or helmeted warriors staring down at her. It was one of the Predgarian Order's most important protocols though. Predgarian warriors had been suspended, demoted and even re-assigned for revealing their true identities to civilians, or even worse, another Order.

  Again, Wolf thought it a little unfair that every other Order could walk down the street, their medallion out for all to see. Predgarians protected the public though, it would interfere with their personal lives if people on the street recognised them when off-duty.

  His grey armour now in place, Wolf popped his head in the open door. As expected, Dove was also in her armour, standing over the unconscious woman on the small bed. The Unician had been placed on the plain, uncovered mattress.

  Dove waved him over when she saw him. ‘Wolf, you're just in time.’

  ‘Oh?’

  She pointed to the bloody sleeve of the Unician's denim jacket. ‘It looks like she has another injury as well as the one from Mantis. Will you hold her steady while I remove her jacket?’

  ‘Of course. Where's Hawk?’

  ‘I sent him to the bathroom for some clothes and warm water. I want to wash the blood off before I heal what's left of the stab wound.’

  ‘Isn't it odd that she hasn't woken yet?’ Wolf asked as he gently lifted the woman into a sitting position.

  ‘No,’ Dove started to take the Unician's right arm out of her jacket. ‘I've kept her asleep on purpose. I don't want her moving around until I'm finished with the healing.’

  Wolf nodded as Hawk returned. The Avian grinned at him as he placed a porcelain bowl of water and a wad of washing cloths on top of the bedside drawer.

  Dove hissed through her teeth, making Wolf turn to look at her. The healer's attention was on the woman's right arm.

  ‘Knife wound,’ Hawk stated matter-of-factly. ‘Got enough of those in Joinstohm to recognise it.'

  Dove nodded. ‘It's not fresh.’ She placed her hand over it, not even bothering to fully remove the jacket first. ‘She received it in the last twenty-four hours, I think, and it's bled quite a bit.’

  She took her hand away, and Wolf smiled. There was no longer any sign of the cut.

  Hawk whistled as Dove and Wolf turned their attention to the woman's other arm.

  ‘That's a lot of scars.’ He stepped closer to examine the Unician's right arm.

  ‘It is,’ Dove agreed. ‘I wonder what kind of life she lives, to have so many.’

  Her movements slowed and became very hesitant as she removed the rest of the jacket.

  Hawk took a step back, and Wolf tightened his grip on the woman as his hands began to shake. He laid her back down on the bed, and the three of them stared, unable to even blink as they took in the purple snake running down her left arm.

  Dove placed the jacket on a simple, wooden chair behind her and then reached out, peeling off the Unician's left glove, revealing the rest of the snake's he
ad.

  ‘A Sarpien.’ Wolf's voice sounded odd, even to himself. His complete shock of what he was seeing had made him a little numb. He'd fought for her, tried to protect her, and all along she'd been...

  The moment was broken by Hawk rustling his wings uncomfortably. ‘Guess that explains why she knew Jackal's moves.’

  ‘Not really,’ Dove disagreed. ‘Something seems a bit off.’

  Wolf looked at her. How could she be so calm about this? Sarpiens served the most evil things in the universe, and there was one in the room with them!

  ‘Hawk, go get Lion,’ Dove said, not explaining her thoughts.

  ‘Yeah, sure.’

  As Hawk left, Wolf looked down at the unconscious woman again. Even in sleep, her face seemed serious, wary. The face of a Sarpien, he thought grimly. He hadn't noticed it before.

  Dove lifted her eyes to him. ‘Don't judge just yet.’

  He felt himself tense, he hadn't said a word.

  ‘I can feel your emotions, Wolf.’ She smiled at him. ‘Do not judge only what you see with your eyes. There is something not quite right about all this.’

  Empathy, of course. He always forgot about that. ‘Dove, she's a Sarpien!’

  ‘Dove's right.’

  Wolf jerked at Lion's voice – he hadn't noticed Hawk return with the now armoured captain.

  ‘Dove, give me your thoughts.’ The captain calmly stepped into the small room, turning his attention to the unconscious woman.

  Dove reached out and removed the woman's second glove, placing them both on top of the jacket behind her. She lifted up the woman's leather vest and proceeded to wet a cloth. She started to wipe the dried blood away gently.

  ‘A purple snake,’ Dove told them, her voice serene. ‘Not green, and not blue. Trine and Sharglin are the only sclithe living within the boundaries of Steiron, we know this. Also, look at the snake's eyes. All Sarpien marks having glowing eyes, indicating the link between them and their masters.’

  Wolf looked down at the snake's eyes. Dove was right, the eyes were completely blank, revealing the woman's light, yellow-tinted skin.

  Lion nodded his helmeted head. ‘The snake itself makes me ask questions. Snake marks are usually very bright, this one is faded. It makes me think...’

  ‘That it's dead?’ Dove finished.

  Wolf felt another tremor of shock run through his body. ‘Dead? Is that even possible?’

  ‘I'm not sure.’ Dove remained thoughtful but after a moment looked up at Lion. ‘I think we should ask her.’

  ‘I agree. She might be able to tell us something of Jackal's plans.’

  ‘But she's a Sarpien,’ Wolf objected.

  Hawk made an irritated sound in his throat. ‘No, she isn't, look at her! I don't know what's with the mark, but she's no Sarpien. If she was, she'd never have helped me out.’

  ‘She would if Jackal wanted her dead,’ Wolf disagreed.

  ‘What about the kid then?’

  ‘I...I don't know!’

  ‘Calm down, both of you,’´Lion ordered. ‘We have questions, but none of them will be answered until she awakes.’

  Wolf breathed deeply to regain his composure. He'd become too angry and now tried to approach the situation with rationality. Lion and Dove were right, things weren't adding up.

  There was complete quiet apart from Dove gently washing the blood off the possible Sarpien.

  Hawk gave a shrug when the silence dragged out. ‘Are we sure this is a Sarpien mark? Some people get tattoos of them you know, teenagers mostly.’

  Wolf nodded, that was a good point. ‘We can find out.’ He left the room, walking briskly down the corridor until he arrived at his bedroom door. He went inside and rummaged around in the set of drawers by his bed. He remembered his brother giving him a book about sclithe.

  He finally found the thick, leather-bound volume and took it from its place. He'd never actually read it. He turned, heading back to the other room, already leafing through the pages.

  Hawk looked at the book curiously. ‘What's that?’

  ‘My brother is a member of the Dakkonin,’ Wolf explained. ‘He tries to persuade me to leave the Predgarians from time to time. He gave me this a while ago, said I should be aware what Sarpiens were capable of. It has pictures of all of the different sclithe marks, the ones we know about at least.’ He kept skipping through the pages. ‘Here we are, the purple marks.’

  Wolf stepped up to the bed, and the others leaned over to look. Hawk sighed as he saw what Wolf had already spotted. Wolf couldn't help but feel validated. It was obvious Hawk liked this woman, but the man had to face facts – there was the evidence on the page before them. A snake with a feathery, triangular crest, small spikes travelling all the way down its back, and its lithe body ending in a simple point. It was exactly identical to the faded mark before them. He placed the book on the bedside drawer, next to the bowl of water.

  Dove gave a sudden intake of breath. ‘Oh.’

  Wolf looked at her. She had finished clearing away the blood.

  ‘Wow,’ Haw bent to examine the large scar only a few inches below the tender mark where Mantis' blade had pierced the Unician.

  Wolf thought the Avian had an unwholesome fascination with injuries.

  Dove ran one finger over the place gently. ‘I'm surprised she survived that one, if there was no healer to help her when it happened.’ She shook her head. ‘It's far too old for me to do anything about.’

  Dove placed her hand over the fresh scar, beginning to glow incandescent again.

  Wolf and the others waited as she finished the healing process. The light faded from around her, and she removed her hand, revealing the unblemished and unwounded skin.

  ‘Let's give her some room,’ Dove suggested, shooing them away from the bed.

  Wolf didn't know why Dove was acting the way she was. Why give any allowances to a Sarpien?

  Dove smiled up at him. ‘You're judging again, Wolf.’.

  Wolf jerked in surprise but straightened, he had nothing to hide. ‘No good will come of this.’ He looked about at the others. ‘She's a Sarpien, we've got no business healing her or treating her like a friend.’

  Wolf's mouth snapped shut. He'd spoken his thoughts now, everyone knew where he stood on the matter. He crossed his arms as the woman groaned softly, stirring. She moved her head from side to side, and her eyes flickered open.

  Wolf braced himself, not prepared to give this Sarpien even an inch.

  Dove stepped back up to the bed, a smile of her face. ‘Easy now. Your body's been through a lot today.’

  The Unician didn't try to sit up but simply gazed at the white warrior.

  Dove held out a hand. ‘Shall we see if we can't get you sat up?’

  The woman didn't speak but accepted the hand, sitting and swinging her legs onto the floor. Her eyes were tired as they darted around the room, taking in the four warriors.

  Wolf wondered if she would try to escape. She didn't look like she had much energy for running.

  Her eyes shot down to her left arm, her face showing, just for a second, fear and chagrin. Then the expression was gone. Her face now calm, she put one hand to her midriff.

  ‘How do you feel?’ Dove asked, she kept her voice gentle, friendly.

  The woman continued to feel the place where she'd been stabbed. After a second she looked up at the healer, her face twisting into an ironic grin. ‘Like I should be dead.’

  Wolf glanced at Hawk as he chuckled at her humour.

  ‘Thank you,’ she continued. ‘You've saved my life.’

  Dove smiled at her. ‘It was my pleasure.’

  Lion cleared his throat. ‘We have some questions for you.’

  The Unician stood. She winced slightly at her aches and pains but turned to him, her face unafraid. ‘All right.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Despite his initial thoughts concerning this woman, Wolf couldn't help but be impressed. She’d awoken to find herself in the custody of
four Predgarians, now she stood determined to face whatever fate was hers with courage.

  ‘Firstly,’ Lion continued, ‘are you a Sarpien?’

  She frowned at him, ‘No.’

  ‘Karen?’ Hawk spoke up. ‘It is Karen, right? That's what Jackal called you. The mark on your arm matches the one in this book.’

  Karen glanced at the book, still open on the page with several purple snake pictures.

  Her eyes dipped down to her left arm. Wolf frowned when he saw her expression – it was as if she'd been hoping it might've disappeared.

  Karen didn't explain herself. ‘Where's Jay?’

  ‘Jay?’ Dove asked.

  Karen shrugged with seeming nonchalance. ‘A boy, blond. Looks about fifteen or so.’

  Hawk shifted his weight uncomfortably. ‘The Sarpiens got him.’

  Karen sat back on the bed and massaged her neck with one hand. A deep scowl marred her face. ‘Jackal.’

  Wolf was forced to re-evaluate his thoughts concerning her. The way she said Jackal's name was not like one spoke of just any old Sarpien. It was something deeper, more personal. He was forced to consider the possibility that she may hate Jackal more than they did.

  Another thought came right on top of that. Something none of them had yet mentioned. If Karen was a Sarpien, where was her medallion?

  ‘Karen,’ Lion said, his voice firm. ‘We need to know why you have a Sarpien mark on your arm.’

  Karen studied him, her eyes taking in every detail.

  It wouldn't do her any good, Wolf thought, hanging on to his dislike. She couldn't discern a single thing about him or Lion while they were in their heavy armour.

  ‘All right.’ She gave a soft laugh and stood again, gesturing at the room around them. ‘You've caught me, after all.’ Her face turned deadly serious. ‘I'm not a Sarpien, but I used to be.’

  ‘That's not possible,’ Lion responded. His voice was not accusatory, simply stating a fact. ‘It's well documented that when a sclithe dies its Sarpiens die with it.’

  ‘Or go insane,’ Hawk added. ‘I've heard that some do survive, but they're not normally very talkative afterwards.’