By their stunned silence, I guessed they hadn’t been expecting that response. Kerrick kept his expression neutral, but I felt his glower. His gaze flicked to the ground for a second before he resumed looking bored. Turning the dark gray color of the forest, Kerrick’s boots and legs seemed to disappear. Vines twisted around the squatter’s ankles as Kerrick used his forest magic.
I zapped my captive. He jerked and cried out. “Go get Melina or he dies,” I said.
As far as distractions go, it wasn’t the best, but it worked. Kerrick faded into the surrounding woods. When the squatters realized he had gone, they moved to chase after him, tripping over the vines. As they rolled on the ground in panic, the ivy twined around their legs, tightened their hold. Sword Man tried to cut them free with the blade.
The scene would have been comical except Kerrick appeared behind Sword Man and grabbed his head the way he had trapped the merc’s.
“Don’t kill him!” I yelled.
Instead of snapping Sword Man’s neck, Kerrick squeezed until the man stopped struggling and slumped to the ground. I released the pressure on Tall Guy’s fist. His hand dropped. I pushed his head forward, exposing the back of his neck. Quickly finding the sweet spot, I knocked him out.
I checked on Kerrick’s victim. He still had a pulse.
“Take care of the others,” Kerrick said. Strain tightened his voice. He leaned against a tree with his eyes closed.
I hurried to the two squatters. The vines had trapped their arms. I touched that sensitive spot on each of their necks, rendering them both unconscious.
“How long?” Kerrick asked.
“They’ll be out three hours at least.”
“Good.” He collapsed.
I knelt beside him. “What’s wrong?”
He batted my hand away. “Go check on Melina.” But when I wouldn’t move, he added, “Vines are stubborn in autumn.”
“Oh.” I glanced at the two prone forms. The leaves had already turned brown and the vines looked brittle. Kerrick had sapped his energy.
“Go,” Kerrick ordered.
I rushed to the cabin’s entrance and paused for a second, dreading what I might find inside. She had been alone with four men for almost a day. I entered into an open sitting area. A fire burned inside a stone hearth built into the left wall. A row of cots lined up near the right wall. Smoke rolled along the ceiling and spilled out the door. Along the back wall was another door. Running across the sitting area, I fumbled to unlock it. I yanked it open, revealing blackness. I hesitated in the threshold, afraid of what I might find. “Melina?” I called.
“In here,” she said with a sob.
I sagged with relief. “Hold on, I’ll get a lantern.”
I rushed to light one. Holding it in front of me, I entered the dark room. Melina flinched as the yellow glow illuminated her bleeding and battered face. Her left wrist was chained to a cot and she wasn’t alone. Two other girls sat on other beds. They were similarly shackled. One of them also sported bruises, but otherwise they appeared to be unharmed. They stared at me in surprise.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
Melina touched her cheek. “Not bad.”
“Did they…” I couldn’t finish.
“No,” the girl with the bruised face said. “We’re to be sold. But if you give them trouble, then…” She slammed a fist into her palm.
“Sold for what?” I asked horrified.
She looked at me as if she couldn’t believe how naive I was. “Wives if we’re lucky. Slaves or prostitutes if we aren’t.”
The other girl gestured toward the door. “Are they gone?”
“They’ve been, uh, neutralized. Do you know where the key to the cuffs is?” I asked.
“One of them carried it with him,” Melina said.
I placed the lantern on a nearby table. “I’ll be back.”
Outside, the men remained where I’d left them. Kerrick appeared to be asleep, but when I neared, he asked, “Is she…?”
“She’s alive, but injured, and there are two others.” I explained what I learned while I searched the men’s pockets for the key.
“Unfortunately, selling women is not limited to this area. The plague has left many places with an uneven population. There’re gangs who will find wives for survivors for a price.”
I glanced at the men. Bastards. Maybe I’d let Kerrick kill them, after all.
“Did you heal Melina?”
“Not yet.” This earned me an appraising glance. I dug my hand into Tall Guy’s back pocket and finally found the key.
“Good. Release them and take them to Mom’s right now.” Kerrick pushed up on one elbow with obvious effort.
“Why?”
He huffed. “Can’t you just follow orders for once?”
“Do you really want an answer?”
“Only if it’s, ‘Yes, sir.’”
“Not going to happen.”
He paused as if summoning the willpower not to bark at me. “There’s a group of people—seven men and two women—heading this way. I can’t tell if they’re friendly or not, so you and the girls need to leave well before they arrive.”
“What about you?”
“I can handle myself.”
I pushed on his shoulder. He fell back onto the ground.
“Uh-huh. Want to try that again?” I asked.
“No one’s after me,” he said. “You’re the one in danger. Plus you’ll be risking the others.”
“What happens when these four wake up?”
“I thought you didn’t care. They’ll be doing you a favor.”
“I’d love to leave you. Believe me. But I gave my word. Come on.” I helped him to his feet.
Even though Kerrick was taller than me, my shoulder ended up being the perfect height for supporting him.
“Now what?” he asked.
“We’ll hide inside the cabin until the others pass us by.”
“What about the prior occupants?”
“I’ll drag them inside.”
“Your plan—”
I pulled him along. He was too weak to resist. Fun. I dumped him onto one of the cots in the sitting room before releasing Melina and the other girls. They rubbed their wrists and followed me out to the main room. They froze when they spotted Kerrick.
“You remember Kerrick from the inn, don’t you?” I asked Melina.
“Yes.”
“He’s part of the rescue team.”
She glanced around. “Are there others?”
“Ah… No. We had been expecting one man. Not four.”
Melina shuddered.
“And we have a bit of a problem.” I explained our situation to the three of them.
They offered to help.
“Where’s the chimney?” I asked Kerrick.
Although dubious of my plan, he explained how I could find the metal pipe in the dark. It took me longer to locate the chimney than I had hoped. Kerrick had shoved a clump of muddy leaves to block it. I cleared it and hurried back.
While I was gone, Bianca—the girl with the fading bruises—Peni and Melina had dragged the unconscious men into the hideout. They’d shackled the men to the cots in the back room and locked the door. Nice.
Empowered, they discussed what they’d like to do to the men in great detail. Kerrick muffled a horrified croak. He had one foot resting on the dirt floor. “If you ladies are done plotting revenge, you might want to cover our tracks outside before the others reach us.”
“How long do we have?” I asked him.
“Ten, maybe fifteen minutes max.”
Damn. I rushed outside and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. Between
the scuff marks from the fight and the drag marks, even I could figure out which way we went. They would discover the hidden cabin in no time.
Melina relayed instructions from Kerrick as I smoothed the ground with my hands and… “Are you sure he said to sprinkle the leaves?” I asked her.
“Yes.”
I worked as fast as I could to hide the marks, backing up until I reached the cabin. Standing in the threshold, I studied my efforts. We were in big trouble.
Nothing more to do, I closed and latched the door. I gave Bianca my knife before picking up Kerrick’s sword. Both Melina and Peni armed themselves with kitchen knives.
“Give me your other knife,” Kerrick said.
I had forgotten about the one in my boot. But he hadn’t.
When I handed it to him, he said, “Help me stand.”
“But you’re too—”
“They don’t know that.”
Good point. I grabbed his wrists, pulling him to his feet. A weak pulse of magic traveled up my arm. I had a brief sense of the travelers close by before I let him go. He wobbled, but steadied himself with a hand against the dirt wall.
Bianca and I positioned ourselves on each side of the door. Ready for… I wasn’t entirely sure. I strained, listening for any sounds, but I watched Kerrick’s expression.
A few minutes passed without incident. Then Kerrick straightened.
“They’re suspicious,” he whispered.
“What are you doing?” I asked, pitching my voice low.
“Increasing the camouflage around the door.”
All color drained from his face. “I…” He swayed and reached for the cot. “They’re…”
I debated for a second before abandoning my post. Kerrick sat on the edge. Taking his hand in mine, I released my healing power, sending it into him. Energy flowed through him as it drained from me. Through Kerrick, I learned the moss on the door had thickened and grown over the bare spots that would have given us away.
Magic surrounded two of the nine people searching outside. Kerrick’s awareness stretched farther into the forest. Finding what he searched for, Kerrick shook a tree about a mile away. A dead limb crashed to the ground. I felt the impact through Kerrick. The noise drew the others away.
He released my hand.
“But I can—”
“No. Save your strength.” His voice rasped.
Melina came over. “Are they…?”
“Gone.” Keeping one foot on the ground, Kerrick lay back on the cot and fell asleep in an instant.
I stood on unsteady legs.
Melina twisted the bottom of her tunic. “Can we leave now?”
“No. We have to wait for Kerrick to regain his strength. Sorry.”
“He’s a magician, isn’t he?” she asked in a low voice.
“Yes. Although I don’t think it’s common knowledge.”
She nodded as if she understood. “I don’t blame him. With ten golds being offered for information on the whereabouts of magicians, I’d keep quiet, too.”
“Ten golds? Why?”
“Mom told me that since many of the Realms’ legitimate leaders have died, the remaining powerful people are all scrambling to amass armies, grab Realms and stockpile resources, including magicians.”
“I thought that was just one of those paranoid rumors.”
“Where have you been?” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “We had a customer from Grzebien who told us his town was in the middle of reorganizing when a large army arrived to help. Except they set up their own town watch and declared the city an official member of the Ozero Realm, and under the protection of the High Priestess’s holy army.”
“Was there any resistance?”
“I doubt it. If Grzebien is anything like Mengels, there’s not enough people or energy to put up much of a fight.” She glanced at the back door. “If the High Priestess’s army can stop bastards like them and bring peace back, I’m more than happy to wear one of those red robes and give thanks to their creator.”
Which, from what I’d learned from Tara, Melina would be forced to do. The High Priestess, also known as Estrid of Ozero was intolerant of other faiths, and required her subjects to be members of her cultlike religion. Was she better or worse than Tohon? I mulled it over as I rummaged for food. Bianca and Peni helped me cook a simple vegetable soup. Melina’s pale face worried me. She sat nearby, holding a wet cloth to her bleeding cheek. I asked her who the other powerful survivors were to distract her from the pain.
“Tohon of Sogra and Prince Ryne of Ivdel until he disappeared. I’ve also heard a couple Algan princes, President Lyady’s daughter and a few other minor nobles lived, but they’re not looking to rule, just survive like the rest of us. Oh, and some guy claiming he’s the Skeleton King has a small army in Ryazan Realm.”
“That’s it?” Now Kerrick’s comment about Tohon wanting Ryne dead made more sense. As I thought about the problem, I wondered how greedy Tohon could be? Fifteen Realms split three ways would give each leader five Realms. But who would decide which five? Each Realm had its own assets and drawbacks. The richest ones would be the most desirable.
I found a loaf of bread and a wedge of goat’s cheese to go with the soup. Melina picked listlessly at her portion while I tore into mine. I saved a hunk of both for Kerrick.
When I suggested we get a few hours of sleep, Melina shot to her feet. “No. I’m not… I can’t… I want to go home.” Her body shook.
I embraced her as she broke down. She had been so strong earlier and hadn’t complained at all that I had forgotten how young she was—at least three years younger than Bianca and Peni. Guiding her over to a cot, I lay down next to her. Magic pulsed under my ribs and I released it. Melina had been punched repeatedly in the face. While I could heal her wounds, I couldn’t erase her memories. At least she’d have Mom to comfort her.
A hand shook my shoulder. I jerked awake. Kerrick leaned over me. Annoyance creased his brow. Melina stood behind him. She covered her mouth with her hand, staring at me with wide eyes as she put the clues together. She felt great and I had bruises covering my face. I wondered if Melina or the other girls would turn me in, but I couldn’t produce the energy to care.
“My men will be here soon,” Kerrick said, straightening.
“The ones you ordered to stay at the inn?” I asked, suppressing a grin.
“Yes. They’re leading Mom and half the town watch straight here. Quain is tracking our trail—which should be impossible to follow.” Disgruntled, he glanced at the door. “I taught him too well. Either that or Quain is half eagle.”
“A bald eagle?” I quipped.
Kerrick smiled a genuine smile. One that reached his eyes. Good thing I was already lying down or I would have fainted in surprise. It faded as he studied me.
“Will you be able to travel?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good.” He strode to the door and unlocked it. With his hand on the knob, he paused and looked at me. “My men had never disobeyed an order before we found you.”
Even though his comment was meant to be a complaint, I said, “Thank you,” just to annoy him.
It worked. He decided to wait for his men outside. Sunlight streamed in from the open door. I blinked in the brightness. Morning already?
“Avry, what happened?” Melina asked. “Your face… Are you…?”
I sat up and made room for her to sit next to me. “Yes, I’m a healer.” I spoke in a low voice so the others didn’t overhear, not that it would matter once they saw me.
“Is that why those people from last night are after you?” she asked.
“Unfortunately.”
“Is Kerrick protecting you so he can turn you in for the bounty?”
She had a quick intelligence, and, out of curiosity, I asked, “What do you think?”
Tugging on the hem of her tunic, Melina considered my question for a few minutes. “He’s protecting you, but not for the gold.” She put her hand on my cheek. “Does it hurt?”
“No.” The truth.
“Did it hurt?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it does.”
“No, Melina, it doesn’t.” How to explain it? I searched for the right words. “Your pain was a reminder of what happened to you. But the pain I felt was connected to you—a bright young lady. By healing your injuries, I was helping you and that transforms how I perceive the pain, making it bearable.”
She still looked unconvinced.
I tried again. “It’s like when I held my newborn sister. Noelle was heavy and my muscles ached, but the discomfort paled in comparison to my awe over her presence in my arms. I would have been content to hold her....” Sudden grief choked off my words. I had been six, but I’d never forget the intense desire to hold and protect her forever. As she grew, she had been full of impish curiosity. And she’d follow me so much that I’d called her my little shadow.
“They’re here,” Kerrick said behind me.
I startled and turned, but he had already left. He needed to wear a bell or something, I grumbled as voices called. In no time, Mom barreled past everyone and gathered Melina in her arms.
The town watch took the four men into custody. Mom squinted hard at me, and I immediately felt guilty. But she didn’t comment on my bruises. As Melina and the others told their tales, no one mentioned my healing powers.
Belen and the others waited outside. They had brought all our travel gear. We could leave from the cabin and not have to backtrack to the Lamp Post Inn first, which made Kerrick a bit happier.
When I joined them, the guys appeared to be glad to see me. Belen inspected my face.
“Good thing I wasn’t here,” Belen said in a low growl. “I would have ripped the four of them apart and scattered the pieces for the scavengers to eat.”
Quain scanned the ground at our feet. “It looked like quite a fight. What happened here?” He pointed to a long scuff mark.
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