* * * *
"Move!" Patrina snapped as she tried to push past Carson.
Carson grabbed her. "You, too? You're both daft! You can't go out there. I won't let him take you all!"
Patrina spun and clobbered Carson with a steel-gauntleted fist to the side of his head. He staggered back and hit a wall before he fell. He stared at her, one hand on the side of his head. "You said you wouldn't hit!" he sputtered.
"I said I'd never hit Alto," she corrected him as she stepped out onto the ledge. "You were in my way."
"He'll kill you!" Carson shouted at her. "Just like he killed everybody else!"
Patrina clenched her teeth and promised herself that she owed Carson another fist to his face if she survived to face him again. She pushed him from her mind and focused on climbing up the cliff until she could peer over the edge. She saw nothing but smashed plants amid the greenery that bordered the jungle.
Patrina finished pulling herself onto the top of the cliff and took a moment to look around. She heard a heavy thud and then the sound of wood cracking or breaking. Patrina drew her blade and ran into the path made by the apes. She stopped a moment later when the harsh cries of the apes reached her ears. She heard grunting and a few more thuds that made the hair stand on her arms, and then the jungle grew quiet.
Patrina pushed ahead and reached the wall of plants that had a narrow path cut in them. Alto had gone through there, she knew. She parted the flowering stalks with her hands and stepped through them. On the far side, she blinked to adjust her eyes and crouched down with her sword raised to defend herself. By the time she could pick out the details among the shapes, she realized she was alone.
Patrina stood and looked around, trying to make sense of the scene. The trees were large and numerous, but not so much that anyone would be hiding behind them. Certainly not a creature as large as Bucky. She saw a tree that was bent at an angle, its roots breaking free of the ground on one side. Elsewhere, the ground was scratched and dug up. Her eyes adjusted further and let her see a dark spot on the already moist ground. She went to it and knelt to touch it, only to bring up fingers red with blood.
"They're gone."
Patrina spun about and saw Carson standing in the narrow passage through the weeds. She walked over to him, sheathing her blade on the way so she could grab his hide shirt and yank him closer to her. "You kept me from helping him!" she spat.
"I saved your life!"
Patrina ignored him and twisted her hand on his tunic, drawing it tightly over his chest. "You're going to take me to them and you're going to help me rescue them. Not in the morning—now!"
"You're mad!" Carson hissed at her. He grabbed her hand and pushed on it while pulling himself free. He pulled his tunic down until it rested comfortably again and then he shook his head. "Do you want to die?"
"I'm not afraid of death," Patrina told him.
"Seems like a good thing to fear," Carson muttered. "Unless you're crazy, which you must be. You came here of your own will, after all. So if you're not afraid of death, what are you afraid of?"
Patrina turned away from Carson and studied the battleground again. "I'm afraid of living if I can't have Alto at my side."
Carson shook his head again. "Look, you said you came on a boat, right? Well, here's what we do. We go to your boat and get more men. Or maybe send them to bring back an army. Bucky's been fighting for survival since the ship I was on was wrecked by a storm, eight years past. He collects people and plays with them the way a cat plays with a mouse. When he's tired of them or they can't amuse him anymore, he kills them."
Patrina clenched her jaw to help her fight the blurring in her eyes. She blinked and turned away, her eyes going to a closer tree with the bark scuffed and broken near the ground. "They're not dead yet?"
"Not yet," Carson agreed. "Probably."
Patrina nodded. She moved closer to the tree, trying to figure out what it was about it that bothered her. She saw more blood on the bark, but it was blood that was at her height, not higher up. She bit her lip and tried to swallow so her heart would drop back into her chest. She was about to turn away when she saw something lighter against the dark ground behind the tree.
Patrina knelt and picked up Alto's sword. It was warm to the touch and almost felt as though it was alive with an inner energy. There was blood and hair on the blade. Thick, dark hair. The hair of Bucky or one of his females.
"You will take me to him," Patrina turned to him and said. "Now. Tonight."
"Your friend walked into an ambush!" Carson hissed. "Bucky's smart—he'll set up more of them. We can't follow him, not yet."
"Do you know where they're going then?"
Carson hesitated and then nodded. "He has a few places they sleep, but when he has a captive, he always takes them to the castle."
"An ape in a castle," Patrina mused without humor.
"He's got a fondness for it. I don't know why," the ranger said. "Nothing else lives there, at least as far as I can tell. I don't dare go in. I've only seen it from a distance."
"Tonight we go in," Patrina said.
"I won't take you!" he refused. "Not at night. In the morning, we can head that way, but tonight we need to find a safe place."
"There are no safe places," she snapped.
"They could smell you. Probably been watching you, too, like I was."
"Fine!" Patrina set Alto's sword against a tree and stripped off her gauntlets. She dug at the clasps and buckles when they didn't do as she wanted until she let her breastplate fall to the ground with a muffled clang. Her pauldrons and greaves followed, and then the remaining harness and doublet that had chain and metal plates sewn to it for extra protection.
The kelgryn princess stood before him wearing her padded small clothes and boots. She buckled her sword back on and then picked up Alto's broadsword. The warmth of the hilt in her hand calmed her. She bit her lip and nodded. "Are there leaves and mud I must roll in too? A pool I must bathe in?"
Carson gaped at her until she spoke. While her disrobing seemed improper, Patrina knew she was still fully clothed. Even her smallclothes covered far more of her body than the finest of dresses worn among the Shazarim.
"Well?" she demanded. "What else must I do to get the stink of civilization off me?"
The ranger jerked out of his near stupor and said, "There are some weeds we can crush so you can smear the juice on your skin." He shook his head again. "Do you have a sister?"
"A sister?" Patrina asked with a furrowed brow.
"I've never met a woman as devoted and strong as you," he said.
"Then you've never met a woman."
He clamped his mouth shut after letting a sharp laugh slip out. "It's been years, I admit. I was little more than a boy when I came here, but even so, I've never known anyone who would risk so much for someone else."
"You haven't seen anything," Patrina promised him. "Now let's go."
Carson sighed and turned back to the weeds. He pushed a few aside until he found the broad bladed stalks he was after. He broke one off and turned back to Patrina. Once he saw he had her attention, he crushed the stalk in his hand and showed her the juice in his palm. "Rub this on your face, hands, neck, or anywhere the skin is exposed. In fact, rub it on your clothes and your skin beneath them, too."
Patrina scowled when she saw his eyes dance over her body.
"Here," he said before he thrust the plant to her. "I'll turn away and keep a watch on the jungle."
"Look at me and I'll cut your eyes out," she vowed.
"I'm sure you will," Carson muttered. "Now hurry."
Patrina did as Carson bade her, rubbing the shredded plant against her skin and clothing. She slipped it under her shirt and into her pants, crumbling the stalk and leaves of the plant against her skin. The smell was light and odd, almost like one of the oranges she'd had in Shazamir but with a sharp tang to it. She stood up after kneeling to rub it on her calves and then let the ruined plant fall to the ground.
&nbs
p; "I'm ready," she said once she took up Alto's broadsword again.
Carson turned and nodded. He moved closer to her and sniffed. "Much better," he agreed.
Patrina's nose wrinkled in distaste. "You'd better be right."
Carson nodded. "I am. Now let's go. Be silent and stay close to me. Watch me, not the jungle, and do as I tell you." Without waiting for her to agree, he turned and started off, heading to the east and then slipping back through openings in the jungle's border to return to the cliffs.
"Why aren't we in the jungle? There's more cover there," Patrina hissed.
Carson turned and glared at her. "Be silent!" he growled. "There are more animals in the jungle, especially at night. And it'll be too dark to see in another couple of hours. That tree you lean up against in the dark might not be a tree."
"What would it be?" she asked, ignoring his warning.
"A snake big enough to wrap around you twice and crush the life from you before it swallowed you whole."
Patrina's eyes widened at the thought.
Carson let a wicked smile play across his face. "There are a lot of ways to end up dead here. Including not being quiet and listening to me."
Patrina's eyes narrowed as she glared at him but she got the message. Carson smiled again before turning and moving through the vegetation. The ground began to slant, taking them down closer to the ocean as they walked
Carson held his arm back, fingers splayed and palm facing her. Patrina stopped, guessing his intentions with the gesture. He glanced at her and then looked ahead of himself again. He moved forward, slipping between the bushes and smaller orange trees that dotted the cliff.
Patrina moved to kneel on one knee beneath one of the trees, and then twisted her neck to look to the west. She couldn't see the sun anymore; it had sunk beneath the tree line. She frowned and realized that they must not be heading east anymore or the sun would still be visible over the water. She turned and looked to her right but couldn't see anything above the tall jungle trees.
She returned her attention to the land ahead of her and gasped when she saw Carson nearly upon her. She rose up, her hand tightening on her beau's sword. The hunter came closer until he put his lips within inches of her ear.
"There's a small pool ahead. A stream feeds it and from there another stream falls over the rocks to the ocean below," he whispered. "We'll pause there, on the ocean side of it, and you can get a drink. It's a watering hole for animals, too, so be ready to run."
"Run where?" she asked.
"Away?" he said with a smirk. "It's not a long fall to the ocean, either, and the water's free of rocks and deep enough to jump."
"Death by drowning instead of by claw?"
He pulled back and looked at her with concern. "Can you swim?"
She snorted and said, "I'm kelgryn. Of course I can swim! I don't fancy climbing a cliff to get out of the water, though, especially with waves pounding me."
"Oh, well, there's a beach a few hundred feet ahead of us. I haven't been there in a long time. It's pretty but there's nothing of interest there. We're rounding the island. You can't see it but the mountain with the castle is south of us now."
"Why aren't we going south then?"
Carson sighed. "There's a jungle filled with hungry and toothsome animals between us. And when we get there, we'd still have to walk around the base of it to get to a path that will take us up and into it."
"Oh."
"Are you ready?"
Patrina nodded.
Carson set off, guiding her through the fringes of the jungle. The orange trees grew fewer as they walked and were replaced with tall trees with the green coconuts high above them. Patrina glanced up at a few and then nearly ran into Carson when she returned her attention to him. He'd stopped just ahead of her.
Patrina looked around him and saw a drop-off of a few feet in front of her guide. Beyond lay a crystal-clear pool of water, complete with a small sandbar in the middle that made an island. At any other time she might have smiled at the simple beauty of it. Alto would have liked it, she was certain.
"This way," Carson whispered. He worked his way along the edge of the pond until the ground sloped down to meet the edge of the water. He moved a few more feet until he was near the stream that left the pool and plunged a dozen feet away over the edge of the cliff and into the ocean.
Patrina dropped to her knees and set Alto's sword down. She leaned forward and put her hands in the cool water. She smiled in spite of herself and let the water wash away the dirt and juice from the plants before she cupped it and brought it to her lips. Patrina drank and then drank again. She hadn't realized how parched she was until the liquid slipped past her dry lips and down her throat. It invigorated her and sharpened her senses.
Several swallows later, Patrina lifted her head and looked around. Something felt off. She reached for Alto's sword and closed her hand around the hilt when Carson hissed at her, "Be ready!"
"What is it?" she asked.
He didn't answer. Instead, he rose from where he'd knelt and nocked an arrow to his bow. He side-stepped behind her and then twisted slowly as he walked around her, looking for whatever it was that had caused the birds and even the insects to go silent.
Patrina rose up with the unfamiliar broadsword in her hand. She was a far better warrior with her blade, but she didn't dare risk losing Alto's. He needed it, that much she knew. He'd told her how his blood had been used in its crafting and how it was tied to his very soul. He could function without the weapon but he acted half asleep when he tried.
Patrina took a step closer to the stream when the tall grasses burst apart and a black shape blurred out of them. Carson's bowstring sang as he released it but it was followed with a grunt as the black panther crashed into him and sent them both rolling along the ground.
Patrina shifted and looked for a chance to thrust her sword into the great cat when she saw three more of them pad out of the bushes and advance on them. She backed up again and stepped into the stream.
Carson rolled over on the panther and pushed himself away from it. His first arrow lay buried in the mighty cat's belly and blood dripped from its ribs where a small dagger remained impaled. He drew both of the swords on his back and swung them in circles, loosening his shoulder and arms. "Time to see why they call me Twoblade!"
"Who calls you that?" Patrina asked him, even if she was secretly glad he was all right. "You've been alone for years!"
Carson frowned. "Well, these cats might, if they could speak."
Patrina started to move closer to him when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw more of the cats approaching. They'd moved around the pond, flanking them. "Carson, there's more of them!"
Carson glanced over and nodded. He measured the distance to the cliff's edge and then turned to look at Patrina again. He scowled. "Ready for a swim?"
Patrina judged the distance against the pounce from the first panther that lay dead on the ground. "They'll be on us before we can make the cliff!"
"You're a bad influence," Carson said while the panthers slunk around them and tried to surround them. "You worry about jumping; I'll worry about these house cats."
"House cats?" Patrina echoed.
"You should see the lions—now those are big," Carson offered. He swung his blades a few times, causing the panthers to stop and retreat. One closest to him had its ears flat against its head. It growled and showed its large teeth. "Patrina, ocean. Now!"
"You're coming with me!" she hissed.
"Right behind you," he said.
She risked a glare at him and then nodded. "All right. On three?"
"Just go!" he spat while feigning a lunge towards the panther in front of him. Rather than leap back, the great cat lifted a paw and struck at him. The claws passed through air that Carson would have occupied had his attack not been a ruse.
Patrina took the false assault as a sign and turned and ran. She grabbed the sword in both hands and leapt off the cliff while sucking in her breath
. She twisted as she jumped and saw Carson cry out as he lunged forward for real this time. Both of his swords leapt out and cut through the air towards the panthers that were distracted by their tactics.
Before she could witness or hear any more, the ocean slammed into her and sucked her under.
Isle of the Ape Page 20