Arissa's Fate (Redemption Trilogy) (3 page)

Chapter Five

The guards yelled for backup
the moment they had ordered Arissa to the ground. Her knees hit the sharp pebbles painfully but she didn’t resist, not even when they jerked her hands roughly behind her back. She kept her head bowed down and her thoughts locked solidly behind her exterior barrier, hiding her plan.

Two more guards appeared and each grabbed her by the forearms and heaved her to her feet. The first two that had caught her seemed flustered and disoriented, obviously younger recruits who didn’t exactly know how to handle a capture. As they returned to their post at the blockade gates, the looks on their faces spelled shock and bewilderment, much to Arissa’s amusement.

She was marched through the narrow gates and she wasn’t surprised at what she found inside the new walls of the city. New buildings had been constructed quickly, some even temporarily, including the soldier’s quarters. All around them and far into the background, the rubble of what used to be Vailwood lay in blackened heaps. The only original thing that still stood was the reformatories.

The
huge, concrete structure stood to their left, still as looming and dark as always. Arissa shook her head when she thought of the last time she had been there, delivering one of the many criminals she herself had apprehended. The interior of that building was enough to drive anyone mad, or at least into a quick confession. She shuddered at the thought of him being there.

Her boots scuffed unevenly on the rocky ground as the guards jostled her, guiding her roughly as they marched toward the looming prison. Arissa knew full well that not a single word would even be spoken to her. It wouldn’t be necessary, with the most wanted criminal in the whole land now in their grasp. They didn’t need the traditional reading of her
legal rights or to be taken to the General. The first thing they would focus on was to get her behind locked and solid bars as quickly as possible and then run back to report their capture to the General, bragging of their accomplishment.

The moment they enter
ed the long, low tunnel that led into the jail, nearly all the light disappeared. In the far distance, Arissa could see the end of the tunnel, but by then it would be too late. She had to take advantage of her plan immediately, only allowing herself time enough for a short, quick gasp of breath.

To her disappointment, with the identical uniforms that all the guards wore, she had been unable to identify any features of the
men. She tried quickly to remember anything, even something as general as height. Both of the men seemed nearly identical.

The light at the end of the tunnel was coming closer and soon she would be out of time. Her mind was flying, trying to decide which of the two was part of the plan.

Before another moment passed, Arissa was nearly positive that she felt a gentle squeeze on her forearm where the man to her left held her by. Even if she had only imagined it, it was already too late to change her mind because she had already stopped abruptly, driving her elbow into the stomach of the man on her right. They both let go of her immediately and the man she had hit was doubled over. Before he could reach for his sword, Arissa’s foot was sailing in an arc around her body, smashing into the side of his head. He fell to the ground but was still conscious. Her hand snatched the sword from his belt before he could reach it, obviously disoriented and clumsy.

Without thinking, or even caring, Arissa drove the sword deep and hard into the man’s chest.
Ignoring the sickly gurgling, she straightened, posed ready to block an attack from the second man, but he didn’t advance.

The tight, uneasy feeling that had settled in Arissa’s throat slowly melted when the man removed the hood from his uniform, revealing a scarred and tense face.

“It’s been a while, Karson. I was hoping I didn’t pick the wrong one,” Arissa breathed in exasperation.

“
You chose right,” he muttered in a deep, gruff tone that screamed accent. He looked down on the body of the fallen guard. “I’m so glad to be rid of that bumbling idiot. Working with him is like working alone with one hand tied behind your back. Always in the way, that man.”

Arissa stepped over the body that had now gone still.
“You don’t seem at all surprised, so I’m assuming you got Landon’s message.”

“
Oh, I got it, alright. That bloody bird he sent nearly clawed my eyes out before I could grab it.” He pulled away the high collar of his uniform shirt and revealed long, red scratches down his neck and shoulders.

Grimacing, she apologized quickly,
“I’m sorry about that. If you don’t mind, can we get going on the plan? I’m feeling overexposed in here.” Arissa was nervously glancing around them, as if expecting a full battalion to come charging through the end of the tunnel towards her.

Karson lead her to a door in the side of the wall that she would never have seen
, it was camouflaged so well. He talked while she quickly made her way over to him, “Landon didn’t take the liberty in explaining to me what you needed here, just that you needed help getting into the reformatories. As far as I’m concerned –”

He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before Arissa heard the startlingly loud shot of a rifle being fired inside the tunnel. Everything happened so fast, but the next thing Arissa saw was the gushing red splatter that erupted from Karson’s shoulder as he collapsed to the ground
at her feet.

Chapter Six

Horror and shock froze on Arissa’s face, as she gazed down at the bleeding man who had just hel
ped her escape and had been shot for it. Without even bothering to think about who or how many other soldiers were beside her, she shoved the door open as far as it would go, hoping to block the soldier’s view of them.

Karson attempted to help drag himself through the door, but the weight of his body kept collapsing against his useless shoulder. Arissa
summoned as much strength and adrenaline as she could, and within a moment, she had Karson through the door. She didn’t hesitate to slam the door behind them, without even knowing where they were.

Blood gushed in dark red streams
through his clothing and between his fingers that were pressed hard against the open wound. His eyes were closed, focusing on keeping his breathing calm and steady. Hysteria would only accelerate the blood loss.

“
Karson,” Arissa gasped, not able to think for a moment. The shot had obviously been meant for her, but the marksman had been a few inches off.

She fell to her knees, immediately peeling away the soaked layers of clothing. The wound looked horrid and sickening, but she knew that he would live if it was taken care of immediately.

“You can’t let them find you,” he gasped out.

“
Karson, you got shot because of me. They were aiming for me, not you. I have to leave you. That way, they will find you and be able to help you. They won’t know you were helping me. Tell them exactly what happened, that I escaped from you and the other guard.” Her words rambled so fast, she hoped that he could actually understand her.

“
You needed...help. What is it you need?” Karson pulled himself into a sitting position, his face strained with pain.

“
I’m trying to find where they have him hidden. I know he was here.”

She didn’t need to say anything more. He understood. Nodding, he replied, his words rushed as well,
“You’re right. He was here. They moved him less than two days ago. He was alive, but that’s all I know.”

Running footsteps suddenly echoed through the tunnel, approaching them. Her voice spoke even faster.
“Do you have any idea where they went?”

Shaking his head, he struggled to stand, Arissa still clutching his arm to help support him.
“I know they have already brought him to Ravl, Tragen and Jasvil. They are not going to repeat their own tracks. That only leaves one place left that they would trust.”

“
Varkland. But that’s going into the mountains!”

“
That’s the only reasonable place left for them to go. Even they are running out of places to run to. Nobody expected you to survive this long on your own.”

“
This isn’t my fault and I have others to worry about besides myself. This will all be over soon.”

The running footsteps had slowed nearly to a walk outside the door. Arissa gripped Karson’s blood soaked hand once, already getting up to move. He called after her, quietly as possible,
“There’s an exit on your left. You can double back and find the nearest gate. I made sure it isn’t being watched.”

“
Thank you,” she whispered, but she had already turned the corner in the dark hall, suddenly running faster than she thought she was able.

Before she even had time to process the situation, Arissa came upon a still body at her feet, right in an open door. Karson was right, he had made sure it wasn’t being guarded.

Arissa was nearly out the door when she stopped, thinking quickly. The reason she had come here was to find out where they would be taking him to next, but now that she knew the information, she suddenly felt a strange draw back to the reformatories. Perhaps there was something else here that she needed to know. Everybody guarding the city would be in a mad hurry to conceal the walls and if she didn’t leave now, she might never get the chance to.

Surely the General and every other guard in the area already knew of her capture, but it didn’t make sense for them to try to kill her, when they had
accidentally hit Karson instead. If she was under arrest, they needed her for the trials that would be held. The only ones who would be trying to kill her were the endless number of troops that were no doubt trailing her all over the land, but even then, they would stop at the blockades of the cities.

She didn’t have time to think about it any longer. If there was something she should be finding out about the reformatories, it would have to wait. Right now, she needed to find the camp within the Varkland mountains. After they were reuni
ted, she could come back if necessary.

Chapter Seven

             
Three days passed before Arissa arrived at the base of the intimidating mountain ranges astride Raze. In all the time since she had left there had not been a single whisper of another human around her. There had hardly been a day when she hadn’t seen, or at least heard, the huntsmen prowling the forests looking for her. Now there wasn’t as much as a fresh track. The thought unsettled her, making her even more paranoid and alert.

             
With so much ground to cover, Arissa suddenly felt completely overwhelmed. Alone, it was almost impossible to investigate every plane and canyon of the mountain. Before rushing into what could very well be a trap, she needed to stop and make a plan.

             
Varkland was the isolated, most dangerous city in the territory, located nearly on the peak of the mountain that reached high above Arissa now. It had been officially abandoned as a functioning city years ago, although many people still chose to live there. However, they were either fugitives that were in hiding or people who had run away from the battles that had claimed most of the land in recent attacks. Cowards and thieves and traitors lived there. In Varkland, there was no law, no rules, only the single goal to survive.

             
Why the General had chosen this derelict city, Arissa couldn’t imagine. The militia never stepped foot near it, but then again, it was the last place she wanted to travel to. Perhaps that’s why they chose it, to discourage her. If that was the case, then they didn’t know the first thing about her, after all.

             
Karson’s words echoed back into her mind, informing her that even the leaders who were trying to keep ahead of her were running out of places to hide. That was both good and bad news.

The good news was that it meant they would soon be getting desperate. They thought that somebody would have been able to capture her by now, but failed. Given her past
that some considered sketchy and her present situation, Arissa was a major threat to the militia. They would be anxious for her to finally be imprisoned and would probably stop at nothing to make it happen. Doing so, they would become careless, especially since most of the army is made up of recent recruits and untrained greenhorns.

             
At the same time, it was bad news because they had an advantage over her. They held hostage one of the few things that meant anything to Arissa and they knew that. Using him as leverage against her was the smartest thing they could have done...and the stupidest. Now, Arissa would stop at nothing until she regained what she had lost and exacted her revenge on the General that she loathed.

The leader of the military
had taken over what had been left to the land after the destruction and war years ago. A mass amount of the human population had been killed or banished, leaving only small villages and settlements. The man responsible now, whose name was undisclosed, thought of himself as ruler to what was left of the forsaken land, focusing solely on building the world back up to his standards. That meant that all people were treated as worthless peasants, the lone purpose of their lives was to act on his word immediately. In addition, they were to spread the word of his great leadership to the other areas of surrounding land that had not been as fortunate as to regain the government that had been lost. The people who lived there, ultimately known as the Lost Ones, struggled for survival without the knowledge or means necessary to survive in their parts of the world. With what little was left to the countries and territories that had once been their homes, they only had one option besides dying of starvation. Only when they agreed to spend their lives serving the General and his army would they be accepted to move into the cities that Arissa knew so well. Even with the empty promise of basic staples of survival, when the Lost Ones arrived most ended up being executed simply because of where they had come from or the accent of their voices or the color of their hair. The General was very selective when it came to who he allowed in his armies and cities.

The reason Arissa knew as much as she did was because she had once been a part of it, becoming one of the most crucial figures in the General’s efforts in building his cities, sifting through his choice of people as if they were cattle. And it was directly connected to why she was being hunted now.

Distracted by her hateful thoughts of the General that she hated so much, Arissa still had not been able to decide on a solid plan. She and Raze still stood on the worn bridle path that was covered in horse tracks leading between the trees and over the knoll that started the long, treacherous journey into the mountains.

Feeling weakened and disoriented by her thoughts and before she could decide on whether or not to follow the path, Raze suddenly tossed his head in the air
. He seemed oddly focused on another trail that was leading slightly askew of the one they stood on. Fresh imprints of shod horse hooves could be seen easily in the dirt. Only military horses wore shoes.

A hopeful smile
lit Arissa’s face. “He’s here, Raze.”