B0161NEC9Y (F) (7 page)

“There’s no point in going if we don’t have mental workers,” Cayan said in a low voice. Shanti could feel the pain in him, and also the anger and desperation to get moving. He wanted to leave every bit as badly as Sanders. As she did. But he didn’t get where he was by being hasty.

“There’s you and her,” Tobias said. “You guys rocked the Graygual at the last battle. This wouldn’t be a big deal for you, would it?”

“Everything depends on what he’s got behind those walls,” Shanti said in contemplation as the rest of the Honor Guard came running in, out of breath and wide-eyed. Without a word, they went into the back corner with Marc, clearly knowing they’d be told to leave if they interrupted. Shanti continued, “Using the mind is just like the sword. You’re an excellent fighter, Sanders, and can take five men on alone if they are decent. You can take two if they’re good. One if they are topnotch. Just you against twenty, though…”

“What level of mental assault will the Hunter have gathered, do you think?” Cayan asked.

Shanti braced her hands on her hips. “It’s hard to say. So far, he’s had some of the best. I’ve had a hard time combating them, especially since he knows to keep them in pairs or in groups. But he’s an outcast now. I have no idea what he may still have at his disposal.”

Cayan shook his head and looked out of the window. “We can’t just sit here.
I
can’t just sit here. Not when my people are in danger. We need to get closer and assess.”

Shanti felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. The Hunter was cunning and ruthless. There was no telling what he would do to Cayan’s people to get what he wanted. She only hoped they weren’t already too late.

Chapter Five

Kallon crouched in the tall grasses with his sword at the ready and his fighting brothers and sisters all connected with a mind link. The horses they’d either stolen or been given were all tied in a cluster of trees just over the hill. In front of him, sitting around a fire with cups in their hands and self-assurance in their bearing, sat a host of Graygual and Inkna.

“We are outnumbered,” Mela said softly, crouched beside him holding two throwing knives. Night had fallen, making everywhere beyond the firelight a hiding spot.

“In number only. Those Inkna are weak, and I doubt the Graygual can match our swords.” Kallon glanced to his right and met eyes with Sayas. His sub-leader’s team was in position. Kallon looked left, finding Tulous. He was ready, too. Expectation buzzed through their merged
Gifts.

“Okay, let’s get ready.” Kallon nodded to the others, increasing the buzz of expectation within their merge. He felt a pulse of eagerness.
Ready!

He moved out in slow, deliberate steps. Everyone else stepped out at the same time. The half-circle of fighters closed in around those in the firelight, completely unaware. Kallon started to pick up speed, increasing the buzz in their minds. Their
Gifts
coiled, ready to lash out. He was jogging now, his footfalls slightly louder, but still lost to the unobservant.

A horse, tethered outside the camp, neighed. A few more started giving sounds of unease, stamping hooves and shifting stances.

At last, one of the Graygual glanced up. Kallon couldn’t see his eyes in the low light, but the plane of the Graygual’s face pointed at the horses for a long moment. Kallon could almost see his thought process cranking to life with rusty spokes. The Graygual glanced around.

Kallon started running. The rest followed, shifting to form more of a circle before closing in, suffocating the enemy in perfect synchronization. They surrounded the Graygual before the enemy even knew what was coming.

“Look out!” one yelled, jumping up and ripping out his sword.

Too late. Tanna, excellent with knives and close combat, descended on him. She batted away his weapon with her sword and stuck him through the gut.

A blast of mental pain stabbed at Kallon, then swept around his group. Tulous took point,
thrusting
a single point of pain at the mind, fracturing it. Sayas
frayed
the other two Inkna, deadening their thoughts.

Kallon rushed at two Graygual who were standing, their swords not finding their hands nearly fast enough. Kallon pulled out a knife as he struck with his sword, piercing the chest of one. He stabbed the other through the lower neck. Both men buckled to their knees with screams of pain.

Stepping over someone Mela had taken down, Kallon lunged at another, slashing with his knife to clear the man out of his path. He skirted the fire, as he entered their midst, a lethal phantom.

A sword strike came at him. He dodged to the side and then struck. His blade sliced flesh. He was already moving on.

Dannon, the largest and strongest of their people, grabbed a Graygual throat with his bare hand. He clamped down and tore, ripping flesh. The enemy scream ended in no more than a gurgle.

Kallon dodged Mela, who was making short work of a grungy Graygual, and found their officer. He was hanging back, watching the melee with a cunning stare. Even as Kallon advanced, the officer inched back toward the horses. It was clear leaving was on his mind.

“You’ve forgotten your training,” Kallon said as he advanced.

“It
is
true. You live.”

“Yes. Were you there? Did you cut my people down?”

Fear worked into the man’s gaze. “I was told to. Those were the orders!”

White-hot rage stole Kallon’s breath for one moment. He felt its mirror race around the merge. Cooling himself, he advanced on this disgusting creature with a sure step. “As I said, you’ve forgotten your training.”

A small crease wormed between the man’s brows. He licked his lips, showing his nervousness. “I haven’t forgotten anything.”

Kallon lunged. His sword tip cut through the air toward the man’s side. The defensive block came too late, and the answering strike was slow and clumsy. In confusion, Kallon stepped back, still in his ready stance. “You weren’t trained as an officer…” He eyed the four stripes on the man’s breast.

The man licked his lips again. He didn’t offer an explanation.

Kallon struck, slicing the Graygual’s other side. “Why do you hold this position?”

A mad gleam lit up the man’s eyes. “Because I took it, that’s why! We were offered women and rewards. I had mine already picked out. They said I could have my pick!” He rushed Kallon, his sword work all over the place.

Ringing steel echoed through the camp, Kallon not doing more than blocking. Panting, the man fell to his knees, floundering.

“How did you kill an officer?” Kallon asked.

The man climbed to his feet painfully. He spat. “We were all promised rewards. They weren’t delivering. So we took what was ours, including this uniform. He wasn’t so good with a blade in his sleep. People do what you say when you wear this uniform. They go along quietly. And when they don’t, you’re free to force them. I can take the rewards due to me now. It’s within my power.”

A crawling sensation filled Kallon’s stomach. His hand tightened on his sword. “I could make you suffer. I could exact justice for the things you’ve done.” Kallon wiped and then sheathed his blade. The man staggered, clutching his sides. “But I could never torture you the same way your brethren will.”

Kallon turned and walked toward the horses. “Swap out our rides for any that are better, and send the rest of the horses on their way. Leave his food.”

“Wait…what are you doing?” the man begged. He staggered toward Kallon.

“I’m leaving you to the Graygual.” Kallon threw a bag of food to the ground.

“No! Please.” The man stumbled, falling to his hands and knees. “No. Let me go.”

“Not so sure of yourself now, are you?” Mela asked with a disgusted expression.

“You must’ve known this would happen.” Sayas put his hands on his hips, surveying the man. “Obviously you were going to get caught eventually. Any fool would have known that.”

“The army is stretched too thinly.” The man reached out imploringly for Sayas. “The officers are in short supply. Please, I can show you the way. After I killed the officer, I’ve been avoiding the Graygual for months.”

Kallon jingled a satchel of gold and silver, then put it into his pocket. “It looks like your luck has run out.”

A shock of pain ripped through Kallon’s mind. The Inkna on their trail were in range.

He threw up his shields and felt everyone else do the same. “Grab the horses. Go! We’re out of time.”

“They’re gaining on us, Kallon,” Mela said, slapping the butt of a shaggy mount. She grabbed the reins of another. “We have to move faster.”

Kallon hesitated for a moment. He felt the Chosen’s call. He felt the need to go to her with a strength he hadn’t experienced before. Something in him said she was in grave danger, and the disorganization this Graygual deserter spoke of was due to Xandre focusing his mind elsewhere. There was only one person who would distract Xandre.

On the other hand, if he ran now, he’d continue to be chased. He would lead the Graygual to the Chosen’s doorstep. If she wasn’t prepared for it, or had her own battles to fight, Kallon could single-handedly end this land’s hope.

His gaze hit Mela. He was not able to decide if he should go or stay. A flat look of resignation gazed back.

She’d had the same thoughts, and her choice was clear. They had to protect the Chosen with their lives if need be.

They would have to stay and fight.

Kallon looked around, analyzing their location. They were cutting across the land on a northern angle, aiming for the more densely wooded areas clustered at the base of the small Westwood mountain range. Currently their surroundings were mostly flat and open, great for a battle between large armies facing off, but horrible if their force was outnumbered. If they fought here, they’d be slaughtered.

“We’ll go until we find a place we can defend,” Kallon said, action again. “We need to be smart about this. Let’s get moving. We haven’t much time.”

Chapter Six

“Oh my God, I’ve never wanted to see dry land so much in my life!” Rachie staggered off the dock and fell to his knees in the mud.

“What about the first crossing?” Shanti asked, shouldering her pack as she stepped off behind him.

“Too far back to remember.”

She scanned the banks and the roads off to either side. There was not one Graygual uniform, as they’d seen from the approach. Unless their intentions were shielded from her
Gift
,
as Burson’s might be, no one paid them any special attention, or seemed to be watching for them. They could’ve been any strangers landing on the banks.

A sense of foreboding filled her as she walked toward the street leading up to the city.

Rohnan fell in beside her. “How long will we stay here?”

Shanti started toward the road leading to the heart of the town. “Just tonight. Cayan and the guys are eager to get home.”

“I don’t blame them, and in their place, I would want to do the same thing, but I’m not sure it is the right plan.”

“It’s not. It can’t be. Cayan and I can’t beat whatever the Hunter has prepared, and Sonson is a week behind us, at best. We’re probably walking into captivity.”

“And yet you are still willing.”

“I walked away once already, Rohnan. I walked away from our people being slaughtered. I will not do it again. Cayan and his people have given me life, they have sent men with me to gain the title of Chosen, and they trusted me when I said their people would be safe if I left. I was wrong. And now I will try to make that right. I will gladly trade places with his people if that is the only option.”

Rohnan nodded once. He didn’t comment.

“You don’t have to come,” Shanti said quietly.

“You have to go for the Captain. I have to go for you. Sanders was right. If we aren’t fighting for family, what are we fighting for? Besides, you’ll need someone to rescue you. It’s my turn.”

“You’ll probably have to fight Sanders for that job.” Shanti felt a surge of spiciness licking up her core, something she usually felt in the more intimate moments with Cayan. She turned back as she crested the hill, spotting him immediately as he stood at the end of the dock. His men were unloading the ship, walking past him to lay their needed travel equipment and supplies together on the ground.

He didn’t move; he didn’t need to. She could feel his warning fizzing up her spine before it turned into a spike of fear. Finally, the complex feelings carrying a clear directive softened into overall warmth, infusing her body and tingling out through her limbs. He was telling her to stay out of trouble, but if she landed in it, to inform him with a shock of fear. The last was his mental version of calling her
mesasha.

She blew out a breath. They were almost better at speaking without words. They’d been practicing without meaning to, communicating with their
Joining
while in training, or from across the Shadow Lands. Or when entwined in each other’s bodies. It almost felt better to feel the meanings than hear the words.

“I’ve really stuck my foot in it,” she mumbled, calling up the weighty feeling he would know as disgruntled acknowledgement.

Shanti glanced around them, looking for anything suspicious. Her mind spread out, feeling for the same thing. The lateness of the afternoon meant many of the patrons had gone home, and now the traders’ stalls were being taken down and put away. A few people ambled along the path around them, one drunk and staggering. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was almost…normal.

She mentioned the latter.

“It
is
normal,
Chulan
. These people are living their life. They won’t understand the danger of the Graygual until it is upon them. Until then, they’ll carry on, looking after their families.”

“The Graygual were here. It should’ve been upon them…”

“When Xandre came through, he didn’t want his presence known. You were his goal, not this town.” Rohnan’s eyes were scanning faces. “I wonder about the way back, however. Why not capture the town then? Where are the Graygual now?”