Ki Book One (12 page)

It had been a strange experience to watch
over her as she’d slept. His own weariness weighing down his limbs,
he’d taken up post with his back resting against an old pine tree.
Half closing his eyes, he’d been sure never to let himself nod
off.

The scanner had been too much of a
distraction anyway. He’d analyzed it carefully as she’d slept.

Learning to use it properly would no doubt
take years, but for now he was confident he could at least use it
to assist them through the ranges.

When she finally woke, she snuffled for at
least half a minute, shifting restlessly before she pushed herself
up. It was a strangely cute move.

When she opened her eyes to stare his way,
he was already smiling.

“
Where—” she began.

“
We’re still in the mountains. You had to
sleep, remember? It’s a little after midday. If you think you’re up
to it, we should start moving. If we’re quick, we can make it to
the pass by tonight.”

She propped herself against a large, jutting
stone behind her. She rubbed at her arms, obviously feeling the
chill wind against them. Unfortunately neither of them were
properly equipped for this trek. The higher they went, the colder
it would get. Their only other option was to head back to the town,
but he knew that would be suicide.

“
How’s your arm?” he pulled himself up,
ignoring the stabbing pain in his legs. He’d really pushed himself
last night. He was sore all over, with more than a few cuts and
bruises. At least the effects of that drug had worn off
though.

“
Did you get any sleep?” her voice croaked
harshly.

She still hadn’t had a drop of water.

He’d been productive whilst she’d slept
though, and had found a river close by. She’d get her drink soon.
“We should get you something to drink.”

“
Did you sleep, Jackson?” she adamantly
repeated her question.

“
No.”

“
Shouldn’t you try to get some? If you need
someone to stand guard, I can.”

He shouldn’t have, but he laughed.
He hadn’t intended for it to be
callous, just light hearted. She was a priestess, she was very
injured, and she was offering to stand guard.

“
I won’t kill you,” she pushed her lips
into a frown.

“
I don’t need to sleep, yet. We’ve got to
keep on moving. If we can make the pass by nightfall...” he trailed
off.

“
We aren’t equipped for travel through the
mountains,” she said, mirroring his own thoughts. “Isn’t there some
other way? What if we come across more of those wolves? What if the
soldiers come back? They may not be able to track me anymore, but I
know they can distinguish between different biological readings
with their scanners. They’ll be able to tell two humans are up
here, and they’ll take a wild guess that it’s us.”

He’d thought of all these things already.
Nodding, he grabbed at the scanner, bringing it
up
. “You said these
things have a range of 3km? I think it’s more like 5.”

Her cheeks slackened, despair obvious. It
was hardly reassuring news, after all
. “Jackson... what do we do? Isn’t it just a
matter of time before they come back for us?”

He nodded resolutely. Of course it was.
Soldiers like that did not give up easily
. “There might be another way. I’ve been playing
with this thing while you were sleeping. It’s got an optimum range,
but different things affect it.” He walked over to show her the
device.

“
What do you mean?”

Leaning down he plucked up several stones
by his feet. Placing one directly in front of the scanner, he
tipped the screen so she could see
. “Some of the mineralogical deposits in these
rocks appear to affect its range. I tried it against one of those
large boulders, and the scanner could only just penetrate beyond.
There are heavy ore deposits all the way through these
mountains.”

“
So we stick to where the ore is most
concentrated?”

He ticked his head to the
side
. “I wish it were
that easy. Though there are heavy deposits, they aren’t everywhere.
Whole sections of Paladin’s Pass will leave us exposed.”

She deflated, her long eyelashes brushing
against her cheeks as she half closed her eyes.

“
Don’t give up though. There’s another
way,” he winced as he mentioned it.

He really, really didn’t want to have to
take it.

“
What do you mean, Jackson?”

He shifted his jaw from side to side, a
habit of his whenever he was uncomfortable. If Ki had known him for
more than a single day, she would have recognized it as a powerful
sign something was up with him.

“
Jackson?” she got to her feet. Still
pressing a hand into the rock behind her to steady herself, her
lips puckered with concern.

“
There’s a cave system. It’s long, goes all
the way underneath the pass and pops out under Paladin Mountain. It
opens on the Hydra plains. And from there it’s a simple walk onto
the highways that feed the Capital.”

Despite how wary his tone was, she smiled
instantly at his word
s.
“That’s fantastic news. Let’s take the cave system. It will be
warmer in there, presumably we’ll always have access to ground
water, and the Zeneethian scanners won’t be able to penetrate down
that far.”

“
Ki... it’s dangerous.”

She clearly did not understand, because
she dropped her head to the side and shrugged her shoulders
easily
. “And the pass
isn’t?”

“
That cave system is treacherous. It moves.
There’s heavy limestone deposits. Whenever there’s rain in the
ranges, it floods. There’s cave-ins all the time. Plus, neither of
us are equipped properly.”

“
I would prefer to take my chances with the
cave knowing the Zeneethians can’t find me there, than Paladin’s
pass,” she answered.

Her voice was so quiet he could hardly pick
it up. He understood the sentiment though.

Perhaps she was right too. The caves could
flood, the rocks could move, and they could run into a dead end.
But at least the stones would not shoot at them, scan them, or
throw futuristic concussion grenades their way.

“
Those cave systems are geologically
active,” he tried to underline his point by nodding stiffly, “we
could get halfway through only to find our path
blocked.”

She pointed down at the gun by his
feet
. “They don’t run
out of bullets easily. They have several charge settings. If we’re
careful, we could use it to blast through rock.”

“
I...” he wanted to tell her that would be
too dangerous, but he found himself stopping. In conjunction with
the scanner, that gun could cut them a path if it had to. The
scanner would have a limited range down there, but a few meters or
so would be enough to tell them whether a path opened out beyond a
section of rock wall.

Turning from her, clamping his hand on his
stubble-covered chin, he tried to think this through.

“
Jackson, it sounds like our only hope.”
Her voice wavered on the word hope.

Looking up, he cast his gaze through the
pine trees above and beyond to the sun. It was still shining
bright, but through the dense canopy he swore he could see dark
clouds gathering at the edges of the ranges.

Even in autumn those peaks could attract a
fell snow storm.

Could they really risk going up there? If
they got beyond the pass, that was. It had been hard dealing with
the wolves last night, without a cabin wall to hide behind, it
could be impossible in the open.

He nodded hesitantly. “Okay. We’ll give it
a try.”

She dipped her head and brought her hands
together
. “Great. Then
let’s get going.” Turning, she limped forward. Though he’d made her
those ramshackle shoes, no doubt they aggravated her already
swollen and cut feet.

Again a pang of guilt sailed through him for
what he’d done to her. It would, no doubt, take a long time to make
up for it.

He was up for the challenge.

As soon as he realized that, one single
thought resurfaced.

She’s Tarkan.

Despite the promises he’d made to her, and
to himself, he felt the old stab of rage at what they’d done to him
and his people. That keen hatred resurfaced like a whale from the
ocean.

He did not act on it this time.

He pushed his hands into fists, letting the
nails dig freely and deeply into his palms. The pain cut through
the rage.

He knew enough about psychology to realize
that he could not change his beliefs overnight. Any attempt to
alter something so fundamental about oneself took time. He had
spent his whole life hating her people; he couldn’t click his
fingers and reverse that. Neither did he want to. Yet he promised
himself he would try not to take it out on her.

For now, that was all he could do.

He hooked the gun over his shoulder, firmed
up his grip on the scanner, and nodded at her to start moving. As
he walked past, he caught her looking at him curiously. Her neck
was lengthened, her head cocked to the side, her eyes filled with
interest.

“
What are you looking at?” he cleared his
throat cautiously.

“
Nothing.”

“
Come on, you were staring at me like I had
a sign painted on my head.”

“
Priestesses are meant to be skilled at
empathy,” she began.

He snorted.

Her once light and curious expression soured
and she turned away.

“
Sorry. Sorry, ah... continue.”

She flashed him a warning
glance
. “We are skilled
in emotional reading and techniques. I was simply noticing the
confusion playing across your features.”

He rolled his teeth sharply over his bottom
lip. He’d always hated feeling exposed.

“
I apologize, I shouldn’t have said
anything. I’ll leave you to your thoughts.” She tried to walk
ahead, though her labored hobble could not take her far.

“
And what else do you priestesses do?” he
tried to quickly change the conversation.

“
Meditation, prayer, looking after the
monastery,” she smoothed her hand down her middle, a far-off smile
spreading her lips.

She had a very distant quality about her in
that moment.

“
You mean you stay holed up in the hills
away from the distractions of a modern life?” he asked, faltering
as he realized his question sounded far worse than he’d
meant.

“
Not at all. The priestess clan of Tarkan
is meant to serve the people. We offer any who seek us out our aid
in quelling their emotions and healing trauma.”

Again he wanted to laugh, but he stifled
it with a strange gulping cough
. “What do you mean?”

“
We’ve always safeguarded powerful
techniques, handed down through the ages,” she took an enormous
breath, not staring at him as she spoke, but glancing ahead at the
mountains beyond. “Meditation, massage, pressure point
techniques.”

“
I... see.” He didn’t know how to respond.
This conversation had taken him somewhere he’d never expected to
go.

Just how much did he really know about Ki?
Apparently he knew nothing about Tarkan priestesses. He’d assumed
she’d have just spent her days locked up in some room reading old
dusty texts.

“
People would come from all over Tarkan to
see us. From simple farmers to heads of state. I once helped
General Arcadus with his insomnia,” she noted through a far-off
laugh.

He didn’t join in.

She finally turned to him. “Oh...
sorry.”

“
I can’t say I ever helped Arcadus sleep,
but I have fought against him on the battle field,” grinding his
teeth, he tried not to sound too harsh.

Arcadus was a legend to the Tarkans; the
general who had won more battles than any other. To the Ashkans he
was a monster.

Ki dropped back, brushing at her arms
distractedly as she tried to look anywhere but at him.

He had to change the subject. If he let
himself be pulled into a discussion about Arcadus, he would end up
losing his temper. Old wounds would resurface all too readily and
he’d likely go back on his earlier promise not to turn on her
again. If he wanted to give this a chance, he had to find a way to
suppress or divert his natural rage towards the Tarkans.

“
I’m sorry, I—” she began, voice
soft.

“
Hold on, I thought you said it was not
permitted for Tarkan Priestesses to touch men, how exactly do you
give a man a massage then? Do you do it with a broom?”

It was the perfect way to change the
subject; instantly her demeanor changed and she lost the withdrawn
edge to her body language.

Twisting her neck up in that haughty way
he’d come to recognize, she shook her head. “No, we are permitted
to touch. Others must ask for our permission though. Especially
men.”

He enjoyed a laugh at
that
. “Oh of course.
Does it have to be in writing?” He laughed harder at his own bad
joke, or perhaps more at the way her gaze hardened with alarm and
indignation.

“
You may find our traditions humorous, but
priestesses are a respected part of Tarkan society.”