Nevermor (26 page)

“She was very
warm,” Finn commented suggestively.

“And smelled
very good,” Toss added.  They were surprised that he had anything to say about
it, and at that, they all kicked up a fuss to tease him for his crush on the
girl, even though they were all doing the same.

Rifter had heard
them all going on about it, and he couldn’t say exactly why, but their comments
annoyed him to the point that he wanted to jerk each one of them up and kick
them across the room.  He had seen the girl hug them, and she had hugged him
earlier as well, but that had been different, hadn’t it?  Her thanks toward him
was more important.  He insisted on
believing
that.

“I don’t want to
hear you talk about her like that again,” he told them.  He didn’t have to
raise his voice or get angry.  He only had to say it once and he expected it to
sink in.

“We were just
goofing off, Rifter,” Finn apologized as they all grew quiet, but Rifter was
done.  He didn’t have to harbor bad feelings toward it because he expected his
word to be law.  He changed the subject.

“So, Nix didn’t
help you.  I guess he’s off sulking somewhere.”

“He took the
watch so he wouldn’t have to help with the room,” Sly said.  “Typical.”

Rifter took this
as insubordination – a willing act of rebellion – but it wasn’t worth fighting
over.  Wren was here and she was going to stay.  Nix didn’t have to like it,
but he had to accept it.

“I’m going to go
see what he’s up to,” Rifter told them.  They didn’t say anything to that, and
once he had observed their silence, he turned to Whisper.

“You sure are
sick all of a sudden,” he said suspiciously.  “I thought you were feeling fine
earlier.”

“
Go away, you
ass
!” she hissed.  “
I don’t feel well!”

He didn’t read
anything into that.  He was used to her cursing at him, most of which she’d
learned from him in the first place, and he knew she needed rest.  He left her
alone.

 Rifter went out
into the night, taking to the air for silent passage.  He looked for Nix, first
checking some of the perches where the boys often kept watch, and yet no one
was there.  Rifter did not give up, however.  He picked up on the boy’s trail,
and he had taken himself nearly to the far beach when he finally caught sight
of his brother.

Nix was hunkered
down in the bushes,
clearly stalking something
. 
Rifter had meant to test him out – to see if he was still fuming over Wren, but
he could tell just by looking at Nix that this would have to wait.

Rifter slipped
up beside him without a sound, but tapped the other twice on the shoulder, as
they had practiced to identify themselves to each other.  Nix jumped a bit at
the first touch, but he quickly recognized the sign.  Silently, he glanced at
Rifter and then pointed off toward the beach.  There, Rifter caught sight of
what Nix was watching so intently.

A few dark
figures were moving about on the sand
, oblivious to
the fact they were being watched.  Rifter was quickly able to recognize them
for what they were, even though he couldn't tell much more about them beyond
their gait
.

More pirates
.  Why?  Were
these looking for the men that Rifter had killed the night before
?  It wasn't too likely.  Men like this were rarely
sentimental.  So what were they after?

“They must have
come around from Bleed Neck Bay,” Nix whispered.  “I was waiting to see what
they’d do.”

Bleed Neck was a
pirate harbor not too far around the bend.  The Pack kept an eye on it as they
did the beach, but not much had been stirring in the settlement lately.  The
grounded seamen spent most of their days in a drunken haze – not much of a
threat to anyone except each other.  A sailor without a ship was not worth
much.

The pirates were
talking to each other, and while an occasional loud word would hit the air, the
boys could not make out what they were saying.  Perhaps it didn’t matter. 
Rifter and Nix already knew what had to be done.

“They’ve come
too close,” Nix said.  “We have to get rid of them.”

Rifter agreed. 
He didn’t like anyone getting this close to his territory, whether or not they
even knew it.  He couldn’t risk letting any of them stumble upon their home. 
He’d worked too hard to keep it a secret.

“You’re right,”
Rifter said, though he wondered how best to go about it – until an idea struck
him.  “How about a little contest?”

Nix looked at
him firmly, but then an eager smile rose up at the corners of his mouth.

“What do you propose?”

“The one who
slays the greater number wins, but we have to do it as quietly as possible.”

“Perhaps you
haven’t gone soft after all,” Nix commented approvingly.  “Alright, you’re on –
but one stipulation.  No flying.”

“No ranged
weapons then,” Rifter returned.

“Deal.”

They didn’t have
to shake on it, for their word was good enough when it came down to a bet.  The
two split up without even having to discuss it, moving in opposite directions
to creep silently through the trees along the edge.  Rifter could have been
much faster and quieter if he’d been allowed to fly, but he kept true to his
word and made his feet stay on the ground.

As he moved
closer, he could see that the men had noticed the blood on the sand from the
night before, even though the waves had pulled the bodies into the surf.  It
was common for the boys to travel across the island and kill pirates wherever
they found them, so these likely did not assume that they were so close to the Pack’s
den, but Rifter wouldn’t take chances.

By the time he
was closing in on the nearest one, Nix had already snapped the first neck.

Nix drew his
sword after that – which he didn’t quite prefer to his bow or gun, but those
were the rules they had made.  Rifter, on the other hand, loved the closeness
of the blade.  It was more personal.  He’d never seen much use for guns and
arrows, but he was quick enough that he didn’t need to leave space between
himself and his adversary.  This time, however, he would have to stay on his
feet.

Still, it will
be easy.

The pirates were
aware of them now.  Even though the boys were merely dark shadows in the night,
it was evident to the men that they were under attack.

“Look out! 
They’re here!”
 
They called out to warn each other, and Rifter found that amusing.  These men,
gangly and thin – and
old
– didn’t stand much of a chance against them.

Rifter saw a
flash as gunpowder ignited and a loud shot rang out.  He tried to remember not
to leap into the air, but ran toward the man once his shot was spent.  His
sword slid between the pirate’s ribs and pierced his heart.  Rifter didn’t stop
for him – he didn’t flinch at killing a man.  He kicked the corpse off his
sword and went for the next.

These men… 
Rifter had never been able to figure out why there were so many of them on the
island.  Hadn’t he killed enough of them by now to have wiped them out?  Yet
there always seemed to be a few, drifting back in like the nightmares that
washed up from the sea.

Why?  He’d vowed
a long time ago to stop asking himself that.  He would fight them as he had to
and he would kill them when he saw them.  That was all that needed to concern
him.

Together, he and
Nix finished them off.  Neither of them broke their agreement, but there had
never been much doubt that either would be able to perform, even with a
handicap.  It didn’t take long before the beach was secure and quiet once
again.

Nix took stock
of the outcome while searching the bodies for any weapons or articles he might
like to take.

“Well, I got
four and I think you did too,” he said, drawing four lines of blood on his
cheek.  “Looks like it’s a tie.”

Rifter heard Nix
say this, but he didn’t respond.  As he stared down at the last man he had
killed, he found that he couldn’t get away from wondering why they had been
here.  Perhaps he should have taken the time to threaten one of them before
he’d wiped them all out.  He wasn’t used to dwelling on things, but this
wouldn’t leave him now.  Why was he being so mindful all of a sudden?

“Might have been
nice to know what they were doing,” Nix said, observing his silence, reading
him well.

“That’s the
second group of pirates that have been snooping around in so many nights.  I
killed a few last night too.”

Nix looked at
him sharply.  This was news to him.

“You didn’t
mention more,” he said pointedly.

“I took care of
it,” Rifter said, but that wasn’t quite good enough for Nix.

“You should have
said something.”

“I didn’t think
it was an issue,” he said firmly, “but now it seems a little bigger than that. 
They’re stirring for some reason.”

Nix considered
it.  “You think he’s back?”

“No,” Rifter
said, and he was as sure of that as he was that his sword was sharp.  “If he
was back, I’d know.”

Nix nodded,
believing that.  “Well maybe the island is changing again,” he suggested.  “You
know that makes everyone uneasy.  Probably because you brought the girl here.”

Rifter didn’t
respond to that immediately, staring out over the water as Nix watched him. 
Nix was trying to get a rise out of him, but Rifter didn’t know what he was
looking for.  Rifter had already warned him, drawn his blood over it.  What
more was there?  Maybe Nix was trying to push him, to see how far he was
willing to go just to defend his laws.

Rifter’s first
instinct was to reach for his weapon again, but he managed to thwart himself with
a deep breath.

“Do you have
more to say about it than what you already have?” Rifter asked him pointedly.

At that, Nix
laughed – a short chuckle.  “I guess that’s up to you.”

Rifter didn’t
know what that was supposed to mean, but he did know that Nix wasn’t going to
see his side, no matter what.

“I don’t have to
explain myself to you,” he said.  “She’s here, and she stays.  It’s done.”

Nix didn’t say
anything to that, and Rifter was content to think he had relented.  They stood
there, side by side, both staring out over the water.  It was peaceful like
this.  It didn’t last long.

“Do you remember
the last time you fought him?” Nix asked suddenly.  He didn’t have to specify
who he was speaking of.  Rifter knew it well enough.

“Yes,” Rifter
said.  It hadn’t been so long ago.

“Do you?”

Rifter looked
over at him, wondering what Nix was hoping to prove.  Did he have to insist
that he remembered what had happened?  He had successfully driven his enemy
away from the island.  The man was gone, so why was Nix bringing it up?

“Of course I
remember,” Rifter assured him.

“Hm,” Nix hummed
thoughtfully.  “Then you should know what my problem is.”

Nix stared at
him boldly, and Rifter had to interpret that the only way he knew how.

“Drop it,” he
said solidly.  “We don’t speak of the fallen.”

He could tell
just by the expression on his brother’s face that Nix was irritated by that. 
Something between them had been lost.  Maybe it was because of Wren, or perhaps
something else.  He couldn’t say, but Nix had drifted, and it would take more
than a few words and promises to get him back.

“If you say so,”
he said finally, but the words were empty.  Rifter couldn’t do anything else
with that, so he gave up.

“Come on; let’s
leave a warning,” he said instead.  “I don’t want more pirates coming around
here.”

Nix agreed, and
the two of them worked to put a few of the men’s heads on poles that they’d
salvaged from some wreckage on the beach.  Any others who came this way would
know that the Pack had been here – they had done this.  They didn’t bother to
dispose of the fuller parts of the bodies.  Something would come along and
devour them eventually.

The two didn’t
say anything else to each other as they worked, or even after they had left the
beach to head back to the den.  In the underground, they went their separate
ways at the fork and both retreated to their rooms, each supposing that the
other would forget it by tomorrow.

3

Deep in the
night, while all the rest were asleep, a small glowing orb drifted slowly
through the hideaway.  The fairy wisp kept her thoughts to herself as she
floated through, observing.  She hovered over the faces of the ones sleeping
throughout, to be sure that they were truly oblivious, but if they flinched at
her light, she would whisper a blessing over them so that they would not wake
up.

She did not do
this to Rifter – never to him unless he asked.

Feeling
satisfied that she would not be disturbed, Whisper went into the last room,
hovering over the one sleeping on the circular bed.  Wren was resting peacefully,
just like the rest of them, and she was unaware in this moment that the tiny
wisp was plotting her demise.