The Journey of the Marked (The Miyran Heir Book 1) (5 page)

Prizene peered out the cloudy diner
window again and pushed her fiery red, curly hair out of her eyes. She always
loved her hair, but now that she needed to blend in, it was a liability. She
tucked a lock behind her ear and turned back to her broth.

She glanced toward the counter to
see the odd-looking server, whose face appeared to be smashed-in, darting his
eyes away from her. The other diners seemed just as strange as the server. They
were quite fascinating, actually. As a child, Prizene dreamed of leaving the
protective barriers of the northern foothills and meeting other species. Now
that she had finally gained the incentive to leave, she needed to be careful. She
rubbed the mark behind her left ear, then began fiddling with the locket she
wore around her neck. At least the mark blended well with her red hair, such
that only someone looking closely could see it. A Graelith was unlikely to even
realize she was marked.

Was leaving home the right decision?
Her father could probably have hidden her. As Krystics rarely were marked, the
Tyrnotts likely wouldn’t have searched their home. She never would have been
happy, though, cooped up indoors all the time. She had made an agreement with
her friend, Traudin, after he was marked to find him in the city, and she
intended to keep her end of the bargain. Traudin had lived two houses away from
her. He was “difficult,” according to her father and stepmother, though he
could always enliven their horribly boring social affairs. Traudin dreamed of
being a Miyran warrior and used to practice warrior games constantly. Of
course, he required a sparring partner, which was how he and Prizene became
good friends. Prizene’s father was appalled and forbade her to play with
Traudin. While she respected her father, she never stopped.

Her mother had fallen victim to
random violence when she was less than a year old. At least that was the
official story. Her father believed the incident was prompted by the Tyrnotts,
though he lacked proof and the ability to challenge them. She learned early in
life that their world wasn’t safe and that she had to protect herself. She
developed good fighting techniques and, unlike most delicate female Krystics,
was able to deftly wield a number of bladed weapons.

The one important detail Traudin
and Prizene failed to decide was exactly where they would meet. Certainly, she
carried enough coins to survive for a time in the city, but she needed a place
where no one would notice her. She had been wandering the city for days,
debating what to do. This neighborhood thrived with the bustle of shoppers and,
though this wasn’t the safest part of town, she could easily lay low here until
she decided her next step. Luckily, the weather was still cool enough that she
could cover her head to blend better with the crowds, but warmer weather would
arrive soon.

She sipped the rather bland broth
as she watched the passersby outside the diner, noting the many different
species. Then one caught her eye — a skinny boy with fluffy hair that bounced
when he walked, brown hair with bright green tips. The boy was intriguing, but
the two Graeliths moving at a steady pace not far behind him were even more so.
Were they following him? As the boy wove in and out of the crowd, so did the
Graeliths. As he stopped to view goods in a shop window, the Graeliths stopped
as well. No one else mirrored the actions. It must be the boy they were after. His
hair was full enough that even if he were marked, the mark would not
necessarily be visible. Still, he carried a full knapsack and his clothes
weren’t common to the city. He wore heavy brown pants and jacket with lots of
pockets and a thin, cream-colored, flowing shirt. He must have ventured to the
city to join the royal warriors, as many outbounders did each year. Whether or
not he was marked, he was an easy target.

The boy turned and paused for a
moment. Perhaps he noticed the Graeliths after all. But wait — he was simply
stopping to help a female citizen lift a parcel onto a city street transport
hovering a foot above the ground. The woman smiled at the boy and patted his
shoulder before the transport’s doors shut. The boy watched the transport zip
away down the street. Surely he could see the Graeliths now, but if he did, he
showed no concern. He turned and continued down the street, the Graeliths
moving along behind him.

Prizene smiled as she thought about
his generosity. He showed such kindness to help another when no one else would.
She gulped one last spoonful of her broth, pulled on her jacket and bag, and
tossed coins onto the table, catching the server’s eye as she did. The server
nodded, as she opened the door and made her way onto the busy street.

Five days’ walk from the southwest
wall of Caldot, far beyond the town of Banston and east of the Western mountain
range, lay the forest of Kullac. Darkness was falling when Anthony finally
arrived at the small log cabin deep in the forest. It was the house Isabelle
had shared with her son, Eros, before he departed for Caldot. He rapped on the
door, and almost too quickly it was opened by Isabelle. She anxiously motioned
for him to come inside.

After closing the door behind him,
he followed her into the kitchen. He watched her pick up a knife and fork to
continue carving a roast. She was an attractive woman with strawberry blonde
hair tied loosely with a string. Her clothes fit well and showed an athletic
body not unused to rigorous work. Even without facial enhancements, she still
radiated a charm he fought to resist. He stretched and sat at the little table.
He ran tough, calloused hands through his thick, dirty-blond hair and rubbed
his hands over his stubbly beard. Closing his eyes for a moment, he rested for
the first time since leaving with Eros.

“Did Eros make it to the city?” she
asked curtly.

He took a deep breath and expelled
it slowly. “Yes. I dropped him at the edge of the southwest side. The level of
activity in that area should provide some security for a Human boy alone.”

Anthony reached for a piece of
bread and began eating, as he had traveled a great distance that day and was
hungry. Given his cargo, he had taken a circuitous route to prevent anyone from
tracking his flight path. As he ate, he watched Isabelle. Her shoulders were
drawn up, as she hunched over the roast, carving in a kind of frenzy. He
sighed, arose from the chair, and walked over to her, resting his hands on her
shoulders. “Izza,” he said more gently. “He was well prepared. You taught him
enough to survive, more than most parents. Take comfort in that.”

She stopped carving and laid down
the utensils. After standing still for moment, she turned to face Anthony. She
said slowly and with emphasis, “No, you don’t understand. The Graeliths came
after Eros. They knew he was marked. Someone told them.”

Anthony took a step back and
considered this, “Who knew he was likely to be marked besides you and me?”

“I told no one. You?”

“No, I never mentioned it to anyone.
But, Isabelle, many in Kullac knew you were once marked yourself, not to
mention your father. Didn’t you tell me you thought the Graeliths followed you
sometimes in town? Perhaps they assumed he would be marked as well.”

She hesitantly agreed. “Perhaps. At
least we were cautious enough to celebrate his birthday a week late each year. The
Graeliths would have killed him for certain otherwise.”

Anthony smiled. “That’s the spirit.
He’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. He’s a bright boy and very skilled. If any of
the marked ones can find the training camp, I’m sure he can. Did you ever show
him the location?”

“Only once, many years ago. I dared
not take him again for risk of exposing its location to others.”

“Well, let’s hope he recognizes it,
once he makes his way to the forest. Do you think I was wrong to drop him near
the city?”

“No,” she assured him without
hesitation. “That was the safest place. With the increased scrutiny of air
transports, dropping him near the forest would have been too risky. The
Graeliths likely patrol there now.”

“If someone did reveal Eros’s
identity, why do you suppose the fact you were once marked has never been an
issue other than keeping an eye on you?”

Isabelle looked at Anthony and
laughed in self-mockery, “Who, me? A Miyran reject? Worth anything to the
Tyrnotts or the Graeliths? No one would believe that.”

Anthony chuckled. Isabelle finished
carving and brought more dishes to the table. He helped her and they sat down
to eat. The conversation shifted to the routine details of daily life, and for
the rest of the evening they avoided the topic of Eros’s journey.

Prizene skirted around the two
Graeliths and skipped casually down the street toward the boy. He still
meandered along, stopping to gawk in shop windows. She caught up with him and
linked her arm in his. Startled, he tried to pull away, but she tightened her
grasp, propelling him along.

She gave him a warm smile to
counter his evident surprise. “I’m Prizene. You passed a diner a few minutes
ago where I was eating lunch. Don’t look now, but you do realize that two
Graeliths are following you?”

He stopped suddenly and spun around.
She groaned and placed her hand to her forehead.
That was not a smart thing
to do. Why didn’t I tell him more carefully?
Her stomach tightened as she
turned around. She grimaced. Sure enough, the Graeliths had stopped walking,
their eyes were now riveted on Prizene and the boy. She swallowed hard. Then
the Graeliths broke into a run, coming directly toward them. So much for her
planned artful getaway. She grabbed the boy’s hand and took off at a mad dash. Luckily,
he responded quickly and ran with agility. They dodged other shoppers, jumping
over several boxes sitting at the curb. Prizene met the eyes of a few shoppers,
hoping to find help. None was offered.

She looked over her shoulder,
relieved to see that the Graeliths had fallen behind. The boy ran ahead of her,
which cleared the path, making it easier for her to keep up with him. Within a
few minutes, they reached the southeast corner of the marketplace, now thick
with shoppers. The boy slowed momentarily and looked back toward her. His eyes
widened and his mouth dropped open. It was a look that filled her with dread. Did
she really want to know what was behind her? She blew out a sharp breath and
stole a glance. At least five Graeliths now tracked them.

When his eyes met hers again, she
saw the fear. She motioned him onward. They bolted into the crowd, zig-zagging
their way through moving clumps of shoppers. She heard a loud crash behind
them, but didn’t dare turn to see what had happened. She kept her eyes focused
on the boy and stayed as close to him as she could. The crowd thinned ahead and
they soon pushed through to the northwest end of the marketplace. The boy darted
into one of the nearby lanes and she followed him. She wasn’t familiar with
this part of town and hoped he knew where he was going.

They made turn after turn. All the
alleys looked the same — dank and dingy. She rounded the next corner after the
boy, only to run into him. She stood on tiptoe and peered over his shoulder. Two
more Graeliths were sprinting toward them from the opposite direction.

“Come on!” she yelled, retracing
their steps and running back to the alley they had just left. They turned in a
new direction and, halfway down the next alley, the boy hesitated and she
stopped beside him. This passageway was long and narrow with no other openings
besides the ones at either end and a few closed gates farther along. They had
no options. Her eyes canvassed the length of the alley, but there was nowhere
to hide.

“We should turn back,” he said, a
quiver in his voice. He backed up and started to return from the direction they
had come just as the Graeliths rounded the corner — seven of them now. They slowed
and glared at Prizene and the boy, their mouths curled upward, baring their
teeth.

Prizene and the boy turned and ran
the remaining length of passage, trying the gates and finding each locked. At
the end, the opening led to a small square. They stopped in the middle. She
scanned the walls. “The only opening is the one we just came through.” She
began backing toward the wall on the far side of the square. The boy followed
her lead.

The Graeliths entered the square as
a group and spread across in front of them. The square held a few trash bins,
but nothing else. They were trapped. Tears threatened to spill from Prizene’s
eyes. What could they do? The Graeliths growled and snorted, obviously enjoying
the fear they provoked.

The boy pulled something from his
pocket. She had never seen the device before. Was it a weapon? He pulled the
lever on the top toward him, pointed it toward the Graeliths, and pressed the
button on the handle. A short, red beam shot out of what was apparently a laser
gun. Where did he find that? The force of the blast jerked his arm upwards,
causing him to lose his balance and topple over a refuse can behind them,
spilling trash onto the ground.

She turned toward the Graeliths;
they were rooted to the ground and the growling had stopped. They were staring
at a spot in the wall where the laser beam had removed a chunk of stone. As the
boy quickly jumped back to his feet, the Graeliths briefly looked at each
other, then turned wide eyes toward the boy.

He grabbed the handle of the weapon
with both hands, and began firing repeatedly. The rapidly fired red beams took
chunks out of the stone walls and ground. One of the Graeliths cursed and they
began diving wildly in every direction. At first, the shots seemed random, but
as she watched, the boy’s aim noticeably improved. Finally, he hit one of the
Graeliths along the side of the leg. The Graelith howled, then turned angry
eyes toward his assailant. The boy stopped firing. He turned to look
uncertainly at her.

She drew in a deep breath and yelled
at the Graeliths, “Leave us alone!”

The injured Graelith let out a
loud, terrifying roar. The boy jumped backwards in shock, lost his balance, and
stumbled once again into the pile of trash.

Suddenly, two Graeliths fell to the
ground, blood pouring from them. Five fighters had appeared behind the
Graeliths with swords slashing. Who were these fighters? And why were they
helping when no one else would? One Graelith blocked the attack from another
fighter with a long-handled, serrated sickle. Another Graelith shifted, bearing
only a nick to his snout, as a fighter swung his sword. Prizene grabbed the boy
and pulled him behind the bins. He pushed the lever on the top of the gun and
tucked it away inside his coat. She peered over the bins occasionally, hypnotized
by the fierce fight with neither side gaining advantage.

One of the Graeliths landed a solid
blow on the left side of a fighter’s head, knocking him unconscious. The
remaining fighters occupied, the Graelith turned toward Prizene and the boy. He
covered the square quickly. Prizene frantically looked at the boy. He was
hunched behind a can, not watching the fight. “Your gun!” she pleaded with
desperation. “Quickly!”

The boy jumped up, fumbling with
the gun inside his jacket. The Graelith tossed the can aside and swung his
right claw, cutting deeply into the boy’s side. Prizene had to do something. She
threw her weight against the Graelith, knocking him off-balance. On her rebound
she grabbed a nearby bin and slammed it into his head. The Graelith fell to the
ground, motionless.

She dropped the container and ran
to the boy’s side. He collapsed against her and she slowly lowered him to the
ground. She needed to slow the bleeding, but she didn’t have anything useful in
her pack. What could she do?

“Put pressure on the wound!”
someone yelled.

With her hands, she applied as much
force as she could. The boy winced. She looked at the on-going scuffle. One of
the fighters was stealing glances in her direction. He nodded curtly at her, as
an indication she was doing the right thing. He was massive, standing nearly as
tall as the Graelith he was fighting and was a little overweight. He must be a
daunting adversary.

In the next few minutes, one of the
fighters inflicted a severe wound on one of the Graeliths. The four conscious
Graeliths edged away from the fighters and retreated from the square. The
fighters checked on their unconscious companion and each other, except for the
large one. He walked directly toward Prizene and the boy.