The Silver Siren (18 page)

Joss never did those things
excessively because he thought it was a waste of valuable energy. I
had forgotten for a second how wonderful the Denai truly were, but
now I was to go home and pretend to be something I wasn’t—again.
And I realized right then, I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want
to go home in disgrace. But if I stayed with the caravan, there
would be no way to avoid it.

Because Kael was on duty as a hired
guard, I knew he wouldn’t sleep anywhere near me tonight. I doubted
he would sleep at all over the next few days. My determination
grew. When the time was right, I would leave my
companions.

I didn’t have a plan on where I was
going to head, but I knew I didn’t want to come home with my tail
tucked between my legs, and I didn’t want to lead the clan. More
tears slid down my face as I mentally walked out the consequences
of my decision. I was planning on never seeing my father again. I
found it hard to breathe. The wagon moved slightly and I opened my
teary eyes to see Hemi wrapped in a blanket leaning against the
wheel to try and sleep sitting up. I caught a hiccup in my throat
and rolled over away from him. I’d be abandoning Hemi to my
father’s wrath as well. At that thought, my soul all but shriveled
up and died.

I was a terrible person.

~~~

Another nightmare attacked my dreams
and I awoke shivering and shaking. I turned over and looked at the
fires.

Something was wrong. They had all
burned out and only smoldering coals remained. I tried to take
stock of the camp, but the moon was hidden by shadows. Someone
tiptoed past me and went over to Brecken, whose wall of fire had
dissipated. The silhouette leaned forward, and a second later,
Brecken was lifted into the air and slung over the taller person’s
shoulder.

The wagon creaked above as someone
stepped into the bed. I could hear whispering. “Here, take the
girl. I’ll grab the older one. Make sure you stuff their mouth with
cloth. The others will start to wake up soon, and I would hate for
these couple to start screaming.”

I was instantly wide-awake. I slid my
hand over to try and shove Hemi. He’d collapsed and was sleeping
soundly on his side. I shook him, but he didn’t move. I even tried
to pinch him, but he was knocked out and snoring loudly.

Someone stepped out of the wagon, and
I saw the flash of red robes.

My body froze. The
Septori. They were here.
They are
kidnapping the Denai students.
I heard a
branch break and my head snapped in the direction of Tydus. Someone
was snapping and breaking the branches around Tydus’s hanging
bed.

Faraway!

Hmm?
A sleepy voice answered.

The Septori are stealing
the students!

Instantly he was
alert.
“Not if I can help it”

A loud scream from Faraway pierced the
night, and the second Septori that was coming out of the wagon
cussed in surprise. “What was that?”

Faraway let out another frightening
scream. The other horses he was tied up with started to get nervous
from his temperament.

“
It came from one of those
horses.”

“
It could wake the
others.”

“
Then you better go take
care of it, and silence the beast.”

I held my breath in horror at the
thought of him killing Faraway. He couldn’t.

One of the Septori leaned forward and
put the unconscious Karni on the ground. The other moved away in
the darkness and approached the horses. I grabbed Karni and pulled
her under the wagon, hiding her behind Hemi’s large form. I took my
blanket and draped it over her.

I slipped out from under the back of
the wagon and very carefully tracked the Septori that was heading
toward the horses. My heart pounded heavily in my chest, and I
could feel my ears start to ring from stress. A tingling sensation
ripped through my hands as I pulled a knife out of my boot. A
moment later, I struck. I was swift, quiet and deadly…just like
Kael had taught me. The infiltrator slumped to the ground in a
heap, and the horses quieted their noise. I wiped off the blood on
the grass. I untied Faraway’s tether from the tree and let him
free. I needed his extra set of eyes.

I needed to find Kael.

I needed to find Joss.

Where were the guards? I tripped over
someone in the dark, landing on something warm and soft. I stifled
a scream as I recognized the familiar uniform of one of the
Calandry guards. I pulled away and reached for his neck, feeling
for a pulse and relieved to find a steady one. He was alive. I left
the unconscious guard on the ground and stood up to run toward
another robed figure who was leaving with Emry.

I was about to reach the Septori when
the ground opened up in front of him and he sunk down to his waist
in quick sand. He had dropped his prize, and the young girl fell to
the ground a safe distance from the deadly sand.

“
Wha—?” He yelled and
tried to scramble out of the ground, sinking lower and lower.
Within seconds he was gone and the earth hardened once again. There
was no hint of the tomb buried below. A blonde girl ran out of the
shadows and checked on the younger girl. Syrani! I was somewhat
taken aback by her efforts. She hefted Emry in her arms and looked
around in confusion. It was clear she didn’t know what to do
then.

“
Woods!” I whispered
loudly from behind her. “Run to the woods.”

Syrani jumped and let out a little
noise in fear. Once she recognized me, her eyes widened, and I
thought I saw a small hint of relief. She turned and carefully
headed into the dense trees, carrying the young girl.

Thalia, they’re
leaving!

Stop them. We can’t let
them leave with the students!

It was time to stop being quiet and
stealthy. I didn’t know if anyone else was awake during the
midnight ambush. I had to do what Kael always said to and assume
the worst.

I ran into the middle of camp, making
every single fire relight at once and blaze angrily into the night
sky. I wasn’t going to hide. I wanted to see how many of my
attackers there were, and I wanted to face them. I’d usually become
the strongest when I was angry.

And right now, I was
ticked.

I launched the burning logs like
missiles at the men. One screamed before he was silenced by my
fiery dart. I wanted the robes to burn. I wanted to see their
faces. One of the taller men yelled and tried to pat down his robe
but the flames spread quickly. He ripped the robe from his body,
revealing his Calandry military uniform and flung it to the ground
away from him. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, panting with
fear before he looked up and realized what he had done.

Familiar eyes met mine and my heart
plummeted.

I halted my attack midair and let the
fire fall to the ground, dissolving. There are times in my life
where I think I can handle anything. But I wasn’t prepared for
this—not Garit.

“
Thalia, I can explain.”
Garit held up one hand to me, while his other hand rested on his
sword. His discarded Septori robe lay burning in the grass next to
him. He took a step toward me and I mirrored his step by walking
toward him.

He licked his lips and smiled wanly at
me. “It’s just a job, you know. I was at a tavern in town and
someone approached me.” The others in red moved nearer, closing
in.

I wanted desperately to hear his
explanation—to hear the reasons Garit changed sides and was working
for the Septori. I wanted to know how long and why.

But not at the expense of the Denai
lives. I wouldn’t let what happened to me happen to anyone
else.

“
How many of you?” I
asked. “How many more like you have been compromised?”

“
It’s not like that,”
Garit crooned. He turned his green eyes on me pleadingly, asking me
to trust him.

I watched his sword hand until he was
within four feet. Then I stared into his eyes and waited for the
tell. The sign. It came seconds later.

His eyes widened just a millimeter and
I rolled. His sword swung and missed me by seconds. He yelled and
lunged. I stepped back and directed all of my anger on on his
blade. It shattered and Garit froze mid-attack.

His mouth gaped open in shock and he
stumbled backwards holding his stomach, where a piece of his
shattered sword had blown back and impaled him.

I let out a cry of grief and reached
out to help him, but he fell forward and I rushed to catch
him.

“
Garit, I’m so sorry. I
wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear.”

“
But I was…and I wouldn’t
have stopped trying until you killed me,” he rasped out.

“
Garit. Where are the
others? Where’s Joss?”

“
Gone. They were the first
ones,” he gasped in pain. “They were the first to be
taken.”

“
Gone? Taken where,
Garit?”

“
I don’t know,” he
whispered, losing strength. “They no longer care about you. To much
a risk. But we were to ordered to get the SwordBrother at all
costs.” Garit grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly. He started to
sputter, and I reached out to try and heal him, but I was yanked
backwards off of him.

“
Thalia,” he
groaned.

I kicked my feet as one of the Septori
rolled me to my back and jumped on me. I couldn’t believe I had let
myself be sidetracked by Garit, that I lost my
peripherals.

I turned my face to spit out a
mouthful of dirt and the man punched me. Bright lights flickered in
my vision, and I could feel myself start to black out. His fist
rose into the air again, but a giant boulder came barreling through
the air straight at him and knocked him off me.

I looked to the edge of the camp.
Syrani’s hands were raised as she used her power to attack the
remaining Septori. She didn’t stop after the first attack. The
ground shook as more large boulders and rocks rose out of the earth
around her, and she sent a barrage at the rest of the Septori. Her
mouth was pressed into a determined line as she focused on killing.
The girl was a deadly force, her beauty deceiving. I shuddered to
think back to our battle in the arena. If I hadn’t attacked her
personally, she probably could have killed me.

Syrani was tiring, so I leapt up and
ran toward one of our wagons. It had been separated from the
formation and was being hooked up to horses. Several bodies lay
bound and tied inside, and I thought I saw Joss unconscious in the
back.

“
No!” I screamed. The
driver used a whip on the horse and it began to move. I flung out
my arms and gritted my teeth, unearthing a large sycamore tree. It
landed directly in front of the wagon, making the horses rear up in
fright.

I kept running, but another Septori
lumbered at me with a giant knife. I turned and flung him into the
wagon. I heard his head crack against the wheel and he stilled. I
winced at the sound, knowing he was dead.

The wagon driver stood, raising a
robed hand toward me. I saw a bright blue light emanate from the
driver’s palm and then I couldn’t breathe. A blue ring appeared
around my neck as I started to suffocate.

My hands grasped at my throat and I
fell to my knees. I tried to suck in air, but there wasn’t any. I
crawled on all fours toward the wagon, but it was being backed up.
I watched helplessly as it moved away. My lungs burned.

In the predawn light, I could clearly
make out the slumped form of Joss. His whole body was slack, and I
couldn’t tell if he was dead. A smaller robed figure crouched next
to him as her feminine hands draped possessively over his shoulder.
I watched as the hooded passenger in the back of the wagon looked
toward me and removed her hood. I recognized the dark hair and
beautiful eyes of Mona. She laughed maliciously and stroked her
hands down Joss’s face.

She blew a kiss at me as I struggled
to inhale.

I heard someone call my name and I
turned toward Kael, who was running toward me. But my vision was
blurring, fading. He was going to be too late. He sounded miles
away and I was falling…slowly falling.

~~~

There was blackness, darkness, and
then my chest was on fire. Pain, but then relief as the mysterious
clamp that was around my throat disappeared and I could breathe. My
eyes fluttered open and I inhaled. But it wasn’t enough. My body
wanted to inhale again, but I couldn’t. I started to
cough.

Kael leaned over me. His eyes dark
with worry, his breathing was ragged. But when he realized I was
breathing, his shoulders slumped in relief.

“
Kael, they got them, they
took them!” I said, wishing my voice were stronger. I swatted at
his hands touching my neck. Every minute we delayed was a minute
that helped in their escape.

“
It’s okay, settle
down.”

“
Joss!” My throat burned
but I ignored the pain. “Joss. The others. Kael, we have to go
after them.”

Kael pulled away from me as if my
words burned him. He looked at me in doubt and then he turned to
stare down the road where the Septori had disappeared. I could see
the effects of his inner turmoil. The muscle in his jaw ticked as
he ground his teeth together.