The Ranger: Apollo's Story (Tales of Welkinia Book 2)

by J. M. Ivie

  My thoughts were torn between the disagreement I had with Barak, the looming expectancy of finding Zahra, and the danger hanging in the atmosphere. The strange feeling I had earlier when Barak had walked into the room also resurfaced in my mind. Nervously, I unlatched the top buckle on my jacket, hoping I could ease the pressure. I closed my eyes and breathed in deep, trying to recenter my thoughts.

  The train jolted forward like a metal beast swallowing another victim. I stood from my seat, curious as to what caused the train to jolt. Carefully, I slid open the door and worked my way through the halls. The wood panel had cracks along the hinges and scratches along the edges. My chest tightened, and I unlatched the handle. When I slid open the door all that met me was darkness. The rattling of the train as it eased through the night along the tracks creaked in my ears. A clock ticked somewhere in the room, eclipsed only by the hum of the wind.

  The door thudded closed. Someone snapped the lock, sealing me in the room. Fear clutched my stomach as I looked back at the now closed barrier. My heart roared, and the wind whistled outside the cabin. I held my dagger tight in my hand. I flipped the weapon down, ready to use. Light flashed. I careened my body to the side, my blade meeting the steel of my assailant. Metal hissed against metal. In the blink of an eye he was beside me, like a specter, swinging his weapon with ease.

  I dodged his attack and rolled away into the hall, my back pressed up against the wooden barrier. My muscles constricted in defiance to my sudden movement. I rolled again, evading the blade that chipped the wood where my head was just seconds prior. My gut turned as if something tried wrenching it from my body. I leapt up, planting my feet on the ground.

  The giant widened his stance. The dagger I dropped was now in his hand. Sliding one foot behind him, he threw his right fist my way, bringing the dagger down with it. I used my left palm to throw off his attack, then my right as he repeated his strike. Every strike and block had us farther and farther down the corridor. Up. Down. Left. Side. Up. He tried to land a blow. For every punch, I had a counter. My body reminded me it wasn’t finished healing… not completely. One arm hurdled my direction, I blocked. Too late. I shot backward.

  I stumbled. My hesitation allowed him enough time to throw himself atop me. We both crashed into the thin door that opened into the outside. The door lock snapped open. We barreled out. Before I could fall onto the tracks and become minced meat below the wheels of the iron horse, I grabbed hold of the ladder with all my might, slamming my chest against the bars. Pain was an afterthought. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the giant brace against the adjoining door to the car. He was preparing his strike. I scurried up the ladder.

  With the fall of water, the metal roof of the train became slippery, making my defense against the beast of a man nearly impossible.

  He leaned to the left, bracing himself for a bump I hadn’t expected. It threw me off balance, knocking me to my knees. He came at me again, thrashing his knife through the air with a fiery passion.

  I slipped, barely evading the death-stab that screeched along the metal roof. My breath caught in my lungs as I scrambled to my feet.

  The man’s reddened eyes settled on me. Eyes that looked as if he hadn’t slept in a millennium. His laugh mirrored his insanity; a deadly cackle bordering on lunacy.

  I blinked, and he was a yard in front of me, his foot barreling into my wrist. I heard a crack, and pain followed. The giant’s massive arm wrapped around my throat. There was no air entering my lungs.

  His baritone voice shook as he said, “I need to kill you.” My skin prickled with a fiery heat, filling me with renewed energy. I threw my head back, knocking into his nose with all my might. It did nothing. He only laughed. Bile crept up my throat, burning my tongue with acid. Overcome with dizziness, I became desperate. I threw my heel into his knee, recalculating, raised my foot higher, and slammed it down with all my might where he would be most vulnerable. The hold on my neck released. Gasping for breath, I stumbled forward. I knew I had to use my environment to my advantage.

  I forced myself to breathe. Even the effort hurt. I dropped down and slid between the giant's legs, gripping onto his ankle as I passed. The slippery roof aided in knocking the man from his standing position, hurdling him face first downward. He turned to face me, blood trickling down from his nose. His smile remained. It was as if a demon had taken hold of this man’s mind, making him numb to pain.

  “What are you here for?” I yelled over the howling wind. The shadows of the night fell across my opponent’s face, illuminating his hallowed features.

  “Clades.”

  The one-word reply left me speechless. Everything in me wanted to beg for an answer, but my tongue refused to lose its grip from the roof of my mouth.

  The train rolled over a bump, and both the giant and I slipped. My hands seemed numb as adrenaline once again sent shocked tingles to my every nerve. I grabbed hold of the narrow railing on the side of the roof, stopping my fall. I lived; however, the ache in my arm from stopping all one-hundred and seventy pounds of my body burned my joints.

  The thump on the roof just above me roused me back to the looming danger. I didn’t need to pull myself back up. The giant did that. He grabbed my neck and threw me like a rag doll onto the roof. Pain once again shot through my body as I gracelessly landed on my right shoulder. I stood, biting back the pain. His voice called out over the frosty spring wind, dripping with icy contempt.

  “You will die now.” The giant had lost his dagger. His hands were empty. This was my chance to do the only thing I knew how to: kill. Despite my need for an answer, eliminating the threat mattered more.

  As he ran at me I dropped to my knees and slid below his fist. I grabbed his arm as it twisted around, pulling it farther and mounting his body across my back. The momentum allowed me to throw him down. The heavy clank of metal resounded, and when he stood, I saw a magnificent dent in the roof.

  I blocked the attack hurdling my direction with my arm and struck the giant’s face with my left hand. Unexpected. Shock bloomed on his face as I thrust my fist again into his nose, furthering the bleeding. With three more strikes to the discombobulated man’s nose, I drove him to his knees. I kept at him. If I stopped, it would prove fatal on my end.

  After felling the giant almost dead, I gripped his collar and looked into his nearly unrecognizable face. I studied it for a good moment. I allowed his features to etch itself into my memory. I needed to remember him. I didn’t know why, but I did.

  “What is Clades?” I finally asked what had been burning in my mind since he said the name.

  The man barely smiled, though, his laugh was distinct. “Clades will be born. The Talismen want you. That is why I must kill you.”

  “Why? Why do you need to kill me? What connection do I have with Clades?”

  He laughed, spitting the blood from his mouth. “You, Andras, you’re to be the father of Clades. You will bring ruin on us all.”

  My mind raced as anger burned my stomach. I threw my fist into his face once again. I watched as his body slumped in my hand. Without remorse, I allowed his corpse to slide, screeching as it moved down the roof. As if in slow motion, his body vanished into the swirling darkness of the cliff.

  I breathed in a long sigh of relief, turning around.

  “Long time no see, Apollo. We thought you were dead.”

  My body froze. Every muscle tightened. Something inside me turned vicious—dark. His white skin shown like the moons in a dark night sky. Ryanne found me.

  T H I R T Y - F O U R

  “HOW DID YOU END UP on a train?” Ryanne asked, unfazed by the rain and wind.

  “I should ask you the same thing, Ryanne,” I shouted, taking a step back. I couldn’t face him. Not in the dark, on a train, and alone. The whir of the eastern wind pounded in my ears, freezing my lungs. I swallowed, looking at Ryanne nervously.

  “There’s nowhere to run, Apollo.” Ryanne shook his head. “If you come along like a good little soldier, Jensen won
’t be so upset.”

  He walked closer. I took a single step back again. Looking, I saw the moons vanish beyond the clouds. “All right.” I looked at the ground which had rose near the train. “I won’t run.” My chest constricted around my lungs as I rose two fingers to my forehead.

  “Apollo!” Ryanne lunged forward as I saluted. He was too late. I jumped.

  Water pounded against my body as I broke through the surface. Despite the pain I hurriedly swam up. My throat tightened, reminding me of who I just ran from. I sucked in a breath of the chilly mountain air, looking around. Darkness spread over the land like a shadow from the wings of a demon. I heard the birds of the night whistle their monotone chorus as wolves barked out in the plains. Every branch above me creaked as the wind screeched through the boughs. Crickets chattered all around from their hiding spots, intent on drawing in the predators.

  I hurried to the shoreline of the winding river. I wasn’t sure if it was the shadows of the land which threatened me or my fear of what lurked within them. Dead leaves crunched underfoot as I groped about in the dark. The smell of decaying vegetation wafted into my nose as the thoughts of death loomed over me.

  My body ached. If I survived, there would be too many bruises to count. The crunch of a nearby twig beside sounded like shattering bones.

  He is in the woods. Waiting.

  My heart pounded, reminding me I was alive and could bleed.

  The heel of my boot scraped against a patch of mud and I slipped. The momentary loss of balance and the constant nothingness that greeted my vision was like a taunt from nature. Don’t forget, it seemed to say. Don’t forget you cannot see, and your life can end.

  I pulled myself up and grasped my arm with my left hand. My muscles were sore, stretching across my back in a web of taut knots. When I took another step, I slid once again and fell on the ground. I tasted mud in between my teeth and quickly spat out the stale earthen liquid.

  A crunch of leaves sounded from my left. I spun, grasping a thin branch as I turned to face the noise. There was only the endless abyss of night stretched out before me. I need to get out of here.

  My eyes adjusted slowly to the surrounding night, pulling in more light. Shadows stretched here and there around the forest, wrapping around the trees and rocks protruding from the ground. Everything around me was as still as death.

  “You should know better, Apollo.”

  A sharp pain pierced my neck. My head swam, and the world around me muddled into an endless scheme of black and indigo. “Ryanne…”

  ___

  The damp and cold halls were reminiscent of a nightmare. One which I had escaped long ago. A prison. It weighed on my chest like a depression. Sunken gray-colored stones were all I made out as I woke up. My head pounded, and my every limb was heavy. When I went to move, I realized I was chained securely to a chair. The old iron doors swung open and Jensen’s tall figure entered the room.

  “Apollo, I didn’t expect you to return,” Jensen’s voice bled with sarcasm. He didn’t look at me as he took a seat and sharpened the corners of his knife. “Wish to enlighten me to what happened on the mission?”

  “There was an accident during the mission…” I muttered. “Barak didn’t make it.”

  Jensen raised his brow, finally looking at me. “Oh? Is there evidence of this attack?”

  “I was injured. Stabbed several times in the chest, fractured bones, and some broken ones. I would have died if a few travelers hadn’t helped me back to health.”

  He huffed out a breath as he scanned me up and down. “Very well. What happened with the Hound?” His voice sounded callused. As of he didn’t care and only wanted the assurance that he was gone.

  “The… Anarchists outnumbered us. They had strange weapons… arrows tipped with the juice of an unripe Rebrum berry.”

  “Which causes temporary paralysis,” Jensen breathed out. “What happened after that?”

  “The mission… it hadn’t gone to plan. I was lucky…” I scowled. I needed to make this look believable. I thought of Zahra, her being taken from me. The pain inside. “Barak… wasn’t.”

  Jensen slowly nodded, stood and finally looked at me. “Well, I believe you.” He smiled, walking closer. “But, you have broken one of our laws. Albeit, nearly the only law.”

  My eyes snapped up to look at him; my gut wrenched inside me.

  “You married a person of interest from your previous mission. Despite wanting to kill you now—” Jensen looked me up and down once again, “you’re a valuable tool.” He held up a folded piece of paper, smiling at me…

  That paper.

  The forged letter.

  “And this was very, very clever. You had me fooled for a very long time. Well, until—”

  Heels clicked down the hall. Familiar heels. Madame Beth walked into the room, her eyes pinning me to where I stood.

  “Until Beth here cleared things up. I had such a lovely time with her. I learned you proposed marriage to the Countess and Azu said no… you really have a knack for working around the barriers.”

  Madame Beth rested one hand on Jensen’s shoulder, grinning at me. She won. Despite it all… she won. I tried to breathe. It was impossible. My lungs pinched and my ears roared as I tried to focus.

  “Your punishment will be twenty lashes and a trip to the cistern. Hopefully after a few rounds you will be compliant once more. I don’t doubt a week with the water will do.”

  My muscles tensed. Not the cistern… anything but that.

  ___

  Ryanne guided me down the hall, his face unreadable. The sharp contours of his face made prominent by the creasing shadows. “I… am sorry, Apollo,” Ryanne whispered as we entered a room.

  An apology? From Ryanne? A cold fist gripped my heart as he chained my wrists to the pole. “We can fight him, Ryanne. We can all band together against Jensen.”

  His eyes snapped to mine, “I don’t think it’s possible. Not for me.” His palm rested against the biting metal around my wrists. “But… there may be a chance for you.”

  I blinked, watching as Ryanne turned, “Embrace the lashes. The blood… it’s beautiful.” That familiar demonic smirk lifted the corners of his curled lips. Something in the way he spoke made me wonder if he was holding on to the last shred of sanity he had left.

  It only took minutes for Jensen to arrive.

  And seconds before the flesh-ripping leather tore into my back.

  ___

  I collapsed in the cell chains rattling on my wrists. Blood still dripped from the fresh wounds, making it difficult to move. That was not what hurt the most. It was not the whip I couldn’t handle, but the brand which Jensen burned into my side. It would be there for eternity. The lashes I knew wouldn’t release their mark on my skin… that I could live with. Branded by the Rangers? That I couldn’t.

  The cell door swung open and Niall walked in. I assumed now would be my trip to the cistern. My stomach flipped and my throat constricted. Everything in me wanted to run, to escape, but the chains which bound me to the wall prevented that.

  Niall sat opposite fiddling with something in his hand.

  “Do you want to leave?”

  I felt he was tricking me, a twisted way to bring on another punishment. Despite the nagging fear, I replied, “Yes.”

  Niall shifted his position, looking around the holding cell. “Jensen, he is not a leader,” he muttered. “He is a tyrant. He hurts us.”

  This was unusual. His shoulders rolled forward as he fiddled with the object.

  I shifted my position. The pain from my wounds pinched and stung as my shirt rubbed against them.

  “We go, yes?” Niall looked up at me as he revealed what was in his hand. A key. It was crudely made, but, judging from the shape, it was the kind that would unlock my shackles. “We go before Jensen sees.”

  I nodded, turning around to let Niall unlock my bonds. “How are we getting out? Only Jensen knows the way out of Siege Veil…”

  A figure st
ood in the doorway. Tall, lean, and unmistakable. The Villain.

  “What about the tethers?”

  William smiled from the shadow where he stood, “Don’t worry about those.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out two rings. “I made replicas to the ones Jensen wears on his fingers.” He walked over and placed the rings in my hand. “These will throw off the pull his tethers have on you both, but not for long. Find a man by the name of Tesla Romandan. He lives near the Woodlands. He will aid you in the severing of the tethers.”

  “What about Ryanne?”

  The lock snapped, and the shackles fell from my wrists.

  “I only had time to make two…” William whispered. “In due time, he too will have his freedom.”

  I nodded my thanks.

  “You two go, live normal lives. Escape this. If I so much as hear a whisper of either of you… don’t think for a second I won’t hunt you down and kill you.”

  Niall swallowed loud and audibly.

  I nodded. I didn’t know if I could trust Niall or William, but I needed to put my faith in them. They were my best bet for getting out. How we would escape without Jensen seeing us, I was unsure. It would be dangerous, and perhaps end in catastrophe. I knew one thing… It was freedom—or death.

  T H I R T Y - F I V E

  BARAK

  THE SOUND OF THE CHARCOAL scratching the paper brought a smile to my lips. I never knew what the drawing would truly look like. I had a vague idea, and the stark contrast of cream and black ignited my passion once more.

  I kept looking up at my subject. There seemed something different about her. Something which begged to be put onto paper. Women were not foreign to me since Jensen always sent me to work my way into their hearts to reveal the secrets of their companions.

  Not that I ever enjoyed any of it. The women were often stuff-nosed, entitled, and fell in love far too fast. I was always glad when the mission ended. Some were spared the blade—some were not. I wondered, if Jensen sent me to do the same to Mairead, would I have questioned it? Or would I have taken her life like the others?