Blood Charged

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Can you give us… three hours?” Ridge thought they could find the others and the way out Sardelle had mentioned in less than two, but couldn’t imagine there was a need to make it close. Other than the fact that the Cofah might find the explosives if they were given more time to do so.

  “Most I can do with the clocks I found is an hour,” Kaika said.

  “Oh.” That would be close.

  Sardelle? he asked, hoping she might be monitoring his mind or whatever it was telepaths did to communicate with non-telepaths, but he didn’t receive a response. Guess she wasn’t obsessed enough with him to want to stalk his every waking thought. Probably a good thing for his sanity. And hers.

  “Sir?” Kaika said. “This is why I was sent. Nowon was supposed to get the blood, and I was supposed to destroy the research facility.” She gazed past him, at the wrecked furniture and lab, or maybe at nothing. “I can stay behind to give the rest of you more time to escape.”

  And get herself killed if she couldn’t get out in time, if not in the explosion then in trying to pick a path through those geysers.

  “No, we’ll all get out of here together,” Ridge said. “Set the timers, and meet us at the top floor. There are hot air balloons that we can launch from there to escape.” Or so he had been told. He hoped Jaxi’s assessment of the mountain proved accurate, or they would all be in trouble.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I can give you some company if you’d like, Kaika. To watch your back while you work.” As soon as he said it, he realized he would have to be that company. Tolemek might be needed to burn a way in to free the others, and Apex would be lucky to walk out of here of his own accord.

  Or so Ridge thought. Apex pushed himself to his feet, using his rifle for support. “I can help her, sir. I’ll, ah, grab one of these Cofah uniforms since mine is in… disrepair. We might be less likely to be shot if we look like them anyway.”

  Ridge lifted his eyebrows, wondering if Kaika would want someone who had almost been dead ten minutes earlier. He wouldn’t have much energy.

  From the way her lips screwed up thoughtfully—or was that dubiously?—Kaika was mulling over the same thing. By this point, she might be desperate enough for company to take him anyway. Ridge felt bad about sending her down to the bowels of the mountain again, but she was the demolitions expert. He wouldn’t know where to begin to set the charges.

  Kaika finally thumped Apex on the shoulder. “Fine. You can hold my rifle while I tie knots. Let’s go.”

  Surprisingly, Apex perked up at this offer. Or maybe it wasn’t so surprising. Ridge remembered that Kaika had kissed him the last time they had seen each other. Duck, who had been more openly ogling her, hadn’t received similar treatment.

  Before heading away, Apex looked back at Tolemek. “Thanks for the help.”

  It wasn’t exactly a peace offering or an apology for all the digs he had taken at Tolemek, but maybe it was a start. Ridge didn’t know, but he hoped so. He didn’t want to have to reassign Apex to the other side of the continent to ensure he wouldn’t come in contact with his nemesis.

  “You’re welcome,” Tolemek said.

  “Well, Tee,” Ridge said as the other two walked away, “shall we find our ladies?”

  Tolemek looked up at the open duct access point. “Yes. It was foolish of us to misplace them in the first place.”

  “I agree.”

  Chapter 16

  Sardelle waited underneath a vent opening while Duck lugged out the last bag of vials they had packed. They had done their best to insulate them, but glass still clinked when he set it down. Sardelle hated the idea of the containers breaking and spilling their precious contents, but that was better than having the blood used to power weapons that would be employed against Iskandia.

  Ahn was up in the duct system already, searching for a route that would get them to the other side of the lift. A couple of shots fired somewhere above and in the distance. Ahn? Taking care of the Cofah? Or someone shooting at her?

  “I should have gone up there with her,” Duck said.

  Sardelle eyed his tall form. “You’ll be lucky if you fit. She’s the logical one to squirm around in there.”

  “I know but—”

  Soft grunts and bangs drifted down from the ducts. When Ahn had shimmied into the system, she hadn’t made a sound. And those were male grunts.

  Sardelle backed away, and Duck did, too, raising his rifle toward the hole. Fearing more Cofah with smoke canisters, she reached out mentally to inspect the intruders. The two men jostling their way through the ducts toward them were familiar.

  “It’s Ridge and Tolemek,” she said, placing a hand on Duck’s arm so he would lower the weapon.

  An upside-down head and a dirt-smudged scarf dangled through the vent hole. The face, when it turned to search the chamber, was equally dirt-smudged.

  “Over here.” Sardelle walked over and smiled up at Ridge. “Did you cross paths with Ahn?”

  “Not yet. We’ve had to deal with a couple of Cofah scampering around in here, though. We found a way up to the top level too. Want to hand me those bags? Then we’ll pull you up.”

  “You’re not going to come down for a reunion hug? I thought you were dead, you know.” Despite her teasing, Sardelle could sense the urgency emanating from him—he had barely returned her smile—and picked up a bag.

  “We have less than an hour to get out of here before the mountain blows up.” Ridge caught the first bag when she carefully tossed it up to him. He pulled it through, then his head and arms came down for another. “Though if you can jump high, I imagine we can manage a quick upside-down kiss.”

  “How romantic.” Forgoing the jump-kiss, Sardelle tossed him a second bag.

  Duck came over and picked up the next one. “Good to see you, sir. I’ve been keeping your lady safe in your absence.”

  “Oh?” Ridge shifted out of view to push the bags back behind him. Tolemek grunted and said something too muffled to make out. “Is that why you’re so beat up, and she’s unscathed?” Ridge added when he returned for the next bag.

  “Yes, sir.” Duck winked at Sardelle.

  She was still amused that sharing a vomiting experience with the man was what had caused him to accept her into the group.

  This time, when Ridge disappeared into the duct with a bag, more time passed before his head reappeared.

  “Problem, sir?” Duck asked.

  A third person had joined them in the duct. Ah, Ahn. Good.

  “I just lost my helper to, judging by the noises, some kind of kissing session.” Ridge thumped a hand against the side of the duct. “We’re on a schedule, you two.”

  “I see Tolemek is versed in the ways of romantic reunions,” Sardelle observed.

  A quick exchange of words followed, then Ridge returned to the opening, waving for another bag. “Actually, I think Ahn pounced on him.” He wriggled his eyebrows at her.

  Before she could contemplate a response, a loud, deep gong sounded in the depths of the mountain, the echoes reverberating through the walls. Ridge’s suggestive expression turned into a grimace.

  “Alarm system?” Sardelle guessed.

  “I don’t know, but we have even more reason to hurry.” Ridge accepted the last bag from Duck, then scooted back so the lieutenant could run, jump, and catch the lip of the duct. Barely. It wasn’t a low ceiling.

  Ridge pulled him in, but Duck must have lost half the skin off his chest in the process.

  Due to the confines of the narrow shaft up there, it took some rearranging before there was room for Sardelle. Bangs and thumps drifted down—the alarm had stopped after three bongs, so she heard them well. It sounded like Duck was trying to push past someone else, so Ridge could return to give her a hand.

  Sardelle summoned her reserves to give herself a magical boost to duplicate Duck’s athletic feat. She caught the lip of the hole at the same time as Ridge’s head reappeared. His eyes widened, but he caught her hand and pulled her
in. Thanks to being lighter than Duck, it went more smoothly—she only lost a quarter of the skin on her chest as she was pulled onto her belly in the duct.

  She clunked her head and found that she couldn’t rise higher than her elbows. How the bigger men were navigating around up here, she couldn’t imagine.

  “This way,” Ridge said, and backed away from her.

  It was dark, but Sardelle followed the men’s thumps and grunts easily enough. They reached an intersection, and Ridge was able to turn around and face forward. She kept his boots within reach. Nobody had given her a bag to carry, but she could hear the clinking of glass from ahead. She kept herself from nagging at them to be careful—they knew it was a precious load they carried.

  “Ridge, Apex isn’t with you?” Sardelle asked softly, realizing he was the only one in their group who wasn’t in the ducts ahead of her. She hoped they hadn’t lost him, but if he had been injured, and there was a possibility that he wasn’t dead and that she might help…

  “He’s with Kaika, down on the first floor.”

  “Kaika? Wasn’t she…?”

  “Apparently she switched uniforms with someone and tricked the Cofah into believing she was the scorched and disfigured one. That was Nowon we saw, though. Unfortunately.” A sense of guilt came with his words, of failure.

  Sardelle wanted to comfort him, to remind him that they at least had the blood the king had sent him for, but that would have to wait until they escaped this mountain. He had said there wasn’t much time. And if the team was split up, did that mean they needed to retrieve the others before finding those balloons? Wait, he hadn’t said why they didn’t have much time.

  “Why aren’t they with you?” she asked. “And why do we have less than an hour?”

  “They’re setting explosives,” Ridge said, wariness in his tone.

  When he had asked about the Galmok Mountain demolition, Sardelle had been glad she couldn’t give him an answer. She wondered how many guards and scientists were left alive in here. The Cofah had been trying to kill them all along, so she shouldn’t argue for saving their lives, but this wasn’t Iskandia. She and the others had invaded another nation to steal resources and destroy work. Even if it was in the name of protecting her own people, it was hard to justify murder.

  “Do they have enough to matter?” Sardelle wondered. “To bring down the mountain?”

  “I don’t know, but that’s what Kaika’s specialty is, so if it can be done, she’ll know how.”

  “I see.” And was that why the woman had been on the team to start with? Had blowing up this facility always been the plan?

  We have a problem, Jaxi announced.

  That gonging? It hadn’t returned, but it had been loud enough that Sardelle believed it would have been audible all over the mountain.

  I think that was just a warning bell to tell the scientists to leave or hide somewhere safe. The problem is the Cofah airships heading in this direction.

  What? How many? Sardelle mashed her knuckles against Ridge’s boots—he had stopped.

  “We’re going up here,” Ridge said.

  From the scuffs and clanks, the others were already heading up some vertical shaft.

  “Wait,” Sardelle caught his ankle. “The Cofah are coming. Airships.”

  “You can sense them? How many?”

  “They’re not in my range yet, but…” Jaxi?

  They’re about ten miles away, at least four of them. Big heavily armed military warships. It won’t take them long to cover that distance by air.

  “At least four, Jaxi says. Coming fast.”

  “All right,” Ridge said. “Let’s get up to the top and we’ll assess the situation.”

  Sardelle let go of his boot, so he could climb. He didn’t sound as frantic as this new information made Sardelle feel. Maybe because he didn’t know that she didn’t have the mental energy to muster much more in the way of magic, and Jaxi was exhausted too. She would have to tell him.

  As soon as she tried to climb the vertical duct, she found out her physical energy was depleted as well. Asking for help would have been embarrassing, though, and she didn’t see how Ridge could provide it anyway. She jammed her back against the side and pushed herself up with her legs, inch by inch. A clank came from somewhere above, and a hint of light filtered down. She reached up, hoping to find the top. A hand clasped hers and pulled her up, until another hand could grab her belt and hoist her sideways into a new duct, her sword scabbard scraping and banging every inch of the way.

  Not dignified, but at least nobody could see her in the darkness. “Guess there was a reason I wore a shirt and trousers instead of a dress,” she muttered.

  “Handholds are useful.” Ridge shifted around, blocking the light for a moment. “We’re under the floor of the top level. The exit is just ahead.”

  His words sounded encouraging. Maybe he had sensed her weariness—or had heard her grunts of distress—and knew she needed encouragement. She crawled after him until she could stick her head through a vent low on a wall in a big room with a high pyramid-shaped ceiling. They had indeed reached the top of the mountain. Four hot air balloon baskets rested in the center of the room, though it wasn’t yet apparent how they might escape the confines of the mountain.

  Someone had lit lanterns, and Ahn and Duck were already unfolding one of the balloons. It would take time to heat up the air to fly one of the craft, time they might not have.

  “I want all four of them readied,” Ridge said from the perimeter of the room. He was jogging around, examining the wall and touching things. There weren’t any windows, so only the wan flames of the lanterns brightened the space. “Tee, bring your big brain over here, will you? There has to be a way to open up the roof or some kind of big door. Something to let these out.”

  Sardelle propped her hands on her hips and tried to see the contours and cracks of the roof with more than her eyes.

  “Why are we getting all of them ready?” Duck asked from inside one of the baskets—he had matches out and was trying to light the burner. “And dare I state that I’ve never launched a hot air balloon, and have no idea how the balloon is supposed to get from a crumpled mass on the ground to a big bulb above the basket?”

  “There’s usually some big fan that gets things started.” Ridge paused in his hunt to look around.

  “Jaxi will get them inflated enough for the burners to take over,” Sardelle said.

  I will?

  I’m tired. I need to save a shred of energy for those Cofah airships. Not that she could imagine what she would do against all of them. Even at full strength, such a battle would be a struggle. If Ridge and his squadron had their fliers, they could attack, too, but what could anyone do from a hot air balloon? Besides be a target?

  I’m tired too. I just melted a vault, remember?

  Yes, but you have greater strength and stamina than I do.

  Flatterer.

  Sardelle smiled. Who, me?

  Blowing up balloons is on the list of things I once deemed too lowly for someone with my skills.

  Fortunately, you’ve changed your mind?

  Not really.

  Then we’ll be stuck here when another mountain blows up, and you might have to wait another three hundred years for someone to pull you out of the rubble.

  I’ll blow up the balloons.

  Good girl.

  Amazing how one could feel a sentient sword glowering even when it was tucked away in its scabbard.

  “Found something,” Ridge said.

  Sardelle started to join him, but nobody was working on the fourth balloon yet. She didn’t know if Ridge wanted extras in the air to distract the Cofah, or if he intended to split up the team, but he had wanted them all up, and he was busy. A loud thunk sounded as he pushed an arm-sized lever into an up position.

  Gears ground behind the wall, and chains rattled and clanked overhead. A whisper of warm sulfuric air wafted in from a new crack—several cracks. Sardelle had been imagining t
hat the peak would flip open on hinges somehow, but the point of the ceiling was splitting in four directions, each quarter leaning back, opening like flower petals. Stars poked through the steam wafting across the dark sky. The geysers did not stop their cycles, even in the middle of the night.

  Ridge ran over to the envelope Sardelle had started to unravel—it had been coiled up like a sleeping roll—and they laid it out together, spreading it like a picnic blanket. She smiled at him across the thin material, wishing they were setting up for a picnic someplace quiet and peaceful—and not in danger of exploding.

  Hurrying, his face tense, Ridge didn’t notice her look. Sardelle fought through her fatigue to pick up her speed too. As soon as the envelope had been unfolded, she willed air in to inflate it part way. Ridge turned the burner up to high, angling it toward the sideways mouth of the partially inflated balloon. Sardelle pushed in more air, until it started to rise, and the burner could continue to heat the air inside on its own.

  The airships are six miles away now.

  Sardelle stared around the room, noting everyone’s progress. Could they possibly escape before the airships were close enough to spot them? If any of the balloons were spotted at all, the Cofah could easily catch them and shoot them down. Possibly right over that field of geysers and scorching pools.

  Help Ahn, please, Jaxi. Hers is ready to go. Sardelle turned her own attention to the balloon Tolemek had spread. Duck was still struggling to lay out his.

  “Hurry up, Kaika,” Ridge muttered. “I’ll be right back. Need to find something to anchor this down until we’re ready to let it go. Or—” he drummed his fingers on his thigh, “—maybe we should just let it go as soon as it can. Get the Cofah chasing after a dummy.” He met Sardelle’s eyes. “How close are they now? Are they within sight of the mountain?”

  “Soon, but not yet. They’re six miles out.”

  The captain and lieutenant are coming.

  Thanks, Jaxi.

  “It’s occurring to me,” Ridge said as he ran over to help Duck with his balloon, “that the lab never was reinforced with extra troops, or not many at any rate. Maybe that airship dropped off a few, but then it must have gone south for reinforcements, and now it’s back with friends, friends with orders to utterly destroy us.”