by Lee Hayton
If Cade was behind it, he wanted to tease them, not hurt them. Sulli hoped that meant they were still hot on his trail.
“I’m glad Ricci and Halv stayed back on the farm,” Shandra said, trotting her horse up to ride alongside him. “If they knew they’d have to spend this many hours on horseback a day with nothing happening, they wouldn’t have grumbled about staying back home.”
Sulli knew full well the reason for her brother's grumbling had been fear their sister’s life would be lost, not just the excitement of going into battle. He kept his lip buttoned, not wanting to bring death into their conversation.
No warrior needed to dwell on the events that might go wrong, not when they could focus on what they needed to get right.
“I think he’s got away from us, more than I was hoping.” Sulli’s horse reared back, giving his heart a jolt, but it was just a snake on the path, slithering along in a search for smaller prey. “Now, I doubt we’ll be able to catch up with him tonight.”
“You told us it wouldn’t be until tomorrow, anyway,” Shandra reminded him. “Nobody is worried about getting to him quickly, you know. I rather like having all my skin and bones in the right place.” She turned a worried glance his way. “How are we meant to protect ourselves against a deluge of monsters? I can’t even see them.”
The words that he might use to reassure Shandra about her own skin, would just leave her worried about his instead. Cade wouldn’t care about the rest of them when he could take his old protégé down.
If they got through the next few days, he really needed to start opening up more. Keeping so many things secret would wear him down into an early grave.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Sulli tried instead. “If Cade knows he’s fighting dragons, he won’t bother sending out his creatures.”
He cocked an eyebrow at Shandra, studying her face briefly. “You haven’t really seen us in action, have you? When we’re fully changed, a dragon can wipe out those beasts with one long breath of flame.”
“If you’re so powerful, why haven’t you stopped Cade already?” Shandra kept her eyes on the path in front of her so Sulli couldn’t catch her gaze. “You could have breathed on all those creatures back at the farm, if that was true. Instead, you told us to run for our lives.”
Her undertone was fully charged but without seeing her full expression, Sulli couldn’t tell with what. Perhaps he wasn’t the only one skilled at keeping secrets.
“Well, running got us here for starters. All the dragon power in the land at your service.” Sulli tried to smile, wishing that Baile was up here to deliver the jokes for him. The attempt would still fall flat, but at least he and Shandra could share a groan at the effort.
“There are more of you, aren’t there?” Shandra peered at him under her long lashes.
Damn it. If only he could read more of her face! “A few. Not many.”
“Mal’s mother for a start.”
Sulli turned to look at the foliage beside him, hoping he’d made it in time to hide the surprise on his face. “Yes, she’s out there somewhere.”
“She’s fighting up in these hills. Wasn’t that where she wanted you to come to join the battle? If she and her people are already up here—”
“That woman doesn’t know half so much as she thinks she does.”
“When she came to the farm, Mal’s mother appeared desperate. He hadn’t seen her in so long, it must have taken a lot for her to turn up out of the blue.”
“I can’t guess at her motives for doing anything.” Sulli sighed. “And I wouldn’t bring her up around Mal if you can help it. We need his mind on the coming fight with Cade, not drifting off into the past.”
Shandra’s laugh rang out, echoing off the enclosing hillside. “Don’t worry. I’m not as stupid as that.” She pulled gently on her horse’s rein, beginning to drop back into the position behind him.
Sulli knew he should feel relieved, but the move left him hollow. He’d rather spar with her, dancing around the clan brother’s stack of things-which-shall-not-be-named, rather than travel alone.
In another hour, as the horizon tinged with pink—the first signal the sun would soon drop away and call it quits for the day—the trail in front of Sulli opened up. A large plain, mostly hard rock, but an occasional pocket of soil, with straggly plants holding on for dear life, nestled in the shadow of the mountain top.
Another battle scene lay, ripped and torn, in front of him.
This time, Sulli was prepared for the extent of the carnage. The burned and dismembered body parts barely caught his eye as he scanned the open space for signs of life.
He dismounted, his right foot landing squarely in the middle of something that should only ever be inside a person’s belly. He grabbed at his horse’s mane to steady himself, earning a reproachful neigh and a hard blink.
“Sorry, old girl.” Sulli stroked the sides of the horse, giving himself a momentary reprieve from the gruesome sights laid out around him. He took the reins in his hand, leading the horse forward at a creeping pace. “I think you should close your eyes. You don’t want this lodged in your memory.”
Sulli wished he could take the same advice for himself. The fact the scene in front of him was blasé, scared him most of all.
“How many?” Shandra was at his side, a hand placed lightly on his shoulder.
“Less than last time, I think.” Sulli stared in all directions, unsure of how to fit the jigsaw pieces of cartilage and bone, flesh and charred skin together to make a whole. “Maybe a dozen?”
Mal joined them, his horse hitched to a tree behind them. “This is more recent.” He kicked out at a beetle crawling over the remains of a hand. The flesh had been eaten down to the bone, the edge blackened like charcoal. “No matter how disturbing, it shows us we’re on the right track.”
“I suppose we should hunt for survivors.” Baile stood a yard away, hands on his hips. “After the last surprise we got, there could be someone still alive around here.”
Sulli looked over the scene again, nothing stirring except the blades of cutting grass swaying in the wind. He tilted his head to one side, eyes closed, listening for any sound that could be ascribed to a human. Or a dwarf. Or a dragon. Anything except the crunch of insects getting to work on their unexpected feast and the few plants, holding onto the rock for dear life.
“There’s more over here.” Io waved to them from a hundred yards away. He pointed to a large rock, painted crimson with blood. “We should keep going. I think there’s a trail and I don’t want to bed down in the middle of it when night comes.”
After mounting his horse again, Sulli caught up with his clan brother. “Can you see any insignia? I don’t even know which army we’re dealing with here.”
“I don’t think it’s an army.” Io joined them, holding onto the remains of a knife—the blade had snapped clean in two. “There’s no consistency to the weapons or the armor. From what I can find, in any case.”
“So, what?” Sulli stared ahead where another body lay, twenty yards in front of them. “Do you think it was a hunting party? Just locals out gathering some food?”
“They picked a shocking time to go hunting if it was that.” Io twirled the half-blade between his fingers. “But it doesn’t fit that scenario either. Leaving aside this place is in the middle of a war, does it look like the sort of area that would stock a lot of wild game?”
The harshness of the environment backed up Io’s statement. Apart from insects, the snake on the path had been the only other living thing Sulli had seen since starting up the mountain.
“Shall we move on?” Sulli pulled his horse gently to the right so it could walk on without treading through too much of the bodily remains on the rock. “Here’s another one.”
After that, the bodies marked out the trail more clearly than the worn tread in the hardened dirt and rock. Sulli counted up another six markers before he saw movement to the side of the track. He urged his horse on, pretend
ing he hadn’t seen but making a gesture to the group behind him, his signaling hand sheltered by the side of his horse.
Another turn in the path and he dismounted, waiting for the rest of the group.
“Did you see it?” Sulli turned to each member of the party in turn.
Chance was the only one who nodded. “There was something moving by the side of the path. Didn’t get much of a look.”
“Shandra, Baile? Can you hold the horses here while we go back?” Sulli handed the reins over without waiting for an answer, the question more of a demand. “If it’s a man who survived this battle, he might not be in the most welcoming mood.” He pulled out a small knife and held it ready, lying flat against the shelter of his wrist.
They headed off, cautious but also at speed. The daylight was fading and the last thing any of them wanted was to confront an armed stranger in the dark. Never mind that they outnumbered him. In desperation, a single man could wield some mighty blows.
“Who’s there?” Io called out. “We don’t mean you any harm. We’re on the trail of Cade Storm and have no fight with any man except him.”
Sulli stood back, moving as close as he dared to the place where he’d spotted the movement. Here, the cutting grass was thick and tall, a shelter where rainwater and dirt were blown against the rock wall to allow a chance for plants to grow.
“If you don’t come out voluntarily, we’ll have to assume you mean us harm.” Io sounded as though he was having a lovely chat with a man on the roadside rather than flashing his blade in the encroaching darkness. “We’re armed and we’re not afraid to attack.”
The grass rustled, and a man stepped out. Young, maybe in his late twenties. He was tall and lean, probably naturally so but his hollow cheeks also told a story of partial starvation. His eyes narrowed as he looked from one man to another.
“Don’t suppose you’ve got any food on you? I’m willing to join your fight if you have some salted meat.”
Sulli stepped forward, keeping the blade flush with his arm. “We don’t need another body for our battle, but we’ll trade you some food for information.” He nodded to Io. “My brother here will just give you a pat down. We’ll return any weapons found when we send you on your way.”
The man held his arms up, shaking slightly from the effort. Sulli weighed up the rank clothing, the strange assortment of weapons that Io found on him, and the lack of any insignia of allegiance. “You’re an insurgent?”
“I prefer the term freedom fighter.” The man lowered his arms as Io indicated he was clean. “What side are you on?”
“We’re on the side of anyone who can stop Cade Storm. If there’s another quarrel, it can wait until after that.”
The man stared at Sulli, his face blank of expression. “That’s the man who commanded the creatures to kill my men. I have a beef with him, too.”
“How about we get back to the others and set up camp?” Chance stepped forward, his face drained of its usual anger, swamped with concern instead. “If all we’re doing here is chatting, I’d rather we were ensuring a safe place to sleep for the night while we’re at it.”
Sulli grasped the stranger’s shoulder and pointed him up the track. “We’re holding weapons on you, and will be at all times, so no funny business.”
“Believe me,” the man said. “I’ve been drained clean of fun.”
The walk back was slower, the darkening sky making it harder to pick their way on the rocky ground. Sulli’s ankle turned as he stepped onto a shadow rather than the rock he was expecting. For a second, his attention was distracted as he prodded his finger into the tender flesh.
The man dashed forward, running at full speed. With a curse, Sulli took after him, his alarm growing when he saw the man was sprinting straight toward Shandra.
He’d never close the distance.
Sulli stopped, turned the knife in his hand so he was holding the handle, and lined up a shot.
Chapter Nine
A man grabbed Shandra around the waist, lifting her and swinging her in a circle. She yelped and hit out at his arm, not able to see his face in the gathering darkness.
“Sis! What in tarnation are you doing out here, in the back of beyond? I thought you’d be safely back at home on the farm.”
Shandra stepped back, staring up at the man’s face in astonishment. No. It couldn’t be. “Zen?”
“Of course, it’s Zen.” The man grabbed her again and pulled her into a hug. “Who the hell else would it be? I can’t believe you’re all the way out here? What’s happened to the farm? How could you leave it to come into battle?”
In her surprise, Shandra didn’t think to lie. “Ricci and Halv are taking care of it.” She shook her head, disbelief filling up her soul. How could this be happening? Zen had been reported dead nearly five years ago.
How could he have been alive all that time and never sent them a word?
Shandra punched her elder brother in the shoulder, suddenly furious. “We were told you were dead, you idiot. Why haven’t you come to visit us and tell us you were okay? Why haven’t you sent a message?”
Zen laughed and fought off her blows. “Hey, steady on. I’ve been a bit busy out here, you know.”
“You’ve been busy? I’ve been trying to keep the farm afloat for the past couple of years, almost single-handed. Why did you let me think you were dead?”
“I didn’t know they’d told you that.” Zen grabbed hold of Shandra’s hands and pushed them down to her sides. He cupped her face, staring as though he couldn’t believe his eyes.
If so, he wasn’t the only one.
“What are you doing out here?” Shandra slapped his hands away, still consumed with anger. “Did you abandon the army?”
Zen gave a snort. “Call that an army? It’s a bloody shambles, is what it is. Half the time, Wella didn’t even bother to tell the regiment what the plan was. We’d charge ahead and end up in a battle with people who were meant to be our friends. Goodness knows how many treaties she’s broken just by not bothering to tell us all what’s going on.”
“You went AWOL?”
He shrugged. “I walked after the last battle against the dwarves. We were caught unawares because nobody from the tracking party thought to let the rest of us know what was going on.” Zen pursed his lips and stared down at the ground. “I should’ve died in that fight, we were so outnumbered. I might’ve too, except a witch took pity on me.” He looked up again, sporting a wide grin. “She couldn’t bear to see this gorgeous physique die on the battlefield.”
“It didn’t occur to you that if you left, they’d think you’d died?” He reached out for her and Shandra danced a step away. “It didn’t occur to you, they’d stop your pay. We’ve been trying to survive on nothing more than the three of us could get out of the land. Not to mention, Wella keeps raising the taxes so almost everything we grow goes straight into her coffers to feed the army.”
Zen’s lower lip protruded. “I didn’t have time to think of all of you, safely back at home on the farm. Sorry if I was preoccupied with trying to keep myself alive.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing?”
“Playing at being a good farm wife? I don’t know. You should’ve been safe.”
A moth landed on Zen’s shoulder and he gave a startled scream before brushing it sheepishly brushing it away. “And forget about what I’ve been up to, what are you doing here? The farm needs a manager and don’t try to sell me that Ricci knows how to run it. He’s a boy.”
“Both he and Halv had to grow up a lot after we heard you were dead. There was no one else around to help us. He’s taken on a lot of responsibility.”
“It’d be nice if you stopped glaring at me as though I’m to blame for what you’ve been told. It’s not my fault if Wella told you I was dead. I don’t control her bloody messengers. Besides, if she thought I was dead, she should have paid out a pension.”
“They haven’t done that in years. The war keeps eating up all the money.
If they had to pay out for every dead soldier on their hands, the entire district would be bankrupt.”
Shandra fought for a second, trying to hold on to her anger, then let it go. Why should she be mad at him? Zen was right. He didn’t control the message she’d been given. She hugged him close to her, despite the dank smell of old sweat ground into his clothes.
“That’s better.” Zen turned around to wave at the men standing behind him. “Who’s this lot, anyway? You teamed up with your own band of freedom fighters?”
Biting her lip, Shandra introduced the men one by one. At the end, she paused, unsure of how much she wanted to divulge. Then she gave in to the urge to admit everything. Zen would find out soon enough, either way. “They’re my harem.”
Her brother burst into surprised laughter, then hurriedly wiped the smile from his face when he saw she was serious. “Really? I wasn’t expecting that.”
“I needed something to keep Wella from bugging me. She tried to draft me into the army, despite Ricci not being old enough to look after the farm by himself.”
“I thought you just said he’d grown up a lot.” Zen put his hands on his hips, frowning down at her. “If this harem helped you avoid the draft, what are you doing out here?”
“We have a battle with the man who attacked your group.” Sulli stepped forward, inserting himself between Shandra and Zen. “Now, if you don’t mind, we need to set up camp for the night. We won’t be able to get you that food if we can’t set up a fire.”
For the next twenty minutes, the group turned their attention toward getting food ready, the horses rested, and setting up their sleeping places for the long evening ahead. With the mist of the day still dampening their clothes, it would be a colder night than they’d been used to. Io built up the fire to twice the size of normal.
“How did you escape the creatures that Cade sent after you?” Shandra asked when her brother had eaten. She sat with her back against the rocks, warming her front with the fire. “Did you fight them off?”
