The Children of The Resistance (The Mir Chronicles Book 2)

by Leisa Wallace

  Lucius stood taller. He took his hand away from his face. His nose was already discolored and swelling. He spat a glob of blood to the side.

  Gideon stared at him before nodding his head in confirmation. “Tie him up. We’ll take him with us. Let’s move out.”

  Chapter Forty

  They fell in step behind each other. Tarek first with Suki walking after him. She moved with a slight limp in the leg that had been shot. Lena doubted she would have even noticed the limp if she weren’t watching for it. Druinn and Myri held hands as they walked in single file behind Suki. Druinn had wanted to stay with the ship, but Gideon convinced him it wouldn’t be safe. If the bandits of Monmark saw their crash, the ship is the first place they’d look. Gideon didn’t want to risk them getting captured or killed.

  Birdee flew on the glider. She controlled it herself now with her one good leg while the splinted one she still kept bent to her side, not putting any pressure on it. Tern walked behind her. His eyes constantly darting from side to side and his posture alert. Lena couldn’t decide if he was ready to bolt or to catch Birdee if she fell.

  Lena walked behind them with Gideon. He pulled on a rope that was tied to Lucius. There were huge boulders all around them. They stayed close to the boulders, trying to use them as cover in case anyone came looking. Only a few sparse trees grew in the rocky terrain.

  “I remember that a trail ran alongside that,” Suki said, pointing to a sloping outcropping of the mountain.

  They all nodded and adjusted their direction towards where she pointed.

  “These mountains are steep, but it’s just the one peak. Once over this peak, we’ll immediately fall into the Everleighan valley,” Suki explained.

  Tarek put his hands on his hips and rested one leg on a rock searching the area Suki had indicate.

  Lena saw Suki studying him. Tarek turned and his eyes naturally fell on Suki. Suki winked at him as she walked around to put herself in the lead. Tarek blushed. Druinn and Myri chuckled in front of her.

  “So tell me about Monmark,” Gideon said to Suki. As he walked, he looked through some binoculars towards the town. “What kind of place has it turned into since we were kids?”

  “The kind that kills you if they think they’ll profit from it,” Suki said. “Monmark’s always been a rough place, but since the Priestess’ overtake, they’ve become lawless.”

  Lena kept walking following Suki in the diagonal path they were taking up the side of the mountain. She looked at Monmark. She was far enough away that she couldn’t see the details of the town, but from a distance, it looked brown and dusty. There was no grass, or trees of any kind. Dirt swirled around the town’s borders making it look like a huge dust bowl.

  Suki stopped them. They’d come to the edge of the outcropping she had pointed out. They would have to pass over the open ground to the next cover of rocks and boulders unless they wanted to travel down the canyon to their left.

  “So, someone with a bounty on their head shouldn’t be caught in Monmark,” Gideon said.

  “Definitely not,” Suki replied.

  “Well then I suggest we hide,” Gideon said. “We have some air-bikes flying to our crash sight.”

  Lena turned and grabbed the binoculars still attached to Gideon’s neck. Yanking him towards her, she put the binoculars to her eyes. Her cheek brushed his as she studied the landscape. Bikes were landing around their crashed ship. The feel of Gideon’s breath on her cheek startled her. She hadn’t noticed how close he was to her. She lowered the binoculars. His dark brown eyes locked with hers and he smirked. Lena’s stomach tightened.

  At the humming sound of air-bikes, Gideon yelled, “Hide!” He dropped the rope attached to Lucius to allow him to fend for himself.

  A half dozen air-bikes were flying up the mountainside, directly towards them.

  Gideon pushed Lena down the mountain into the canyon they’d been hiking next to, at the same time yelling at Tarek to hide Suki. Tarek leaped over a boulder to Suki and pulled her after him. Lucius followed. His hands still tied together.

  Tarek yelled, “Go, Gideon. You and Lena must not be caught.”

  Gideon jumped down the steep hillside to where he’d pushed Lena moments before. Druinn and Myri slid after him. Coming to a thick patch of dried brush, Gideon turned around and pushed Druinn and Myri into their cover.

  “Don’t move,” he commanded. Grabbing Lena’s hand, Gideon started pulling her down the side of the mountain searching for another place to hide. The steepness caused them to slide more than run. Gideon tightened his grip on her hand, not letting her go as they slid side by side until they were nearly at the bottom.

  They were too late. A man stepped out from behind a boulder below them. Gideon released her hand and sprung towards the man. Falling on top of him, Gideon punched the side of his face. The man fell into the boulder, slid to the ground, then rolled down the side of the mountain.

  Lena jumped towards Gideon. Grabbing her hand again, he pulled her after him. Lena heard the air-bikes behind her. Bullets hit the rocks beside them. Gideon pulled Lena in the other direction. They didn’t get far before the sound of guns clicked all around them.

  Gideon pulled her to a stop. He whispered into her ear, “Whatever you do. Stay by me.”

  Lena nodded and stepped in closer to Gideon.

  “What do we have here?” A voice called. “Turn around where I can see you.”

  Lena turned, careful not to make any sudden movements. Men and women flew in a circle surrounding them on all sides. Their air-bikes acted like a prison. All of the bandits wore clothes that were covered in filth. In fact, everything about them was covered in filth. Their faces were streaked with a thin layer of brown. Underneath the dirt, they had painted black around their eyes.

  The man who originally spoke spat to the side and sneered, revealing his rotting teeth. A list of information popped up on her lens. Gambling, prostitution, cage fighting, and other unflattering information. His name was Nath Ryder. She blinked her eyes to turn off the display. Nath raised his eyebrows and sneered. He stepped off his bike, taking slow steps until he stood in front of Lena. Raising his hand, he brushed the side of her face. He started laughing—a quiet evil snicker that turned loud and arrogant.

  The man caressed her face again. Lena shuddered under his touch. His hands were rough and Lena could smell the dirty stench of his unwashed body. His breath was the worst of the smell. Lena turned her head to the side trying not to dry heave. Focusing on her surroundings, she counted six bikes and six people.

  She and Gideon could fight that many people, couldn’t they? She bent her knees and readied herself to fight. Gideon’s hand tightened on hers. He shook his head with almost imperceptible movement. His eyes darted to the ridge above them. Lena couldn’t see anything, but she trusted Gideon. She relaxed her stance.

  The man dropped his hand from her face and started pacing around them. “What are you two doing in these mountains? They’re restricted access by order of the High Priestess.” His voice was husky and he spoke with a drawl. She had a hard time deciphering his words.

  “Our ship crashed. We were trying to make it out of here unseen from the likes of you,” Gideon answered. His voice was bold and strong. He talked with the command of someone who wasn’t afraid of anything. Lena envied him at that moment. Whatever the academy had taught him, it was working.

  The man smiled, once again revealing his rotting teeth. “Well played,” he said. “You’re smart and alert. Most of the people we catch beg to be let go,” he said.

  Lena didn’t like what this man was saying. He wasn’t making any sense but talked as if he knew something they didn’t. Lena shuddered again and felt Gideon lean closer to her.

  “What do you want?” Gideon asked.

  “I have what I want. I have what all of Mir wants. Don’t I, Captain?” As the man annunciated the last word, he smiled and spat to the side.

  Lena wanted to run, to hide.

  The man ran
his eyes over Lena’s body, then picked up a com device. “I have Captain Gideon Merak, and Evangeline Adhara in custody now.” The man lifted his gun so it pointed to the sky. He eyed them once more. “Search them for weapons, and tie them up. We’ll take them to town and decide what to do with them.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Lena looked around. The room had four walls with a dirt floor. There were no windows, but light filtered through the cracks in the walls. She sat next to Gideon. Both of their arms were tied with electric cuffs behind their backs. Lena tried to use her insignia to release the cuffs, but it didn’t work. She shifted uncomfortably on the dirt floor.

  The same man who spoke to them on the mountain paced in front of them. Stopping he looked at Lena and gave her a slimy smile.

  Lena shivered.

  “Names Nath,” he said. “I run this little establishment. We’ll put you up for auction in the morning.”

  “You’re not turning us into the Priestess?” Gideon asked.

  “Me? No. I don’t have much need for politics. I’m going to sell you. I’ll make a small fortune off of you, Captain.” He turned to Lena. “But not as much as I’m going to get for a pretty young thing like yourself.”

  The expression on his face made Lena shudder.

  The man started laughing. He spat to the side and came up close to Lena. Bending over so that they were face to face he said, “I might have even kept you for myself, but I don’t need the Priestess as an enemy right now. There will be men fighting over you. Wanting the power you’ll give to them. I don’t envy you right now, honey.”

  Lena heard the crack before she saw what happened. Gideon was on his feet. He kicked Nath in the stomach, causing him to fall backward. Nath groaned. Gideon kicked him again. The anger Gideon felt was etched across every line of his body. Gideon took another step towards him.

  Nath scrambled to a sitting position. Kicking his feet in front of him, Nath pushed himself into the adjacent wall, digging for something in his pocket. Gideon took another step towards him. The man smiled, held up a small device and pushed the button on it. Gideon started convulsing and fell to the ground.

  Lena heard herself scream. The man stood and started kicking Gideon where he shook on the floor. Nath released the button. Gideon gasped for air and rolled into a fetal position. Lena crawled on her knees to his side. Her arms were still restrained behind her.

  “Not much of a hero now, are ya?” Nath said. “Don’t get any more ideas, or you won’t leave here alive.” Nath left the room, slamming the old door behind him.

  “Gideon!” Lena said.

  He coughed and gulped down air. Rolling onto his stomach, he pulled his knees underneath himself. He rested his head on the ground for a moment before pulling his body upright.

  “Are you okay?” Lena wanted to reach out to him. To comfort him. But she couldn’t move her hands.

  Gideon slumped his head and motioned for the wall. Lena walked on her knees with him to the side of the room. Gideon turned and fell into a sitting position against the wall. Lena scooted in next to him. She put her head on his shoulder and listened to his breathing even out.

  “Gideon, this is bad,” she said after a while.

  Gideon and Lena both turned so that they looked into each other’s eyes. She studied his face. Creases lined the sides of his eyes. He pressed his forehead against hers. She wanted to comfort him but didn’t know what to say.

  “We’ve been in worse situations than this,” he said, turning his head so that his cheek rested on her head. “We’ve had our city bombed. You’ve been shot.”

  “Twice,” Lena added.

  “Twice,” Gideon corrected himself with a small smile. “We’ve been hunted by rulers of two worlds, and escaped.”

  “Technically, the Cimmerians are from Mir,” Lena added.

  “Are you trying to be a smart-alec?” Gideon asked with a sad smile.

  “Nope, just making sure that you’re getting your facts straight, Captain.”

  “And that whole Captain-Recruit situation,” Gideon said.

  “Yeah, I’d rather not repeat that.” Lena smiled then let it fall. Her memories felt distant. Yet it hadn’t even been a few months. “I hated you,” Lena finally said, pulling her knee’s up to her chest. “I thought you’d betrayed me. Thought you wanted me dead. You were the last person I ever wanted to see again. And at the same time, the only person I wanted to see again.” Lena turned to face him. He was already looking at her. “Gideon,” she whispered. “I can’t lose you, again.”

  Gideon pressed his forehead to hers again. “We’re not going to lose each other, Eves. Not now, not ever.”

  Gideon leaned forward. His lips pressed into hers. Lena’s heart pounded. She moved closer. Parting her lips, she kissed him back. Gideon drew in a whispered breath. Kneeling, he turned so she was directly in front of him. She kissed him again, this time with all the feelings she’d held inside for so long. She loved him. She moved to wrap her arms around him only to be reminded of the cuffs.

  Gideon kissed her again then whispered against her lips. “We’re going to be okay,” he said. “We’ll figure a way out of this just like we figured a way out of everything else.” His lips pressed softly into hers. “I love you, Evangeline,” he said.

  He kissed the top of her head then rested his cheek against it. Lena wished she could hold him. He turned to sit next to her. She curled her knees into her chest and nuzzled closer to him. He rested his chin on her head.

  The door opened and Nath entered. He raised his eyebrows and sneered. “Looks like I already got offers for you and your gorgeous little girlfriend. Didn’t take long for people to hear you were coming up for auction.”

  Lena tensed as Nath walked towards them, then stopped. Two men entered the room. Moving around Nath, they grabbed Lena by the elbows and pulled her up. Two more guards came and grabbed Gideon.

  “Like I said, you’re going to make me rich.”

  “Wait,” Gideon said. “You can’t sell us.”

  Gideon looked panicked, but not as panicked as Lena felt. Her heart beat so fast, she couldn’t think straight.

  Nath jeered. “Who’s going to stop me? Say goodbye to your girlfriend.”

  “No!” Gideon yelled.

  The guards began pulling Lena away. She turned her head, straining to see Gideon one last time. He thrashed against the guards who held him in place against the wall. The look on his face had turned from panic to fear to anger.

  “Gid.” Lena could barely get the words out. Her hands shook as her pulse started to skip erratically. She was going to be sold. Then taken to the Priestess. She felt sick.

  “Eves,” Gideon screamed. The door closed between them blocking out Gideon’s cries.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up for the auction block, shall we?”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The men cuffed Lena’s hands in front of her. Attaching a chain to the restraints, they yanked her forward. She tripped over her own feet only to yanked up again. As they pulled, her shoulder joints stretched, making them ache with the stress of it.

  The men took her to a bathing room where two women were waiting for her. They weren’t any nicer than Nath but at least they shooed the men out. They stripped her down tearing her clothes in the process. As they scrubbed her raw, they complained about not being compensated enough for cleaning up a slave. If they knew who Lena was, they certainly didn’t care.

  They were cruel as they forced her into a clean outfit and yanked the tangles out of her hair. They kept her hands and legs cuffed the whole time. Lena couldn’t move her feet further than a small step. Lena readied herself to fight, hoping to be un-cuffed when they dressed her, but the women had an outfit that buttoned around her in a way that left her bound.

  When done, they called the two men back. Their eyes crawled over her body in a way she never wanted to be looked at again. They grabbed the chain attached to her cuffs and pulled her through side door into an alley between two
log buildings. A glass box sat in front of them. It was a little taller and wider than she was. Opening one side of the box, they shoved her inside it, then removed her cuffs. The door was sealed before she had time to react. The men left her alone in the alley as they went back inside.

  Lena clawed against the glass, desperate to escape. The more she pressed and rammed her shoulder into its surface, the more she realized she wouldn’t be able to break out. Slamming her hands one last time against its surface, she screamed in frustration.

  After a few minutes the two men came back. The box hovered across the ground as the men maneuvered her through the alley into the open roads of the town.

  They placed her on the far side of the city square. Setting up an electronic barrier around her prison, they guarded opposite sides of her box. People strolled past her, pouting in mockery and laughing. No one looked surprised that a caged girl hovered in their city square. She even heard one person comment on the price he thought they’d get for her.

  Lena pressed her hands against the box. “Help me,” she screamed at the passing people.

  One lady stopped and gave her the saddest look Lena had ever seen. The lady even wiped a tear from the side of her eye, but she didn’t help and as she walked away, Lena felt any hope she’d had up to that point fade away.

  She slunk against the glass wall and slid to the floor. She folded her knees to her chin so that she’d be able to fit inside the glass prison. Resting her forehead against her legs, she began to cry.

  There was nothing she could do but wait. Wait to be sold to the highest bidder. From the opposite side of the square, Lena saw Gideon in a box just like hers, being guided towards her. Lean stood and pressed her hands into the glass.

  “Gideon,” she yelled.

  He had been cleaned up. He wore an outfit similar to hers that buttoned around his arms and legs. The box that contained him floated across the square, then stopped next to Lena’s. The guards expanded the electric current to fit around Gideon’s box, then they joined Lena’s guards surveilling the crowds forming around them.