by Dark, Raven
All of us looked north, up toward a dark, looming mountain in the very near distance. There was nothing and no one out here. No castle, no compound, nothing.
No, we’re not, I shook my head. It’s just the mountain.
She’s right, we’re here. Ali’san rubbed her temples.
I shook my head, rubbing it and pressing on, the others at my side.
We climbed over a rise between two peaks. I straightened. Something made me look up.
The lights that flickered and waved across the sky stopped, giving way to a circle of darkness, as if a single black hole had been cut out of the middle of the glowing waves.
Behind me the other women swore and gasped.
We walked up to the edge of a cliff and looked down.
My heart leaped into my throat.
Breaths caught. Fear and awe electrified my thoughts from all of them.
In the middle of a mile-wide, glittering plain of snow, a mammoth cluster of spires and walkways rose into the sky, made of some type of crystal stone I’d never seen before. At the front of the huge structure, a long bridge connected the palace to a cliff a little ahead of us. It stretched over wide-open cracks and chasms in the landscape, all deep enough to send anyone to their death.
The castle. Julian’s home.
His thoughts hammered into mine, each one a screaming whisper that hypnotized, each thought as sharp as a blade, hot as flame, and unyielding as finely carved stone.
You’re right, I thought to no one in particular. We’re here…and he is waiting.
Ali’san pulled her mount beside me and took my hands in hers. A million emotions crossed her face—regret among them, I thought—until a tender smile appeared.
My heart sank. You’re not going with me, are you?
She squeezed my fingers. I can’t. You don’t need me now.
I shook my head, hating the panic that rose up. I don’t know how to fight him.
There is only one thing you need to know, Liberator. Her eyes shone with respect and pride. Believe in your strength. What High Priestess Lanaya said was true. Not every battle is waged with weapons. You have what you need. I can go no further. Just remember, when you face him, do not hesitate. There is no negotiating with him. He must die, and you must kill him.
My eyes must have widened in fear as my stomach clenched violently.
The other four women surrounded me, all reaching out to comfort me through a touch—on my arm, my back, giving me their strength. Their minds filled mine, their determination and positive reinforcement infusing me. I drew on it.
You can do this, Setora. You have to. Ali’san’s voice was strong and firm. You are the only one who can. She turned her head and stared out at Julian’s domain. He was a man once, with a family, with love in his heart. But he isn’t anymore. He’s just an evil force, hopped up on his own power and the power he takes from others. He has to die, or everyone else will. Do not hesitate.
Her words slammed home. I was so stunned I spoke out of reflex. “How do you know what he was? How do you know so much about him?”
“Because,” she said. “He’s my brother.”
Nothing could have shocked me more. “He’s your…”
“He is why I became a warrior, Setora,” she whispered. “Why I became Yantu. When he began to grow too powerful, began to become addicted to his power, he attacked me. He almost killed me when I would not join his plan and help him build his master race. I began to see visions of the Liberator, of you, facing him down. I became a Yantu so that I could guide you.” She squeezed my hand “You won’t fail. You can do this.”
I sighed but nodded. There was no choice. Then I looked at the other women. They nodded in return.
We are here with you.
The urge to tell them to go back, to get as far from this place as possible, leaped up in me, but their thoughts cut across mine, a unified refusal.
We are here with you.
Maker. So this was it. They wouldn’t leave. I smiled through my tears.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, then met the eyes of each of my friends.
Silence fell, and as it did, a plan passed between us.
Which one of us gave the idea, which one of us the plan came from, I didn’t even know. It seemed to blossom out of all of us at once, a seed that grew out of the Hive itself.
I shook my head. No. I can’t let any of you do that. If this doesn’t work…
It will work. Gita gave a firm nod.
I will see to it, Ali’san assured.
It will, Tari did the same. But Gita, if you die, I’m telling.
Gita grinned.
This was a crazy plan, a frightening plan, but if it worked, all of this would be over. We’d be alive, my Four would be with me, and the world wouldn’t burn.
Listen to Ali’san, I instructed, and when they argued, I shook my head. No arguments. If I need you, I will call. Not matter what happens, don’t approach the castle until I say.
Don’t get dead. Gita took my hand.
I won’t. I hugged them all. Stay safe. I’ll see you soon.
We’ll hold you to that, Kash said.
Ali’san pulled me into a tight hug one last time. “Go now, Liberator. My work isn’t done, there is still much I have to do. But when you succeed, I will be waiting for you.”
With that, she slapped my caribou on its flank.
The animal shot forward before I could stop it. I gripped the reins for dear life as my mount hurried ever forward.
When I caught my breath, I looked back at the five sisters who had given me so much.
Maker, may we live to see each other again.
* * *
I rode across the bridge for what felt like hours. Darkness took on a whole new meaning here. The only light came from the snow and the crystaline castle, which gave the world a pink glow, both beautiful and surreal.
The tether pulling me onward yanked harder, until my head felt like it was floating. Fear turned to a slowly rising panic in my throat.
Everything in me wanted to turn back, to put as much distance as possible between Julian and me, between myself and this horrible, frozen place he called home. But I was here now. There was nowhere to go but onward.
Halfway across the bridge, I looked over the strange, gleaming palace that looked so much like ice. I didn’t see anyone there at all. He had supposedly amassed a huge army, so why wasn’t I seeing soldiers everywhere?
As my eyes scanned the area, I concentrated. Yes. From inside the crystal fortress, I could sense them now.
Violets. Countless thoughts that weren’t mine hummed.
Up ahead, a column of tall, snow-covered pines, bordered the path that marked the end of the bridge.
Marking the point of no return.
I might not like it, but if I didn’t cross this bridge, didn’t follow where this path led, everyone I loved would be lost. My Four would die. There was no choice.
Yet for all my determination, when I reached the edge of the bridge, doubts began to settle in, deep and gnawing. I yanked on the reins, stopping my mount short.
The tether yanked. Not Julian, this time, but something that felt like…
Like destiny.
It intensified, fighting side by side of Julian’s silent order to come. That image of Tahmi killing Hawk and then the others, filled mind’s eye.
I started across the castle’s wide snow-covered grounds.
The loud marching of what sounded like a hundred soldiers thundered in the near distance behind me. I froze, panic and fear welling up. Those emotions trickled through the small collective Hive that connected me with my Sisters.
Concern answered back from them. I quickly sent a reassuring thought out to them, letting them know I was all right.
I was. For now.
The marching drew closer, growing to a roar. Sweat trickled between my breasts despite the icy chill. I kicked the caribou into motion, pulling the reigns tightly to the left, steering in behind
one of the snowy pines that bordered the path. I ducked low on the animal’s back, hoping its white coat would be enough to blend in with the white-dusted pines and hide me.
Within minutes, soldiers rode up over the peak of snowy mountain, heading for the far end of the bridge, the place I’d just been twenty minutes ago with my Sisters. The caribou under me remained still as I watched through the cold branches, snow brushing against my nose.
The army marched forward, a long snake of movement across the bridge, each one clad in that bluish scaled armor, those long staffs with the glowing balls at the tips held erect.
I snatched a breath.
Half of the soldiers dragged a ragtag group along by the cuffs. I caught sight of cuts on some, but with badges that weren’t the skull and crossbones of the Dark Legion, or any MC I was familiar with, thank the Maker. On others, I saw helmets similar to those of the J’nai, their bodies in clothing fit for the climate,, with crows or wolves or other clan symbols on their breasts. One or two who marched wore the furs and adornments of Critian custom.
So, he’s taken them from all over the world, I thought.
No sooner had the troops passed, another party marched forward in the horizon, more soldiers, more cuffed prisoners.
Prisoners of the Master Race.
I was beginning to think the marching would never end, that I’d freeze to death out here, when the thunder of the last soldiers faded away.
After counting to two hundred to make sure they were gone, I blew out a breath. It was time.
Heavy-hearted, cold, and terrified, I turned my mount around and started for the castle alone.
Maker, give me strength. And Light, please save my Four.
Chapter 37
The Return of Old Friends
Two days after we’d left camp, the real craziness started.
From the moment we’d left that camp, we’d been trying to follow the trail our Petal left behind. She didn’t make it easy. Sometimes we lost the trail, sometimes we ended up in circles, having to back track. If Ivek and Hawk hadn’t been the ace fucking tracker that they were, we might never have found the trail at all.
We’d run across few people in this frozen hellhole, and when we did, they gave us a wide berth. The sight of thirty barbarian men on horses was enough to scare anyone this side of Crite. But then they started showing up.
They came in small groups at first, a few MC men from a handful of different crews, mostly members who had struck out on their own, or nomads that had no leader and no club to follow. For those who had a crew, they’d given us the same damn story.
Julian had ripped through their territory, destroying their crews and lands. Hard as any of us found it to believe, they’d heard of the small band of men who kept showing up in the towns and cities Julian had laid to waste, with a plan to hunt him down and take him out. The whole fucking world was getting turned upside down, they said, leaving people feeling lost and helpless, with no idea what to do or how to stop this faceless demon and his scale-armored men. News that someone had a plan-any plan—must have sounded like music to their ears, because they’d set out to find us. To find and join the MC men who rode horses instead of bikes, traveled with Barbarians they were supposed to hate. To find the men who meant to find Julian and fight him, whatever the cost.
For those who didn’t have crews, they’d been chased down by Julian’s men, either to be recruited as soldiers in his army, or to be killed if they didn’t surrender. Those who’d escaped came looking for the same thing. There was safety in numbers they said, and they would rather fight him than run and hide until his army slaughtered them.
Which is why, by the third day out, our almost forty-man group had swelled to a hundred. By the time three day had passed, every time we turned around, a new crew was there, eager to join us. Each time we stopped, Sheriff had to induct someone.
We weren’t about to make most of these people Dark Legion. We didn’t know half of them from a hole in the ground, but we needed them, so we had to come up with some way to give our growing troop a sense of identity, to make it clear who was in charge and remind them of the cause they fought for.
Which is why we ended up doing the very last thing any self-respecting MC man would do in this world.
We used the banner we already had, the symbol Ivek brought.
By day four, the ever-swelling group was at nearly two hundred strong. Not all of them were MC. Some of them were Clans, men whose lands had been likewise pummeled to shit or blown to bits. Men looking for a way to defeat the fucker who had taken away their homes, their women, their friends.
At first, it pissed me off to have men who we’d have viewed as little better than the J’nai, authoritarian types who had their own set of laws and who hated MCs, serve under us. But Julian’s army was reported to be a thousand strong. Those Clans were bodies we needed, strong men, tough men who knew how to fight. As long as they did what we said, did what Sheriff said and didn’t put up a fuss, who gave a fuck what symbol they wore or who they disliked or why.
The evening of the fourth day would always stick out in my mind. Because that’s the night I realized what had happened here. The night it really hit us all between the eyes.
We were headed at a breakneck speed across yet another stretch of frozen land, backtracking again from a dead end, and trying to beat the clock. The horses were tired and so were we. By now, I was no longer bouncing along on the back of a horse, holding onto one of Ivek’s men for dear life. I had my own mount, one that had only bit me twice so far.
The cold whipped at our faces, but at least there was no snowstorm to freeze us to death.
It was early evening when we heard them. A loud motor growling behind us, a few hundred feet back.
“What the fuck, again?” I shouted over the din of horse’s hooves.
In front of me, Sheriff glanced back, and I saw his eyes behind his scarf close briefly in annoyance. He fell back to the end of our formation, letting the vehicle group catch up to him. I followed.
The newcomers were inside what looked like some kind of tank, heavy-duty treads plowing through the snow. Sheriff and I pulled our mounts to a stop and the tank idled. Another tank pulled up behind the first.
“Are you General Sheriff?” the driver shouted over his engine.
“I am. You here to join us?” He’d gotten so used to doing this, and it seemed everyone came for the same reason, he didn’t even bother going through the whole process of interviewing anymore.
“We are! You still need men?”
“If you can carry a weapon and can follow my orders without giving me any bullshit, then we need you.” Sheriff pointed to a ridge coming up ahead of us, a cave we could gather under.
The man nodded and signaled to the driver in the other tank. They sped up and rode alongside.
Under the ridge, we skidded the horses to a stop, and Sheriff leaped down. The driver of the first tank, a black-bearded bulky guy with one eye sewn shut, walked over to us. He and Sheriff shook hands, while his men rode up behind him and cut their engines.
“Good to finally meet you, Sheriff. You guys are legends everywhere, and not just as the Dark Legion. Name’s Murk, General of the Birds of Prey.
“How many of you are there?” He looked over the large number of men now standing behind General Murk.
“Twenty. I’m guessing by now you’ve heard the story a hundred times, General Sheriff. City turned to shit, lotta dead men. So we won’t tell it again.”
“Good.” He drew out a bag of leather patches Ivek and his men had made. “Sew these on your cuts. Congratulations. You are now a member of the Army 0f Her Eye.”
“Wait a minute… Her Eye?” His grin was huge. “She’s real? The Liberator who saved the Rebels is a real person? Where is—”
“Yes, she’s real,” Sheriff growled. “And stop drooling. She’s mine.”
He whipped around and got back on his horse. I chuckled. He always sounded so irritated when these new recruit
s clamored for a chance to get close our famous Petal. Except, as usual, he was grinning. Like me, he and the Dark Legion were proud of the Violet girl who’d stolen our hearts. But we were also worried sick for her every second she wasn’t with us.
Several times, we came across Julian’s troops, a hodge-podge of various criminals he had someone suckered to his side. We did what we did best. We slaughtered them, making sure they couldn’t hurt anyone else. News of this, of course, spread like wildfire, ramping up the stories about us, and drawing more people to our cause.
Perfect.
Later, on the same evening the Birds of Prey showed up, Sheriff was sitting on a rock just inside the cave we’d set up for our latest camp, writing out the names of the newest recruits before we took off again. There was a line of arrivals in front of him. I was sitting not too far away, back inside the cave, eating with the guys, the moon casting the newest arrivals in shadow. Sheriff had his head down over his paper, scribbling out another name.
“Next,” he said without looking up.
The next recruit took a step forward.
“Club name and rank?”
Instead of answering, the recruit and four others tossed something onto the ground in front of him. Four human heads, each with the scaled helmets worn by Julian’s men, rolled over to Sheriff. Unseeing eyes stared at me from the darkness.
“Fuck,” I said, leaping up from my rock.
Sherriff gave the armored heads a passing glance and shook his head over his paper. “Great. More overzealous recruits. Club name and rank.”
“Undergeneral of the Dark Legion…”
“Excuse me?” Sheriff’s head snapped up.
“Undergeneral of the Dark Legion,” the arrival repeated with a huge grin, “Devil’s Breath Chapter. Name’s Sinister.”
“Fuck, Sin?” I laughed, setting my food down and going out to greet him.
Sheriff leaped up and grabbed Sinister by the shoulders, shaking him. “Sin, you sack of shit.”
The two of them clapped each other on the backs. Sin drew back and clasped my hand in a shake. “Hey, Steel.” His eyes sparkled with delight.
