by Auryn Hadley
Probably, Sal thought, unimpressed. And they're elites, that's what gets me. How slow would regulars be?
Cyno chuckled. Blues would na be able ta make the climb at all, kitten. He nodded at the arm scrambling for purchase.
Sal sighed and moved toward the man, wrapping her fingers in his shirt to pull him over the edge. Kolton smiled up at her thankfully, gasping for air. Sal refused to consider helping Emen.
"Get him over the edge," she told Kolton. "You're too slow."
"Trying, sir," he panted. Laying on his stomach, he reached below the lip of the cliff.
"Let’s go," Sal said to Cyno.
"Just give me a minute more," Kolton begged.
"Ya know LT would want ya to," Cyno reminded her.
"Fine," Sal huffed.
Kolton finally pulled Emen over the edge and they both lay in the dirt, sucking air. "I just can't breathe up here," Kolton told her. "Air's too thin."
Sal looked at him and blinked slowly before giving in. "Longer breaths, panting will only make you hyperventilate. Long slow breaths help you acclimate."
"Done a lot of work in the mountains?" he asked, trying to follow her suggestion.
"No, just the Escean Pass."
"That's not this high," Emen managed to say.
"I know."
"I fucking hate the iliri," he said to the Corporal.
"Because we're better than ya?" Cyno asked. "Stop whinin'. We need ta move."
Razor? How far out is the steel? Sal asked. Damned humans are moving too slow.
We're still good, he assured her. They have another kilometer at least, and much of that is up.
She patted Cyno's arm and they trotted ahead, grinning when the men behind them scrambled to keep up. To her left, the rocks dropped away sharply, the chasm getting steeper and wider with each step they took. The terrain at the top of the ridge was jagged and unpredictable, but it became more level a few meters away from the lip. Across from her, she could just make out Zep and Shift pacing them. Their humans hung behind as well.
When the chasm began to close again, Sal slowed the pace and carefully crept forward, daring to glance into the pass. This is it, she told the Blades, marking the spot in their minds. About one hundred meters of pinch before it drops off on either side. I'm guessing six to eight meter drop, so we can get down.
Understood, Blaec replied. Let's play this tight, but do not take your eyes off Star Fall, people. And don't forget that the Terrans are elites.
She moved to the far end, her group following, and looked down into the gorge below. The trail fell away sharply, winding in a steep switchback down the eastern side of the mountain. Far below, she could make out a line of dark dots working their way up.
"Ok," she said, turning to the men behind her. "Now you can rest. They're still a ways down there."
Emen moved to stand beside her, looking. He shook his head, unable to see the men below. "Where?"
She pointed. "Follow the trail down, past the first three loops, past the boulder, then four bends beyond, they're just crossing the stream."
"I don't see a stream," he said.
Sal shrugged, and stepped back, sitting easily on a slab of rock that jutted above the others. "Must suck," was all she could think to say.
"You really see them?" he asked.
Kolton answered. "Iliri are known to have some damned good vision. It's why so many end up in the archers."
"And smell," Sal added. "And hearing, of course."
"So how'd we get you the other day?"
Sal growled and looked away. "I thought I was safe in my own camp. You'd think I'd learn by now."
"So how'd the kid do it?" Emen asked her, sinking to the ground.
"Do what?" Sal already knew the answer.
"Convince us all that we were going to die any second in such a heinous way that we froze."
"Our females," Cyno said, moving to sit by Sal. "They are na like yers. The pure ones? Ya do na wanna fuck with them."
"Or?"
Cyno chuckled. "Endorphins trigger specific responses. One of them is hallucinations. When ya only get one in five, it's a good thin' when they can manage ta live ta breed, ya know?"
"Why haven't I heard of this before?" Emen asked, not believing the crap they were feeding him.
"Ever met a female iliri before?"
"Yeah, before Unav fell."
"Ever tried ta kill one?"
He shook his head. "I was just a kid back then, man."
"Then check it for yerself. Most iliri females die from malnutrition."
Kolton looked up at him, "And the males?"
"Na the crossbreds," Cyno said. "We can at least eat the same shit ya do, even if it does na do much for us. Sal? Nah. Fucks her up pretty bad. Same for all purebreds, but we have enough males, we can lose a few."
"Damn," Emen said, chuckling. "That's one way to get rid of the competition, I suppose."
Cyno looked at him, his stare cold. "I am na the one killin' us."
Emen shrugged and turned to Kolton. "Ya know iliri don't have any hair on their body?"
"Not talking about this," Kolton said, standing. He walked to the edge, and looked over carefully.
"The whole thing, white as fresh milk. Ya shoulda seen her, man."
"Are you really that fucking dumb?" Sal asked him. "First you try to jack me. You ever hear what happened to the last guy who tried that?"
"What?" he asked skeptically.
"He bled out," Cyno almost purred.
"And then," Sal continued, "you have the balls to sit here, trying to taunt me? Do you not realize how steep that drop is?"
"Gonna throw me over it?" Emen asked. "I'll take you with me, bitch."
She shook her head. "Whatever. Look, you kiss my ass enough, and you can ride through Prin with the last load of steel. You piss us off, and we'll leave you looking like fools."
"It's time ta start suckin' up a bit," Cyno said to him.
Emen said nothing, which Sal thought was a pretty nice improvement. Long minutes ticked past, the men taking turns sitting and checking the progress of the train slowly making its way closer. Across from them, Zep and Shift did the same. Sal began to ignore the humans and fell into an easy conversation with Cyno. They talked about everything and nothing, but only in their minds. At each chuckle or smile, Emen glanced over but said nothing. Kolton refused to show any sign that he'd noticed.
Finally, the sound of men's voices reached Sal's ears. She gestured for Cyno to look as she pulled her bow around. He made his way to the edge and crouched, then nodded back to her, holding his finger to his lips for the humans.
"It's time," Sal whispered to them before reaching for her unit's minds. They're here.
Across from her, she saw Zep stand and scan the path. Clear angle from here, he told her.
Then let's see what we can do, Sal said, slinking forward.
Both Emen and Kolton crept to the edge with her, moving as silently as she could have hoped. Sal nocked an arrow and glanced at the men around her. When they nodded, she stood and took careful aim. The glint of captain's rings pulled her attention to a man at the back. She loosed, her arrow plunging deep into his throat. Cyno released a second later, dropping the man beside him. Kolton caught a man from the front line in the shoulder, and Emen buried his arrow in a horse's shoulder. Below, the Terrans reacted.
The bodies of the officers hadn't even fallen from the saddles and the Terran elites were seeking cover, pressing their horses against the stone sides of the walls. That only made it easier for Zep and the two men with him to find their targets. Beneath her, men and horses screamed.
"That's more than twenty-five," Cyno said.
Imperial Paradox is not alone, we have almost forty men here, Sal warned the rest.
Clean up what you can, Blaec said. Start from the back, push them into the pass!
"Hit the ones at the back," Sal ordered. "We need to lock them in. I don't know if the others are also elites."
&
nbsp; "Others?" Emen asked.
"I got twenty extra," Cyno said.
Sal made her way further down the ridge line, hoping for a better angle. Shift, am I behind them?
Not yet, he said. Ten meters more and you will be.
When she'd reached the point he indicated, she pressed toward the lip again. This time, she didn't bother to hide her silhouette. Standing tall at the edge of the rocks, she loosed, hitting the last man in the back. Beside him, a soldier screamed, whipping the mules he followed into the pass exactly as she'd hoped.
She aimed again, hitting the ground just beside his horse's shoulder and nocked yet another arrow. When the man glanced back, she could be seen clearly. Sal took aim and pulled the bow, waiting. The fool rushed forward, abandoning the mules, screaming a warning. She loosed, and he toppled from his horse.
"Emen!" Sal yelled.
He jogged to her side and she pointed. "Think you can manage to hit some of that shit?"
"Fuck off," he said, taking aim.
Sal waited. When he finally released the arrow, she was pleased to see a man fall. "Good," she told him. "Don't let them out of the pass. Do not shoot us. If you do," she pointed across the gap, "my brother will shoot you. Do you understand?"
"He couldn't hit me from there," Emen said.
Zep, can you put an arrow at Emen's feet?
A shaft hammered into a tuft of grass struggling in the rocks a hand's breadth from Emen's right foot. He gasped and hopped over as Sal grinned ferally. "Oh, he can hit you just fine. Now you have an extra arrow if you need it. I get so much as a scrape, and he'll put one through your throat. Got it?"
"Yeah," he said, stunned.
She ran back to Cyno's side, removing the strap from her bow, and checked her weapons one last time. Cyno was doing the same, both of them obviously preparing for something. Kolton watched intently, but made no move to interfere.
"Let’s dance," Sal told her lover.
He nodded, and the pair jumped from the edge.
When she landed, Sal tossed the bow toward the wall and pulled her swords, rushing forward into the panic of men and horses. Cyno moved the opposite way, surging to the back of the group, hacking at a Terran who saw him.
Sal felt the kill through their link, and snarled. Embracing the maast, she tried to match him, shoving her sword into the lungs of a horse, then jumping away before it fell. An arrow killed the rider before he could jump free. She looked up and saw Blaec standing on the rocks above, Tharp beside him with his bow drawn. Sal ran, hitting the next target, her bloodlust making it so easy to forget that she should fear them. She could see the entire battle through her brothers' senses, and her lover was watching the men she'd left behind.
On the ridge above, Kolton chucked his bow toward Emen, dropping the quiver at his feet. He looked at the drop once, and then slipped over the edge carefully, his feet seeking purchase on the sharp rocks as he climbed down into the chaos below. If any Terrans bothered to look up, he'd be an easy target as he made his way to the battle.
He jumped the last meter and pulled his weapons, wading into combat. Sal darted between horses like some wild animal, jumping and rolling as easily as she ran. Cyno hacked at the men in the last row, pushing them ever deeper into the choke point.
She heard a grunt and turned, catching sight of Kolton beside her. He grabbed a rider and pulled him from his horse, shoving his blade into the man's chest, and kept going, flowing easily with the battle. Sal moved with him, never letting him get behind her, keeping well clear of his blade. Around them the bodies piled up, but more always moved forward.
Three men charged toward the far end of the pass, right toward Sal and Kolton. She grabbed the crossbow from her belt and pulled the release, catching the man on the left in the shoulder. Kolton rushed him, swinging high, his sword cutting deep into the man's chest. The Terran crumpled from his horse and Kolton glanced at her with a proud smile on his face. Over his head, she saw the next rider pull a crossbow and aim, the Conglomerate soldier too close to ignore.
Rushing the two steps toward the Corporal, she grabbed his arm, yanking him to the ground as the Terran released. Kolton's weight spun her around. Sal felt a jolt of ice, followed quickly by the burn of pain in her arm. She roared, and Cyno's scream of rage matched hers. Shoving herself back to her feet, she looked for the Terrans, and caught Kolton pulling the last from the saddle to cut his throat.
More coming! Zep warned her from above. Recover, Sal. Get your shit together or you'll be under them.
She just nodded her understanding and looked at her arm. A black bolt pierced her bicep.
"Fuck," Sal breathed, just as the Corporal made it to her side.
"Fall back," Kolton said, trying to stand between her and the combat.
"Pull the fucking bolt," she snarled. "The head's through."
She lifted her arm, showing him, and he blanched. "Sal," he whispered.
"Pull the fucking bolt. I can't get a grip on it from that angle!"
He looked down the narrow ravine, then back to her when he saw no enemies close. "We can get you a medic, sir."
"Five more coming up from the back. Don't be stupid, just pull the damned bolt."
His eyes wide, Kolton nodded. His hand closed around the protruding shaft of the arrow, and Sal yanked her arm, pulling the bolt almost halfway through. He gasped and let go.
"Fuck," Sal snarled, reaching for the rest, now that enough protruded for her to grasp.
Kolton grabbed her shoulder. "Fine," he said, shoving her hand away. In a smooth motion, he gripped the bolt and pulled, the fletching dragging in the wound, making Sal grit her teeth. With a last look at the bloody mess in his hand, he threw it to the side.
"Not so hard, was it," she sneered, drawing another ceramic knife from her sheath as she made her way toward the back side of the ravine.
"Fucking crazy-ass iliri," Kolton whispered to himself, following her.
They cleaned up the last of the Terrans with the help of the archers, and the Blades moved in to check the bodies. Zep corralled the mules in a corner of rock, enticing them with handfuls of grass until he could catch the leads to bring the string back up the mountain one last time. Shift was with Sal, checking her injury.
"We're doing this old school," he said, pulling out a wad of pale cloth. "This will slow the bleeding, and I'll patch it when we're back at camp and you're out of armor."
"Gotcha." Sal held her arm out to him, as Kolton watched from the side. "Fucking put a hole in my leathers," she grumbled. "I'm going to need a whole new arm piece."
"I'm thinking that's the least of your worries," Kolton told her. "Sal, those don't always heal well. Ya might be done as an assassin."
"It's a clean wound," she told the human. "It'll be fine."
"Yeah, the pain hasn't hit yet," he said. "You'll be fine until it does."
"The pain won't hit her," Shift told him. "And don't stand too close right now."
Kolton took a step back. "Why?"
"Because I want to kill you." Sal looked up at him with a cold stare.
"She's berserk," Shift explained. "Ok, demon, here goes."
He pulled the bandage tight around her arm, and Sal closed her eyes, a soft moan escaping her lips. When he made the next wrap and pulled it tight, she tilted her head back and sucked in a long breath.
"Where's Cyno?" she begged her brother.
"Killing the wounded," Shift told her. "Zep should be with him."
Sal nodded, grabbing Shift's arm with her free hand when he pulled at the wound again. "Tie it off," she warned.
"One more, demon. Bite the leather if you need to." He tilted his head at his shoulder.
Sal tried to ignore it, but when he pulled the wrap again, she surged forward, sinking her teeth into the thick pauldron he wore, moaning. Kolton moved even further back when her teeth pierced hardened leather meant to stop a sword.
"Fuck," he breathed.
"That's what she'll do next," Shift told him. "And if
you don't want those teeth of hers in your skin, I highly suggest you get out of her line of sight and keep all your little friends away from her for a bit."
"How long?" he asked.
"Until she's fucked someone, and I only know one man that she can't kill."
Sal growled and yanked, aware that she was slowly losing control of herself. Shift jerked to the side and finished tying off her bandage before shoving Sal back. She looked up and her eyes locked on him, but Shift just shook his head.
"Oh no, Sal. Back the fuck off."
She sighed and wiped at her mouth before glancing at her arm. "I just need a minute," she told him. "Just don't touch me yet."
"Not gonna," he assured her. "Cyno's coming. Think you can hold off long enough to get out of sight?"
She nodded. "Yeah. You're going to have to clean this up."
"I got it," he promised, tilting his head to Cyno striding toward them. "You deal with him. I'll take care of this."
Sal closed her eyes, breathing deeply, waiting for Cyno to get just a bit closer. He grabbed her, pulling her to her feet, and the pair lost control. Sal lunged at his right shoulder, sinking her teeth deep in his flesh, and he bit at the back of her neck in response.
"Not here," Shift said, shoving at them. "Go play elsewhere!"
Cyno lifted his head and licked his lips, his eyes finding Shift's easily. He smiled then turned Sal in his arms, guiding her toward the cover of evergreens at the edge of the choke point.
"Shit," Kolton gasped. "Both of them?"
Shift just laughed and patted his shoulder. "Ya can't be half bad if Sal took a bolt for you."
"I don't think she meant to," he said.
Shift shrugged. "She knew it's what would happen. Trust me, that little bitch doesn't make mistakes in battle. This," and he gestured to the carnage around them, "is just too easy for her."
"And Cyno?"
"He's almost as good. Good enough he's grounded her a few times, sparring. Would hate to see how it would be if they were in maast, though."
"What?" Kolton asked, walking at Shift's side.
"The bloodlust, berserk, whatever you want to call it. We call it the maast."
"So it makes them better?"
"Dunno." Shift shrugged. "Good luck getting her to kill anything without it happening. Although ranged combat doesn't seem to have an effect on either of them."
