by Nancy Gray
Erebus smiled slightly. “Begged me and threatened me. I hate to tell you this, but I was going to do it anyway. I couldn’t just watch you enduring that much pain.”
“Where are we?”
Mirilee said, “We’re about fifteen hours away from your camp, and we have about four or five more days of travel before we get into bat country.”
“I’ve been asleep that long?”
Erebus smiled sheepishly. “Well, I might’ve used a bit too much venom. Those were big gashes and you lost a lot of blood, so I kind of cleaned you up.”
Mercy’s mouth gaped open in horrified embarrassment, thinking of Erebus licking her, especially in his human disguise.
Mirilee quickly interjected, “It was for the best that you were unconscious. We decided that we needed to get as far from the campsite as possible. Some of your people tried to ambush us when we dismounted to change the bandages on your wounds. We were lucky that we got away. You should’ve seen Erebus. He…”
Erebus glared at her and quickly interrupted, “I scared them away. It was easy. Don’t worry about that right now, just rest. We have to get up early tomorrow.”
Mercy frowned. Erebus was hiding something from her. He wasn’t lying, but he also wasn’t telling her the full story. As she tried to think of tricky questions to ask him about the ambush to catch him in the lie, Mercy felt herself drifting off to sleep.
She had nightmares about being bitten by giant fire spiders that were climbing across her village, setting buildings on fire. The Blood Wings were riding on their backs and Erebus was leading them and calling out to her. When she looked down, she realized that she wasn’t a villager, but one of the Blood Wings. Thin auburn fur was covering her body and her arms were sprouting leathery wings, which she immediately used to fly into the air. The wind flowed around her body in a gentle caress and she reveled in the freeing sensation of flight. She was thirsty for blood.
When Erebus shook her awake, Mercy’s mouth was parched. He held a water skin to her mouth, and for a moment she was worried he was really trying to feed her blood, but all that came out was water. She drank it gratefully and groaned as she tried to sit up. It seemed that the pain had come back while she was sleeping.
Mirilee flinched as she saw her pained reaction. “Mercy, do you think you can ride? We can go at a slow pace for a little while if you need to. We rode all day yesterday.”
Mercy said, “Yes. I can ride.”
Mercy looked down at her ankle. It was bandaged thickly all the way around, but she knew from the pain that the damage was done. Green Arrow had pulled the skin off before the elders pulled him away. Her engagement tattoo was gone, and the only thing that would be left was a thick scar. Somehow, that seemed appropriate since he was the one responsible for the loss of her betrothed in the first place. She felt too exhausted to grieve over it.
Erebus helped her onto the horse and let her ride behind him. She was grateful since it meant her back wouldn’t be brushing up against him during the ride. Even though her back was feeling a little better, just the touch of the wind was enough to make it sting. She almost wanted to ask Erebus to bite her or lick her wounds again, but she knew better than that. She was already feeling as though she was addicted to his venom. If she continued to rely on it, then she definitely would be. Instead, she allowed herself to drift off into sleep even as she rode, careful to grab a hold of Erebus so that she wouldn’t fall. He didn’t seem to mind.
They travelled all day and into the night, until they reached a clearing and Erebus brought the horse to a stop. He was mostly silent as he unpacked and started making the campsite. The forest looked different. The tropical plants were interspersed with evergreens and the sandy forest floor was dark with rich soil. It took her a moment to realize that she had never been in this part of the forest before, but she knew why. They were getting close to the territory of the beast men. They were heading in the direction of the mountain range. Even though it had been difficult to pay attention to her surroundings since she slept for so much of the journey, she could tell that the terrain was also hillier.
There was a small pond close by where the horse and riding bird gratefully drank. Mercy checked the water. Around the edges there were still red tinges, but the horses didn’t seem to care, walking deeper into the pond where the water was clearer. She wanted desperately to bathe in the pond, to feel the water soothing her burning wounds, but she didn’t dare. It wasn’t clean enough. She would have to make do with spot cleaning her body as she had on so many other days while they travelled, but even that would have to wait since the lack of clean water probably meant water rationing in the future. It made her think of Pyron and waking up clean and fresh in his bed. She wondered if he was having any luck finding the source of the rain. She hoped that she would get back in time to find out.
As they ate their dinner of dried rations, Erebus said, “I think you know that we’re almost there. Another two or three days of riding at this pace and we’ll be at one of the entrances.”
Mirilee asked, “Entrances?”
Mercy said in between bites, “The Blood Wings live in a large cave. From what I understand, there’s more than one way to get in and out.”
Erebus laughed so hard he nearly chocked. “I would hardly call the colony just a cave. But yes, we do live underground.”
Mirilee shrugged. “So, how are we going to do this? Are we just going to knock on the door and ask if we can please come in?”
“I wouldn’t advise it.”
Mercy fumbled through her backpack. “I still have the fake slave collar. You could pretend we were slaves.”
Erebus shook his head. “No. They know how I feel about the slavery issue. I wouldn’t be bringing personal slaves with me.”
“What is your opinion on that? I understand why Carmine was against it, but why are you?”
Erebus glared at her. “That’s not important right now. The point is that I can’t bring you in as slaves, so we have to figure out another way. I can’t just leave you outside since there will be guards at the entrances, but I can’t take you in either.”
Mirilee rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not going to let you leave us here. I didn’t come all this way to get left behind, especially after that ambush. For all we know, others from the Forest Tribe might be tracking us.”
Erebus said darkly, “After the last ambush, I think they’ll think twice about following us.”
Mercy frowned. “Yes, about that, what happened?”
Mirilee suddenly acted as though she was very interested in the dried stick of beef in her hand. Both of them were silent.
“Part of the pact was that we weren’t going to lie to each other. I already know that you lied to me about that ambush, and I want to know what happened.”
“I didn’t lie to you. I did scare them away.”
“Somehow you did more than that.”
Mirilee said a little too quickly, “I attacked a few of them. One of them might not recover from his injuries, but he deserved it.”
Mercy suddenly wished she hadn’t asked.
Erebus looked away from Mercy with an awkward expression on his face. “Anyway, we were talking about how to sneak you in. Once we get a little closer, I’ll change back into my Blood Wing appearance so that none of my people will attack if they’re in the trees. If they see you at all, they’ll probably think that you’re prisoners that I intend to feed on. Once we’re close to the entrance, we can leave the animals somewhere out of sight and shield you from view with my wings for a short period of time.”
Mirilee frowned. “Won’t that look suspicious to have your wings puffed out like a desert strider displaying its plumage?”
“They won’t notice. I can camouflage the back of my wings to match the ground. We usually try to camouflage ourselves when we’re traveling alone anyway.”
Mirilee nodded, impressed. “Really? That’s amazing!”
“But how are we going to get inside?”
Erebus grabbed a stick and began to draw a representation of the colony on the ground. “Here’s my plan, so far. I’m taking you to a sealed off entrance. There should be just enough room between the rocks for you to sneak in. There are only two guards outside of it at any one time, and they come from a different exit. I think I can distract them long enough for you to slip by. When you get in, there will be a long tunnel. Follow it to the end. There’s a deserted guard bunker at the end of the hall before the plunge. Hide in that until I come back.”
Mirilee raised an eyebrow. “The plunge?”
“The entrance was designed for people with wings. You’ll have to watch your step.”
Mercy asked, “How are you going to distract the guards?”
Erebus smiled wryly. “With a wineskin of blood mixed with wine. They’ll be thirsty and bored. It’ll be easy. But, I’ll need some donations.”
Mirilee didn’t speak, but cut the palm of her hand and took an empty wineskin, squeezing the blood into the top. Mercy felt a little ill as she watched.
She reached for her own knife, but Erebus put his hand over hers. “No, you lost a lot of blood during the ceremony. Tomorrow it should be safe, but eat some more and get sleep first. You need to be strong, just in case things don’t go according to plan.”
Mercy chuckled bitterly. “Things never go according to plan. Why should they start now?”
Erebus shrugged. “I don’t know. Despite things not going exactly the way that you envisioned them, I’d say that most of your plans have worked out pretty well.”
“I guess so.”
Mirilee sighed. “Though, I have to say using yourself as a funnel for your people’s rage might not have been such a good idea.”
“I had to.”
“But, they might not accept you back. Wasn’t part of your plan to come back after you find out the source of the rain?”
Mercy shrugged. “Plans change.”
Erebus said, “I think they’ll take you back, as long as your father stays in charge. He’s a very shrewd man. I’m sure he’ll come up with some way to get you back in their good graces. Just wait and see.”
“He is a shrewd man.”
Mercy felt a lump in her throat and quickly chocked down another bite of dried fruit to hide her emotions.
Mercy remembered Mirilee mocking her. “Can you read everyone’s emotions but your own?”
Mercy thought, “It isn’t that. I know my own emotions. It’s just that I can handle everyone’s emotions but my own.”
Mercy finished another handful of dried fruits and then curled up in her bedroll and went to sleep.
17
The next day, after riding for hours, the last remaining jungle plants began to disappear. The forest floor was entirely dark brown, and the terrain was very hilly, with the occasional rocky outcropping that signaled the very edge of the mountain range. She could see the mountains off in the distance, bluish and covered in what looked like small bushes, but she knew that they weren’t bushes at all but full grown trees. As they crested the top of a large hill, she looked behind her and saw the jungle canopy, flat by comparison, stretching out behind her like moss on a flat stone. Time was blurry in Mercy’s injured state, but upon seeing the view, she realized how far riding actually took them. It brought to mind Wind Dancer dodging Mercy’s question when she asked about the location of the colony. It seemed it really was even longer than five days away from her village, which meant one thing…
Mercy shouted, “How did so many get there?”
Erebus frowned. “What?”
“I feel stupid for not noticing it when we went back to my village. No wonder you didn’t want me to go. I’ve just been so overwhelmed lately that I didn’t even think about the numbers. They don’t add up.”
“What are you going on about?”
“Over a hundred and fifty Blood Wings attacked my village. If your people live this far away, how did so many get there the night of the storm to blood frenzy? That was a small army, not just a group of raiders.”
Erebus glanced at the ground. “I guess you could say we were trying a different approach.”
Mirilee’s eyes got wide. She slowly moved her desert strider behind the horse; as though just being close to their argument meant that she would be cleaning blood off of her shirt. The way Mercy felt, Mirilee could be splattered with gore by the end of the fight.
Mercy’s words came out as a snarl. “Then, there’s nothing to discuss. Turn around.”
“You convinced your people not to attack mine, now it’s my turn to return the favor. I think we both know that a temporary truce is best for both of our people. Are you going to jeopardize that because you’re angry?”
“You were going to try to kill or enslave almost all of them. The rain must’ve been part of your plan. Did you think I wouldn’t figure that out when I saw how far away you were leading us? I’ve been so exhausted from blood loss that I didn’t realize how far we travelled. You were counting on that, weren’t you, or do you really think humans are that stupid?
“I don’t think that you’re stupid.”
“Where are you taking us?”
“Fine, no more secrets. Even though it’s the back entrance, I’m taking you to the main cavern. That’s where our leaders are and where we keep all of the slaves.”
Mercy drew one of her metal daggers and held it to Erebus’ throat. To her surprise he didn’t even attempt jerk away.
“You aren’t turning us into slaves.”
“I don’t intend to. The plan is still what I told you it was last night. I’m not bringing you there to capture you. Put that dagger away, before you hurt us both. You’re blood bound not to hurt me, remember?”
Mercy didn’t understand the sensation, but every time she pressed the dagger closer to his skin, it was as though her body was resisting. The strength drained from her hand until it was as limp as the branch of a willow tree. Her head began to ache. She slowly put the dagger away.
Erebus continued. “The colony isn’t just one large cave. It’s a system of underground caverns, and there are more of us than you think.”
“That doesn’t explain the night of the blood rain.”
“That night, I was supposed to lead a large group of beast men to get a breeding stock of slaves. We were supposed to target couples, particularly with children.”
Mercy had never seen her vision go red with rage before, but as she stared at Erebus, everything seemed tinged with it. “That’s disgusting.”
Erebus snarled, “I didn’t want to take any slaves. I told you, I don’t agree with some of my leaders on that issue, but…”
“But, let me guess, you have to handle things regarding the decisions of your leaders with a certain sense of professional patriotism. That’s how Pyron put it about his people.”
“Yes. We outnumber your people at least five to one. If we wanted to kill you all, there wouldn’t be anymore of you left.”
“But why weren’t the raids more frequent then?”
“You asked if we raised your people like cattle, well you raised yourselves pretty efficiently without our help. Also, as you noticed, we don’t need blood to survive and most of us don’t need it often. I do because I’ve been using many of my gifts lately. I literally can’t tell you more about it than that.”
Mercy felt her fingernails digging into the palm of her hand. She was shaking with rage.
Erebus just sighed miserably. “Anyway, I was sent so that we could start doing the raising, so that we would have a constant supply of blood. I was leading a group of seventy-five of our best raiders from our largest colony. We flew for four days without any blood and very few breaks. We were famished. I agree that it was too coincidental that the rain happened during my raid. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone in the colony turned traitor. I intend to find out.”
“That still doesn’t answer my question. You said you took seventy-five raiders. Where did the other seventy-five come from?”
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“There’s a small town of my people living about a day away from your village, underground. They got water from a spring that fed from the surface into the cavern. When the blood rain happened, it polluted the spring. I’m sure that they frenzied too, and they were more than close enough to attack your people. My guess is that after your people killed off my raiders, they were already suffering heavy losses, and then the under-dwellers reached them. They wouldn’t have expected it, which is why so many died.”
“How did we never find the entrance? All this time, an entire town of Blood Wings has been living that close and we didn’t know it?”
“And, we intend to keep it that way. The entrance to that cavern was very well hidden. Unfortunately, from the way things looked, there probably aren’t many of my people left that live that close to your village.”
Mercy shouted in frustration, “Why didn’t you tell me any of this sooner?”
Erebus shouted back. “Would you have trusted me? I hate myself for leading that raid and compromising my own beliefs to look good for the pompous fools that are our leaders. In your position, I wouldn’t have trusted someone who was a slaver to lead me into anything but a trap. So, I didn’t tell you.”
Mirilee spoke up and asked calmly, “Are you leading us into a trap?”
“Of course not! If I wanted you captured, I could’ve just left you here and retrieved you with a group of raiders.”
Mercy snapped, “No more lies or secrets. Don’t let me catch you in another. On the way back to Concord, we’re going to talk about whatever happened during that ambush.”
“Fine. Understand this, Mercy, I also need to protect my people. If I died and our blood pact was broken, you could’ve told your people about that town. I don’t want my kind killed off either. Do you really think that your tribe wouldn’t take advantage of that cavern?”
“They would definitely use the cavern to take the fight to you. What do you mean about the pact being over when you die, though? Is it over when I die, too? If someone killed me, could you just go back on your word?”
