Calling the Change (Sky Raiders Book 2)

by Michelle Diener

  Arne lifted the lantern behind him, and it illuminated two cells sitting side by side, and a long passage, stretching away into the darkness.

  “The jail.” Arne slipped around him to explore.

  Both cells were empty and the door of one had been completely removed and set against its inside wall.

  Garek stepped closer and tried to see why it had been taken off its hinges. He frowned, crouching down, and Arne brought the lantern closer. The hinges looked like they'd been sheered off. Taya couldn't have done that, she wasn't strong enough, but he didn't want to believe she wasn't the person who escaped.

  “Have you seen these?” Arne asked, her voice echoing a little in the empty space.

  Garek lifted his head, saw the two packs she was standing next to.

  “They look like Gara guard packs.”

  “Yes. I served in the Juli guard, but you could tell if they're from Gara.” Arne crouched down and set the lantern on the floor so she could use both hands. “This one looks like someone slashed it with a knife.”

  Garek joined her, examining the cut leather flap with a frown. He pulled out a few things, then rocked back on his heels.

  “These are Fek and Gaffri's packs, no doubt about it. So they were here.”

  “Could one of them have been the person who escaped?”

  Garek was afraid the answer was yes, which still left the question, where was Taya? What if she wasn't with them?

  He drew in a sharp breath, refusing to contemplate it. “How do we find out who the escapee was?”

  He wanted his hands on Fek and Gaffri, wanted to choke the information on where to find Taya out of them.

  Arne gave him a strange look and then pointed behind him.

  He turned, then registered the sound of someone walking toward them down the passage. Whoever it was carried a lantern, and the light bobbed up and down. Arne blew their lantern out.

  Now that he was concentrating on it, Garek could hear it was more than one person. They were talking in low, angry tones, and coming closer fast. Garek propped the packs against the wall and followed Arne back into the little office.

  They moved quickly but steadily as they made their way out of the building, even passing a guard, to whom they both gave a quick nod.

  He seemed puzzled, but not worried enough to ask them who they were.

  Once they were out on the street, Garek waited until they were out of sight of the barracks before he put a hand out to stop Arne going any further.

  “We need to find out who escaped.”

  She gave a nod. “The tavern is the best place, but you'll be recognized. Even if you weren't, they'll be less inclined to talk in the presence of a guard from another state. I, on the other hand, go there at least once a week and mingle.”

  “You're saying I should wait outside.”

  She looked at him without saying anything, and eventually he gave a nod. “One hour only. If you don't have anything by then, I'll go in and make someone talk.”

  She gaped at him. “That would be . . . unwise.”

  It was his turn to stare at her. Eventually she closed her mouth. “Just pretend you don't know me, if it gets that far. I still have to live here.”

  He gave a curt nod and she turned on her heel, her back stiff, clearly angry at his threat to cause a scene.

  When they were in sight of the tavern, Garek eased into the shadows to wait. “One hour,” he reminded her softly.

  He thought she muttered something under her breath, and then she was pushing at the doors and stepping in to the warmth and laughter.

  Somewhere in the distance, a clock tower rang the hour. It was eleven. That made it easy enough. When it rang again, he'd be showing Luf just how dangerous he truly was.

  “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HEAD?” Gera had settled down next to her by the fire, and now she leaned closer, frowning.

  The external injury was more a nasty graze than anything else now, but because her hair was so light, it was easy to see.

  “I was caught in a rockfall going through the Dartalian Range.”

  She still wasn't sure if she should say anything about Gaffri and his deal with Habred. She leaned forward, elbows on knees, just happy to be warm and sitting down for a little while.

  “What were you doing going through the Dartalian Range?” Vanu sat on her other side, the big levik farmer one of her favorite people from the camp on Shadow. “And where's Garek?”

  She sighed. These people knew too much about her life for her to do anything but insult them by refusing to talk.

  “When we took the Kardai to Juli, the sky raiders were waiting, and they took back Dom's sky craft.”

  “While the Kardanx were inside?” Gera's voice was weak with shock.

  Taya shook her head. “No. They were already out, and Garek was walking toward it to turn the engine off. They shot him with white lightning.”

  There was silence as everyone shivered at the thought of it.

  “So they stole it back. But not the other one?” Luci handed her a bowl.

  She shook her head. “But we realized we'd have to be very careful if we wanted to keep the other craft. We went back to Pan Nuk, to help everyone move back to the village, but the sky raiders found us there, too. Garek took off without me, to draw them away from the village.”

  She realized she needed air, and took a deep breath.

  “He's all right?” Vanu asked.

  She shook her head. “I haven't seen him since. I heard he was in Luf two days ago, I'm sure he was looking for me, so I think he's fine.”

  “Why aren't you waiting for him back home?” Luci crouched in front of her and handed over a spoon to eat her stew with.

  “Because the day after Garek left, I was abducted by some guards from Garamundo.” She paused, shook her head. “They were acting for your liege--for Habred. And they took me straight to Luf, through the mountains.”

  There was absolute silence.

  “Our liege?” Gera tipped her head to the side. “But why?”

  Taya said nothing, looking down at her bowl of food.

  “Because of us.” Luci slapped her forehead with her palm.

  “What . . .?” Vanu looked between them.

  “Habred wants her for her Change. And he knows about it because of us.” Luci said each word distinctly. “Oh, Taya, I'm so sorry.”

  “This isn't your fault.” She took a bite of stew, her stomach growling in anticipation. “This is on Habred. And the guards who brought me to him.”

  “Hold on.” Vanu shook his head. “If they brought you to Habred, how did you get away?”

  “Because . . . and I won't name names for obvious reasons, one of the guards I was handed to is the cousin of someone in this group.”

  Everyone mulled that over.

  A man walked up behind her. “I can understand a Harven guard thinking they owed you for helping with our rescue. What I can't understand is the other guards thinking Habred abducting an Illian citizen in order to use her for her Change is all right.” He stepped around her, into the ring of firelight, but Taya already knew it was Bargat, Gern's cousin.

  They shared a look.

  He must know the position his cousin held. Must have a good idea which guard had helped her.

  “Habred didn't parade me through the streets. He hid me in a small cell in the guard barracks.”

  “If someone in the guard barracks had spread the word on who you are and what Habred had done to you, surely that would have been better for you?” Gera asked. “Then Habred would have been forced to release you and probably treat you like visiting royalty.”

  That was true. The pro-West Lathor sentiment must still be high in Luf. And the very stories that had focused Habred's attention on her would have made her a hero in the city.

  “There's more.” She took a bite of stew, so she didn't have to speak straight away.

  “You want to say this even less than you wanted to tell us Habred was behind your abduction.” Luci
's face was grim in the fire's glow.

  “Let me give you the information I was given, and you can decide what to make of it.” She laid out the story Gern and Mu had told her, and when she was done, there was silence except for the shuffle and bleat of the leviks.

  “Why didn't he tell me?” Bargat spoke first. Everyone looked at him, confused, but Taya knew he was talking about Gern.

  “I asked him that.” Taya tilted her head so she could look him in the eye. “He said he tried, but you were so happy to be free, so happy about the leviks Habred had pledged to Cassinya, he was afraid you wouldn't want to hear it.”

  “What do you plan to do with this information, Taya?” Luci was watching her with sad eyes.

  “Take it to Juli. And my liege, or most likely Aidan, will take it to the Illian Council.”

  Luci nodded, her face stoic.

  No one else said anything, and Taya looked down miserably into her empty bowl. Of everyone in Harven--aside from the victims the liege had provided to the sky raiders--the people sitting around her were the people Habred had betrayed the most.

  “Habred will come after you. You must know that,” Vanu said.

  Taya nodded. “When they can't find me in the city, they'll start searching the roads to West Lathor. I've got no doubt about that.”

  “Then eat, and get a good night's sleep.” Gera's face was solemn. “Tonight, you have a hundred guards on watch.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  The bell struck the hour, and Garek stepped into the street, heading for the tavern door.

  He had almost reached it when the door opened, and Arne stepped out.

  “Anything?”

  He didn't think she had, or she wouldn't have waited until the very last moment.

  She shook her head. “No one knows, I don't think.”

  “Someone must know.” And he would make sure they talked.

  “Garek.” Arne put a hand on his arm. “Right now, you're a hero, and West Lathor is considered Harven's friend. If you do this, that will change, and it'll make Deva's job that much harder.”

  He knew that. He simply didn't care enough. He was about to move his arm away when two men stepped out from the door into the night, one older than the other, both obviously guards.

  The older man stopped dead at the sight of him, shocked recognition in his eyes.

  His companion looked nervously over his shoulder, back toward the tavern door, and pulled the older guard away, walking with a quick, nervous step. The older man kept pace, saying nothing, but he looked over his shoulder more than once.

  Garek hesitated. If he was going to question the people in the tavern, he could start with those two, but before he could take a step in their direction, the door opened again, and two guards stepped out. Garek recognized them immediately.

  They were both from the attack that had injured Zek.

  Their gaze was fixed on the retreating backs of the older guard and his friend, and they didn't notice Garek until he stepped right in front of them.

  “You.” The first guard pulled up short.

  “Me.” If anyone knew where Taya, Gaffri and Fek were, it would be Habred's trusted henchmen.

  One guard reacted faster than the other. He put on a burst of speed, heading for a dark alleyway, and Garek called his Change and smacked him down.

  When he turned back to the other man, it was to find Arne had him in a head lock, with a viciously curved knife to his throat.

  “Let's go find a private place to chat, shall we?” Garek asked.

  Arne nodded, and Garek couldn't help the quick grin he shot her at her obvious relief his plan to wreck the tavern in a mass interrogation hadn't been necessary.

  He strode to the guard he'd incapacitated. He was struggling against the air pounding him down, and Garek let go of his Change as he grabbed him, lifted him up, and walked him into the alley he'd been running toward. He pushed him up against the wall, and Arne did the same with the man she'd subdued.

  He could call his Change again, use it on them. But he wanted to use his hands.

  “Where is Taya?”

  They both looked shocked.

  “Where. Is. Taya?” He kept his voice pleasant and clear.

  Very little of the light from the street lamps filtered into the dark space, but there was enough light to see the glint of Arne's knife blade as she lifted it up, and the flick of an exchange of glances between the two guards.

  “We don't know. She escaped.” The guard Arne was holding lifted his chin as far away from her blade as he could.

  “So it was her who escaped.” Garek said it matter-of-factly, but the relief he felt made his knees weak. He narrowed his eyes. “Where are Gaffri and Fek?”

  He put a hand on the guard's shoulder, tightened his grip.

  The man shared another look with his companion. “I don't kno--” He squeaked as Garek applied some pressure.

  “Where are Gaffri and Fek?”

  “Dead,” the other one said, his voice harsh.

  Garek hadn't expected that. He lifted his brows. “Now, why would Habred kill two men who'd done him such a big favor?”

  “Favor?” The guard gave a scornful laugh. “They were bumbling idiots who didn't understand half of what they'd gotten in to.”

  Now that, Garek believed.

  “What do you want to do with them?” Arne tilted her blade and it gleamed bright.

  “Perhaps we can let the Dartalians know we've found two of the thugs who attacked Zek,” Garek said. It was time to start exposing Habred to the consequences of his actions. Time to lose him some friends.

  He cut the guards' air off as he held their gaze, so they could see just how much he'd like to do more, and then stepped back as they both went down.

  Arne crouched beside them and pulled out rope to tie them with from the small pack on her back. He gave a grunt of appreciation for her preparedness.

  “Let Deva send the note to the Dartalians that we have these two. Let's make this official. West Lathor doing a favor for Dartalia.”

  Arne gave a nod of agreement and stood, and he followed her out of the alley.

  He nearly walked into the back of her.

  She was stopped in her tracks, staring down the two men who had come out of the tavern just ahead of the two guards he'd interrogated.

  “Are they gone?” the older man asked.

  Garek stepped aside, allowing them a view of the two guards lying, trussed up, in an unconscious heap. “You mean those two?”

  “Yes.” The old man's voice was bright with glee.

  “And who are you?”

  Something on his face must have alarmed them.

  “I'm a friend. A friend!” The older man gasped, and Garek realized he'd been stealing the man's air.

  He pulled back.

  “You recognize me?” Garek watched the man put his hands on his knees and get his breath back.

  “You're Taya's intended.” The man lifted his head, and then straightened. His companion shifted nervously beside him. “I saw you around Luf when you were here a few days ago. Have to admit, I didn't know you'd be back, or I'd have got Taya to wait for you.”

  For a moment, he felt lightheaded. “You've seen Taya?” His voice was so low, it hurt his throat to speak.

  The man gave a nod. “Name's Gern. They put her in my jail.” His voice quivered a little. “Mu here and I helped her escape.”

  A SKY CRAFT SCREAMED OVERHEAD.

  Taya looked up, but once again, the thick branches above obscured any sight of it.

  She'd left Luci's camp just before dawn, loaded down with food and water, safe in the knowledge Luci would lie for her if the Luf guards came looking for her along this path.

  The herd of leviks meant the villagers couldn't go as fast as she needed to, and it was less trouble for everyone if she wasn't caught amongst them.

  She'd been walking for seven hours almost without a break, and from what little she could see of the sky through the branches overh
ead, the Star was almost directly above her.

  The path narrowed and became more overgrown, and just when it seemed to disappear entirely, Taya shoved through, sweaty and scratched, onto the main road.

  She moved to the middle of the road, looking right and then left down the open track, then staggered to the side and sat, pulling out her canteen and taking deep gulps of lukewarm water.

  When she'd eaten something and almost finished her water, she forced herself to stand. She was on one of the main routes, now, and she needed to move as fast as possible. Whatever time she'd saved taking the shortcut, she needed to preserve her lead and push for the mountains as fast as she could go.

  The road ran alongside the forest, so there was a deep, cool green shadow to her left, with rolling hills and the occasional cultivated field to her right.

  Up ahead she could see the gray of the mountains, not close enough to loom over her, but a solid presence in front, as if they were blocking the way.

  The pain in her head, which had seemed so much better, began to ache in the bright light of midday. She shouldered her pack, and started walking.

  She'd been going for an hour when she first understood the pounding she could hear was zanir hooves on the hard-packed earth, not an increase in the thump of her headache.

  She turned to look behind her, but the way was curved and twisty, and there was nothing to see.

  She moved to the forest side of the road, looking for a gap in the foliage to slip back among the trees, but there was no getting in. The bushes were so thick and matted together, it was more solid than a hedge.

  The road trembled beneath her feet and she turned again and saw two riders, bent low over the necks of their mounts, turning the corner.

  She ran, eyes on the wall of greenery, looking for a gap, for any way in.

  Overhead, the scream of a sky raider craft drowned out the thunder of the hooves, and she risked looking up, saw the sleek silver of the sky craft swoop low and then land in front of her, blocking the way and blowing up dust.

  She stopped, lifting an arm to shield her face, and then darted a quick look at the guards.