Invasion (The Warrior Chronicles, 4)

by K. F. Breene

  “Good to go, sir?” Tobias asked quietly.

  Sanders hadn’t even heard him walk up.

  He pretended not to see the look of pity in Tobias’ look. “Yeah. Let’s head back.”

  “Sure.”

  They walked slowly, Sanders’ thoughts constantly returning to his wife and what she might be going through. Ten minutes later, without warning, a stab of pain crashed into Sanders. He jerked his horse away from the city to get out of the danger zone. This time, the pain cut off instead of bled away.

  “Shit.”

  He looked over at Tobias’ exclamation, expecting the other man to be shaking out the pain. Instead, he had his bow in his hand and was looking at the ground about ten yards away.

  An Inkna lay facedown with half an arrow sticking out of him. “Crap, Tobias, now look what you’ve done!”

  “Sorry, sir! I saw him, and just when it registered what he was, the pain hit. I reacted.”

  “Ordinarily, that would be a good thing.” Sanders looked around. Seeing no one, he kicked his horse toward the Inkna. A crimson pool inched out from under the body, shining in the speckled sun. “Damn it. You killed him. That makes things a little more complicated.”

  “In all fairness, sir, they shouldn’t be this far out. I really don’t think I can take the blame for this, sir. It’s definitely his fault I killed him. Maybe we can just hide the body and claim ignorance.”

  Sanders huffed out a laugh. There really wasn’t much else to do, really. They couldn’t very well give him back with an “oops, sorry” and expect it to go away.

  Rhythmic shuffling and crushed leaves had Sanders jerking his head toward the city. Black shapes moved within the trees, lurching and labored, as though toiling with something. Tobias noticed it a second later, bringing up his bow again.

  “Think they were following that Inkna?” Tobias asked quietly.

  Sanders looked around for somewhere to hide. “They’re on foot, and they don’t seem to be rushing out here. Looks like they’re carrying a load.”

  “What are we going to do, sir?”

  Sanders thought about it.

  If they left quickly and quietly, the Graygual might not notice their dead countryman. Sanders could kick a few leaves over the dead body, cover it up a little. The longer it took to find the Inkna, the longer until the Hunter really punished them.

  They’d figure out that the Inkna was dead eventually. With one already dead, what was the harm in killing a few more? The result would be the same. Especially if Sanders kicked leaves on all of them.

  “Fuck it. Let’s just kill them.” Sanders kicked his horse forward.

  “What if they have more Inkna?” Tobias asked, kicking his horse to start moving, too.

  “Get that bow ready. Let’s hope we get him before he gets us.” The black-clad men halted. Someone shouted. It sounded like a name.

  “Nope, he’s dead,” Sanders mumbled, ripping out his sword.

  Thuds sounded, something large hitting the ground. Footsteps pounded, but no steel slid against leather.

  “They’re running away!” Tobias shouted, kicking his horse faster.

  “That’s mighty cowardly.” Sanders steered his horse around a large tree until he had some space, and then kicked its flanks, urging it to keep up. He passed the things they had been carrying, three large shapes decked in blue—

  Dawning froze Sanders’ insides. Bile rose in his throat. “No.”

  He didn’t look any closer as he passed. He couldn’t right now. But he knew what they were.

  “Haw!” He kicked the sides of his horse again, leaning forward. Men ran in front of him, terrified. They were too stupid to realize they should head into the dense foliage so the horses would have a hard time following.

  Tobias shot. The arrow stuck in the center of the closest Graygual’s back. The Graygual went down, screaming. Tobias nocked another arrow, sighted, and then shot. The arrow hit a shoulder this time, making the man stagger away from the others.

  Sanders was on them. He slashed down, chopping into the neck of a running Graygual. The man twisted and fell, leaving one more on his own, running blindly. Sanders swung his sword, cleaving into the last. The man grunted, stumbling. Sanders slowed his horse to get in a final swing that cleaved the man’s head from his shoulders. The body tumbled into the dirt.

  Pulling back on the reins, Sanders slowed his horse, scanning the area in front of them. He could barely see the wall through the tree trunks. No one else had made their way out. He bent down, looking right and left, wondering if they had come from a different direction. He still didn’t see anyone.

  Making his way back, he did little more than check to make sure the Graygual were dead. He didn’t bother turning the first over to check for slashes on the chest. Sanders didn’t care. The other was groaning, on his side. Sanders finished him off. No lines marred his chest.

  Throwaways, Shanti would say.

  “Sir.”

  Sanders knew that tone. Bracing himself, he walked his horse up to Tobias. And finally looked down at the shapes that had been abandoned.

  Lucius lay, sprawled out. His complexion was pale and ghostly, his mouth slightly open, and his limbs at awkward angles. It didn’t look like his body was broken, just uncomfortable. If he were alive, he would’ve moved. Sterling lay next to him, alongside Galen, a newer officer who had shown a lot of promise.

  “Maybe he’s just knocked out,” Tobias said in a quiet voice. Sanders could hear both the hope and concern in those words. If that had been the case, though, the Graygual wouldn’t have brought them all the way out here to kill them. Unless they planned to leave them after…

  “Do you think this is the Hunter’s response?” Sanders asked, getting off his horse. “Because if so, he would’ve wanted to kill them in front of us.”

  “Why would they bring them out here, though?”

  Sanders bent, placing two fingers on Lucius’ neck. His pulse didn’t push back. Sanders moved to the other two men, checking each in turn. His heart dropped as he looked down on a couple of his oldest friends. Both dead.

  “They brought them out here to leave them. Somewhere where the stink wouldn’t bother anyone.” Sanders hung his head, the pain of loss consuming him. “Let’s get them back to the Captain. They shouldn’t be left out here alone. We’ll bury them the right way.”

  Tobias climbed off his horse slowly, his movements stiff, his face filled with grief. “If this is where they bring the dead…”

  “I know.” Sanders waited for Tobias, and together they hoisted Lucius up, struggling to get the muscle-laden man over the horse’s saddle. “Let’s get these back, and we can search for any others.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  As Sanders started back, the sorrow of losing his comrades, and the fear of possibly losing Junice, started to burn. Anger flared up to cover the pain. Higher and higher it fanned, becoming its own entity.

  The Graygual would pay for this, starting with whoever came out of that gate to deliver the Hunter’s message.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Your sword is here.” Rohnan backed away from Fabienne’s door and held up the sword. “I got it for you before I came.”

  Shanti grabbed it, letting her Gift spread a little further as she slipped out of the house. An empty lane greeted her, this area quiet. Mostly homes, so there was probably little worth the Graygual patrolling.

  Taking advantage, she ran as fast as she could. At the end, she slowed and drifted to the side, feeling minds around the bend. Breathing heavily, she pictured in her mind where Junice’s house was from where she stood. Thankfully it wasn’t far, with a mostly clear area between her and it.

  “Where is Leilius?” Shanti asked, peering around the corner to identify the minds.

  “He’s waiting for us there.”

  City people, mostly men, worked in their yards on their various crafts. One was building something out of wood, completely out of place among the trimmed bushes and gras
ses of his front yard. A Graygual with five stripes stood in the middle of the lane, surveying the goings-on. Shanti couldn’t see his eyes from the distance, but she would bet they were hard and focused, missing nothing.

  “Only one Graygual,” she said, scanning the way. She’d have to go around this area. Trying to get past that Graygual without arousing suspicion would take longer than running around.

  “They’d only need one of that caliber against a ragtag crew of craftsmen.”

  “I should kill him. That would be a significant loss for the Hunter.”

  Rohnan paused before answering, thinking it through. He gave the answer she was expecting: “He’d be missed. And while all these deaths will eventually bring down his wrath anyway, this one would speed things up. Every minute of peace is precious.”

  “You forgot to point out that it would take too long.” Shanti waited until the Graygual’s back was turned before sprinting across the lane, sheltered again by a house on the other side.

  Rohnan dashed behind the house right beside her, panting as he said, “If you knew the answer, why ask the question?”

  “Just making sure you’re paying attention. Sometimes you can be really dumb.”

  “Pot calling the kettle. Do you know the way?”

  After feeling the way with her Gift, Shanti started to jog. “Vaguely. I know the city enough to get around, but not enough to plot the most direct route.”

  They cut through a yard and crossed another sleepy lane, trying to pick the fastest possible route to Junice’s house. Shanti’s map of the city was hazier than she thought, though. Her time in the city hadn’t been spent in these outskirts and within the quieter areas. She kept leading Rohnan into fences and dead ends, having to backtrack or waste time scaling the blockage.

  After fifteen minutes, many of those lost in wasted efforts, they came upon one of the larger streets. Shanti sensed the people walking or standing around; many of them were clearly cunning and alert. Probably Graygual. She touched off one mind that had her collapsing her Gift in a hurry, pulling it back behind a shield.

  “Inkna.” She took deep breaths as she leaned back against the wooden fence sheltering her from roving eyes. Rohnan crouched next to her, waiting for her decision. “We have to find another way,” she whispered.

  “How close are we?”

  “Not much closer than when we started. I just don’t know the little out-of-the-way paths.”

  “I was not accusing, Chulan.”

  Shanti’s stomach twisted just a little bit more, time starting to weigh heavily on her. “I know, I know. C’mon, let’s find another way.”

  She darted away from the wall, taking a right through an alley. Scraps of trash littered the sides, no one taking care of the city with the Graygual keeping a watchful eye on activities. A barrel lay on its side up ahead. A discarded scrap of paper danced in the mouth of the alley.

  Without her Gift to guide her, Shanti put faith in her survival instinct as she slowed near the end of the alley. She scanned what lay beyond their shelter, then peered around the corner, but didn’t find anything to cause her alarm. The lane was small and bare, more trash littering the walk.

  “This one isn’t used much. Let’s—” Something niggled at her awareness. She paused for a moment, trying to place it. It wasn’t an alarm, but…

  “Someone’s coming.” Rohnan looked behind them.

  It took Shanti a moment to see it. A small body, perfectly still, stood in a shadow halfway along the alley. The little boy stared at them.

  “Arsen!” Shanti jogged to the boy, time draining with each step she took in the wrong direction. “What are you doing here? This isn’t the place for you!”

  “I delivered my poison.” He blinked up at her with those trusting brown eyes. “I didn’t see Gracas, so I just dumped it into the stew. No one noticed me. I’m really quiet.”

  “You went into the prison camp?” Shanti put her hand on his frail shoulder, her heart thumping with fear for what could’ve happened. “Why did they send you there? That is way too dangerous.”

  “I told you,” Rohnan muttered, looking around the corner.

  “Shut up, Rohnan,” Shanti spat, pulling Arsen in for a quick hug. “I’m sorry. I thought they’d have you kids doing easy deliveries and then getting out. I didn’t think there would be any danger.”

  “I did what they assigned me at first, which was take a box to Miss Molly. That was easy. Her guard just stared at nothing the whole time. But then I heard that Gracas was having trouble getting close to the stew. And that was a big deal. So I just went to see if I could. It was really easy, Miss Shanti. No one ever notices me. Even my father never did.”

  A surge of emotion welled up. With such a problem procreating, her people protected and cherished children, coveting the little creatures. Ignoring them, or not noticing them, was unthinkable. That idea was as foreign as it was atrocious to Shanti. Putting them in harm’s way was unthinkable. If she wasn’t desperate, she would never have consented to them even leaving their house. Not that they’d given her a choice.

  “Wait until we leave, then get on home.” Shanti gave his shoulder a light squeeze.

  “He won’t,” Rohnan said with equal parts impatience and uneasiness. “He’ll continue to follow us. We’d have to personally take him home, and even then, he’d probably just leave again. He’s as willful as you ever were.”

  “I can take you where you want to go,” Arsen chirped, eagerness in his face. “Please. I can take you.”

  Shanti shook her head. “Not a chance—”

  “Please. Miss Junice was always nice to me. She gave me cookies. And you keep getting lost. If I don’t help, you won’t get there in time.”

  Shanti’s logic warred with her heart. He was right, but he was so small. If any harm came to him, she would die inside.

  But then, with the way these people were worming their way into her heart, any of them dying would have the same effect. Her desire to keep others at a distance after losing her people was being eroded with each new person she grew close to. Each new stranger who became an acquaintance…and then a friend. This city had become her home, and these people were becoming family. If it could be prevented, she couldn’t sacrifice any of them. It just wasn’t in her.

  Taking a deep breath, she said, “Okay, but only because I have no other choice if I want to keep Junice alive. Listen to me, though. If something happens, I want you to run. Do you hear me? Run!”

  “Okay,” he squeaked.

  “Promise me.”

  He looked up at her solemnly, holding out his pinky finger. “I promise.”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Rohnan said.

  Shanti held out her pinky, as well, though she wasn’t sure why. “Lead the way.”

  Confusion crossed his face as he glanced at her finger before her words must’ve registered, because he quickly dropped his hand and said, “Yes, ma’am.” A smile lit up his face. He scampered toward Rohnan. “This way.”

  His little legs moving, he burst out of the alley and across the path.

  “Wait!” Rohnan sprinted after him.

  “There’s no one around here,” Arsen said, scurrying along a leaning fence and then crawling under a hole in the dirt.

  Rohnan pulled the top of the fence. A crack announced its destruction. Rohnan finished it off with his foot, bending it toward the ground as the rest of the barrier fell.

  “Someone is going to be pissed about that,” Shanti said, jogging into the unkempt yard after him. Weeds tangled her feet, tall and wild.

  “It’s abandoned.” Arsen waved them on. “This whole row is.”

  “Why?” Shanti wondered quietly as she followed behind him to the next yard, then the next, jumping over or helping fences finish their fall to the ground.

  “There are a few others like this in the city. One was mine. No one lives in it now.” Arsen got to the end of the row and crouched in the shadow of a decaying wooden structure. “Sometimes
there’s a bad guy out there.”

  Rohnan closed in on the bent and slightly swaying fence, then squatted. He glanced over the side, paused for a moment, and lowered back down. To Arsen, he said, “How close are we?”

  “Three streets away.”

  Rohnan looked at Shanti. “It’s an Inkna on horseback. No one else is on the street.”

  Frowning, she moved to the fence and glanced over. There he was, in the middle of a medium-sized thoroughfare, a solitary figure sitting atop his mount. He seemed to be waiting for something.

  She noticed the area around him, placing the wild batch of shrubs on the corner. She vaguely realized where she was, never having viewed the area from this vantage point, but recognizing the layout of that intersection. “Produce carts and horses often use that way, don’t they?”

  “Before the bad guys.” Arsen stayed where he was, hunkered down. “Now only bad guys’ horses come and go.”

  Shanti rolled her eyes. “The gate. This leads out to the side gate.”

  Rohnan’s eyes collided with hers. “This is where they will take Junice out of the city. I’ve seen this done before. They’ll tie her behind the horse and drag her—” He cut off, glancing at Arsen.

  Shanti didn’t need him to finish the sentence. The Graygual wanted to create a spectacle. They must’ve told Cayan to come quietly, Cayan would’ve refused, and now they intended to weaken him. The Hunter had taken note of what crippled the men of this city. He would strike by brutalizing one of the wives. The Inkna was guarding the starting point and then probably the procession. Him being there now meant their fun was about to begin.

  “We don’t have any time.” Shanti threw off her shields and let her Gift flower out. It brushed the mind of the Inkna immediately, the power of the other fairly substantial. The Inkna’s head turned her way.

  She stabbed. But not the man.

  The horse screamed, rearing. The Inkna, taken by surprise, gripped the reins but didn’t brace for it. His body flew. The horse bolted forward, the reins ripped out of the Inkna’s hands, jolting his shoulders midair. He hit the ground with a crack.