Alliance Forged

by Kylie Griffin

  “Do you think they’ll keep up?” She forced the question past stiff lips and focused on his words.

  “We’re moving too fast downstream and there’s a bend coming up. They’ll lose sight of us shortly.”

  She released her breath. That would alleviate one threat, if only for a while. She doubted Veren would give up searching for them, but at least they’d have some distance and a river between them.

  A strange, rushing sound caught her attention. She tensed. “Varian, what’s up ahead?”

  “A set of rapids near the bend. The water is smoother on the inside. I’ll try and move us over there.”

  Knowing he needed to concentrate, she resisted the urge to ask him how rough they were. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know anyway. It was a wonder Varian couldn’t feel just how hard her heart was beating through their two layers of clothes.

  A wave splashed over her chest and face. They submerged. Water filled her mouth and nose. She jackknifed and fought to sit up as Varian’s legs gave a strong kick, then they broke through the surface. She gasped in a shocked breath.

  “Easy, I’ve still got you.” Varian’s voice in her ear was laced with tension. “Relax.”

  Another drop, much deeper than the first, had her digging her fingernails into his forearm as they went under again, only this time they were flipped facedown, then buffeted around and around.

  Under the surface, the tinny roar of water pounding against stone deafened her, added to her confusion. Mother of Mercy, which way was up? Varian’s legs brushed hers as he gave a powerful kick. Thank the Lady for Na’Chi strength. They surged upward. Lungs burning, she flailed with one arm, hunting for the surface. They both emerged coughing and sucking in fresh air.

  Her limbs began to shake. Being separated from Varian was all too easy to imagine. Logic told her he was doing everything he could to keep them safe. With every movement, she could feel his muscles flexing, contracting, guiding the direction they drifted, fighting the current to keep them afloat. But one hard jolt against a submerged rock, being sucked into a small whirlpool, or even tumbling over rapids could do it.

  “Breathe deeply, Kymora. Slow your breathing.”

  “I can’t.” She shuddered. This was too much like her nightmares. In them her fear became a living entity, so thick it often smothered her like a blanket, or rising water. She always woke before it overcame her but not before she reached the brink of torment. Just like now. “Let me go.”

  She hardly recognized the thready, high-pitched voice as her own. Varian’s arm tightened around her. She struggled harder, her breath coming in desperate gasps.

  “Kymora, relax.”

  She elbowed him and he grunted. Her pulse thundered in her ears. She needed to get out of the water. Now.

  “Tread water.” Varian’s sharp command and movement upright penetrated her panic. “Turn.”

  Somehow she managed to loop an arm around his neck and they ended up face-to-face. Hot tears prickled in her eyes. Mother of Light, what was she doing?

  “I’m sorry….” Her voice broke.

  She could hear his rapid breathing above the sound of the rushing water. The power in his legs was the only thing keeping them above the surface. Hers were tangled in the folds of her dress, useless, a dead weight that threatened to drag them to the bottom.

  “Use the fear to strengthen you. Don’t let it win.” The sense of urgency in his tone sharpened her focus. What could he see ahead that she couldn’t? “Climb onto my back. Now!”

  The thread of steel in his voice quelled her flare of panic and spurred her to try. Submerging again to duck under his arm was the worst, but she clung to his shirt and emerged to wrap her arms over his hard-muscled shoulders, plastering herself along the length of his back.

  “Kick hard, Kymora.” His muscles bunched, and with his arms free, she could feel them moving through the water a lot faster.

  Kicking through material that wrapped around her legs was hard, but it was better than floating helplessly on her back. The sense of control helped ease the fear clawing her insides.

  “Nearly there…” His breathless reassurance ended in a grunt. His body jerked as if he’d hit something. They stopped moving. Beneath her, his every muscle and limb felt like steel, rigid and hard as he held them steady against the current. “We’ve reached the bank. The boulder has a lip”—he gasped in a breath—“a hand span above the water level. It’s flat on top. Reach up… feel for it.”

  Kymora slid a hand along his arm, over his fingers until she could feel the pitted surface of the rock. She found a crack and wedged her fingertips in it, hoping her trembling muscles wouldn’t jeopardize her hold.

  “You get out first.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” Her teeth wouldn’t stop chattering. Transferring her weight to the hand gripping the boulder she forced herself to let Varian go. Her stomach dropped like a stone to the bottom of the river with the loss of contact. The absence of his body heat made the water swirling around her seem much colder.

  Biting her lip to stop herself from crying out, she found a second handhold, then scrambled with her legs to find purchase on the submerged rock wall. Panting hard, she pressed her cheek against wet rock. She was on her own, her nightmares resurrected. Far too real.

  “Please hurry.” Whether he heard her or not above the sound of rushing water, she had no idea.

  Gritting his teeth, Varian flung his arm over the edge and hauled himself out of the water. His body shook with the effort, but the terror etched on Kymora’s face gave him the strength he needed to pull himself the rest of the way. Water streamed off him as he scrambled to his knees on top of the water-worn boulder. He leaned over the edge and grasped her wrists.

  “I’ve got you!” Kymora stared up at him, her sightless gaze wide, and her cheeks pinched and pale. The sharp, bitter scent of her fear coated his nostrils. It was much, much stronger now.

  Not that he blamed her. The journey down the river had taken an enormous amount of nerve to make. Relying on him to help her swim downstream took a level of trust he’d never have given another. The respect he felt for her rose another notch.

  “You can let go now, Kymora. I’ve got you.”

  Bracing himself, he hauled her clear of the water and onto the rock in one swift movement. The momentum took them backward and he went with it, curling his arms around her to cushion her fall. He ended up flat on his back with her cradled on top of him.

  Varian laid his head back on the rock and closed his eyes, content to feel the warmth of the sun on his face as he sucked in huge breaths, one after the other. Every muscle felt overheated and rubbery. His limbs were as heavy as some of the boulders lining the riverbank.

  For the moment, he didn’t care. They’d outdistanced the rebels. They were safe. Kymora was safe. That was all that mattered. Until he realized how badly she shook. Her shoulders twitched, and where she lay against him, he could feel her hiccupping, as if she were crying. Not a sound came from her though.

  The sharp stab in the center of his chest, like someone had pricked his heart with a knife blade, caught him off guard. “Kymora?” Her tears twisted his insides tighter than the braids at his temples.

  Comfort her.

  He hesitated. He wanted to but didn’t know how. He hadn’t had a lot of practice being with others or easing their fears. You had to be around them and spend time with them to do something like that. But as Kymora continued to tremble, his conscience demanded he do something.

  Gingerly, he tightened his arms around her. He shifted so they were seated on the boulder with her cradled between his spread legs, and placed a hand on her back to rub it. The gesture felt awkward and uncomfortable, but it was something he’d seen Lisella do with younger children. He just hoped it would work with Kymora because he didn’t know what else to do.

  She tucked her head beneath his chin and pressed her cold cheek against his chest. Her spasmodic breaths were warm against his wet skin.
She tucked her hands between their bodies, then wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him as if she were afraid he’d let her go.

  Water dripped from his hair into his eyes but he ignored it. “Shh, I’m here.”

  Being needed as a scout or warrior was an entirely different feeling from providing someone with a source of emotional comfort. As strange as it felt, a part of him liked it.

  Peering across the white-tipped waves rushing downstream, he wished he knew what to say to make her feel better. Talking about her fear would probably embarrass her. If the situation were reversed, he knew he’d hate the thought of anyone seeing him so vulnerable.

  “Kymora, you’re safe.” He kept his voice quiet, calm. “We both are.”

  He frowned. Had she heard him? Her fingers gripped handfuls of his sodden shirt. He could feel her nails digging into his back. Smoothing wet strands of her black hair from her face, he saw that she’d bitten her lip so hard she’d drawn blood. He grazed the back of his finger over her cheek, his stomach clenching at the bruise beginning to darken her flesh.

  She’d been struck. He almost demanded she tell him which rebel had hit her, but he contained the urge, fighting to control his renewed fury at the thought of her in danger. Had he been sure of where the others were, and more certain of Kymora’s safety, he’d have rescinded his capture-and-contain order concerning the rebels. They deserved death for threatening the lives of his people and the humans.

  Had his scouts and the Light Blades been successful against the rebels? Were Lisella and the others safe? He had to get back to the village, but Kymora was still trembling and shivering in his arms.

  Unsure of what to do, Varian just held her and ran his hand along her hair. Even wet the strands were soft as they brushed against his skin. It felt good just touching her, something he’d wanted to do since their momentous meeting in the Lady’s Temple.

  His stroking slowed as he recalled Lisella pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of a child’s head. Did he dare? Would Kymora accept such a gesture from him? More importantly, was it appropriate? Varian swallowed hard and wondered if she could hear how hard his heart was beating.

  Hunting, tracking, fighting, training, disciplining, killing; those were all areas he excelled in. Situations like this were way out of his experience. Comfort and care belonged to people like Lisella. Kymora needed someone like her, not him. He ground his teeth together. What was he supposed to do?

  “We need to find shelter, a place to hide.” Action. Now that was something he could deal with. He kept his voice low, gentle. “We never made it around the bend in the river and we’re too exposed to stay here on the riverbank.”

  Peering around the rocky scree, the low angle of the sun and the lengthening shadows told him they had barely an hour of daylight remaining. As much as he wanted to get back to the village, Kymora wasn’t ready to face a long, arduous trek, especially one that contained another river crossing. Not yet.

  While he didn’t know this section of the foothills well, the jagged ridge that ran parallel to the riverbank was the same one that ran behind the village. The caverns there had provided them with temporary accommodations while the village was being built. Varian gathered Kymora into his arms again.

  “We’ll find a cave to shelter in for the night. If we’re lucky, it’ll be deep enough for us to build a fire and shield the light.” His thigh muscles ached in protest as he pushed to his feet, but he ignored the pain. “There’s plenty of wood to scavenge in the forest….”

  They were going to need that fire come nightfall. While the day had been hot, the lateness of the season meant the evenings cooled off. Spending a night in wet clothes wasn’t ideal.

  With her in his arms, he headed for a sandy egress and made his way up the riverbank. As he reached the fringe of the forest, he continued listing all the things he could think of that would make their overnight stay more comfortable. Collecting dry leaves for a bed, setting a snare in the hope of catching dinner; he even mentioned how he hated walking in soggy boots.

  Anything to keep Kymora’s attention focused outward. And if he were honest, it kept his mind off inappropriate thoughts such as how much he was beginning to like having her soft, warm body in his arms.

  Chapter 4

  THE line of captured renegades bore a range of facial expressions, some downright hostile as they glared at their Na’Chi guards, another couple seemed afraid, while one or two had the presence of mind to look ashamed.

  Arek fisted his gloved hands as he watched his Light Blade warriors binding the rebels’ hands and feet. Because they’d gone in unarmed against them, two of his warriors had suffered defensive wounds, one rebel lay dead after refusing to surrender, and another had been found stabbed outside the village.

  None of the renegades deserved to wear the Lady’s sun amulet around their necks. Every single one of them had resisted. Very little sympathy for any blood or bruises adorning them mixed with the white-hot anger seething inside him.

  Using a begrimed sleeve, he wiped sweat from his brow. “Are they all accounted for?”

  Glancing away from where the rebels sat lined up against one of the village houses, his gaze connected with several Na’Chi, then settled on Zaune’s. The young scout had joined them toward the end of the battle with worrying news from Lisella. Kymora had not made it to the shelter of the caves, and their search of the village for her had proved futile.

  Kalan and Kymora were closer than any brother and sister he knew, so delivering such news to his friend wasn’t something he looked forward to doing. The man had enough to worry about with the increasing frequency of attacks by the Na’Reish on the border, not to mention brewing unrest within human territory that could easily explode into civil war. Arek sighed softly. This incident certainly wasn’t going to help that situation anytime soon.

  “We’re not sure if they’re all here,” Rystin replied. The dark-haired scout’s violet eyes were flecked with black. His scowl matched Arek’s mood. “Varian’s also disappeared.”

  “Second…”

  The weak, hoarse call came from the injured man found at the edge of the village. His face seemed familiar but Arek couldn’t place him. The warrior obviously recognized him, as he’d called him by his title. Slumped against the wall of a house, the man tried to straighten but hadn’t the strength. Each breath he took gurgled in his chest and was painful to listen to.

  Arek covered the distance between them and crouched beside him. The thick metallic tang of blood mingled with sweat and the foul stench of human waste. The wound low on his abdomen seeped a dark red, almost black liquid.

  Arek grimaced. A bowel wound. That accounted for the putrid odor. The other was higher up in his ribs. Both were mortal.

  “Second, there are two more….” Pain contorted his weathered features as he stretched out a bloody hand to grip his arm. “They tried to kill the Temple Elect.”

  “There were twelve of you?” He squeezed the man’s hand as his eyes fluttered closed. “Stay with me, warrior.”

  “Twelve… yes.” His head dipped, then lifted. His blood-flecked lips twisted in a grimace. “Veren and Torant… I tried to stop them….”

  The wounds were from his friends, not from the recent battle? Arek frowned. “Did you see what happened to the Temple Elect?”

  “One of them took her….” He inclined his head toward the scouts. “She claimed he was her friend.”

  Arek sucked in a short breath. “A Na’Chi about my height, black hair, with temple braids?”

  “Yes.” A racking cough stained his mouth with bright, frothy blood. The man wiped it from his lips with the back of his hand. Dark brown eyes met his, a glassy sheen to them but sharp enough to reflect the knowledge that he knew he had little time left in this world. “Veren and Torant gave chase…. The Na’Chi and Temple Elect leapt off the cliff… to escape them….”

  “Varian and Kymora jumped from the escarpment?” Zaune’s tone reflected his surprise. “Can Kymora swim
?”

  “Yes, but she hates the water.” Arek frowned. Kymora only ever swam close to the shoreline and never in anything higher than waist deep. “Take five men, a mix of your scouts and mine. Find their tracks—”

  “You’re giving us orders?” Rystin stiffened where he stood. “Who put you in charge, human?”

  Arek ground his teeth hard. “If the Na’Chi don’t want to help, that’s fine. I’ll send my warriors out alone, but with you, Varian and Kymora will be found a lot quicker.”

  “Rystin, it doesn’t matter who gives the orders; they’d be the same if they came from you or me, wouldn’t they?” Zaune cocked one dark eyebrow. “Varian and Kymora’s safety comes first, eh?”

  Rystin stared at Arek for several long heartbeats, his gaze hard, intense, then he turned on his heel and walked away.

  Zaune shook his head and glanced at Arek. “He’s still not sure about the alliance….”

  “He’s not the only one,” Arek admitted, quietly.

  Personally, he wasn’t sure if some would ever get over the ingrained prejudice each felt for the other race. Too many years of conflict with the Na’Reish tainted their history. Learning that they’d once shared the same territory and the origins of their Gifts were the result of interracial breeding with the demons had shocked them all.

  But no more so than discovering his grandfather and others, all revered figureheads on the Blade Council, had kept this information secret for decades. Then to find out Annika was his Na’Chi half sister—he shook his head—they were all issues he still struggled with, so he could understand why others were having trouble adjusting.

  “As I was saying, find their tracks and where Varian and Kymora went over the edge.” Arek grimaced at the thought of Kymora in the water. “Then hunt down the two missing renegades. Once we have them, we can organize a search for Varian and Kymora.”

  Zaune’s hand gripped his shoulder. An unusual gesture for the young scout as he tended to avoid physical contact unless engaged in battle. “Varian will keep her safe.”