by Auryn Hadley
It's the only way, Blaec thought, meeting her eyes. If he kept his skills, he'd win. I chose this.
Two men grabbed Blaec, one of them removing the shackles on his hands, the other grabbing the resin cable attached to his leash. He struggled, but the wounds and lack of food made him too weak to do much. The guards easily dragged him to stand before the crowd. No matter how hard Sal pulled, she couldn't get free to help him.
This was happening. Shaking her head, struggling against her bonds, she screamed over and over, "No!" but it didn't slow them. They forced him, stumbling, to stand right before her. "I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt him!" she begged.
"We'll get it right next time." Blaec spoke as if no one else was around, tears welling even as he tried to look brave. "I love you, Sal. Don't let this hurt. I know you're strong enough."
The defeat in his voice hurt too much. She wailed, struggling against the restraints yet refusing to look away. Her eyes found his and she held on, begging the world to stop, for time to halt even as the human raised the knife to his neck.
"No!" she begged. "Please not him. I love him!"
The Terrans just laughed at her desperation, proving nothing would stop this. Nothing could turn back time or release their bonds. All she had left was the power of her mind, and it wasn't enough. She was chained like an animal, helpless to do anything.
And she had a promise to keep.
Sucking back a deep, painful breath, she wrapped her mind around his - and froze. "I love you. I will always love you. I will make them pay," she whispered, feeling Jase and Zep's terror in the back of her mind as her last bit of hope melted.
"Do it!" the Emperor ordered.
Blaec's eyes were filled with fear as the knife met his skin. Before the pain could hit, she twisted his soul, knocking him unconscious. His weight sagged against their hold, but he'd feel nothing. It was the last kindness she could give him. The last moment she'd ever have with him. As the deep red blood started in a slow trickle, she screamed, her wail growing louder as Blaec's life flowed down his chest.
Across the distance, Sal tried to heal him, tried to slow the bleeding, tried to make his body obey her will, but his light was dimming in her mind. Her entire focus was locked on saving Blaec's life, but she couldn't reach him. In her head, the smothering of his spark cut at her brain, a wound like she'd never felt before. She sank to the ground, straining harder with her mind, screaming louder with the pain of his soul being wrenched from her head, leaving an aching void.
"Fuck," Narnx whispered. "The link. She's about to lose her ever-loving mind."
"What?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Pissed off berserk Kaisae in the middle of nothing but targets!" Narnx snapped.
One of the men holding Blaec looked at Sal and laughed. "Serves you right, bitch," he said before nodding to his companion.
They dropped Blaec's dying body in the mud and left. Sal couldn't tear her eyes away. Her mind struggled to hold onto him, but he slipped through her mental fingers, too faint to grab. All she could do was watch his chest still try to rise and fall, her sanity slipping away as her only reason to live died before her eyes. And she was powerless.
Then, with a searing pain, he was simply - completely - gone from her mind.
His presence was ripped away like a brand inside her skull, searing apart his connection to the pack. She screamed, slamming her head against the post, lurching against the bonds, trying to make the pain end, but nothing eased it. She snarled and yanked, pulling her hands through the solid manacles, leaving her skin behind.
Released from the post, she pounced on the Emperor, who still crouched inside the reach of her chain. Her teeth latched onto the side of his face. Soldiers yelled and moved into action, pulling her away as they drug him out of her grasp, but she'd gone feral. She surged forward over and over, blind to any reason, hitting the end of her chain hard enough to shift the bolt in the wood.
"Stop, or we'll kill you," Captain Vitus yelled from outside her reach.
"She doesn't care!" Narnx told him, trying to move the humans back. "Her link's broken. She's not thinking like that!"
"Then what the fuck is she thinking like?" the Captain asked, panic in his voice.
Narnx dodged Sal's next attack. "She thinks she needs to kill us all. She needs to protect him from the threat."
Over and over, Sal threw herself at them then strained to reach Blaec. Her only sounds were snarls and growls, the look in her eyes was completely animalistic. The single thing she was aware of was the searing pain in her head and the emptiness that caused it. Her Dernor was dead, and she needed to make the world pay.
Chapter 26
They rode through lunch, Jase and Zep pushing the others hard. With the grey, diffused light, it was impossible to know the time, but the sun was still too bright to be evening. They could make a few more kilometers before they had to stop again. A few more kilometers closer to Sal. A few less to cover the next day.
The cessivi knew something was bothering Sal. With every hour, her will to fight faded, only a few brief flares of anger giving them hope that she'd survive this. Jase and Zep didn't talk about it. They didn't need to. Their own worries passed easily between them, each one driving the other forward. Risk and Razor, aware of their troubled glances, made no attempt to slow the pace.
Suddenly, Zep reined in Cessa hard, Jase spinning Raven in place. "No," Jase breathed, looking to Risk.
His face said everything. They'd done this before. They knew what was coming. Someone was about to die and nothing they could do now would stop it.
"Go," Zep told Marin. "Don't stop, don't look back, just ride. Just go!"
"But - "
He pointed to the distance, his eyes growing red and wet. "Don't talk to me, just get the fuck out of sight!" He slid from Cessa's side, a sob in his throat, then looked up at the Terran soldier and winced, grabbing at his head. "Go!"
Marin went. He kicked his horse hard, pushing it out of sight before pulling up, the screams of torture and anguish behind him neverending. He almost made it out of earshot before he couldn't take it anymore. He had to know what was happening.
In a cluster of trees, he tied the gelding and began climbing, making his way along the rocks, keeping the wind on his side. Where he'd left them, the Black Blades writhed in a pain he couldn't understand. He had no idea how long they'd been suffering - it felt like hours but probably wasn't - and they weren't done.
Razor lay still on the ground. Risk clawed at his head. Zep clung to Jase even as the smaller man bit and clawed at him, surging in the direction of their mate. Marin didn't understand how they knew where she was, but unerringly, they did. He'd seen them look that way too often.
The horses had wandered, ignoring the primal noises of their masters for the lure of grazing. While he watched, Risk went limp, his arm stretching in the same direction Jase was still lunging. The little assassin kept at it for nearly an hour until Zep began to succumb to whatever disease had taken them. When the human lost consciousness, only then did Jase's frenzy begin to fade.
With some feral need, he tried to drag his brother another step, but it was too much. Giving in, the little assassin sank to the ground, pulled Zep closer, and held him until he too could no longer fight the agony they suffered. Snarling one last time, the last Black Blade fell into an unnatural sleep.
Marin watched them until one of the horses wandered too far. He shouldn't be helping these people. They'd tortured him! They were just beasts, just animals that couldn't be trained. They weren't supposed to have loyalty, yet he'd seen it. Even in his last act, the assassin had tried to keep his human friend with him.
They'd also let him go. No, they'd sent him away for his own safety.
But he was an elite. He'd spent his life fighting for an idea, and he'd just seen the reality of it before him. All the lies, half-truths, and propaganda of his country had been laid bare by the honest suffering he'd witnessed over the last few days. These people
weren't monsters, and if they were beasts, then they were the most faithful he'd ever seen.
Making his way back to his own gelding, the Terran's thoughts spun back on themselves. He should leave them. He'd ride hard to Echo Gap, get back to the Encampment, and report. He'd learned... nothing. The only things he'd heard while held by the Black Blades was what they already knew. The girl was leading the military, the Black Blades were following her orders, Anglia no longer fought like an ancient military, and the wolves weren't just wolves.
He didn't dare tell his superior officers that the iliri were more complex than they'd been led to believe. He'd be court-martialed as a sympathizer. They'd say he was working to help them. He knew the stories, but they were so wrong.
Consuming human flesh was abhorrent. The iliri were trying to make all humans into livestock. They were using people to breed more of their kind and to feed what remained. That was what the military believed. That's what he'd been told. That was what all of the facts supposedly said.
But it wasn't what Marin had seen.
He reined the gelding around, heading back to the cluster of men. Their horses had spread even farther, but the four bodies lay just like he'd last seen them. Creeping slowly toward the man named Razor, Marin reached down and felt for a pulse. He found one, but the man's eyes were still partially open, a dark stain trickling from his nose. Risk was no better, except it was his ear that bled. He wasn't brave enough to check on Zep or Jase.
Quickly he caught their mounts. Leading them to a flat area, he found a picket line, strung it, and tacked down the animals. Each of the Blades had an efficient set of gear, and in two days of travel, Marin had learned where to find the basics. A dagger was first. Then he started a small fire, laid out bedrolls for each of them, cared for the horses, and set out to find a meal.
He took the bow from Risk's pack and began climbing. The rabbits were too small and fast to hit but, eventually, he found a few large game birds dozing in the underbrush. He managed to kill two before the rest scattered.
Back at the camp, the iliri still hadn't moved. He dropped the birds by the fire and headed first to Razor, the least threatening of the group. Nothing Marin did would wake him, so he gave in and lifted the man over his shoulder, staggering under the awkward weight until he could drop him on one of the pallets. Risk was light enough to carry like a woman. The golden man moaned when Marin lifted him, but he refused to wake.
There was no way he could lift Zep, but Jase was the smallest. Marin debated leaving him for a moment, but couldn't get the vision of Jase trying so hard to move Zep. He'd said they wouldn't eat him. Marin whispered a prayer that they were right, then bent to pick up the deadly iliri.
He felt no heavier than a teen in Marin's arms, but the sharp teeth visible in his slack mouth made carrying Jase seem like a foolish idea. When Marin lay the little man on the bedroll, he backed away quickly, fighting visions of those teeth coming at him. He'd fought against the Blades enough times to know exactly how lethal they were. He'd heard stories of the assassin ripping men to shreds with nothing else.
When he returned for Zep, the human was beginning to stir. "Hey," Marin whispered.
Zep winced, pressing his hand to his face. "Ah shit. Fuck."
"You ok?"
"He's gone," Zep whimpered. "Damn you, Blaec." He tried to roll to his knees, but his body rebelled. With a sob, the large man pressed his face into the dirt. "They killed him."
"Who?" Marin asked.
"LT. They killed Blaec."
"How do you know?"
Zep looked up with a tear-streaked face. "He's just gone. He's not in my mind. I can feel the hole where he used to be, but he's gone!"
"What about Salryc?" Carefully, Marin rubbed Zep's shoulder.
"It hurts so bad," Zep muttered, trying once more to climb to his feet. "Where's Jase?"
He pushed his shoulder under Zep's arm and helped the man stand. "The rest are by the fire. I got something for them to eat, but I don't know if they can digest it. What happened? You all just lost it."
"Our link broke," Zep said, swaying as he stood. A sob huffed out. "Fuck. I can't do this."
"Yeah. You can. I need you to help me, Zep."
They staggered a few feet before Zep began to wilt. "Oh Sal," he whispered to himself. "Baby, I'm so sorry. Don't. Don't do that, baby."
"C'mon," Marin encouraged. "Just a few more steps."
"She's trying to die," Zep sobbed. "No. I need you, Sal. I can't. I need you so much, baby."
"Jase needs you," Marin said.
Those were the words that finally got through. With the Terran's help, Zep staggered toward the fire, crumpling beside Jase. Wailing, he grabbed the tiny man's body, pressing his head into Jase's limp chest, sobbing without shame. Marin left him to his grief, still confused about what had knocked the entire group out, but determined to help in some way. It mattered, they said. Watching the pain on Zep's face, Marin realized that he had no idea how strong those words had been.
He placed the first bird on a spit when another voice spoke up. "Is she alive?" Risk asked.
"Yeah," Zep breathed.
Razor also began to stir. "Shade," he muttered.
"I don't know," Zep told him. "Risk, can you feel Tilso?"
"Not cessivi." He groaned and sat up, looking confused, but tears leaked from his eyes. "Where are we?"
"I got the horses," Marin said, "and made a camp. They were starting to wander."
Risk sniffed and wiped at his face. "How are you alive?"
"I sent him away," Zep told them. "He came back."
Risk nodded. "Cyno still out?"
Zep hugged his brother closer. "No. He's just not ready to speak."
"How do I cook the bird?" Marin asked, hating to be rude, but unsure of how they would eat it.
"Does na matter," Jase said softly.
"You have to eat," Marin reminded them. "Even I know that. Iliri don't do well if they don't eat regularly. That's why we withhold..." he let the words die off, realizing how cruel he was being. "Sorry."
"She can na touch him," Jase said, pulling his eyes open. "Why would they na let her touch him?"
With a sigh, Marin met his blue eyes. "To make her suffer. If that's what she wants, that's what they will not give her."
"She'll kill them."
"She hasn't yet?" Razor asked.
"No." Zep pressed his head against the top of Jase's. "She got a few, but not all of them. They have her chained, and she can't reach them. Star Fall's embedded."
"What?" Marin gasped, sitting up. "Star Fall infiltrated the encampment?"
Jase's eyes locked on him. "Friend or na, I will kill ya if ya try ta hurt her."
"I'm here," Marin reminded him. "I can't do shit!"
"Jase," Risk said weakly. "He doesn't understand."
"He can na. He's just Ace." His lips curled back as he pulled away from Zep. "She did na kill them all because she had ta choose. She had ta hold Blaec asleep so he would na suffer, so she did na get the chance to tear them apart. Her only weapons were men that tried to kill her once, but she did na use them because one of them did na. Ten men for one act of kindness. Do ya understand now? They could have been her arms. They could have been her tools. She spared her enemies ta save her friends. She spared the Terran who did na hate her to - " he paused, his eyes losing focus. "Narnx."
Zep also stared at nothing. "Do you think he'll help?"
"Talk to me," Risk begged.
"I do na know. The Emperor is iliri, though. He tried ta take her skills."
"He's not iliri," Marin said. "He's just an old man."
"An old iliri crossbred," Zep corrected. "Sal's sure of it. Narnx is his real son. Judoc was his packmate. I'm not sure what that means, but that's what Sal feels."
Marin nodded. "Yeah. He adopted Judoc, but the Archduke came back from Anglia crazy. The Emperor swears that's how iliri treat humans and that he was lucky to get away."
Jase snarled and slammed his hand into
the dirt. "We sent him back. We healed him and sent him back."
"What did you do to him first?" Marin asked, remembering the knife cutting into his own leg.
Jase smiled and licked at his lips. "We broke him. A lot. But he told us ever'thing. He never said a word, but he told us. Tell me if that is better or worse than what ya just did?"
"I didn't do anything," Marin reminded him. "Even after you tried to eat me, I'm still helping."
Risk pulled himself to his feet and staggered to sit beside Marin. Slowly, weakly, he reached over and rubbed the Terran's shoulder. "It hurts. Imagine your best friend died, and then someone cut every memory of him from your body with a red-hot knife." Risk tapped his skull. "It hurts in here." He pulled his hand away and sighed, then rubbed at his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Marin said softly.
Risk's tears came faster. "He saved my life. He conscripted me so I wouldn't have to be chained. He made sure that I'd never be a pet again." The golden man looked up at the stars, no longer trying to hide the tears. "Each time the humans tried to beat me down, he was always there with a sword to block it or a word to stop it. We always have to choose between chains and slavery. He just wanted to see us free!"
"How did he die?" Razor asked.
Zep pulled in a breath and let it all out before answering. "In chains. Sal made him sleep, but she couldn't stop it."
Risk whimpered at that, pressing his face into his hands. Razor winced from the words, but Jase just stared at the ground. "He never knew chains," he reminded the rest. "It was na the same fer him. He would have hated that he could na fight, but we can na change it."
"But we can make them pay," Razor swore.
"How do I help?" Marin asked.
Risk reached up and wrapped an arm around him, then pressed his face into his shoulder. "Just go home. Help us get Sal out of there, then go home."
Surprisingly, Marin put his arm around Risk and hugged the iliri man closer. "I'll remember his name, ok? I'm pretty sure I can do something more, but at least I'll do that. Blaec Doll, the leader of the finest group of soldiers I ever crossed swords against."
