Shield (Bridge & Sword: Awakenings #2): Bridge & Sword World

by JC Andrijeski

  Even so, when Jon opened the door leading to the courtyard, he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. He stopped so fast, Cass ran into his back.

  Before he could recover, Balidor turned, meeting his gaze.

  “Jon! Cass! Get back inside!” he shouted in accented English.

  Jon ignored him. He did grab Cass’s arm though, stopping her right as she pushed past him into the sunlight. He needn’t have bothered. Cass came to a dead stop as well, gripping Jon’s hand as she stared into the courtyard.

  Over thirty seers filled the small space.

  Jon watched in shock as four of them grabbed a struggling Revik. They held him for only a few seconds before he twisted free, back-fisting a barrel-chested Adhipan seer named Garensche across the face.

  He kicked another in the knee in the same fluid twist of his body, then climbed up the front of Garensche’s body like an acrobat, using the height to kick another seer in the head, effectively knocking him out cold with the edge of his boot. Throwing himself up and driving his weight down in a punch, he knocked Garensche to the dirt, leaping off him sideways as he fell.

  Garensche let out a surprised grunt, toppling to his back.

  Jon barely tracked with his eyes as Revik then grabbed a mid-sized seer, using him as a shield before he threw his body at two others.

  He was trying to get away, Jon realized. He was fighting his way to the edge of the crowd. Jon stepped forward to help him when someone grabbed his arm. Turning, Jon jerked free with an angry glare, but the seer holding him, whom Jon only vaguely recognized, looked pale and worried, and merely shook his head.

  “Dangerous,” he said in accented English.

  Jon didn’t recognize him from earlier that day, with Allie, so forced himself to relax, nodding. He turned back to the crowd.

  He’d never actually seen Revik fight before.

  He’d seen the aftermath, and he’d heard rumors about him in hand to hand. He had some kind of rep, but he was in penance so he couldn’t fight recreationally, despite the occasional challenge from some up and comer.

  Even knowing all that, Jon followed Revik with his eyes now, completely floored.

  Revik lacked the flash of a lot of the young seers who screwed around in the sparring ring day after day, trying to one-up one another.

  Back when it was his job, Jon would have classified Revik a purely economical fighter. Meaning, he was practical, through and through. He didn’t waste a lot of movements. He rested between every beat, threw his whole weight behind every hit, no matter which part of his body he used.

  And he was fast as hell.

  At the moment, he seemed to be fighting about fifteen seers at the same time. He aimed low with the vast majority of his kicks, downing opponents by breaking shins, knees, ankles before he knocked them in the head.

  Even then, his hits were calculated, aimed. Temples, jaws, throats, solar plexus, kidney… a few upward hits to the nose.

  He didn’t fuck around, Jon noticed. Nothing showy at all.

  He used them against one another, always keeping one mediocre fighter between him and the better fighters, using their momentum against them, their weight, getting in close to the stronger ones to offset their size, sliding between the limbs of the taller ones.

  Jon watched him in a kind of admiring awe.

  He understood why some of the more jaded fighters would want to take him on, even if they didn’t expect to win. Revik fought like he’d trained for years against people twice his size, with every conceivable advantage over him. He fought like he was used to being outnumbered. He also fought like someone a lot smaller than he was, a lot weaker, and a lot slower. In fact, he fought as if he expected to lose.

  Which, paradoxically, gave him an enormous advantage.

  Even so, the odds were against him now, too.

  Several of Balidor’s men were closing on him already as Balidor shouted instructions from one side.

  “No, goddamn it! Don’t hurt him! Just get him down! Drug him if you have to, but don’t let him leave!”

  “Jesus,” Jon muttered. He glanced at Cass. “Look at his face.”

  He hadn’t noticed Dorje on her other side until the seer spoke.

  “Yes,” he said, his voice grim. Seeing Jon looking at him, he said, “Is it true that the two of you were there? Today. For the claim.”

  Cass gave Dorje a hard look. “Sort of.” Her voice turned openly caustic as she folded her arms, pushing up her breasts. “Are they going to punish Revik if he hurts Maygar?” she said. “What if I did it for him?”

  Dorje looked at her, his face white and serious. “They tell me Dehgoies was looking for a place to make the request of her when Maygar did this.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Cass said, dismissive. “I want to know why they’re trying to stop him. Why not let him go?”

  Dorje looked from Cass's face to Jon’s, his eyes wide. “They are trying to protect his soul! To tell him they had to show him what Maygar did. If Dehgoies doesn’t kill anyone today, it will be a miracle.”

  Cass made an angry noise, looking back at the scene in the courtyard.

  Jon found himself thinking about Dorje’s words, in spite of himself.

  He forgot them entirely seconds later, when he saw Yerin push past on Dorje’s other side, walking purposefully out into the courtyard.

  Christ. Was Yerin really that dumb? If they really did show Revik what happened, he would absolutely see Yerin as an accomplice.

  Jon reached out to catch the seer’s arm, but Yerin avoided Jon’s hand, and his eyes.

  “Yerin!” Jon said, sharp. “Don’t! Let him cool down!”

  Yerin raised his voice, aiming it at Revik.

  “You are in danger of breaking penance!” Yerin said. “You are prohibited from fighting except in the line of duty!”

  “Asshole,” Cass muttered, folding her arms tighter.

  “Idiot, you mean,” Jon said. “He’s going to get his head ripped off.”

  “Maybe not,” Cass said.

  She motioned towards the courtyard and Jon followed her hand.

  He watched as four of Balidor’s men managed to catch hold of Revik by the arms and throat. Using their collective weight, they forced him to his knees, then flat forward onto his chest. Landing hard in the dirt, Revik made a low sound, then lay on his stomach, his arms behind his back, his legs pinned, gasping, the wind likely knocked out of him.

  Cass tensed, gripping Jon’s fingers.

  “Dehgoies!” Balidor knelt beside his head. “Dehgoies! Calm yourself! Please, my friend! Try to disengage!”

  Revik fought them, muscles straining in his arms and chest.

  To Jon, he still looked thin from his captivity with Terian. The muscles in his arms looked ready to burst out of his skin. He struggled harder, fighting to free himself, then to twist to his side to use his legs. He got off a single punch at one of his captors before they caught hold of his arm again, trapping it behind his back.

  Jon winced as they clicked binders over his wrists.

  “Hey!” Jon yelled out before he knew he intended to. His voice came out angry. “What the hell? How is it he’s the bad guy in this?”

  Balidor looked over at him, his face openly startled.

  “He is not the bad guy, Jon,” he said. “This is for his own protection.”

  “Bullshit!” Cass said, loudly. “This is bullshit!”

  Balidor hesitated, but didn’t answer.

  Revik was looking around at all of them now––the seers, anyway. His eyes paused on faces that Jon recognized from the crowd watching Maygar and Allie that afternoon. The look in his eyes remained almost frightening. His expression didn’t improve as his gaze made its way through the seers standing around him.

  “Let me go,” he said, thickly.

  “Dehgoies!” Yerin walked closer. “Calm yourself!”

  “Gods, I’ll kill you if you don’t let me go…” His voice choked.

  Jon gripped Cass's
hand tighter.

  Emotion rose in him, catching him off guard. He stared at the man on the ground, feeling helpless in a way he hadn’t since Terian.

  It hadn’t occurred to him until then that Revik wasn’t just angry; he was grief-stricken, desperate, nearly devastated. Knowing him, he also felt guilty. But the main emotion Jon saw was fear. He was out of his mind with fear.

  “Brother––” Balidor began.

  “Let me go! I haven’t broken any laws!”

  “Dehgoies!” Yerin squatted in front of him.

  When Revik didn’t look over, the other seer slapped him, making Jon and Cass flinch. Yerin hit him again, hard enough to force Revik’s eyes to his. Revik’s face changed. Jon saw the hunter cloak kick back in. He stopped struggling against the seers holding him and narrowed his eyes up at Yerin’s face.

  “Brother, please!” Yerin pleaded. “Calm yourself!”

  There was a silence. Then Revik nodded.

  “All right.” His voice grew quiet. “I’m listening.”

  He relaxed his body almost completely.

  “No!” Balidor shouted to the others. “Don’t fall for it! Hold him!”

  Revik lunged against their hands, and for a moment the four seers had to work to restrain him. Yerin stumbled backwards as Jon looked at Cass, who squeezed his hand in both of hers.

  She looked furious, but she was crying too. It was too close to home, seeing Revik on the ground in cuffs again.

  Yerin repositioned himself in front of Revik once they had control of him again. “Dehgoies!” He raised his voice. “We are trying to help you! You need to disengage! Right now! You’re not rational––”

  “Yerin, for the gods’ sake,” Balidor said.

  Yerin stubbornly continued to focus only on Revik. “We won’t hurt your mate!” he said. “We are looking for her. Right now. We have every available member of the Adhipan out already!”

  At this, Revik looked like someone had stabbed him in the chest.

  “No!” Pain reached his voice, worsening as he struggled with the bindings. “No! Call off your hunt! I won’t hurt him… I promise! Please! Please, gods… uncuff me. Let me find her!”

  “Let him go!” Cass yelled, angry. “Jesus… you fuckers!”

  Revik’s voice rose. “Balidor, please! You have no right to hold me, I haven’t done anything––”

  “Dehgoies!” Balidor caught his shoulder. “We won’t hurt your mate! No claims will be attempted. I promise you! And it is not only with my people. Vash has forbidden it. He has removed any right of second claim.”

  Revik didn’t stop struggling, and it occurred to Jon he really would kill himself if they didn’t let him go. He took a step closer as Revik threw himself against the seers holding him down. He managed to crack one in the face with the back of his head. Blood exploded over his shirt as the seer’s nose was broken.

  “Jesus. Stop it!” Jon yelled, as incensed as Cass. Someone grabbed his arm.

  Turning, he glared at Dorje when he saw the seer holding him.

  “Do not get close!” Dorje said. “Yerin is right! He is not sane right now!”

  Jon said, “Why won’t they just let him go so he can find her?”

  Dorje’s skin whitened. “Because he might kill every seer who witnessed the claim today!” he said. “Not just Maygar, all of them!”

  Cass snapped, “And that would be bad, because…?”

  The seer with the broken nose turned to Balidor. “Sir. We have to drug him. We can’t wait any longer.”

  “No,” Balidor said. “Not yet. Give him a minute!”

  Jon was about to yell out again, when out of nowhere, calm began to seep over his mind. It wasn’t a mental straightjacket, like earlier with Maygar’s friends, but it definitely originated from somewhere outside of himself.

  Balidor was manipulating the construct. He and his seers were trying to reach Revik through his light, to reassure him… and likely, to refute the images in his mind of Adhipan males raping Allie in the woods.

  Yerin didn’t move from in front of him.

  “I am sorry, brother,” he said, his voice emotional now. “You are right. You have broken no laws. But you are in danger of breaking penance.” When Revik’s eyes narrowed, Yerin lowered his voice. “We are only tracking her. No one is allowed to approach. No one. That is a vow. It will not be broken. She is safe, Dehgoies.”

  Revik laughed. Jon felt his throat close at what he heard there.

  “We are not your enemy, brother,” Yerin said.

  “You’re wrong about that,” Revik said.

  Yerin’s dark eyes looked pained. “I am sorry you feel that way, brother.”

  “Fuck you,” Revik’s voice sounded clearer. “Fuck all of you. I’m taking her out of here! Tonight.”

  Yerin gestured negative. “You cannot leave with her. That request has been formally refused. She is the Bridge. Your rights do not extend to––”

  “My rights? Watch me, Yerin. I’ll see if I can help her learn a little more telekinesis while I’m at it. Then we’ll talk about ‘rights’.”

  “We can refuse you in this, Dehgoies.” Yerin’s tone gentled. “And you’re wrong. I felt tied by the law, but do not think I do not care.”

  He raised a hand to Revik’s face, but Revik jerked violently away.

  Yerin withdrew his fingers with pained eyes. “I understand, brother. We all do. But you mated with the Bridge. You cannot leave with her. The Council has given permission for the two of you to conduct the preliminaries of your marriage wherever you like. There will be supervision of the construct, of course, but––”

  “No. No way––”

  “We are working on the security protocols now,” Yerin continued, as if he hadn’t spoken. His voice remained politely formal. “If you do not accept these terms, we will be forced to separate you from your mate until you see reason.”

  He clicked his fingers in Revik’s face, forcing his pale eyes back to his.

  “Compromise, Dehgoies,” he said. “…It is the rational choice.”

  For a long moment, Revik just lay there, in the dirt, breathing hard, as if fighting to control himself. Jon glanced at Cass, who looked even angrier now. She was staring at Yerin like he was the Antichrist.

  When Revik spoke next, his voice was hard. He looked at Balidor.

  “Maygar. Is he alive?”

  Balidor glanced at Yerin, then gestured affirmative. “So far, yes.”

  “Is he awake?”

  Balidor sighed, clicking softly. Unlike with Yerin, the sympathy Jon saw in his eyes seemed to have real understanding behind it.

  “What difference does it make, brother?” he said.

  Revik’s jaw hardened, changing the shape of his face.

  “Because I want the fucker conscious while I beat him to death with my bare hands,” he said.

  There was a silence.

  Then Balidor burst out with a laugh.

  After the barest pause, Revik laughed too.

  For a few seconds anyway, his laughter sounded almost real. In the midst of those twenty or so seers, they continued to chuckle, Revik still half-crushed under four of the largest of them, his chest mashed into the dirt. When Jon gave Cass an incredulous look, she just rolled her eyes, refolding her arms and giving him the look that he recognized as her “Men!” look.

  But as their laughter died down, Revik’s eyes brightened.

  Feeling the change, Balidor patted him reassuringly on the shoulder, clicking to him softly.

  “She is all right, brother,” he said. “You are blessed with a tough mate. A warrior.” He chuckled, patting him again. “You should have seen that little shit fly.” Waiting for Revik to glance back, he made an arc with his hand in the air.

  “…Kaboom! Like swatting a bug.”

  Revik didn’t answer. Jon saw his eyes close, just before he nodded.

  Yerin spoke up from Revik’s other side, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Balidor had finally reached
him.

  “There will be a hearing on the validity of Maygar’s second claim,” he said. “He broke several laws I was not aware of at the time, setting the stage for his attempt. He will be punished for that.” He made a “more or less” gesture with one hand. “…If he lives. But you cannot claim his life, Dehgoies. You are in penance, and…” Trailing, Yerin shrugged. “From all appearances, he was within his rights. Technically.”

  “Technically.” Revik stared up at him.

  “For the love of the gods, Yerin,” Balidor said.

  “She should have known the law,” Yerin said. “If you had educated her, brother, she might have known to avoid that situation––”

  Revik lunged, managing to catch the Adhipan infiltrators off-guard.

  He head-butted Yerin in the face with all of his weight, knocking him flat to the ground.

  The four seers holding Revik got control of him again and dragged him up to his feet. Jon jumped a little when they slammed him down on a stone bench.

  At a nod from Balidor, another seer forced the needle of a syringe into his neck as he struggled to free himself. As soon as the stopper was all the way down, the four seers dragged him backwards towards the door, but not before Revik got in a few body kicks on the downed Yerin.

  Balidor’s eyes still looked angry as he pulled Yerin out of the way.

  Releasing his arm, he gave him a disgusted look before glancing around at the onlookers.

  “Someone get a medic for brother Yerin. Now.”

  Jon and Cass moved aside as they dragged Revik towards the compound’s main structure. Jon already saw a difference in the way Revik was moving from the drug. Whatever they had given him, it was fast-acting.

  Even so, he gave Jon and Cass a brief, searching look as they dragged him past, right before they steered him through to the basement door.

  In that one look, his eyes were already starting to glaze, but Jon found himself thinking he understood, now, what Dorje meant.

  It was probably better for everyone if Revik sat this one out for awhile.

  11

  RECRUITED

  REVIK WOKE UP alone, in a dim space. He had a headache that felt like it would rip his skull apart. He could barely get his eyes open.