Hunted in the Valley (Old Sequoia Valley Book 1)

by C. R. Pugh

  The last two soldiers were closing in. It was too late to reload so I dropped both the dead body and my pistol. The first soldier swung his rifle at me like a club, but I ducked swiftly. While crouching down, I drew the dagger from my boot and shoved it deep into his gut.

  In my peripheral vision I saw the other soldier lift his rifle. I dropped to the ground just as the shot was fired, but not before I felt the flesh tear across my shoulder. Ignoring the sting, I jumped to my feet and fled, leaving my blade behind. The soldier continued to fire off shots as I ran for a place to hide. I thought I might get lucky but just before I escaped behind another tree, a bullet ripped through my thigh. I cried out as excruciating pain surged down my leg. Doubling over, I gritted my teeth and clutched the bleeding wound. It was a through and through, but my body would weaken substantially before it healed.

  With sheer determination, I drew my last dagger and grasped the cool steel of the blade. There was just the one soldier. I had to be fast and accurate. Carefully, I inched around the thick sequoia. Like a deadly sniper, he was peering through his scope, waiting for me. I jerked my head back just as a shot rang out. Wood fragments exploded around me. When I took another glimpse, he was still ready. This time, the familiar click of an empty cartridge was all I heard. It was over for him. Without hesitation or remorse, I stepped out and threw my dagger. The rifle slid out of the soldier’s hands as he stared down at the blade piercing his chest. A few seconds later, he crumpled to the ground.

  I hobbled over to the man’s prone form and tore a strip of his shirt away for a makeshift bandage. While I dressed the wound in my thigh, I listened carefully to the forest around me for incoming threats. I worried for Thorne, even though I knew he was capable of handling himself. Still, I wanted to be sure. As quickly and silently as possible, I retrieved my weapons, reloaded my pistol, and started making my way back to the road.

  It was slow going. My leg throbbed as I staggered through the shrubs. The sky darkened with a coming storm, making the forest look even more sinister than before. I stayed vigilant, expecting soldiers to pop out of the shadows at any time. Two was still out there, stalking me. There was going to be a day when he finally challenged me but I didn’t want it to be today. Not while I was wounded and weak.

  The forest was too silent. The branches seemed to bear down on me, making me feel claustrophobic. Something wasn’t right. Someone was watching me.

  Then I felt it again: that familiar tingle.

  I turned in slow circles, checking the trees around me for any sign of movement. My mouth went dry at the thought of meeting Two like this. I gripped my pistol and dagger a bit tighter, one in each hand.

  A clash of thunder shook the forest and, at that precise moment, I was slammed into from behind. The force of the soldier’s body sent me sprawling to the ground, knocking the pistol from my hand. I managed to hang on to my dagger, but it did me no good since I was face down with the man’s weight on my back. When I felt his hot breath on my neck, I reached back and jabbed my fingers into his eyes. He howled in pain, giving me the chance I needed to wriggle out from under him.

  “Six,” I muttered, preparing to battle him despite my damaged leg. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

  If Two was the best tracker and fighter of the remaining soldiers, then Six was second-best. The other soldiers between Two and Six had either been executed by the General or killed by me during the last four weeks. They had always been my fiercest opponents back at the compound. The General had forced us to fight each other one-on-one in order to rank us. For Two and Six, it had been a competition to see who could beat up on me the most in that challenge ring.

  Six rose quickly, infuriated by my cheap shot to the eyes. I had never considered Six as much of a threat as Two. He was not as bulky and certainly not as tall, but his mind was just as twisted. Sneering at me cruelly, he tapped his serrated knife against his thigh, taunting me.

  “Looking good, One,” he said contemptuously. “Long time, no see.”

  Listening to his lifeless voice was sickening. Six had joined up around the time I had. I could remember him before he was corrupted into a monster.

  “General Wolfe misses you. So does your precious Two,” he sneered. “Come back with me now or I’ll be forced to hurt you.”

  I didn’t bother to respond to his remarks. Two did not remember me from before and neither did Six, not really. The General had probably ordered him to say it. Cruelty was a specialty of his.

  Six charged me like a bull. Shifting my weight off my injured leg, I sidestepped him and skimmed my dagger across his ribs. It wasn’t enough to slow him down. He roared in outrage and retaliated by backhanding me across the face with his fist. The warm, coppery taste of blood filled my mouth and my weak leg buckled beneath me. Before I could get to my feet, Six grabbed me up by the back of my shirt and smashed me into the nearest sequoia. The earth seemed to spin end over end as I dropped to the dirt. My head throbbed and my vision blurred from the impact. The blade I’d been carrying was gone; lost somewhere in the undergrowth of the forest during the scuffle.

  Six’s mocking laugh filled my ears. Though the forest was whirling from my knock on the head, I knew he was hovering over me. When he dug his fingers into my wounded thigh, I screamed in agony.

  “Why is the General so fascinated by you?” he asked with obvious derision.

  I cried out again and attempted to kick him away when he gripped my leg again, but I was too weak to fight him. My body wasn’t healing quickly enough.

  Six leaned over me, his face spinning in circles. I used whatever was left of my strength to punch him, but he easily clutched both of my wrists in one hand and held me down. The familiar ring of steel being drawn from its sheath made my heart race and my mouth go dry.

  “Perhaps I’ll just carve you up into pieces before I deliver you to him.”

  “Please, Adron!” I pleaded with the boy I once knew. “Don’t do this! I know you are in there!”

  His laughter mocked me. I struggled against him, but his weight was immovable. As he rested his cold blade on my cheek, I pinched my eyes shut and prepared for the pain to come. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

  24

  Thorne

  After watching Ravyn tear across the road like a wildcat, it took me a full minute to pull myself together.

  I don’t need your protection.

  Her words kept echoing in my mind. She may not need protection, but it did not change the fact that I wanted to protect her. Her thinking was completely backward. It should be my job to draw the soldiers away; to keep her safe from them, but she continued to put herself in danger.

  The stroke of her hand across my cheek and her spontaneous kiss was what kept my hope alive. The tightness in her eyes had softened. She did not flinch at my every touch. I would have to wait until this battle was over before we could speak of it again.

  Ravyn was right about the soldiers. Once she had made her presence known, all common sense left them. The other Warriors left their cover to follow after the retreating soldiers. I joined them in the fight, quickly killing two of them. We took care of the rest just as swiftly. A total of ten minutes had passed since Ravyn had left my side.

  “Good to see you alive, Thorne,” Gunter said, joining me.

  Pierce and Max followed suit, but there was no sign of Archer or Brock.

  “Brock caught the first bullet from the ambush,” Gunter explained, reading the fear in my expression. “I had Archer stay behind to make sure he didn’t bleed out before we could get him some help.”

  “How many soldiers did we bring down?” I asked them.

  “I counted fourteen soldiers,” Pierce surprised me by speaking up. “But there had to be more than twenty of them when they first started shooting at us. There was too much confusion to know for sure.”

  That meant there were at least six following Ravyn. She was a good fighter, but against six soldiers? Alone? I reloaded my pistols with full m
agazines.

  “Whatever you’re planning, I’m coming along,” said Gunter, checking the rounds in his own pistol.

  “Not this time. If I know Ravyn, she will have done away with most or all of them by now. I will go alone.” I gave both Gunter and Pierce a pointed stare to keep them from arguing. “Go back and tend to the wagons and Brock. I will be back shortly and together we will discuss our next move.”

  I started following Ravyn’s trail through the undergrowth and sequoias, away from the road. Thunder rumbled loudly overhead and the forest was growing darker with every minute as the storm drew closer. Her tracks were easy to follow despite the shadows. It was only seconds later that I saw them.

  Ravyn and a male soldier were both scrambling to their feet to face each other within a circle of sequoias. She gripped her dagger tightly in her hand. I couldn’t see her pistol. It had either been knocked from her hand in the fray or she had ditched it after she emptied the magazine.

  My first instinct was to rush into the clearing to help her, but I hung back. Ravyn would not thank me for rescuing her when she believed she could handle things. Crouching down, I crept through the ferns to get a better look and assess the situation. Stopping about thirty feet away, I peered around the trunk of a tree to watch. The man she faced was not the dark one that she seemed to fear most and, from what I remembered, he was not as large either. It should be no problem for her.

  The soldier muttered something to her with a disdainful grin. The words were indecipherable to me, but Ravyn’s face seemed to tighten a bit. When he finally attacked, I expected the fight to be over quickly, but Ravyn did not move with the grace I had seen before. That was when I noticed the bloodied bandage high up on her leg. Whatever had happened, it had weakened her significantly. The vicious gleam in the soldier’s eye meant he was very likely aware of it.

  The instant the man put his fist to her face, he sealed his fate. I prowled toward him like a vicious predator. It took every ounce of self-control to keep from charging in like a madman when Ravyn was flung into a tree like a ragdoll. Her head snapped back against the unforgiving wood, probably jarring her senses. She barely uttered a sound on impact and she didn’t get back up.

  The soldier was completely preoccupied, so I picked up my pace. Ten more feet and I would be within striking distance.

  The soldier foolishly left his back exposed when he crouched over her, making it easier to sneak up behind him. The blood-curdling scream that filled the air wrenched through me like a knife in my heart. I heard Ravyn plead with him, call him by his true name, but he taunted her with cruel laughter.

  With a roar, I surged out of the ferns and seized the soldier with both hands, yanking him away from Ravyn. It was probably foolish of me not to finish him while his back was turned, but my honor would not allow it.

  As he rose to his feet, he inspected me from head to toe and sneered, “So, One has a new champion?”

  His disdainful glance shifted to Ravyn, who was still lying on the ground behind me. I did not dare look down at her or my rage would burn out of control.

  “Do you really think you can save her?”

  “Enough talk.” I crooked my finger at him. “Come and kill me, if you can.”

  I waited with an eerie calm, no weapon in my hands. The man drew a second dagger and did not hesitate to attack. I blocked two thrusts of his blades, twisted one of his wrists until it snapped, and then kicked his feet out from under him. The soldier howled frantically as I shoved him down on his back. The entire skirmish had taken less than five seconds.

  He growled, “You can kill me, but he will never stop. He will have her at any cost.”

  The soldier made one last attempt with his second blade, hoping to take me by surprise. I caught his arm easily and bent his elbow so the blade was angled at his own heart. He groaned and struggled against me for a moment, but his efforts were futile. My weight was enough to force his own knife into his chest. After a high-pitched shriek of distress, he took one final gurgling breath and then relaxed into death.

  I left the soldier lying on the ground, his wide eyes staring blankly at the stormy sky, and strode over to see about Ravyn. She was sitting up by the time I reached her side, her palm still resting against her head.

  “It’s over,” I said gently, kneeling down beside her.

  With my thumb and forefinger, I tilted her chin to inspect where the swine had hit her. If there had been a bruise or cut on her face, it had already disappeared. Only remnants of blood remained on her chin.

  “I’ve never seen you so angry,” she whispered.

  “He was hurting you.” I reached out for her injured thigh. “You were shot?”

  Ravyn untied the bandage and inspected the skin on her thigh. “Through and through. It just took too long to heal.”

  “Do you need to rest a little longer?”

  She shook her head. “The skin’s closed over now. I’ll get something to eat when we get back to the road. That will help speed the healing on the inside.”

  “You promised not to be careless,” I scolded and then tugged her into my arms. “I will lecture you about it later.”

  She giggled at the threat, my actions contradicting my words. It did not escape my notice that she held me tightly and dug her fingers into my back.

  “Were you able to defeat the rest?” she breathed into my neck.

  “Easily,” I murmured into her hair. “Are you sure you’re alright? You’re shaking.”

  “I’m fine now.”

  “You sound angry,” I said.

  Ravyn eased away from me. “I don’t like eating my own words, but I guess I was wrong about not needing some help.”

  Her disgruntled expression had me grinning. I had been eating my words since I met the woman.

  “No one does.” I brushed the tendrils of hair out of her eyes. “But we are now even.”

  Our eyes locked again. The silence between us was charged with all the things we needed to say to each other, but now was not the time.

  “We should go back. Brock’s wound needs tending and this storm is not going to wait.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “Gunter said he took the first bullet.”

  With a soft curse, Ravyn regained her usual demeanor. Tough on the outside, but definitely softer on the inside. I just had to crack the surface to reach it.

  When we reached the dirt road again, Archer and Max had the wagons back on the path and Brock’s bleeding body laid carefully beside them. The two cart horses were still hitched, one in front of each wagon. Only two other horses were still alive, tied behind the supply cart. The other two lay dead beside the road. The soldiers had killed them in their ambush.

  “Thorne,” Ravyn said with a hand on my arm. “Go look after your friend. I’ll be right back.”

  I frowned and seized her hand when she started walking away. “Where do you think you’re going now?”

  “I’m going to get my bag.” Ravyn put her hand on my chest and nodded to reassure me. “I’ll be right back. Promise.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, she leaned in and gave me the lightest of kisses on my cheek and then ran off into the trees.

  “Well,” Gunter said from behind me. “I think she likes you.”

  I ignored his arrogant grin. “How is he?” I replied, nodding toward Brock.

  “The bullet is still inside. Even if we were near Peton, Kemena would have trouble helping him.”

  Brock was already pale by the time I reached him. He had been shot in his side, the bullet entering his body right beneath his ribcage.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted Ravyn again, making her way back through the undergrowth and onto the road. I knew it was foolish, but I had felt a nagging fear that she would disappear again.

  Ravyn sprinted straight toward me and Brock and knelt down with her rucksack.

  “Move aside,” she commanded.

  I was not sure what she thought she could do for Brock.
He was going to die no matter what we did. A wound to the gut was always serious because you could never be sure which vital organ on the inside had been injured. Even if we could get the bullet out, too much blood loss, fever, blood poisoning – the complications I had seen Kemena deal with before – were horrible. The chances of Brock surviving this wound were slim.

  Ravyn dropped to her knees beside me and rummaged through her bag. She pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and a long, thin pair of tweezers. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was pressed into a grim line. I knew what she was about to do.

  “Have you taken a bullet out of someone before?” I whispered so only Ravyn could hear me.

  “Only on myself,” she murmured. Then, with a more forceful voice, she ordered, “Someone get a fire going.”

  Archer and Max moved to do just that. Gunter was still kneeling across from Ravyn and me. Pierce approached looking as irritable as ever.

  “We are piling up the soldiers’ bodies to burn,” Pierce reported.

  “Did you get all of them?” Ravyn asked him as she prepared for the surgery. She opened a bottle of clear liquid and poured it onto a cloth. She wiped down her tweezers with it and set them on a clean bandage.

  “No,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “There were two men who ran off after it was clear we were winning the skirmish. One of them was a soldier. He wore the same uniform. He was bigger than the others, with darker skin.”

  “That was Two,” said Ravyn.

  I narrowed my eyes at her response to hearing that Two was nearby. Her body had gone rigid and her face was white as a sheet. This soldier named Two must be a force to be reckoned with if Ravyn was so fearful of him. I looked forward to the day that I would face him.

  “Two?” asked Pierce, eyeing Ravyn and then me.

  “The soldiers call each other by numbers,” I explained, giving Ravyn a chance to regain her composure. “It’s their rank.”