He spun back, heart hammering. Saydee had stopped following him. She stood in the road, trembling and sweating. Raeb raced back to her just as her eyes widened and she crumpled to the ground.
The Entana were attacking.
Raeb knelt by her side, slamming his knees against cold rock, and grasped her hand. “Saydee!”
Sweat was already darkening her chestnut hair. “They’re coming,” she whispered.
Fear clenched at Raeb’s heart. It had been years since he was last attacked, but he’d never forgotten the terror of feeling the Entana rummage through his thoughts. There was little you could do but lock your most precious memories into your mind and pray they didn’t take anything important. Had anyone taught her how to shield her mind from the Entana? Did she know how to evade their hunt and slip her consciousness into a corner, to prevent them from finding that core of personality that was her? “You have to hide,” he whispered. He doubted she could hear him, but hopefully some part of her subconscious would recognize his words. “Get to a place the Entana won’t find you.”
She was hyperventilating, thrashing as if fending off invisible enemies. Her hand impacted hard in his side, but he didn’t care. His pain was nothing compared to hers.
“Run, Saydee!”
Her eyes darted back and forth behind her eyelids. Her expression was twisted with panic and genuine terror. Raeb’s memories of this were so vivid, he found his breath coming too fast, sweat pooling in his palms. The utter vulnerability, the sheer terror, the horror of feeling a monster in your most intimate thoughts. Nothing Raeb had experienced in all his long years had ever come close to being as traumatic as this. And even though the Entana were leaving his mind alone—likely the Keeper of Secrets’ doing, psychological warfare seemed to be a favorite of his—Raeb began to panic.
This was the reality -taken lived with—never knowing when the Entana would swoop down for a snack. Who would you be when you awoke? If the Entana didn’t drive you mad, they left you broken, no longer whole. You would never know what memory they’d taken. There was just a gaping hole, a blank, with no hints of what had been there. Raeb had known people who lost all recollection of their families, their professions, even entire decades. They were never the same again.
Saydee’s breathing returned to normal. Her thrashing stopped until she became so still she could have been a corpse. After such violence, the silence was unnerving. Raeb kept holding his breath and straining his ears for signs of approaching enemies. He shook from head to toe. He didn’t know if she had escaped or if the Entana had caught her. All Raeb could do was wait.
He reached his fingers toward her eyelids, but changed his mind. He didn’t want to know if Saydee had full Entana eyes.
Night fell, and Raeb still waited. The wind howled through the pass like a hungry wolf. The tiny indent in the rock walls offered little shelter, though it was by far the best Raeb could ask for. He just wished there was something more comfortable to sit on, or lean against, than frigid stone.
Saydee lay next to him, her sleep occasionally interrupted by nightmares. Raeb stared at the small fire he’d built, but his mind was far, far away.
Saydee stirred next to him, and he placed his hand on her shoulder. She calmed.
He watched the young woman for many minutes. Why was he so worried about her? She was a girl he knew almost nothing about, who interrupted his silences with mindless chatter, who was almost obnoxiously optimistic when she wasn’t haunted by whatever secrets her past held. He hadn’t wanted her to tag along, but her magic made their companionship a necessity. She made every day on the road a trial in patience. So why was he afraid the Entana may have pushed her into insanity?
The one thing this attack had shown him was how hopeless their situation was. They had no defense against the Entana. If they didn’t do something to stop them, they were just biding their time until they all became fully -taken.
If they wanted to have any hope of freedom, they had no choice.
Saydee woke from the nightmare with a gasp, shivering and drenched in sweat. Tears streamed from her part Entana, part human eyes. Raeb wasted no time in wrapping her in a blanket and then his arms. She bundled into both and wept.
She felt so small in his arms. She was so young.
Raeb understood. She wasn’t safe anywhere. Her life was already at risk without confronting the Bok’Tarong.
He might not have anything to lose in death, but she and countless others did. He couldn’t just think of himself anymore.
“This has to end,” he whispered. “No more stalling. We have to let the Bok’Tarong find us.”
Dragana’s excitement was so strong Aeo could barely sense anything besides it. They’d been halfway to Karim, preparing their speech to the king, when they stopped in a tiny roadside inn for supplies. A few words from the innkeeper and a mention of a blind man looking for Dragana had changed everything. She’d barreled out like an arrow from the bow, heading southeast instead of northeast.
Aeo had argued, of course. She’d spent the last weeks teaching him how important it was to destroy the Entana, and a single rumor had convinced her to drop everything. He hadn’t understood. He still didn’t, but he’d stopped arguing with one simple sentence.
Please, Aeo, trust me.
It still made him shiver. Not the please, nor the implications of trust building between them, but the fact she’d used his name. She’d acknowledged him as a person, not just the Bok’Tarong.
He may not have understood why they’d abandoned their fight with the Mage General to go after a blind man, but after hearing his name on her tongue, he’d follow Dragana anywhere.
Now they were close on this man’s trail, and Dragana’s emotions were so riled Aeo could only catch hints of coherent thought behind them. He still wasn’t sure why they were after this man, or what he’d done to earn such animosity from Dragana, but every thought revolved around “the catch of a lifetime” and “finally” and imaginings of the sweet vengeance the Taronese would receive upon this man’s death.
The glow of a fire, still lit to ward off the morning’s wintry chill, had led them right to the camp. It had been abandoned minutes before, and the footprints leading away from it were deep and clear through the soggy undergrowth.
It didn’t make sense. For someone who’d been hunted by the Taronese for so long—Aeo didn’t know how long, but Dragana’s thoughts hinted at lifetimes—this was a sloppy retreat. Someone with no experience in tracking whatsoever could follow this trail.
He tried to tell these things to Dragana, but she wasn’t listening. Her emotions and bloodlust were so high he couldn’t get through to her. She ran after the footprints recklessly in her haste to reach the man.
A rampaging elephant would be more subtle than she was right now. The man would have no trouble avoiding her and slipping away.
But Aeo wasn’t convinced that whoever left this trail wanted to get away.
Dragana crashed through the trees and entered a small clearing. A man stood on the other side as if—no, because—he’d been expecting them.
Aeo looked at the man, a faint tickle of recognition nagging at him. It took him a few seconds to place him, and when he did he chuckled. That’s the blind man from the tavern. He’s the one who led me to the Bok’Tarong.
He imparted these thoughts to Dragana, but she still didn’t hear him. Her heart was pounding and the hand that held Aeo was shaking. Her fingers gripped his hilt. Her eyes were glued to the man.
He made no move to run. He just stared at Dragana as if he’d always known this day would come. There was peace in his strange Entana eyes.
In contrast, rage boiled in Dragana’s heart. She raised the blades, leveling the points at his chest. “Raeb,” she hissed, as if naming a demon. “Traitor.”
The man betrayed his emotion. He turned red, his body tensed, his fists clenched. Aeo couldn’t read his eyes well, but he thought he saw frustration and sadness and seething anger in them. “It wasn
’t my fault the Entana attacked me. Do you think I would have chosen this existence? I would have given my life for the Bok’Tarong.”
“You were never worthy to wield it,” Dragana said.
Aeo’s mind spun. Had he been a Taronese warrior?
“How could you claim to know whether I was worthy? I was training in the temple before your grandparents had learned how to walk.”
“I don’t need to have known you, old man. Anyone who would betray the Taronese for the Entana could never be worthy of the Bok’Tarong.”
The man drew a sword. Dragana settled into a ready stance. The air between them crackled with tension.
“Is a warrior’s final test still single combat? Did you have to defeat the temple masters to prove you were ready to bear the Bok’Tarong?” the man asked.
“You know I did.”
“Then let’s see who’s the most worthy between us.”
Dragana’s smile showed more teeth than a wolf’s. “Gladly.”
Their swords met before Aeo had even realized the fight was on. Dragana’s fury calmed with the focus of battle, her thoughts clarifying just enough for Aeo to read a bit of the history with this man. A Taronese warrior-in-training leaving the temple for the Entana. From that moment, his fate had been sealed. His name had been repeated until all knew it as well as their own. Each Taronese warrior to follow would hunt for him as they traveled the world. The one who killed him would forever be honored in the Halls of the Bearer.
Aeo’s brief moment of distraction was all it took for Dragana to gain her advantage. She spun and struck, knocking the blade from Raeb’s hand. She swept out her leg at his knees. The joints buckled, the man toppled, and Dragana helped him to the ground with a boot on his shoulder. He landed hard enough Aeo heard the air blasted from his lungs.
Dragana straddled him, holding the Bok’Tarong to his throat. She was so angry, so hyped up on adrenaline, she was literally growling. Aeo suspected she didn’t even know it.
“Since I’m going to die anyway,” Raeb said, his voice hoarse, “at least let me die on my feet.”
Dragana’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t finish him just yet.
“I’ve already lost. Allow me a warrior’s death. Please.”
“You don’t deserve a warrior’s death,” she said. But she stood, letting Raeb regain his feet. He groaned and moved slowly. She didn’t help him.
Aeo wasn’t sure what to make of this man. From Dragana’s thoughts, he’d expected some kind of murderous traitor. Once Aeo learned he was a -taken, he’d expected a ravenous lunatic like those he’d seen lost to the “Coming Madness”, or even like the fully sane -taken soldiers they’d fought weeks ago. But Raeb was none of those things. In fact, he wasn’t like any other -taken Aeo had ever seen.
He turned his spirit-eyes to the man. He looked beyond the physical and saw the tendrils of the Entana snaking through his head, more than he’d ever seen in a single person before. More than he’d ever seen in ten peoples’ heads.
But through all of that, the light of Raeb’s soul burned clean and clear.
Something wasn’t right.
The Entana were evil. Aeo pitied the -taken but he could see their souls were beyond help. He longed to kill the Entana and put the people out of their misery.
But Aeo didn’t feel that about Raeb. He was clearly -taken. Only an idiot could miss that. But he wasn’t evil.
Dragana pulled back to strike, but a female voice cried out, “Wait!”
A young woman—no more than a girl—ran to them and shoved Raeb back, placing herself between the man and Aeo’s blades. She too had the tendrils of the Entana, though they were fewer and far smaller.
Dragana stopped her thrust, but barely. Anger simmered in her red-streaked eyes. Her voice was deadly calm. “Step aside, girl. This is not your business.”
Aeo took another look at her. She was -taken also, but Dragana hadn’t recognized that about her. How did she miss it?
“I told you not to interrupt,” Raeb told her.
“I couldn’t let her kill you,” she replied. Then she turned back to Dragana. “He isn’t what he appears to be.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, girl. You’re in over your head.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re willing to kill him without question when he’s the only one who can help you!”
“I don’t need any help, especially from a traitorous -taken.” She pushed the girl away and prepared to strike at Raeb again.
Aeo couldn’t let Dragana do this. There was more going on here than she saw—than either of them saw. She drew her elbow back, tensing her muscles, settling her weight. She took a breath, preparing to strike on the exhale, when Aeo set the force of his spirit against her strike. He held the blade steady as she pushed, and no matter how much she fought him, Aeo wouldn’t allow it. The Bok’Tarong was not moving.
The effort to stop Dragana nearly tore Aeo in half. He resisted the compulsion to aid his bearer with every bit of conviction he had. He couldn’t help Dragana kill this man, at least not yet. If he proved to be a normal -taken, the kill would be quick and sweet. If not …
Aeo had to ensure Raeb stayed alive long enough to find out the truth. No matter how much it hurt.
Dragana strained against the blades, her anger turning to rage as Aeo prevented her from striking. “You can’t do this!” she cried. “The Bok’Tarong cannot deny its bearer!”
Watch me, Aeo replied. It took a huge amount of concentration to form coherent thoughts. The pain was overwhelming, all-consuming. He could barely hold against the pressure of Dragana’s thrust. It felt like he was holding onto a moss-slickened stone in the middle of a waterfall. I won’t let you do this.
“Let the blades go and let me kill him!”
His vision was starting to go fuzzy around the edges. There’s something strange about this, Dragana, don’t you see that? We have to find out what.
“I’m going to kill him, whether you say it’s a good idea or not! You aren’t Taronese. You can’t understand what he’s done or how long we’ve been searching for him. He will die, no matter what you do. Now let go!”
She screamed and cursed him in Taronese.
Damn it, Dragana, listen to me! he shouted back. His concentration slipped for a second, and the blades slid an inch closer to Raeb’s throat. I didn’t argue when you left the -taken breeders to chase after this guy. I trusted you when you said this was more important. Trust me now when I say don’t kill him.
“I can’t. He’s a traitor to my people, to the Bok’Tarong, to the human race! He serves the Entana. He must die!”
Fine. After all the times she’d forced him to listen to her, after all the ways she’d shown him his errors, she could at least accept the same from him. And if she wouldn’t accept it on her own, he would make her.
Aeo focused on the image of the man’s clear soul and forced Dragana to see it. She shook her head, refusing to acknowledge it, but he kept that image in her mind. Look and see for yourself. Whatever Raeb did, it hasn’t tarnished his spirit. His soul is free from the Entana.
“It isn’t possible,” she said. She wasn’t screaming anymore, but there was more than enough venom for the words to sting. “He’s a -taken. My people have sworn vengeance on him. I have to kill him.” She raised the blades higher, still aligned with the man’s throat.
You don’t kill innocent people, Dragana. If you do this, it won’t be justice. It’ll be murder.
“You can’t murder a -taken.”
“I beg to differ,” Raeb said. He’d taken several steps away from Dragana, but otherwise he hadn’t moved or tried to flee.
Dragana shot him a look of pure rage, the crimson streaks in her eyes burning.
He raised his hands in a half warding, half calming gesture. “I don’t know what the spirit in the sword is telling you, but you should listen to it. I didn’t come here for suicide-by-Bok’Tarong. I have a plan, and I need your
help.”
“Why should I even listen to you?” Dragana asked.
“Because I’m your best chance to rid the world of the Entana forever.”
That, finally, made Dragana pause. The pain of holding Dragana back eased, enough to allow Aeo a moment to gather what strength he had left. “That’s a lie,” she said after a moment. “You’re a servant of the Entana. You would never plot to destroy them.”
“Do you think we enjoy being -taken?” he asked. “You think we want to feel our minds being eaten away, slipping ever closer to insanity?”
Dragana’s muscles tensed again, but Raeb didn’t stop his rant.
“I don’t care what you believe about us. But here’s the truth: the -taken hate the Entana more than anyone. We despise them more than the Taronese ever have, or ever will. Not all of us are weak. Some are willing to risk death, insanity, or worse to be free from the Entana. Like I am. If you kill me, you waste an ally with more information, more motivation, and more access to your enemy than you could ever hope for. Without me, you will never get close to defeating the Entana, simple as that.”
Dragana was trembling. She was still angry, unbelievably angry, but that wasn’t why she was shaking. His words had impacted her hard and rocked the entire foundation of her training.
“How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?”
“You don’t,” he said. “You have to trust me.”
Dragana laughed. “I will never trust you.”
Then trust me, Aeo said. I believe he’s being honest, at least in his intentions. Whether or not he can pull it off … we’ll have to see.
Dragana closed her eyes, and her subconscious growl returned.
Just go with it for now. See what he has to say. If you still don’t believe him after he’s said his piece, then we can talk about killing him.
“All right,” she said at last, eying the -taken and his companion with open hostility. “But if I suspect this is a trap, I will kill you both.”
“Agreed.”
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