My knife is still protruding from his side. After giving it a good twist, I pull it out and throw the traitor off of my back.
We both stand, weapons at our sides, ready to pounce. There are only six feet between us. I watch his eyes carefully to anticipate his next move.
I see it. He's coming for me.
Before he attacks, his body goes rigid and he falls over, landing on a dusty patch of earth.
"You're welcome," Val calls from behind me.
Still shocked by the sudden change in events, I look back down at the loyalist Exalted. An arrow disappears into his left eye.
Chapter 53 / Dr. Fredericks
Dr. Fredericks watches the battle from the protection of the Jeep. The shatterproof glass saves him from several assassination attempts, which makes him laugh.
"We're winning," he says to the driver sitting next to him. “They're dropping like flies. One. Two. Three.”
His smile grows with each villager death, and he gives a little squeal with an Exalted death.
"Get me closer," Dr. Fredericks commands the driver.
"But, sir..."
"I said, 'Get me closer!'"
"Yes, sir."
Kinah shifts the vehicle back into drive and inches forward. She pulls forward, deeper into the fight, but not too far. She looks out the window, watching the action. This annoys Dr. Fredericks, but he too pauses, taking in the bloody battle.
The villagers are not faring well. Their screams of pain delightfully fill his head. He smiles.
Watching Exalted fight Exalted is completely different. They are inhumanly powerful. They are all experts at killing. This makes the horrid act of watching Exalted fight to the death like watching angels battle in heaven.
These are his beautiful creations in action. He's so proud.
"Closer," he whispers as he leans forward in his seat. "Closer."
Kinah obeys without a word and inches forward. She weaves around the body of a young man, a regular villager by the size of him. When she reaches what appears to be the very center of the battle, Dr. Fredericks instructs Kinah to stop.
Dr. Fredericks' head whips around as he watches the angels battle up close. "Isn't it glorious?" he says to his driver.
Kinah doesn't respond. The word glorious has no meaning to her.
"Ouch," Dr. Fredericks complains. He rubs his forehead after smacking it against the glass window. "What's wrong with him?" he asks in disgust as he points toward one of his glorious Exalted warriors.
The massive man appears to be dancing. He's wiggling this way and that. Only when he turns, do Dr. Fredericks and Kinah see what's got him so excited.
Mena, that vile traitor that Dr. Fredericks gave so many chances to, is perched on his back. She's hanging onto him by two daggers that are buried in each shoulder. Dr. Fredericks watches with disgust, his mouth hanging wide open.
His once big hope, Mena, pulls one of the daggers from the Exalted's back and with a quick stroke, she ends him. As he falls, she jumps from his back and lands gracefully on the ground beside him, looking for her next fight.
Dr. Fredericks turns to his driver in a rage. "I've had enough of that irritating girl! Kill her, Kinah!"
"Yes, sir," she answers.
Chapter 54 / Mena
I ride on the man's back as he falls forward to meet the earth. Regret about killing this beast doesn't even cross my mind. I just witnessed him murdering two villagers with his bare hands. I wipe my daggers on the hem of his shirt before stepping away from him—the last act of revenge for his evildoings.
Who's next? There are still so many of them. We're losing this battle. My eyes scan the village. Where did that Jeep come from? Dr. Fredericks?
My nostrils flare and my chest tightens at the sight of him smiling from within the vehicle. I launch a knife at the vehicle's window with the greatest force I can muster. Even with all my efforts, the blade bounces off the impenetrable glass, slides down the hood, and lands on the dirt path below. A window is not going to stop me from killing that malicious man.
My legs propel me forward as fast as I can move them, though I only have fifty yards to cover. I need to get to him as quickly as I can. I must.
But before I reach him, Kinah comes from around the vehicle. I cringe when I notice her missing ear, the one I tore from her head. The result is gruesome.
I force my eyes away from the horrid sight to take in her demeanor. Her face is empty, as are her eyes. She means to kill me, and that is all.
She's been my greatest competition. But I beat her once before. I can do it again. I hope.
The rest of the village and the battle disappear as I focus solely on the female Exalted standing in front of me. She holds her spiked club in front of her body with both hands wrapped around the base. Her arms flex as she swings the weapon from side-to-side.
I know that physical contact with her could mean the end of me. So not wanting her to get any closer, I throw a knife straight at her chest. Two more quickly follow. She easily blocks them all with the club, pulls them out, and drops them on the ground.
Kinah takes a confident step toward me. She takes another.
I glance around, a haze of battling figures swirl around me. There's nothing in the way of a distraction or tool that I can use to my benefit. We're in the middle of the town on a dusty pathway. There's no other option than to take her head on.
With shaking hands, I slide a larger hunting knife from my belt and then a dagger—one knife for each hand.
Before I know it we are only a few feet apart.
Kinah swings her club. As the spikes hurl toward my face, I duck and shift around her side, dragging my dagger across her forearm. She seems unfazed by the pain and backswings her club.
When it hits me on the side of my arm, I scream. The intensity of the pain shoots out of my lungs. It ravages the inside of my throat.
I jump out of the way, missing the blow.
Don't look down. Don't look down. If I look, it'll hurt worse.
Anger pushes me toward her once more. I twist and duck away from her club, each time taking swipes at her arms and mid-section. Though her blood runs rich over her dark skin, she continues on.
My foot slips in the dust on the ground causing me to fall into the side of the Jeep. Kinah is on top of me in seconds. Instead of striking me with the spikes of her club, she brings the base straight down on me.
The strike to my face causes my vision to tunnel. As I struggle with remaining conscious, I kick out with both feet while bracing my back against the side of the vehicle. Kinah stumbles back.
Like me, she loses her footing on the dusty ground. She falls, landing on her butt. This is my opportunity.
I launch myself at her, diving on her full-force. We grapple and roll on the ground. Dust flies up around us as we scuffle. Finally, her club falls from her iron grip, but she also tears my knives from my hands. Weaponless, we fight. Exalted to Exalted. Woman to woman.
I know without a doubt that she is the stronger of us.
Kinah wraps her strong hands around my throat, trying to choke the life out of me. I don't stand a chance against her now. I claw at her face and arms. Still she is unflinching. She can only foresee my imminent death.
Her grip tightens and my throat closes. No, I'm not going to be strangled to death—she will NOT crush my neck.
Once again, fighting against the black void that is creeping up, I twist my body to the side. I was always more flexible than the larger Exalted and now it's going to pay off.
My hands reach for the dagger hidden in my boot. I inch my leg up, arching my body on its side.
I have it!
Chapter 55 / Ryker
We need something extraordinary to happen to turn things around. The Republic still outnumbers us, two to one. If only the bombs we rigged had taken more of them out . . .
After the fight with my current opponent ends, I sprint through the center of the battle and back down the dirt road the traitors came in on. �
��You’re all weak!” I shout. “You’re the weakest fighters I’ve seen!”
It doesn’t take long for the loyalist Exalted to turn their attention on me. Shouts follow me as I run. "Coward!" they call.
As expected, a group of Exalted breaks away from the battle to run after me. They can't let a coward escape—it's against their nature. They also can’t allow anyone to call them weak. I’ve offended them in both ways that matter to mindless Exalted.
They want me dead. Now.
"Come back here and fight!" One of the loyalists yells at my back as he hurries after me.
I don't respond, I just run and when the time comes, I jump. I know where each trip wire was hidden. The traitors don't. And my guess is they've long forgotten about the explosion since the battle started.
The first explosion takes out four loyalists. The second takes another three. There is only one left. He knows not to follow me further down the road, so he stops next to what’s left of his fallen comrades. “Fight like an Exalted,” the male warrior calls to me.
We stand facing one another—him with his sword and me with only one knife left. This fighter is twice my age and twice my size. He’s experienced and will certainly overpower me if given the chance.
“Fight like an Exalted!” the warrior calls again.
His words have a contradictory effect on me. “I’m not an Exalted,” I tell him. “Stop fighting us. You’re killing innocent people.”
“They’re not innocent. They’re marauders,” he responds.
“They’re not. The Republics have been lying to us all.”
The male Exalted has no expression. His face is devoid of any hint of what he’s thinking. I grip my knife harder, waiting for him to attack.
“The Pump?” he asks.
I shake my head up and down. “Yes, the Pump.”
The male Exalted does the unexpected. Instead of attacking, he drops his sword on the dirt path and walks away from me into the forest. I stand with my mouth open in shock as he disappears from sight.
Once I’m finally able to absorb what just happened, I run back to the battle. We need to end this once and for all.
Chapter 56 / AZ
Things finally seem to be moving in our favor. I’ve never seen so much passion before. The villagers ooze the stuff. Though some of the archers have been pulled from the trees, those remaining stay firmly in place, firing arrow after arrow. They are fighting for more than honor. They are fighting for their lives and their families. They are fighting for their freedom. That is proving to be a powerful thing, even against forces as strong as the Republic.
The people here are even sparing lives when possible by injuring loyalist Exalted in the legs and arms. Unfortunately, they aren't making that an easy task for the archers. Exalted are all trained to fight to the death. Sometimes that's the only way to keep them down.
As I stand on the outside of the fray, my mind becomes free to roam since I don't see anyone to take on. Of course Jenna is the first person that comes to my thoughts. Is she okay? Has she been attacked? Does she need help with the wounded?
That’s it. I need to check on her.
I stride through the battle that appears to be winding down, but before I can get to Jenna, I see that John is in trouble. He’s on his belly, struggling to pull himself forward. His bow is just out of reach and a loyalist Exalted is seconds away from being on top of him. He must have been pulled from the tree he was perched in.
My heart contracts when I see the panic on his face. He’s my…friend. I can’t pass him by like it’s not my problem.
Without a second’s more consideration, I cut the loyalist off of his path by barreling into him. We crash to the hard ground and immediately tumble into a fistfight. My opponent is gifted and strong. His face is cold though he has a deep tan from the hot sun. But this boy is young—younger than me. There's no way he has completed his training.
His youth pulls at my heart. As I fight him, I fight against killing him. Blow after blow. Strike after strike. We are still on equal footing. I suppose I am lucky he hasn't completed his training as of yet. Otherwise, there's no way I would beat him.
John finally grabs his bow. I can see him in my peripheral vision crawling toward us. He rears up and readies his arrow in his bow. He pulls the bowstring back, ready to fire at the boy.
I grab the Exalted by his shirt and roll him away from John's aim. "Hit him, but don't kill him!" I shout.
John lowers his bow and scrambles off to his side. He grabs a fist-sized rock and thrusts it against the loyalist's head without pause. The youth collapses on top of me.
"Good work, John," I say as I shove the unconscious loyalist off of me. After I stand, I drag the loyalist by his leg toward the concrete block where I was chained a lifetime ago. It's his turn to discover what it's like to live now. We're not going to kill this one.
On my way back, I pass John who is still kneeling in the same place that I left him. A patch of blood is forming in his light blue shirt just under his armpit. "Come with me. Jenna will get you fixed up."
"Oh. Okay," he mumbles, obviously still dazed.
I reach down and help my friend to stand. Once steady, I let him go. "You okay?" I ask. His round face is flushed and his limbs are shaking.
"Yeah, I'm okay...Thanks for your help. I'd be dead now if it wasn't for you." He shifts awkwardly and then throws his arms around me. "Thank you!" he exclaims.
I freeze under his embrace. This feels strange. After giving him a quick pat on the back, I pull away. "Come on. I need to check on Jenna."
"Sure. Sure," John says and clears his throat. He follows after me, gripping his bow with his good hand, though it shakes.
The village falls away and we pass through the beginnings of the forest. Behind me, John is dragging one of his feet. It scrapes along the dirt and dried leaves on the ground. Scrape. Step. Scrape. Step.
It's so quiet out here. All I can hear is the scraping and stepping. It's nerve-wracking. I want to call out to Jenna, but I don't dare.
We're getting close. The car is just beyond those trees. My legs pick up speed, propelling me toward her faster, when a gunshot pops. The sound hits me in the gut.
I stop dead in my tracks when I reach the spot that I last saw Jenna. The car door is swung open wide, and beneath the metal block of the door, I see feet dangling limply with the same little brown shoes that my dear friend, Jenna, was wearing earlier. Then I hear crying. Tommy and his mother peek around the back of the vehicle. About twenty yards to the right is an Exalted loyalist flat on her back, not breathing.
Everything is a blur and I try to take in the chaotic scene.
Finally, I glance back at the lifeless legs and wait for them to move.
Nothing.
By now, John has caught up to me. He passes me by. "Jenna? Tommy?" he quietly calls as he runs around the open door of the car. He leans over the unmoving body.
My heart stops as he stands back up. "Jenna?" he says.
Please don’t be her. Please don’t be her. But it is.
"Jenna!" I cry. "Jenna!"
Chapter 57 / AZ
As I get closer to the car, I see the feet in the brown shoes move. I force myself to look around the open door of the vehicle.
“Az?” Jenna says. She’s lying in the foot-well of the car with the handgun in her tiny hand. She drops it on the seat as she tries to wiggle her way out of the car.
“Jenna,” I gasp as I push John out of my way. “Jenna, are you okay? What happened?”
“One of them found us. I knew better than to let her get any closer. I tried to reason with her. She wouldn’t listen . . . “ She begins to cry as the realization of her actions sink in.
“You did what you had to do, Jenna,” I assure her. “Look, you saved Tommy and his mother. You did good, Jenna.” I pull her into my chest and let her cry.
Behind me, John whispers, “I’m going to take Tommy and his mother to the medical tent. There will be people there needing th
eir help.”
Jenna’s head pops up. “I need to go too,” she says in between sobs.
“You can go in a minute. Take a second and then I’ll walk you there.”
“But Az,” she starts.
“Jenna, you won’t be able to help anyone in the state you’re in. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Thanks for coming with me, John,” I tell my friend.
“No problem. Come on, let’s get going,” John tells Tommy and his mother.
Jenna cries for a few minutes. She takes a few deep breaths, pushes her hair out of her face, and jumps to her feet. “I’m ready,” she says.
“Okay.” I smile. “Let’s go.” I take her hand as I lead her to the medical tent, where she was meant to be.
Chapter 58 / Mena
Killing Kinah was awful. To watch the life drain from her eyes will forever haunt me, but she left me no choice. He ordered her to attack me. He ordered this attack. Her death is on Dr. Fredericks’ hands.
He killed my father.
I stand tall, staring at the once great leader that is now alone and panicking in his bulletproof Jeep. Dr. Fredericks haphazardly throws himself into the driver's seat. I shake my head at him as he tries desperately to start the engine.
As I approach the vehicle, I realize that there are about a dozen other Exalted and villagers closing in on him as well.
The vile man finally starts the engine, shifts into drive, and slams his foot down on the accelerator. No matter how much harder he presses the gas, the two male Exalteds standing in front of the Jeep won't let it move. They press their palms down on the hood and plant their feet firmly on the ground. The tires spin out, sending dust flying in the air. He's not going anywhere.
I grip the door handle on the passenger side of the vehicle and pull with all my strength. The metal door groans as it resists, but quickly gives up. The hinges snap and the door comes away. I toss it to the side.
United (Exalted Trilogy: Book 3) Page 14
