Tara caught sight of Taig over the Outliers’ heads. He backed Aimee and the others away, too, farther across the plain, away from Tara and her friends. Her heart compelled her to rush forward, to stay with Taig, but she dared not face those reciprocators.
Taig held out his blade. The Outliers flowed around him and ringed their party. Reina and Lilith appeared at his side, armed with the primitive weapons they had on hand. Aimee pushed Sarai behind her and faced the other way.
The Outliers closed in tighter. Dust caked their hair, and their blackened teeth showed through their parted lips. He scanned their faces, and something inside him relaxed in relief that Old Ponchy wasn’t among them. He lashed out with his blade, and even Reina stood ready to fight, but the Outliers didn’t press in on them. They stood back with their reciprocators charged. They only bunched the travelers into a tighter group and held them helpless.
A cry behind him made Taig glance over his shoulder. Aimee leaned against Taig’s back, and Sarai squeezed between them for protection. Beyond Aimee, a gang of Outliers laid hold of Lilith and dragged her out of the group. Standing aside at a distance, watching the proceedings, with a foul grin on his twisted face, was Old Ponchy.
Chapter 4
Taig tried to leap out of the circle to defend Lilith, but an Outlier man near him jabbed him in the ribs with a reciprocator. Taig fell back into his place next to Reina, and she held him by the arm to keep him still.
Lilith bellowed and struggled, but the Outliers overpowered her with numbers. Three men held each of her arms, and another two pushed her from behind to separate her from the group.
Aimee made a desperate grab against the danger. Sarai called out, “No!” but Aimee darted out of the circle toward Lilith. She couldn’t let her long-lost daughter slip away again. Lilith saw her, and a broken cry escaped her.
Aimee slashed the nearest Outlier with her blade and laid open his shoulder. Blood splashed in the dust, and the man rounded on her with a snarl. He bashed her across the side of the head with his reciprocator. He didn’t think to fire it. The weapon was still unfamiliar to him that he didn’t think to take aim.
Lilith exploded. She managed to wrestle one of her arms free, but the Outliers had disarmed her. She rounded on the men holding her other arm and cracked two of their heads together. Old Ponchy cursed under his breath and hurried to help his people, but they’d already recovered.
Aimee staggered back under the blow, and the circle closed around her. She sagged against Taig, and Sarai tried to hold her up. They couldn’t fight anymore without endangering themselves.
The Outliers caught Lilith’s flailing free arm, and two more men took the place of those she’d knocked down. Her struggles faded to nothing until Old Ponchy stood in front of her and mocked her with his wicked smile.
“Where did you think you were going, Lilith?” he growled. “Did you really think you could escape from us?”
Lilith gasped for breath and tried harder than ever to break free, but it was no use. Even if she could get her arms free, so many Outliers surrounded them; two would take the place of any she defeated. She gnashed her teeth, and her eyes darted from face to face. She fought hard, but her enemies surrounded her on all sides.
“You won’t escape me, Lilith.” Old Ponchy waved his hand at the soft sky. “No Avitras is going to fly away with you this time.”
“If you’re going to kill us,” Lilith shot back, “do it now and get it over with.”
Old Ponchy shook his head. “You know the law better than anyone, Lilith. You’ve broken our laws more ways than I can count, and you thought you could escape justice by flying away. You don’t deserve to come back to our camp, so you’ll die here. These others will be brought back and sacrificed in the usual way.” He eyed Sarai. “The boy can join us.”
Lilith stared at him. The others cowered in a tight bunch with Sarai, but they were outnumbered by dozens of Outliers. Old Ponchy said something to one of his comrades, and the man handed him a reciprocator. Old Ponchy checked the firing mechanism and aimed it at Lilith’s head.
Lilith gave one last desperate struggled. The men hung onto both her arms with all their strength, but staring death in the face gave her superhuman strength. She succeeded once again in freeing one of her arms. Old Ponchy smacked his lips. “Hold her still!”
Lilith didn’t let her advantage slip away, though. She swung her leg around in a wide arch. She kicked one man holding her other arm and knocked him out. He tumbled sideways, and Lilith smashed her fist into the nose of the man standing next to her.
Old Ponchy cursed through his blackened teeth and hurled the reciprocator away. “Useless new-fangled weapons! I’ll handle this the old-fashioned way.” He snatched a long staff from one of his compatriots and rushed toward Lilith.
Lilith fought like a whirlwind. Every time her assailants came close to pinning down her arms and legs, she struck them away and knocked one of them unconscious. She spotted Old Ponchy moving in on her, but she flung stricken Outliers in his path. He had to push his own people out of the way to get near her.
In the end, no more Outliers could leave the circle guarding Aimee and her friends to fight Lilith. Lilith wrestled her other arm free and rounded on Old Ponchy ready to defend herself.
The challenge on her face only made him more terrible. He swung his staff and brought it down with a crack on her shoulder. “What do you think you can do? Do you think you can beat all of us?”
He waved his hand over the plain crawling with Outliers. As far as the eye could see, they scurried here and there like ants. They surrounded Tara and the others and herded them toward the canyon. They covered every inch of the flat landscape between the two groups. Escape was impossible.
Lilith paid no attention to them. She gasped for breath, and every breath brought a little desperate cry from her. She scanned the Outliers around her with quick, terrified glances, but in the end, she faced Old Ponchy with both hands balled into fists. She nodded to him. “Come on, if you’re coming. You want to kill me? Come on and do it.”
He snarled through his teeth and lunged forward. He jabbed at her with his staff and hit her in the sternum. She staggered back with a cough. Aimee started forward again, but Sarai held her back. “Don’t, Mother.”
Taig put out his arm to block Aimee, too. Old Ponchy would kill Lilith one way or the other. They couldn’t stop that, but the Outliers taking the rest of them back to Rolling Ridges might buy them time. With luck, he could come up with a plan.
Old Ponchy followed up with a shower of blows around Lilith’s head and neck. She couldn’t get her arms up to protect herself fast enough, and she reeled and stumbled over backwards onto the ground.
“Lilith!” Aimee screamed, but she couldn’t move.
Lilith hit the ground, and her arms flew to her head. Old Ponchy’s staff cracked on her elbow. Lilith rolled to one side, and the staff fell fast and heavy on her back. She tucked her head in and rolled into a ball. She braced her feet under her and launched herself back into a standing position.
Old Ponchy sneered at her efforts to fight back. He was only playing with her. He could pick up his reciprocator anytime and blast her to kingdom come. He could recall his men whenever he wanted to overpower her and drag her to the ground. He laughed in her face even while she fought for her life.
On her feet, Lilith looked around for any kind of weapon, but she faced Old Ponchy with her bare hands. He attacked again, and this time, she rushed forward at the same moment. The staff slammed into her ribs and she winced in pain, but her arm came down over the staff and pinned it to her side.
She grabbed the staff with both hands and held it firm. Old Ponchy yanked, but she wouldn’t let go. When he finally let go to pick up his reciprocator, Lilith seized the staff out of his hands and turned the tables on him. The moment he turned his back, she brought the staff down on his head with a hail of blows. He staggered and cowered under his arms.
Lilith jumped on top of him with the staff’s end poised over his head. The Outliers moved in to defend their fallen leader, but Lilith swung the staff over her head to clear a circle around her. No one dared enter it even to help Old Ponchy. Between keeping the space around her clear, Lilith drove the staff point down into Old Ponchy’s guts. He doubled over with a groan, but not before Lilith struck again and again. A cracking sound came from his ribs.
All of a sudden, he lashed out with his foot and knocked her leg out from under her. She almost lost her balance, but she corrected in time. She swung her staff around to strike again, but in that fraction of an instant, Old Ponchy rolled onto his stomach. When she planted her feet to hit him again, he kicked out. His heels slammed into her knee, and she staggered backwards.
The other Outliers sensed the advantage swinging in their favor and moved in on Lilith. She couldn’t get her staff up in time to swing it. Before she got her feet under her, they dragged her down to the ground and tore the staff out of her hands. The men held her down, and this time, no amount of thrashing could free her. Old Ponchy spat dirt through his broken teeth and snorted at her pathetic efforts.
With leisurely resolution, he strolled through the dry grass and picked up the reciprocator. He tossed it into the air and caught it with a chuckle. It hummed in his hand when he hit the power up button. “I don’t have time to waste on you.”
He pointed the reciprocator at her and it went off. The Outliers holding her turned their faces away, and the blast exploded against Lilith’s chest. The concussion bounced her body off the ground, her head arched back, and she lay still. One by one, the Outliers let go of her arms and legs. Her eyes rolled back in her head and a rattle came out of her throat.
Old Ponchy made a sour face and sniffed. He strode up to Lilith’s prostrate form and straddled her shoulders. He aimed the reciprocator at her face and his hand tightened around it when one his people touched his elbow. “She’s dead.”
Old Ponchy scanned the body up and down. He let his hand fall to his side. Then he turned away.
Aimee clamped her eyes shut, but the horrible image of Lilith hung before her eyes. Sarai buried his face in her side and clung to her leg. Taig groaned, and Reina covered her mouth to stifle a sob. The noise attracted Old Ponchy’s attention, and he rounded on them.
He waved his reciprocator to his people. “Move ‘em out.”
The Outliers shoved the prisoners away from Lilith. Once Aimee made a feeble attempt to break away and run to her daughter, but Sarai wouldn’t let go of her. “Mother, don’t!” She sank back with the others and didn’t try again.
The Outliers threatened and cajoled them forward. The sun settled behind the horizon, and the speck of Lilith’s body vanished into the still ground. Aimee chocked back sobs, but Taig didn’t look back again. He moved closer to Reina, and she ducked under his arm for comfort. He put his arm around her shoulders, and they walked together, surrounded by their Outlier guards, on their way back toward the canyon.
Chapter 5
Instinct drove Aeifa closer to Taman, and her hand went to her blade, even though it was useless. The Outliers swirled around them, but kept their distance. The little group tightened. Every one of them held a weapon, but they wouldn’t have a hope of winning against so many people armed with reciprocators.
They moved in a continuous circle, back northward, and headed back toward the canyon. No matter which way the group moved, the Outliers headed them where they wanted to go. Aeifa surveyed the people surrounding her on all sides. Not one of the Outliers looked her in the eye. They stared straight in front of them.
Tara leaned toward Allen. “Why don’t they attack?”
No one answered. The Outliers inched closer on one side, and the group retreated against each other until the canyon loomed behind them. They didn’t have to look for the path. The Outliers herded them toward it.
At the canyon rim, Taman’s foot rolled on a stone. He glanced over his shoulder into the depths, and the sight brought him out of a bad dream. A quick look around the group showed him the others walking backwards in the same thoughtless stupor. A tremor shuddered through him. “We have to get out of here.”
Only Aeifa heard him. “How can we? We’re surrounded.”
Taman shook his head. “We can’t let them take us down the canyon.”
“They obviously don’t want to kill us or they would have done it already,” Tara added. “Maybe they only want to take us prisoner.”
“We know what that means.” Taman tightened his grip on his blade. “We can’t let them take us. We have to fight.”
“They’ll kill us,” Allen pointed out.
Taman turned around and faced the Outliers. They only covered part of the circle and left an opening behind the friends. The path into the canyon was the only way out. “At least we’ll die quickly. I’m not going back to Rolling Ridges to toy with me before they kill me and eat me.”
Aeifa took her position at Taman’s side. She would stand by him, and at least they would die together. She didn’t think of her family. Ari was dead, and her parents and grandmother and cousins might as well be dead. Taig and Tara would die out here with her, and they would all be together again in a few minutes. She took a fresh grip on her blade and steeled herself to fight her last battle.
Tara searched the horizon for any sign of Aimee’s group. Taig was out there somewhere. He and Aimee and Reina faced the same Outliers. Were they dead already? What if Taman was wrong? What if they could buy a few hours or days by running down into the canyon, by making the Outliers believe they were captured.
They had no time to reconsider. Taman wouldn’t move another step, and they couldn’t leave him behind. Something in his manner made Tara stop, too. She would have moved behind him if she had time. He set his jaw, and his eyes narrowed at the Outliers. He grew bigger before her eyes, big enough to protect them all from any danger.
There wasn’t time to seek shelter, from him or anywhere else, before he sprang. His blade flashed through the air and sliced the ragged clothes of the nearest Outlier. The man whirled around with a bellow and aimed his reciprocator at Taman.
Tara launched herself at the two men, but Taman was too quick. He was Ursidrean. He’d trained to fight with reciprocators and against them. They didn’t strike terror into his heart.
He spun back the other way and brought his knife butt down hard on the Outlier’s wrist. The reciprocator discharged as it fell from the man’s hand. Taman stooped, and the blast sizzled over his head. He put out his left hand, and the reciprocator smacked into his palm.
The other Outliers surged in for the attack, and Tara’s heart sank. They must have had orders to massacre the travelers if they offered any resistance. Her worst fears played out before her eyes. Taman’s decision to take his stand at the canyon rim would cost them all their lives.
But Taman handled the weapon with natural dexterity. The Outliers couldn’t comprehend it. They’d stolen these weapons, but they never wielded them with grace and skill the way the Ursidreans did. Reciprocators would always be strange and unworldly to them.
The weapon sang in Taman’s hand. It fired here, there, and everywhere like an extension of his arm. He barely bothered to aim, and it went off faster than Tara’s eye could see. Every shot struck its mark. He bounded from foot to foot, twisting and turning and pirouetting in splendid abandon. No Outlier could stand against him with that weapon in his hand.
They retreated before him. The Outliers fell at his feet until bodies barricaded the travelers from their enemies. The Outliers never thought to use the reciprocators in their own hands. More than one reached for blades in their waistbands instead of firing back.
Aeifa came to his aid first. The stunned malaise evaporated from her mind, and she darted to Taman’s side. He didn’t need any help from her or anybody, but she took advantage of the Outliers’ surprise to attack them. She stabbed and slashed with her knife, but Taman’s fire stu
pefied them and stopped them from defending themselves. They stared at him with wide eyes. They couldn’t take their eyes off that weapon.
Then Aeifa had a brilliant idea. She went down on one knee and collected every reciprocator she could get her hands on. They lay thick on the ground at her feet in the hands of fallen Outliers and wedged into their clothes. She stacked them in one arm like firewood and retreated with them to the circle.
Allen shook himself and hurried to her side. He took two reciprocators from her and whirled away. He planted his feet wide behind his brother’s back and started mowing down Outliers as fast as Taman. Aeifa collected more reciprocators from the fallen. What would she do with all those weapons? The question never crossed her mind. She only knew she had to disarm the Outliers and swing the advantage to their side.
Allen’s fire turned the tide, and the remaining Outliers fled toward their friends. Taman shot several in the backs as they ran, and Aeifa ran forward to collect their weapons, too. In an instant, they were alone. Taman aimed his reciprocator at the fleeing Outliers, but he no longer fired. Sweat darkened his neck, and his breath hissed through his teeth.
Tara laughed out loud. “You did it! They’re running away.”
“Not for long,” Allen told her. “Look. They’re joining their friends and heading back this way.”
Tara pointed down at the heap of reciprocators at Aeifa’s feet. “What are you going to do with all those? We’ve only got two hands each.”
Aeifa blinked at the weapons. She’d collected far more than the four of them could ever use. “I didn’t think.....I only thought.....”
Allen clapped her on the shoulder. “You did good. If one runs out of power, we’ll have plenty more we can use.”
“How are we going to carry them all?” Tara asked.
Allen started to answer, but Taman cut him off. “Never mind about that. Here they come, and they’ve captured Aimee, Taig, and Reina.”
The New Angondra Complete Series Page 20
