Kora’s eyes shifted uneasily to the ravine walls on either side of them.
Maravek gave her a shake. “Well, girl? What is it?” When she didn’t respond, he growled and turned to Tess, his face growing red again. “Is this the place?”
Tess surveyed the ravine. It was hard to tell; everything looked the same in this part of the Untamables, but as far as she could tell…She nodded.
“Where’s the tunnel?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Maravek’s voice boomed off the ravine walls. “It’s barely been twenty four hours since you escaped. What are you, a goldfish?”
Tess bristled. If this was indeed the entrance to the Akorites lair, he may as well have announced their arrival with a megaphone. “The tunnel was well hidden. I was a bit preoccupied getting out alive. Sir.”
Maravek glowered at her, but she remained straight and met his gaze. Then, without warning, he spun Kora around like a top, jerking her to face him. She lost her balance and fell to her knees on a cushion of thick moss. Maravek whipped his gun at her.
Kora’s nostrils flared. She stared up into the barrel with unwavering eyes.
“Ten seconds, girl,” said Maravek, “Ten seconds, and I swear I’ll put a bullet between your eyes like I did to the other one. Unless you do the smart thing and tell me where the entrance to your little hideout is.” He started counting down out loud.
Every muscle and tendon in Kora’s body tensed like ropes. Her eyes darkened.
Maravek reached five.
For a moment, Tess thought the girl would actually take the bullet. She wasn’t moving. She didn’t think Maravek was bluffing, did she?
Just as Maravek got down to one, Kora leaned forward and spat on his boot. “You’re standing next to it.” She jerked her chin at the wall to their left.
Maravek kicked her in the side with the offended foot. Not a rib-breaker, but it was enough for her to double over with a grunt. He turned his attention to the crumbling face of the ravine. “I don’t see anything. Don’t play games with me, girl.”
“Sir,” said one of the low rankers, “The rubble.”
Tess followed his indication and saw what he meant. While the whole ravine was littered with boulders and loose stones that had rolled down into its depths over the decades, a section of the wall, devoid of any of the vegetation that consumed the rest of the gorge, was covered in jagged rubble—a much more recent phenomenon.
Maravek snorted. “A landslide. What of it?”
“That wasn’t a landslide,” said Tess, picking up a fist-sized chunk of rock. It was blackened on one side. “It was an explosion. And a very precise one, by the looks of it. Kora’s right. This is the entrance—at least, it used to be.”
Maravek’s chin jutted out, and his red face deepened a shade. “They sealed it off?”
A low laugh rattled from Kora’s chest. “That’s right, Preceptor. The whole tunnel’s collapsed, and you’re stuck on the wrong side of it.”
He stood over her like a bear looming over its prey. “Then I suggest you get me in another way.”
Kora shook her head. “There is no other way in. You don’t get it, do you? No one’s home. They’re gone. All of them. You’re too late, Preceptor. Looks like your fox smelled you coming from miles away.”
Maravek fumed. “You knew about this, didn’t you? You knew they wouldn’t be here. Tell me where they’ve scurried off to.”
Kora didn’t answer.
Tess butted in. “Sir, we should get back to cover. They could have a dozen rifles trained on us as we speak.”
“Quiet, Kerrigan,” said Maravek. He crouched low, coming eye to eye with the girl.
Tess scanned the ridge, but she saw nothing. She doubted the Akorites would have waited this long to spring any potential trap, but still…she felt uneasy.
Maravek pulled a three-inch straight knife from his belt and dangled it like a pendant in front of Kora’s face. His voice dropped to menacing low tones. “I hear you’re pretty good with one of these.”
The corner of her lip curled in a sneer. “Give me a chance to show you.”
Maravek ignored the remark. He traced the tip of the blade down her neck. “Let’s see how well you take it.” He thrust the knife forward.
Kora gave a sharp gasp as the blade sank an inch into the flesh under her collarbone. Then a weak laugh rasped in her throat. “Do you even know where the vitals are?” She spat out the words through the pain.
Maravek held the knife in place, keeping the blood to a trickle. “I don’t want to kill you. I want you to tell me where your friends are.” He put pressure on the hilt.
The blade slid in another half-inch with a wet snick. Kora bared her teeth in a silent grimace, but kept her mouth shut. The trickle of blood intensified.
Tess could only stand back with the rest of the Preceptors and watch.
“I could do this all day,” said Maravek. “The sooner you squeal, the sooner I put you out of your misery.”
“You won’t—find them,” gasped Kora. “Not until they want you to. And then—then it’ll be too late for you.”
“We’ll see about that.” Maravek twisted the blade.
Kora threw her head back and couldn’t hold back a scream. She fought with her shoulders and arms, but the cuffs reduced her movements to weak struggles.
Tess frowned. This wasn’t justice. This was torture. “Sir, you don’t have to—”
Maravek snarled at her over his shoulder. “Back off, Kerrigan.” He gave the knife another sharp twist. “Spit it out, girl!”
Kora’s mouth opened wide in agony. Tears streamed down her face.
Tess slowly reached for the gun at her hip.
“South!” Kora cried out. “They went south. To—to the river. Four miles. There’s a cove—another outpost.”
Tess stopped her hand inches from her gun.
Maravek held Kora’s gaze for a long moment. “Good.” He palmed the hilt of the knife and shoved the blade all the way in.
Kora gave a gargled cry, and then toppled into the moss and ferns.
Maravek stood and dusted off his palms as though he’d been potting flowers. He turned his back on the prone body in the grass. “Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us, boys.”
Tess stared at him with wide eyes. Any shred of humanity she thought he might have left in him vanished like straw in a storm gale. This man—this monster—was no ally of hers any longer. He would stop at nothing to get his hands around Daniel’s throat. She could only hope Daniel was running fast and hard in the opposite direction.
Maravek strode towards the forest. “We’ll circle around once we’re out of this crack in the earth and head south from the top. Daniel Black won’t get away from us again.”
* * *
As soon as the Preceptors vanished into the trees, Daniel was on his feet.
Ram, still lying on the ground, grabbed his ankle. “Get down! They might still be hanging back. I’ll have you know, you’re going to get yourself shot!”
Daniel yanked his ankle loose. “I think he left the knife in. We can still save her.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t go down there.”
“Stay here with Litty.” Without waiting for a response, he slid down the incline on his hands, feet, and rear; kicking at protruding rocks on the way down to avoid dashing himself to a pulp. When he reached the bottom, he rolled like a straw doll.
He was lucky enough to land in a deep patch of moss. Picking himself up with no injuries save for a bashed shoulder, he hurried down the length of the ravine, ducking from boulder to boulder, just in case Ram was right.
In half a minute he was in the ferns with Kora. Her body was still and her eyes were closed. He grimaced—the knife was thick, and it was in deep, but the blade had only gone into the muscle at her shoulder—it wouldn’t threaten her life. Even so, her face was already pale.
Working as quickly as his trembling fingers
would let him, Daniel tore strips of cloth from the sleeves of his undershirt. The fabric was filthy, but it would have to do. He held the strips in his teeth and positioned his hands around the knife, holding her shoulder down.
He took a deep breath, and then pulled the knife out in one swift motion. The blade came out with a squelch. He almost threw up. Blood flowed, and he hastily pressed the cloth over the wound. In seconds, the blood soaked through the thin material.
He ripped the rest of his shirt off and wrapped it tightly all the way around her shoulder and under her arm. He tied a knot and tightened it with his teeth. It was a crude bandage, but it would do the trick until he could get her to a safer place.
He propped her up, ready to pick her up in his arms.
He heard a sharp click behind him, and a cold chuckle.
“You’re a clever devil, Black.”
Daniel pivoted slowly. He knew who it was.
“That’s right,” said Maravek, “Nice and easy. No one has to get hurt. Well, besides you.” The end of the gun’s barrel wavered lazily a foot from Daniel’s face.
One by one, the rest of the Preceptors emerged from the forest like hesitant ghosts from a graveyard. Daniel searched the group for Tess, but Maravek’s closet-like frame blocked his vision.
“Should have figured the wench was lying to me,” Maravek went on. “Lucky for me, your hero complex took over, and now you’re here. The man who kills finally gets a taste of his own medicine.” The gun straightened.
Daniel’s chest felt like there was a vacuum chamber inside it, constricting his lungs to the point where he couldn’t breathe. Once again, his carelessness had put him in danger. Only this time, there was no way out of it. There was nothing he could do. In the recess of his mind, he hoped Litty wasn’t watching.
“No,” said a voice from the group. Tess Kerrigan stepped into view. Holding her own gun in her hand. Pointing it right at Maravek.
The First Preceptor’s face turned beet red faster than a watercolor. He stuttered for words. “Kerrigan—what the—what is the meaning of this?”
“I’m going to have to insist you put the weapon down,” Kerrigan said, enunciating each word carefully. “Daniel Black—”
“Is a murderer!”
“—is innocent. You’re blinded by your own ambition and stubborn recklessness, sir. It’s my responsibility as a servant of the Order to put a stop to your personal crusade.”
Now Maravek swiveled his gun back and forth between Daniel and Tess, and the expression on his face said he wanted to shoot them both but wasn’t sure where to start. A laugh escaped him—a nervous laugh. “You’ve just signed your own resignation papers and bought a one-way ticket to a private cell in the capitol. You know that, right?” A sneer stretched his face. He looked at the other four Preceptors and gestured at her with his chin. “Take her.”
No one moved. Daniel saw their shifting eyes. It was obvious that none of them expected this to happen—Kerrigan was acting alone.
Daniel’s heart was racing like a haywire metronome, but he dared not move. He shot a glance over his shoulder. Blood still seeped from the wound in Kora’s shoulder. His provisional bandage slowed the bleeding but couldn’t stop it.
Maravek trembled with rage. “I said, take her! There’s just one of her, for crying out loud.”
One of the Preceptors reached for his gun, but seemed to change his mind halfway through the motion of drawing it from its holster. Two backed away several steps. The fourth stood her ground and glared back at Maravek.
Maravek’s eyes narrowed. He growled like a cornered bear.
“See to the girl,” said Kerrigan. “Keep pressure on the wound.”
It took Daniel a full three seconds to figure out she was talking to him.
“Move one fingertip,” said Maravek, “And I will end you.”
Daniel stayed put, his head swimming.
“Daniel, do as I say,” said Kerrigan, her voice layered with authority. “Kora will die if the bleeding isn’t stopped. Make sure the wound is above the heart, and for goodness’ sake, put pressure on it!” She never took her eyes off the first ranker. “If Maravek fires, so do I.”
Daniel wasn’t sure if that was meant as reassurance to him or a threat to Maravek. He did as Tess instructed, shifting Kora’s body to a half-sitting position against one of the nearby boulders, all the while glancing over his shoulder, expecting a gunshot to end it all at any moment.
“Now put the gun down,” said Tess. “I won’t hesitate this time.”
“An empty threat, Kerrigan,” said Maravek. He took another step closer to her. “You don’t have the guts. When it comes down to the wire, you’ve always been weak. That’s why the Akorites took you. That’s why you’ve fallen for the lies of a criminal. That’s why you’ll never rise above being a mere Second Preceptor.” His voice was thick with contempt.
Daniel’s eyes shifted between the two of them, and his heart sank. Maravek was almost within reach of her, and she still hadn’t made a move. Was he right? Was Tess bluffing? The tendons in her neck strained like ropes, and her face was stretched in a tight-lipped grimace.
Maravek closed in on her. “Admit it. Deep down, you know I’m right. You know this justice. If I don’t shoot you here and now, it’s because your resolute devotion to the Order. And the Order will side with me, Kerrigan. Count on it.”
Daniel wanted to scream out, but his muscles wouldn’t respond. If Maravek disarmed her, it would be all over.
The first ranker shook his head. “I’m disappointed. You were so close. So close to actually proving your mettle. But once again, you failed.” He reached for her gun.
A shot rang out.
Daniel flinched and instinctively flattened himself on the ground. For a fraction of a second, the world went still and silent. He looked up.
Maravek stood with shock on his face, clutching at his hand—the hand that a moment ago had been pointing the gun at Tess. The gun itself was on the ground.
Tess looked just as surprised as Maravek—she hadn’t moved.
The young Preceptor who had remained with Tess stood at a triangle point between the two of them, her gun up, a wisp of smoke trailing from the barrel. Her eyes were wide and her outstretched arms trembled like dead branches in a breeze.
Then the silence broke.
Maravek roared like an animal and kicked Tess in the stomach before she could react. She flew back a full five feet, landing on her back in the moss. Her gun spiraled through the air. “Moriah, get Daniel!”
Maravek spun around, knocked Moriah down with a fist to the jaw, and dove into the ferns to grab the gun. He rolled onto his back and squeezed the trigger twice in rapid succession.
Both shots missed, but they were enough to send the last Preceptor running back into the woods.
Maravek jumped back to his feet with an agility that contrasted his size.
Weaponless, Daniel could only crouch in the ferns to minimize himself as a target.
The First Preceptor gloated as he crunched through the ferns towards Tess. Still on the ground, she backpedalled frantically, but a boulder blocked her way. Maravek planted a boot in her stomach, pinning her against the rock. “I’ve changed my mind. You first, then the boy.”
Daniel’s mind screamed for him to do something. The knife! He grabbed the bloody weapon and started out of the ferns.
Tess caught his gaze with wide eyes. She shook her head. “Run.”
Maravek took aim.
A fist-sized rock whooshed through the air and hit Maravek square between the shoulder blades. The first ranker cried out and stumbled forward, off balance. He fired wide.
Tess seized the opportunity and kicked him between the legs.
He toppled to the side, squeezing the trigger like a madman as he went down. The bullets went wide and ricocheted off the walls of the ravine.
“I’ll have you know,” said a voice, “I hope no one missed that, because I’m probably never going to get that
lucky again in my life.” Ram jogged towards them from the edge of the ravine, a wide grin on his face.
Daniel gaped. “You threw that?”
“Hey, don’t act so surprised. I was a grunt worker in the mines, not a secretary.”
Tess picked herself off the ground. Her eyes flashed. “You just assaulted a First Preceptor of the Order, Mr. Mallard.”
Ram blinked, and his face went white. “You see—well, I thought—it was all Litty’s idea!”
Tess broke into a smile, and she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “Pull yourself together. It was a joke.”
Ram stepped back. The color returned to his cheeks. “I thought you never joked.”
“There’s always a first.”
Daniel punched him in the shoulder. Hard. “I told you to stay with Litty.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, wincing. “We all know what happens when you run off without me. Besides, she’s just fine. I found a spot for her to hide.”
“What if she wanders off?”
Ram winked. “Trust me. She won’t.”
Before Daniel could answer, Maravek stirred on the ground and groaned.
Tess pried the gun out of his fingers and checked the magazine. “Empty.” Gripping it by the barrel, she gave the first preceptor a solid whack to the skull. He went limp.
At the same time, Moriah picked herself off the ground in a dazed stupor. She stumbled towards them, massaging her jaw. She observed the fallen Preceptor with a grim scowl and joined them wordlessly.
Daniel ran back to Kora and put his ear close to her lips. He felt a trickle of breath. “She’s still alive. What do we do?”
Tess searched through Maravek’s pockets until she found the key to unlock the handcuffs. “Ram,” she said, as she repositioned Kora’s freed arms so that the shoulder could relax. “Which way did you come down from?”
“There’s a spot just down that way on the eastern wall. A bit tricky, but manageable.”
She checked the bandage. “This is as good as we can do for the moment, but she’s going to require more thorough attention. Do you know where her people are?”
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