by Vicky Savage
Father examines the two wounded men. “These men need medical attention,” he says. “Erica can take them to the hospital. Where did this happen?”
“At the west tunnel entrance. They retreated toward the hills at Wall’s Edge.”
“How many of them?” Father asks.
“Many,” Alexander said. “Twenty, maybe more.”
“Drew, you and your men go with Alexander. Make sure to take weapons for the others. I’ll find Captain Hornsby, and we’ll meet you there with reinforcements. We’ll bring some firearms with us, just in case we need them.”
“You have guns?” Drew asks.
“Captain Hornsby has a small store of them. You needn’t tell your mother, though. This is the Enclave, Drew. We are equipped to protect ourselves. Swords are no equal for guns, so wait for us before engaging them.”
“Father, I’m going with Drew,” I say.
“No. Jade, it’s better if you stay here. They have explosives and at least one gun.”
I stare at him. “Father, its Ryder. He’s hurt. I’m going.”
He nods. “Get your sword. I’ll have Peter saddle your horse. What about you, Ralston?”
“Yes, I’d like to go along,” he says.
“Very well, we’d better get moving.”
* * *
Alexander leads us to the foot of the hills where Ryder was last seen being carried off by Damien and his men. Makoda is there with Ryder’s friend Atian and three other warriors—the explosives experts, I assume.
“Have you found their trail yet?” Alexander asks, jumping from his borrowed horse.
Makoda shakes his head, frowning. We can follow their trail as far as the base of that hill. Then it disappears.”
“Could they have climbed the hill?” Drew asks.
“Not on horseback,” Atian says. “It is too steep and there is too much vegetation.
“More men are on the way,” Alexander tells them. “But we cannot afford to wait for them. We must split up and search the area.” He passes out the swords we brought.
“They are probably hiding in a cave,” Atian says, as he straps on a weapon. “We will never find them. They could stay hidden for days.”
Alexander glowers at him. “Ryder does not have days. He will die if we do not find him soon. We must act now.”
Alexander’s blunt words send a wave of hot panic through me. I clasp Ralston’s arm and pull him to the side so the others can’t hear. “Ralston, you’ve got to find him. Get in touch with IUGA, ask them where he is. They must know. They know everything, right?”
“Jade, they won’t know where he is. I told you it doesn’t work that way. Since your arrival, everything we once knew is useless. We’re operating in the dark.”
“No! I don’t accept that. We’ve got to find him. He could die.”
“You can do it, Jade,” Ralston says quietly. “You can find him.”
“Me? Are you out of your mind? How am I supposed to find him?”
He takes my arm and leads me to a large flat boulder. “Sit down for a moment and listen to me.” I sit, reluctant to be wasting time.
“Remember when Ryder described the pull he feels toward you?” Ralston says.
“Yes. He said it was like a magnetic thing. So what?”
“Well, it’s real Jade, and you have it for him also.”
“No, I don’t. It’s different for me.”
He shakes his head. “Listen to me, it is the same. You just believe it’s different. A connection exists between you and Ryder. A bond, if you will. You are each powerfully drawn to the other. It is complicated to explain, but it’s something that can be worked out when two souls have a long history together and wish to be reunited in other lifetimes. It’s a contract between them—a perpetual contract. It doesn’t mean they are intended to be together in every lifetime. But when two such souls do happen to meet, the connection becomes activated. It ensures that the purpose of the contract will be fulfilled.”
I gape at him in anger and amazement. “Oh really? You knew this all along and you just forgot to tell me? You spent a whole lot of time trying to convince me that Ryder and I aren’t supposed to be together. Was that just a bunch of crap?”
“No, no. It is true you are not meant to be together in this existence, and if you had not accidentally come into contact with Ryder, the connection never would have been established between the two of you. But since you did meet, the connection is present. The point is—you can use it to find him.”
I shake my head. “I don’t believe this. That’s it? That’s all we have to work with?”
He nods.
“Okay, what am I supposed to do?”
“I know it sounds impossible, but try to calm your mind. Focus on the feeling you have when you and Ryder are apart.”
I close my eyes and pull in a deep breath, letting the air out slowly.
“Do you feel it, Jade?”
“Yes. It’s kind of hard to find under all the panic, but it’s definitely there.”
“I think our best chance of tracking him is to attempt to work backward from that feeling. If the feeling begins to ease, you are getting closer to Ryder. If it worsens, you are getting farther away. Do you understand?”
I peer at him skeptically. “I understand what you are saying—kind of like the hot-and-cold game. I just don’t know if it’ll work.”
“It has to,” he says with finality.
I get to my feet, and we quickly rejoin the others.
“What’s going on?” Drew asks.
“Jaden thinks she may be able to locate Ryder,” Ralston says.
Drew looks doubtful. “How?”
“By tracking him, in a way.”
“That’s absurd! Jade is no tracker.”
“With respect, Prince Andrew, you don’t know as much about Jaden as you think you do,” Ralston says. “I’ll wager that a week ago you would have said she was no fighter either. She has the ability; give her a chance.”
Drew shrugs. “We can’t do much until Father gets here anyway. Go ahead, Jade. Find him.”
Alexander speaks up. “Princess Jaden, I hope you will understand that our first loyalty is to Ryder. We are experienced trackers. We must split up and cover as much ground as possible to find him.”
Ralston begins to object, but I hold up my hand and speak to the Unicoi warriors. “I know you’re all very skilled, but we don’t have much time. Makoda, Alexander, do you remember the night I escaped with Ralston?” They both nod. “Ryder knew where I was. It was dark, and he wasn’t tracking me in the traditional way, but he knew which cave I was in. Remember?”
“Yes, but he did not want us to recapture you. He wanted to allow you to go home,” Makoda says. “We did not understand, but we stayed with him.”
I smile. “Yes you are good friends. Ryder let me go home for the same reason he knew where I was. A unique connection exists between us. It’s very strong, and I’m trying to use that same connection to find him. Please just give me a little time. We’ve got to stay together because we’ll need your help if we find him.”
Alexander and Makoda glance at each other and at Atian. They each nod in turn.” We’ll stay,” Alexander says speaking for the group.
“Thank you. Take me to the spot where the trail disappears.”
I pause on the spot and close my eyes, concentrating on the hollow feeling in my chest. I turn to my right, no change. I turn left, same thing. Great! Now what am I supposed to do?
I take several paces to the right, pivot and walk several paces in the opposite direction. I sense a slight difference. “It feels better going left,” I tell Ralston.
“Then let’s go left,” he says.
I move to the left along the base of the large hill, keeping my mind only on the feeling. After ten yards or so, the feeling begins to worsen again. I stop.
“Wait. We need to go back a little.” I turn around and retrace my steps for a few yards. I sense he is close, but I don’t k
now where to go next. I examine the side of the hill for a hidden cave or trail, but something inside of me says this is not the place.
I rub my temples, trying to concentrate harder. Ralston comes up behind me. “Jade, what is it?”
“There’s something about this place—if I go east, the feeling gets worse, but it’s the same if I go west. I’m stuck.”
“This is madness!” Drew says. “We’re wasting time. If you really want to save Blackthorn, we must find Father and have Hornsby’s men fan out all over these hills.”
“Look at this,” one of the guards says. He points to a thick growth of trees and bushes near a shallow stream which flows from the hillside. A brown and white feather lies atop the branches of a bush about three feet from us.
“That’s Ryder’s,” I say, snagging it from the bush. I hand it to Alexander, who nods in agreement.
Ralston pokes around in the bushes looking for other clues. A tiny droplet of dried blood clings to a leaf of a small sapling. He parts the tangled thicket with his hands. “What about in here, Jade?”
A narrow cleft has been carved in the hillside by the flowing stream. The cleft is virtually invisible from where we stand because of the overgrowth of trees and bushes.
“Damien and the Noirs may have entered here and traveled down the middle of the stream,” Ralston says. “That’s why we can find no tracks.”
I step into the shallow water. Ralston and Drew follow me. We wade a few yards up stream, and the raw feeling inside my chest begins to ease. A tiny spark of hope flares inside me.
I stop and look up toward the inside of the cleft. “He’s here, Rals. There must be a cave off that ridge up there. See? They could ride their horses along that path to the north.”
“You may be right,” Ralston says, examining the ridge through a small telescope.
“No. I am right. I know he’s there.”
Drew blows out a long breath. “All right, Sister, what do we do now?”
“I’m not sure,” I say. “We can’t just go storming up the hill. They’ll have a lookout. If they see us coming, I’m afraid they’ll kill Ryder.”
“Let’s get the others and formulate a rescue plan,” Ralston says. “The Unicoi will want to move quickly.”
We tell Alexander what we’ve found and he follows us up the middle of the little stream. I show him the spot where Ryder is being held. He squints at the ridge and the path leading to it.
“I believe you are right,” he says. “We should travel up the opposite side of the hill, and come from above them. It will be difficult terrain, but our chances of surprising them are better if we go that way.”
“I agree,” Drew says, and we wade back to join the others.
Squatting on the ground to scratch a diagram in the dirt, Drew uses a twig to draw a bell shape like the hill. “We will travel up the backside of the hill, and split up to approach the cave entrance from both sides, blocking any escape route. Our best strategy is to trap them inside.”
Alexander nods and everyone looks to me.
“Let’s do this,” I say.
FORTY-SIX
The horses slip and strain up the rocky slope of the hill. There’s no path to speak of, and the terrain is steep and craggy. Father and the others will arrive to find us gone, but we can’t spare anyone to stay behind to give them directions. We stop just short of the crest of the hill to rest our horses. Alexander dismounts, waving for Makoda to join him. The two of them disappear into the thick foliage on the side of the hill.
The short break is long enough for me to wonder just what in the hell we’re doing. We have no plan, really. There are only twelve of us and more than twenty of them. They have at least one gun, maybe more. They’ll probably pick us off like ducks in a shooting gallery when we come busting through the small entrance of the cave. The smart thing would be to wait for Father and the others, but my gut tells me we’ve got to find Ryder fast. We don’t have a choice. I know Alexander feels the same.
Alexander and Makoda return a few minutes later. “We will leave our horses in that clearing ahead and approach them on foot,” Alexander says, pointing to a bare spot among the trees. “We will make less noise that way. Only one man guards the cave entrance. I will go over the crest of the hill and drop down on him from above.”
He looks to Drew. “Prince Andrew, I suggest that you and two of your men accompany two of my men and approach from the east. The remaining men and Princess Jaden will approach from the west.”
Drew agrees, and we ride our horses to the clearing, where we quietly dismount, taking our weapons with us.
“I will wait until I can see you nearing the entrance before I take out the guard,” Alexander says. “We must enter the cave swiftly. The ridge is barely wide enough to accommodate a man on a horse. Fighting there should be avoided if possible.” We all nod and Alexander waves us forward.
My heart is bonging like Big Ben, but I’m strangely calm inside. I don’t know what will happen in the next few minutes, only that it will be momentous. I know I may be killed or someone I love may be killed, but I also know in my heart this is something I must do. Ralston says it’s all about the choices we make, and I am at peace with my choice.
We creep silently along the ridge, single-file. Makoda heads up our group. I follow behind him, then Ralston, two Royal Guards, and a Unicoi warrior at the rear. Drew, Atian, and the other men approach similarly from the other side. The Noir guarding the cave is stationed on our side of the entrance and as we draw closer, Makoda signals for us to hang back. We hug the side of the hill, out of sight.
I hear rather than see Alexander drop down from above. He lands on the guard with a loud thud, and they fall to the ground, struggling. Alexander clamps onto the guard’s arms, rolls to the side, and pushes him off the cliff.
The commotion doesn’t arouse any unwanted attention from inside the cave, so Alexander waves us toward the entrance. We pick up our pace, running quietly to him.
As we near the opening, Alexander takes the lead, bursting through the cave entrance, bellowing a thunderous war whoop. Swords drawn, the rest of us quickly follow.
The startled Noirs are taken completely unaware. Most of them are eating, sleeping, or just lying around. Drew and Atian easily disarm and subdue two men near the entrance, but the remaining men hastily find their weapons and the battle is engaged.
The scene quickly becomes one of chaos—flailing swords, shouting men, flying fists. It’s immediately clear to me that my newly-acquired fencing skills are pathetically inadequate against these trained fighters. I wouldn’t stand a chance and would probably lose an arm or some other appendage within the first few minutes. So, instead of jumping into the melee, I make it my mission to find Ryder.
Cautiously clinging to the cave wall, I creep past the struggling combatants, holding my sword with both hands, and praying that no one notices the trembling girl in the shadows. All my senses are elevated to DEFCON 1, as sounds of clashing steel and raging men erupt all around me. A flood of adrenaline courses through my veins, propelling me forward.
I’m nearly knocked to the ground when Atian skewers a Noir in the leg and the guy tumbles backward into me. I shove him away with one hand and continue skulking along the wall toward the back of the cavern. In a darkened alcove to my right, I see a stone bench sticking out from the wall. Something or someone is heaped on top. It has to be Ryder. I can feel it inside.
As I reach him, my heart sinks at the sight of his waxen face. His right pant leg is black with drying blood. I fall to my knees, stroking his forehead with shaky fingers. His skin is hot to the touch. I feel under his chin for a pulse. It’s there, but it’s thready and weak.
“Ryder,” I whisper, my mind grasping for a way to get him out of here. Before I come up with anything, though, I’m grabbed roughly from behind and yanked to my feet by a burly, bald Noir with rancid breath. My attacker pins my arms behind my back and swings me to his right, bringing me face-to-face with Satan himsel
f.
Damien’s hair is greasy and matted. His unmade-up face looks pasty and pock-marked. Cave living has taken an obvious toll on the prince’s narcissistic ways. He raises his right arm stiffly, pointing a menacing handgun directly at my face. My heart stops beating for an instant, and the thought flits through my mind—if I die in Domerica do I die in Connecticut too?
“Hello, Princess, it’s so good to see you again,” Damien smirks. “You have come to rescue your lover, I see. And now I have two high-value hostages instead of one. How thoughtful of you.”
