by Cory Barclay
“Then we’d better get a move on!” Geddon cried out.
Before he could move any further, the front door of the longhouse burst open and crashed against the wall.
A body was shoved in from the darkness and thudded flat on the wooden floor.
Another body came in shortly after, slamming the door shut.
Steve and Geddon and Selestria gasped as they stared at the big silhouette.
It was Barns.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GEDDON’S HANDS APPEARED from underneath his leather jerkin. He held two daggers. Ever since the incident at Bayfog, he’d started carrying two the daggers wherever he went, hidden away.
Selestria grabbed her walking staff—which leaned against the wall—and held it like a spear.
Steve pulled the butcher knife from his belt loop. He looked more like a chef than a fighter, though he was neither.
Glancing sidelong at Geddon, Steve noticed the de facto leader of the Kinship had a pleading, confused look in his eyes. Deep down, part of Geddon was happy to see his friend Barns. The other half would never forgive the betrayal that, in Geddon’s mind, had led to Kaiko’s death.
Kaiko’s death had brought his brothers—Ulu Koa and the Nawao warriors—to Geddon’s doorstep. It wasn’t a far leap to say Kaiko’s death was the catalyst that gave the Kinship a chance to resist the Brethren.
Still, Geddon was clearly conflicted. His eyes glanced to the floor, at the tall body on the ground. Whoever Barns had shoved in through the door was still face down and unrecognizable. He was having trouble rolling over because his arms were tied behind his back.
“What the devil brings you here?” Geddon barked, white-knuckling his daggers.
Barns pointed at the person on the ground. “Him.”
“You have a lot of nerve,” Selestria cried. All around her the Nawao were appearing, brandishing spears and blades they’d had lying around.
“Before you kill me, hear me,” Barns said. He took a step forward and everyone tensed. Then he held up his big bear-like hands in surrender. He kicked the man on the ground in the stomach and rolled him over to his back. He was lanky, with graying hair and thick veins crawling up his neck and arms.
Steve recognized the man, just barely. Things were starting to become a blur. He’d met so many people recently: the dysfunctional Reynolds family, the twelve Nawao warriors, the brownies Lig and Fueda. Oh, and he couldn’t forget the strange wolf in the woods.
“Unfee,” Geddon muttered. He loosened his grip on his daggers and stood a bit straighter. “Unfee the Appraiser.”
Ah, yes, Steve thought. The black market merchant who sold us the forged painting.
Geddon seemed too fixed on his own thoughts to say anything, so Selestria took up the reins. “What’s this all about?”
“After I buried Kaiko, I left—”
“You betrayed us!” Geddon yelled.
Barns frowned. “I left . . . to search for the root of the ambush at the Bayfog Cliffs.” He crossed his arms over his big chest, as if that sentence alone should explain everything.
Geddon and Selestria said nothing, but Steve picked up where Barns was going. “Just so I’m clear on this,” he said brightly, trying to lighten the heavy tension that filled the room. “You’re saying you didn’t betray us?”
Barns shook his head.
“And this guy did?”
Barns nodded.
“How?”
Barns kicked the man in the side. Unfee groaned and wiggled, his body kicking up dust. “Tell them, Appraiser.”
“There was a woman,” Unfee croaked, his lips parched, his voice like sandpaper. “B-Before you arrived at my tent. She warned me that Brethren blackguards would be coming . . .” He paused and coughed. “Ordered me to . . . to stall your group. Said I’d be hanged and quartered if I refused.”
By now, Geddon’s arms were at his sides, his daggers held loosely. Everyone was staring down at the captive. Steve almost pitied him.
Then he remembered something. Turning to Geddon, he said, “I recall a black-haired woman sneaking away from the tent as I was arriving. Right before you went to talk to him, Geddy.”
“Yes, I seem to remember that as well . . .” Geddon muttered, trailing off. “Who was she?”
“Prepare yourself, Geddon,” Barns warned. “You aren’t going to like what you hear.”
“In case I was captured, she told me to use her name in the presence of the Brethren,” Unfee said. “Said I’d be safe if I did.”
“But you didn’t have a chance to, because the Brethren never caught you,” Barns said. “But I did.”
“Godammit,” Geddon shouted, raising his daggers and startling Steve and Selestria. “Tell me this woman’s name!”
Unfee gulped loudly.
“Misty.”
“What?” Geddon and Selestria said in unison.
“The woman’s name was Misty,” Unfee repeated.
Steve glanced around the room, back into the big meeting hall. “The fucking cat?” he said, stupefied.
Unfee lifted his head slightly off the ground, trying to nod. Barns bent down and picked him up by the collar of his shirt, allowing him to sit.
“By the spirits,” Geddon said, shaking his head. When Steve eyed him, he saw that Geddon had tears welling in his eyes. “This whole time . . . I thought you had betrayed us, Barns. I was heartbroken.”
“I wouldn’t do that, brother. And, frankly, I’m crestfallen to hear it crossed your mind.” The big man’s face was stone-still.
“What were we to think?” Selestria asked, interjecting so Geddon could collect himself. “You disappeared, Barns. Why didn’t you tell us your plan? Or where you were going?”
“Because you would have tried to stop me, saying it was no use,” Barns said. “I was too enraged. You know how I get in that state . . . what I become. You know what I am, Sela.”
Steve didn’t know what he was, other than The Artist Formerly Known As Barns. Who the hell is this guy? What is he? Where did he go? Steve was as confused as he’d ever been since coming to Mythicus. It’s starting to piss me off. I’m always on the ass-end of a revelation—I never quite have the whole story.
He lifted his hands to halt the conversation. Geddon had put his daggers away. Selestria held her staff like a walking stick. At this point, they were having a conversation, not an argument.
“Hold on, hold on,” Steve butted in. “You guys have to clarify this for me. How the fuck did the cat rat us out? I mean, I’m looking around and I don’t see her . . .”
“And you won’t,” Barns said. “Because she’s gone. Misty is a Cat Sìth, I’ve come to find out.”
“And who would keep their eyes on a cat, of all things, at a time like this?” Selestria said. “It’s brilliant.”
“And here we thought she was simply a stray kitten from Terrus,” Geddon said, shaking his head. “Always keeping us company, stalking the shadows . . .”
“And spying on us,” Selestria finished.
“What’s a Cat-Fish?” Steve asked.
“The Cat Sìth are fairy wildcats,” Geddon said. “Changelings who take the guise of cats but are actually witches. They can change into their human form eight times. On the ninth, when they revert to their feline status, they remain that way forever. So it’s said.”
Steve chortled. “I’m guessing that’s where ‘cat with nine lives’ comes from?”
Geddon shrugged. “It’s believed by some that they steal the souls of innocents, using distractions to get their way.”
“That’s neither here nor there,” Selestria said. Her voice was low and tinged with malice. “That bitch got Kaiko killed. She’s likely now conversing with our enemies, telling them of our plans . . .”
“Wait a second,” Steve said, shaking a hand at the group. An ominous feeling rushed over him. He shivered.
“What’s wrong?” Geddon asked.
Steve pointed at Selestria. “You sent Misty to come find me
. She found me at Annabel’s house. Then she led me to you . . . and then led us to Geddon. How did she know where Geddon was? This place is in the middle of nowhere.”
“Perhaps she dream-leaped without you being aware of her presence,” Barns said.
Geddon scoffed. “I would know if someone had invaded my mind.”
“Would you, though?” Steve asked skeptically. It was clear Geddon was trying to save face—he really didn’t have a clue. And Steve wasn’t going to let him skate by on that. “Would you really notice a cat in the fringes of your thoughts, in the shadows of your mind?”
“Not if she wanted to be hidden, I’m sure,” Selestria said.
Geddon sighed. He didn’t like where this was going, but then he made it clear he didn’t know where this was going. “Fine. It’s possible. So what?”
“Well, in a sense,” Steve began, “Misty brought us all to this place. She probably knew Barns was en route, somehow.”
Facing Barns, Geddon asked, “How did you find us? I’ve never shown this place to anyone before today.”
“I followed your horse’s scent,” Barns said. He left it at that.
“Of course you did,” Steve mumbled, waving him off. “But let’s stay on topic. Don’t you guys understand what I’m trying to say—”
“We’re not safe here,” Selestria said under her breath, quiet enough so only Steve heard. Her eyes were wide. She was staring far off into the distance.
“What did you say, Sela?” Geddon asked.
“Steve is right. We aren’t safe here! We were split up before and harder to find. Now we’re all together again. There must be a reason for that!”
To accentuate Selestria’s warning cry, a loud rumbling boomed from outside. The Nawao warriors murmured to each other nervously. They became quite loud when it was all twelve of them talking at once.
Geddon raised his hand in the air to quiet them. The voices in the room dropped.
Steve ran to a window and looked down the hill.
“Shit,” he said.
Geddon joined him.
“What is it?” Selestria called out.
At the bottom of the valley, a mass of blackness was moving like a murder of crows descending on a carcass. The mass was far away, but growing larger by the minute.
“Blackguards,” Geddon said in a pinched voice. When he turned to his companions, his face had gone pale.
“The Brethren have come.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE BLACKGUARDS CONVERGED on the rebels. They crested the incline of the hill leading up to Geddon’s longhouse. The group inside the house contemplated their options.
Steve nervously paced the front room. Geddon and Selestria spoke in hushed tones at the window, staring down at the incoming crowd of warriors. The enemy’s individual heads started to come into view.
The Nawao sharpened their weapons with whetstones. They were implacable and impossibly cool under pressure. Barns stood outside the front door, staring down the enemy with his arms crossed over his chest. He had a battleaxe slung across his back.
Steve was the most noticeably shaken about the whole situation. It was not his intention to die in this crazy place.
Geddon noticed Steve’s behavior and walked up beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him from pacing. “What are your thoughts, Steve?”
With wild eyes, Steve stared at Geddon. He could only imagine how scared he looked. He said, “There’s a back entrance in this place. I checked. We could go out the back while the Nawao hold off the enemy. We only need you as the Myth Maker to bring Aiden here, right? And Selestria as the Myth Hunter to track Tetsuo with the painting, once we have it.”
Geddon frowned. “I feel guilty putting Ulu Koa and his people in this position. They did not come here to fight blackguards—”
“They came here to help the Kinship rebellion!”
“Still.” Geddon held out a hand to calm Steve. “They refuse to back down from this battle. They are too proud a people.”
“And what about you? Are you too proud?”
“To flee?” Geddon asked, spitting out the word like he was allergic to it. “To turn tail and run?”
“To make a tactical exit . . .” Steve said, but knew he sounded cowardly. When Geddon said nothing, staring at him bemusedly, Steve threw up his arms. “It would be a shame to die after getting this far. That’s all I’m saying.”
“It would be. But I don’t plan to.” Geddon held his hand on Steve’s shoulder for a moment longer. He’d made his decision to stay. He turned to leave, but hesitated.
“You know . . .” he began, “you were right. I am necessary to Sear Aiden to Mythicus, as part of his bargain. Sela is needed to track the Portrait of a Lady to Tetsuo. But you . . .” He cleared his throat. “This is not your battle, Steve Remington. Do you still have the dollar bill I gave you?”
Steve reached into his back pocket and pulled out the dollar. “Of course. Always.” Then he saw what Geddon was getting at and his eyes widened.
“I could take you back home and no one would be the wiser,” Geddon finished.
Steve opened his mouth to agree or disagree—he wasn’t even sure what his mind had told his mouth to say yet. Then he realized his decision had been made long ago. He couldn’t leave Mythicus now, for the exact reasons he’d just mentioned to Geddon. They had come too far. Sure, he had Dale and some other things on Terrus that he’d like to get settled. But, as much as it pained him to admit, he had more of a life here on Mythicus than he did on Earth.
He felt aggrieved at losing Kaiko, despite hardly knowing the little Hawaiian. That man’s death brought all these majestic warriors to fight on his behalf, and that touched him.
And of course he had Annabel. He had less than nine days to ruin her wedding and steal her away. Maybe then he could return to Terrus. But not before. He had to try to free her from her parents’ political stranglehold.
Without needing to say any words, he shook his head. Geddon understood.
He was staying, for better or worse.
With that existential question out of the way, he realized the next step. “We need a plan,” he said aloud.
A few Nawao glanced at him like he’d materialized out of thin air. Their gazes made him feel stupid.
Of course these people have a plan. They’re born fighters. They’ve probably been talking about their plan for the past ten minutes. Only I don’t understand them.
Steve could imagine how it looked from the other side: the one human saying they needed a “plan,” like he was the self-appointed leader of the rebellion.
Steve felt ashamed.
To his surprise, Selestria spoke up on his behalf. “Steve is right. We have the high ground against these bastards. We can’t let them get to the top of the valley.”
“Not much time left,” Barns said quietly from the doorway. He hadn’t moved an inch since they’d noticed the blackguards approaching. He was like an immovable statue.
Maybe that’s what he is, Steve wondered, staring at the man’s broad back and muscled shoulders. A golem or gargoyle or whatever they’re called.
“Barns, how do you feel about leading the vanguard?” Geddon asked.
Steve leaned over to Selestria and whispered, “What’s a vanguard?”
“The front of the advancing group.”
“Ah. Right.”
“It’s a military term,” she added.
“I gathered that, Sela, thanks.”
Steve knew he sounded cheeky, but he couldn’t help it. He was insanely anxious. He thought he was about to lose his lunch.
Then he remembered he hadn’t had lunch, and his mind raced even more.
Keep it together, Steve.
“Ulu Koa,” Geddon said, “you will be our main attacking force behind Barns. He is a good wall—you will see.”
“I know what Koa Barns is,” Ulu Koa said wisely. “I have felt his presence and aura since he arrived.”
“Good, then y
ou know he’ll be a proper defender of your people.”
“Indeed, Koa Geddon.” He turned to his wife. “Pua Kila, you and the women will hold the left flank.”
The stocky woman nodded firmly. Steve wondered if “holding the left flank” was Ulu Koa’s way of keeping his women out of harm’s way, but he doubted it.
Geddon was about to finish his instructions, but Barns interrupted.
In his brooding tone, he said, “Geddon, if things get dire out there, I want you to promise you’ll run with Selestria.”
“What? Barns, no, I’m going to be right beside—”
“We cannot allow the Kinship to die here,” Barns shot back, “on this nameless valley. Find Tetsuo, raise the resistance, and continue to fight.”
Ah, Steve thought, it seems Barns had the same plan as I first did, but in a more heroic way . . .
Geddon was quiet for a moment.
“Promise me,” Barns demanded. He still hadn’t turned to face Geddon.
How could we have ever believed this guy betrayed us?
“Fine,” Geddon snapped. “I give you my oath.”
“Thank you,” Barns said. He reached behind him and grabbed his giant axe’s handle. He whooshed the axe in front of him, holding it two-handed.
It was quite an emasculating experience for Steve. His eyes went from Barns’ great battleaxe to his own belt and the butcher knife that hung there. When he held it, it seemed quite dinky in comparison.
Ulu Koa tapped him on the shoulder.
Steve turned with a sickly half-smile, but Ulu Koa’s stern, battle-ready face didn’t return the smile. Instead, he held out a sharp, wicked spear. “With this, you can poke them without having to feel their breath on your face, Koa Steve.”
Steve realized this was his way of saying, Don’t be a dumbass—that knife will get you killed.
“Thank you,” Steve said, taking the spear from the Nawao leader.
“If you get within the enemy’s guard, then you might use your knife.”
“That makes sense.”
“Spear from afar, knife up close.”
“Got it.” He watched as Ulu Koa bent his knees and did a few stabbing practices, illustrating how to use the spear.
