Bone Dust & Beginnings (Alexa's Travels Book 1) (11 page)

Alexa grunted tolerantly. "Supplies will be replenished shortly, and our first sign has been found."

She looked around at them as her scarred fingers neatly twisted the small papers. "Our true quest for Safe Haven begins. Cry off now if there are doubts."

There was silence, and Alexa snorted, "I would have been surprised."

She lit the rolled smoke, inhaling deeply, and passed it to Daniel first with a nod of approval at the two silently watching rookies.

"We'll do much together, see much, and our hearts will beat with life."

She lit a second smoke, took another deep draw. Her eyes went to the darkness that was creeping closer to smother their light. Her tone became grave.

"We will also face unimaginable danger. Our enemy has begun to gather soldiers as well, and soon, we will be the target of nearly everything that breathes. Many ugly battles wait for us."

Her gaze went to the new men, already considering Jacob to be her last. The blacksmith had been hers before the first shot was fired.

"Nature is furious with all mankind. She wants us gone from her shores and forests, our bones rotting under her contaminated waters. Her loathing is so strong that she goes against the limits of her power. Do not trust anything living from this moment on. We have each other for that."

Alexa stood, eyes telling Daniel that what he'd been seeking had been earned. "Billy will take over the students.
Mark and Edward on guard."

She moved toward the shadows, and Daniel followed, heart thumping.

6

Alexa’s cloak covered them almost completely, caught on the tree Daniel was against. Only the barest of their shadows could be seen by the two men on watch, but there was no mistaking the sounds.

"As you would."

Daniel’s hands slid behind her jaw, gently drawing her closer, and he groaned as their lips met. He made the sound again when she slid his hand to the snap of her pants.

The men on duty moved their perimeter back a bit to give privacy, but knew it wouldn't matter. Their leader expected complete control over themselves at all times, but when she took them, she wanted
all
of them. Noise was the last thing on a man's mind.

"Ooh…" Alexa slid over him with a groan, pressing close, and his hips bucked in response.

"
Uhh
!"
Daniel growled in stunned pleasure as she took him, lost in her embrace. "
Ohh
... never felt...
mmm
!"

The two guards shared a look of tolerant amusement and moved back a bit more as vivid blue light streamed from the forest around the couple. In the distance, another fire glowed as brightly, the burning bunker providing their cover.

The rookies were on guard with Billy, the others in their bedrolls, as Alexa and Daniel returned to camp. Hardened male hearts clenched with emotion as she gently pressed a soft kiss to the biker’s pale cheek.

"My thanks."

Daniel flushed with pleasure, voice full of devotion, "My honor!"

7

"It doesn't exist."

"I tell you it does!" Rick snapped harshly, still feeling the sting from the woman's scornful blue eyes. She'd known him for what he was on first glance, and for her to see it so fast, was more proof. Chase a myth? Not the likes of her.

"Safe Haven exists," the outcast repeated, watching the flames leap from the bunker hole. "Which means the supplies they left at each campsite exist."

Aware that the other three were looking at him stupidly, Rick jerked a thumb at the bunker. "Why else would they have burned it?"

"To cover the murders.”

The scavenger snorted at the old world answer. "Why? You see a police car around here that we should be
hidin
' from?"

The others snickered and the treacherous man now leading them ignored the instinct telling him that he couldn't beat the blonde alone or with these idiots. It was a feeling Rick knew well.

“Be nice to find the supplies they left.”

Rick sneered, but didn’t bother to tell them that part of the myth was crap. He’d traveled with Safe Haven long enough to know the refugee camp hadn’t had any extra supplies to leave behind for survivors. It was one of those ‘extras’ that always got tacked onto a legend or a rumor. If not for that lie Safe Haven might have already been forgotten.

"I saw light to the east as we rode up.
Clever.
If not for being on horses, I wouldn't have noticed. We'll follow, hang back until they make the next find and take over from there."

"And the woman?" the slowest of them asked.

Rick leered. "After we...retrain her, we'll take her to Roscoe in payment for our failure here. That way, he'll only kill one of us."

8

Alexa's chuckle woke the men on either side of her. Unpleasant, it was a perfect start to the day.

"There are new rats on our trail."

She closed her eyes, enjoying the body warmth, their comfort, a bit longer, "We'll handle that along the way, I think."

Daniel nodded to the guards, sent his eyes over the two quietly working students and then Edward on the other side of them. The sated biker raised a brow, received shakes of the head in response, and he too closed his eyes. Alexa was warm and vibrant between him and Mark, as calm as she ever was, and the two men wouldn't budge until she did. One curled around her, the other securely in her embrace, she was surrounded by their dreams instead of her own.

"She'll never ask." Billy's words were low, explaining, "She used to wake us up with screams. This works better."

The students understood what hadn't been said. It was an offer to be made in the darkness of the night and then accepted or refused, but never mentioned.

The new men had
risen
slowly, eyes repeatedly going to the sleeping trio as they quickly set up a morning camp. Billy's instruction was almost silent, teaching them the basic hand gestures, and the porridge was bubbling nicely the next time the blonde opened her eyes.

When Alexa stood to greet the day, their eyes lingered on her dawn-swept hair.
Her braids were never unraveled. Instead of a filthy dreadlock effect, it seemed to protect the hair and her head, giving her a cushion that served her well in a fight.

A simple rinse with her canteen water washed the dust from her long braids and even longer body, and the men all turned their backs to give her a moment of privacy. Unless she called to one of them, it was always this way. She’d more than earned such respect.

The slight silvering of her hair was something her senior men had noticed, though. It had come over the last month, and each of their adventures sent more of the shiny threads through her blonde locks. It was worrisome, but none of them were sure how to ask about it. As she joined them at the fire, they still weren’t.

Half an hour after eating, they were on the road again, Alexa leading them proudly. She now had her army. The hardest part of this quest had been finished. Upon starting, fresh from her escape, she'd doubted there were any fighters left to be found, let alone to have come upon ones so strong, so gifted, on their own. They were already a force to be reckoned with and she set her feet firmly. They would go around no more.

Jendon

Jendon they call him

The Troll from the bog

Banished to roam man's world

In the storms and the fog

His yellow eyes flicker

Greed in their depths

One he won't steal from

There be few left

Traveling merchant

Gypsy cart and gray horse

Powerful potions he makes

Just don't ask the source

Huge green fists

Ready to strike

He hides by the day

And lurks through the night

Peddling his wares

Potions, spirits, charms

Trading for bone dust

While memories he farms

Eat his food

Drink his liqueur

And in your life

You've never been sicker

Bewitched by magic

Dreams unprotected

Secrets revealed

Weaknesses detected

The sly salesman

Clever merchant

Nightmarish barker

Kin of the serpent

Steal you blind

In more way than one

Ruing your fate

Before all's said and done

Nothing, but trouble

To no one willingly loyal

Yet it if can be earned

His value is double

Beware of Jendon

Of playing Fate's card

To cross this one

You'd better be hard

-A.W.

Seven

1

The seven fighters moved at a steady pace.
In the distance, the landscape was deceptive. One crested hill of muddy brush would reveal miles of pristine land unharmed by the effects of man. An hour later, the trees would begin to turn black and the earth under their boots shifted dangerously to lead them toward whole towns nearly covered in a web of nature that shouldn’t be so thick this soon.

The four senior men kept the form straight automatically, and the rookies tried to be exact as they filled out the ends of the line. Making little noise against the stillness, quiet words floated back to the new men, who listened intently.

"Eight by ten, with a short wing."

"And the rooms?"

"Three."

Edward and Mark worked on her wants while she and Billy watched. Daniel looked after the new men when it was needed.

"Still hearing noise," the biker stated casually, and the faint crunch disappeared. That was Jacob. He had an old injury that made his right foot turn. Likely, it was painful to keep it straight, but Daniel knew the rookie would make sure it was on each step now. Corrections in front of Alexa were rarely given and would not have to be repeated. Pain was nothing to the frost in those chips of ice that she turned on a man, cut him in half with.

"Carry bags..."

"Already has them."

Mark nodded. He should have known she'd be prepared for two instead of one. Their leader was the contingency analyst the old world needed. The government had planned to be back topside in a year, in control. Alexa would have been ready for five.

The convict grimaced inwardly, thoughts bitter. Not that the government hadn't tried hard in some things. While stocking themselves in the days after the War, they'd also dropped trucks and buses of goods at many hospitals for the criminally insane. It had taken well over a year for his fellow inmates to begin starving.

"Rotating form.
Rookies follow in place."

The two men stayed as they were while the other four began a steady walk around Alexa as she moved forward. It had little grace, the buried debris impossible to avoid, but it was still neat. When her call came, the rookies were ready.
"Full crew rotating watch."

Daniel waved them to places ahead of and behind himself, eyes noting Jacob's careful footing, and they spent the next minutes patrolling around their leader.

"Direction change."

The four senior men spun smoothly, catching the rookies off guard, and firm shoves to the shoulders put them back in place.

"Again."

This time, Jacob tripped over his carefulness and turned it into a roll that put him quickly back on his feet and in line, face red.

"Again," Alexa worked them, eyes guarding as the two new men began to fit with their team.

"Standard form."

This one was easier, the simple V they'd begun the day with, and the two River City males were secretly very glad for the break. The constant rotation was a workout.

Two minutes later, when their breathing had evened out, Alexa spun a finger, "Rotating watch."

2

They continued late into the morning with the blonde calling periodic breaks to keep her men from wearing down, but she didn't take it easy on them, and she watched, evaluating. Soon, she would need to ease their worries of not being able to keep up.

Her other men were as they'd started, every other day of this journey spent so, but Jacob and David were sweaty, disheveled, scraped, and bruised. They looked weak in comparison she thought, hearing the preacher fall and roll again. But appearances were often deceiving in this new world.

Needing to wait until the rookie wouldn't think he was the reason for the stop, Alexa subtly slowed their pace and looked for a spot to make lunch camp.

The ugly ground was becoming more like a swamp the further they traveled. It had rained here
today,
the dew on decaying trees dripping steadily, but the earth was arid. So much that it had cracked in huge, jagged patterns that resembled windshield shatters after a harsh impact. The trees, for being so damp, also seemed brittle, dust-bound, and the weak branches hung over the two lanes of weed-hidden pavement like a canopy of desperation.

In the distance, it was the same - more trees and road. But appearances were not to be believed, and Alexa held up a hand in that soon-to-be-familiar sign of warning.

Edward and Mark fell into protection detail over the entire group, one moving to the front, one to the back. The other two fighters placed Alexa and the rookies between themselves and the others, creating a barrier from each direction.

"There."

Ahead of them, something moved again, but when the others remained still, so did the rookies. They understood where they'd been placed. If someone got through the other four, the River City men would be Alexa's last defense.

The movement was slow, plodding, and it sent them the very recognizable clip-clop of a shod horse. Behind that came the soft noise of a harness jingle rigged with the tones of goods for sale.

Alexa pointed a calloused finger down and spun it in a fast circle that sent her senior men into action. They formed a crisscross line on both sides of her, and the rest lined up neatly behind. The rows were perfectly straight as the rookies stayed where they'd been put.

Alexa's switch had cleared half of the road and seven sets of hard eyes watched the horse-drawn cart roll closer.

"Potions, charms, spirits," not uttered, but spoken with a rhyming lilt that suggested a carefree innocence. The creature who called them? Not so much.

Alexa felt her army tense as the Troll came into view, and only for the new men, she spoke,
"
Do what we do. Consume nothing we don't carry now."

"Trolls will steal who you are, your memories.” Daniel instructed from legends, not actual knowledge. “They were swamp-dwellers before, their existence denied, but myth, they are not.”

The red and black, star-carved wagon came within ten yards before Alexa reacted.

"Information for dust," Alexa spoke in a normal tone not meant to carry so far, but the creature driving the solid gray horse agreed eagerly.

"And maybe more, Slayer?"

Alexa
shrugged,
her voice carrying none of the greed in his gravely tones."
Perhaps."

The traveler studied them avidly; vivid yellow eyes rapidly changing color from bright to dark and then back, as if he couldn't keep himself together in his excitement. Dressed in a black robe and boots of the same shade, the tufts of long, bright yellow fur coming from his ears suddenly moved, curled around his thick neck.

"Share camp?" he bellowed childishly.

With his greenish, pockmarked skin, he was a foreign nightmare with hands three times the size of those of a human male. His bushy brows were a deep, blood red, giving his skin the glow of a monster. His pointed nails and fang-like teeth added to the impression.

Alexa nodded easily, surprising only David and Jacob. "Here?"

The troll grinned evilly, "
’Tis
not
man's
road anymore."

He extended a massive paw down, making her men tense further.
"Jendon."

The blonde shook her head, not smiling, "Will you begin our trading with trickery? I have no need so bad as to tolerate such as that!"

Her statement fell on him like a whip, and the creature cringed back, "Nay, lady. There are so few left as you, my sorry!"

Alexa arched a brow, "And have you seen such as...?"

The Troll bobbed his head furiously, sly gleam coming back into his flickering gaze.
"Aye.
Gone now, though.
Culled the herd and split."

Alexa showed him a scarred hand and slowly took a pouch from her belt. She tossed it gently, but with a curve, and was proud of her men when none of them reacted to the creature's incredibly fast movement. Jendon had jumped, caught it, and stored it in a blur.

Back neatly in place seconds later, they continued the transaction, which was mostly overlooked by the six males, who were nearly in shock. Even for all they'd come through, this was a lot to accept.

"Perhaps those who follow us will not know the words."

The Troll’s eyes shifted in quick flashes - a businessman just hired.
"Aye, lady.
Without those, they'd go no further."

"Or perhaps you won't," she warned tonelessly. "One is harder than the rest."

Jendon grinned again, huge yellow fangs gleaming. It was a look that brought her men closer in concern. "
That
would be something to see."

Alexa answered with no delay, "I know where to place my dust."

Satisfied, Jendon’s ugly smile faded, and Alexa motioned for her men to set up full camp, though they had half a day's light left.

Edward and Mark stayed at her side as the others took care of it. She was rarely without a guard. If she fell, so would the quest, but with this… monster in their firelight, she would have two.

Their camp was made within minutes, the rookies able to help with these chores, but Jendon still beat them. His speed as he unloaded things was eerie.

Alexa could feel the tension but didn't offer any comfort. Nerves had to be conquered by them all and paranoia, as well. Some things now carried a clear sense of menace, and the Troll was one of those.

"Will you join us for the meal?"

Jendon shook his large head at her offer, his body piled under him in a barrel shape that hid how tall he really was, "I have no need."

"Our circle, then, tradesman?"

Jendon smiled, more naturally this time.
"With honor.
Let your men stand while we barter."

The note of greed was unmistakable, and Alexa narrowed her eyes in warning, "Do not violate my hospitality. Save the switch for those who come after us."

Chastened, Jendon nodded, "Aye, mistress. Truly none such as you have I seen, but for the times right after the Death-horse seal was broken.
Only one other group."

Alexa's voice was the barest breath.
"Safe Haven."

The creature's eyes widened. "You seek those who came before!"

He paused in shock, mouth open to add that it was a fool's quest, perhaps,
then
snapped it shut instead as Alexa's cool eyes kept his locked.

"Tell me, outcast. I'd know it all, and every pouch of dust I’m carrying will be split between us."

Ignoring the insult, Jendon’s eyes lit up with greed, face harsh in the flickering light of the fire.
"Deal."

He put a hand out, and this time, Alexa allowed a brief second's contact that made the creature grimace in distaste.

"No need for that," he whined at the heat, making her men exchange grins.

She shrugged indifferently. "I thought so."

The woman looked at Daniel, who motioned the rookies forward with cautioning words to begin serving the meal.

"Talk now, Jendon."

The Troll did as he was instructed.

"When the seal was broken, we such beings hid further into the bogs and forests, and yet many of us perished beside the humans we had felt a kindness for."

Alexa swallowed a bite of the bitter stew Jacob had prepared, and gestured for Jendon to continue when he paused at her grimace.

"We were content to hide, as we have always done. We survived."

The Troll's eyes widened a bit, the unsettling flicker slowing, "and then the winds arrived, much too
early,
and they said we - the Undead's exiled defenders - had been recalled into service."

The creature shook his head, voice full of wonder and confusion, "The chains that bound us before became our weapons, and we carry out our new mission even now."

This was said regretfully, and understanding came to the men at Alexa's response.

"Humans."

"The enemy."

Jendon hung his head in shame at the admission, though the males had the sense that it wasn't totally genuine.

"There were attacks," he said, and then his tone changed, filled with horror, "None were spared, not even the little ones!"

"Why were you banished, Jendon?"

Her tone demanded honesty, and he gave it in misery. "I gave safe passage to a child."

His voice broke on the next awful words, "And they brought her back, made me kill her!"

Alexa had no sympathy for his sobs. "Better that you had died instead. There is no forgiveness for such a sin."

Instead of the rage that brutal truth could have brought, there was only profound loss.

"Aye."

The silence was thick, and Alexa looked toward the cart, to his horse asleep in its traces. "May we?"

The Troll nodded, unconcerned, and Alexa met Edward's eye for a brief moment of communication.