Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, 5) (11 page)

Another blur of black caught Lucius’ eye away up left. The third cat, following the others.

He squinted into the glare of the sun as he passed out of a shadow and stared at that area. Wanting to be sure.

A Graygual burst from the city gate, followed by three more.

“Right!” “Left!” “On…the—” Arrows flew before the women could work their mouths to tell which man they had chosen. Enemy screeched and stumbled. One guy staggered into the wall and slid down, a line of red streaking the grime. More arrows flew, crashing into the falling Graygual. One arrow hit someone already dead.

“In a battle, this would waste arrows,” Timken boomed. “You need to think first.”

“Sorry, sir,” one of the women drawled.

Timken braced his hand on his thigh and spat, earning another
look
.

Lucius glanced out to the right, looking for the retreating feline, when the thunder of hooves came around the city.

“Hold your fire,” Timken said, staring off toward them.

Lucius scanned the trees again, not seeing any movement, before turning to the newcomers. He put up his hand to block the sun, realizing it was Leilius and Alena, pushing their horses hard. One of Alena’s arms came up and did an arc above her head. She waved it furiously.

“She’s yelling something.” The woman at the end of the line sat forward on her horse, as if that small lean would solve the problem of distance. “Can anyone hear her?”

Lucius found himself leaning, too, before doing a quick glance at the gate. No one emerged.

“Attack?” Trise cupped her ear. “It sounded like she said attack…”

Lucius kicked his horse forward, feeling a growing unease as the two galloped toward him. Another flash of movement caught his eye, another black blur. Unlike with the cats, his horse ignored it.

Warning washed over him. The world slowed down as implications froze his blood. He turned in time to see a knife flipping end over end. It stuck into the side of Timken’s neck with a moist
smack.
Surprise lit up his friend’s face. The next moment he was falling.

“Get down!” Lucius screamed, kicking his horse toward the thrower.

Another knife flew. Its blade glimmered in salute before digging itself into Anabell’s back.

“Move!” Lucius yelled in panic, slapping a horse on the butt as he passed. The animal whinnied and started forward, carrying the rider away.

A man in black popped out from behind a tree, knife at the ready. Lucius spurred his horse on, ready to try and deflect. The man’s arm went up.

“Mine!”

“I’ll get him!”

An arrow stuck the tree by the man’s shoulder. He turned sideways as another flew by, barely missing. The Graygual straightened to throw again, his body positioning and technique perfect. An arrow zipped by his arm, catching his tunic. The throw went wide.

“Up there!” Alena raced into their midst with her bow raised and ready. She reached back and pulled an arrow from her quiver, nocked, and sighted, all in a smooth, practiced movement. She released.

Bushes shook high on the hill as someone ran. The man in front of Lucius followed suit, leaving a smudge of blood on the bark as he bumped past.

“Haw!” Lucius shouted, kicking his horse to run. A glimpse of black emerged ahead, and disappeared just as quickly, the man running through a tangle of brush. Lucius was there a moment later, stomping down the foliage.

“Did you see where they went?” Alena called, out of breath.

Lucius hopped down off his horse. He heard the tread of hooves coming in his direction.

“Make sure that gate is covered,” he yelled, bending to the ground. No tracks marred the ground leading from this location.

“Mine!” someone shouted below.

Knife in hand, Lucius squinted into the trees, willing movement. Wanting to know which direction he should expect an attack from.

A horse crashed through the brush with Leilius on top, his knife out. “I don’t see anyone, sir.”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” Lucius scanned the area.

“If they cut trees like we did, thinning them out, this wouldn’t be so dense.”

Lucius spared a glance for the kid. It was an odd comment to make at that moment. He let it go. “Did Shanti send you to warn us?”

“No. Alena saw someone head this way. We didn’t have time to tell S’am.” Leilius’ expression fell. “We didn’t make it in time, either.”

“That wasn’t your fault.” Lucius backed down the hill, motioning Leilius away. “You head down and cover the others. I’ll—”

“Mine!”

“Don’t shoot!”

“Hold up!”

“Oops, shit!”

A blast of needles raked across Lucius’ mind, making his legs go weak and his hands numb. Women screamed and Leilius moaned. Lucius clenched his jaw and fought back the pain, bracing for the Inkna.

The feeling cleared a moment later. “Watch that way,” he instructed Leilius.

“What have you found?” Shanti’s voice sounded like a bell.

“Up here,” Lucius hollered.

A moment later a black shape zipped from the right. Adrenaline spiked as Lucius lifted his bow. A feline head appeared above a tangle of brush. A rush of relief washed through him.

The feeling was short-lived.

The animal homed in. Its head dropped slowly before it moved in his direction. Like it was stalking its prey, the animal kept Lucius in its sights. More movement, from the other side, announced a second cat, crawling forward with the same slow stealth. They snarled, showing long white teeth.

“Shanti!” Lucius called, putting his hands out to the side to make himself seem bigger. The urge to run raced through him, something that didn’t even happen with the enemy.

A swear announced Shanti jogging toward him. The cats, as if verbally called off, stopped in their advance. Their teeth disappeared, but they didn’t relax.

“They’re after the wrong person,” Lucius said to Shanti, his hands still spread out wide. He followed her back down the hill, still not showing his back to the hillside.

“What happened here?” Shanti asked, her gaze taking in the two of their company who lay dead before looking at Alena, trying to steer a crying woman away from the carnage. The rest of the women, their faces white and eyes tense, stared at the enemy gate. They didn’t plan on leaving their station.

“I saw two of them wearing the same garb as we saw last night.” Lucius sucked in lungfuls of air, shaking with the pent-up adrenaline.

Shanti blew out a breath, glancing at the cats before turning her gaze up the hill. “I’m concerned with these numbers. Is Xandre close, or is he entrusting this task with those he deems worthy?”

“Or both…” Lucius bent, feeling for a pulse in Timken. Nothing. “He’s had a lot of time to train. Surely he’ll be able to spare a few by now.”

Shanti was quiet for a moment, glancing over the fallen. Rohnan wandered closer with his staff in one hand. He put a palm on Shanti’s shoulder.

“You need to teach those cats to follow a scent,” Lucius said.

“They know how to follow a scent, but they’ll only do it when they feel like it.” Shanti gave a small shake of her head and looked at the city. “Pull everyone inside. Quickly.”

“His knife throwing was perfect,” Lucius said as he helped lift the fallen.

“They are the absolute best this land has to offer.” Shanti scanned the hillside again.

“Let’s hope not the
absolute
best.”

“Let’s hope.” She looked behind her. “We’ll be staying here for the night and planning out the next steps. I don’t think our new friends will be going anywhere.”

“They’ll pick us off one by one.”

Shanti’s eyes flashed. “Only if they survive the night. I’ll be inviting them to a hunting party.”

“But they can sense your mind power. They’ll know exactly where you are, right?”

“Yes, they will. It’s a good time to see if they will engage. Xandre isn’t the only one prepared to lay some bait and make assumptions based on the results.”

Lucius’ stomach flipped with her implications. “Does the Captain know about this plan?”

“No. It’ll be a lovely surprise, don’t you think?”

“
C
ayan
, we can’t both go.” The knives felt tight against Shanti’s leg. Tingles worked down her spine in anticipation of what awaited her outside the walls.

Cayan looked up at the black sky where the slivered moon and glimmering stars provided very little light by which to navigate the wild hillside. “You need someone to watch your back. I’m going.”

Rohnan shifted in the corner where he sat cross-legged. He put one hand on the double bladed staff lying in front of him. “He is trying to be rational,
Chulan
. Soon he’ll just get pushy.” Rohnan hefted his staff before standing. “The night is growing old. We should go.”

Shanti offered them both a weary sigh. “The two of you try my patience.”

“Likewise.” Cayan touched his sword before stalking to the door. He spared a glance for the three cats curled into each other at the opposite end of the modest room. “We should bring the cats.”

Shanti hesitated. “The cats will stay by our sides and either keep the enemy away, or get a blade in the gut if the enemy comes close. The enemy will have noticed them last night. They will expect them, and be ready.”

Cayan’s frustration sullied the air. “Daniels was dead set against this plan.”

“It is a wonder you are going along with it.” Rohnan headed toward the door. Shanti followed, thinking exactly the same thing. Cayan usually dug in his heels against a plan as admittedly harebrained as this. That he was going along with it made her nervous.

Because Daniels was right. This wasn’t the best of ideas. The problem was that there was no other way. She said as much as they made their way to the Honor Guard where Sanders waited, as rigid as she’d ever seen him.

“Are we ready?” Shanti asked quietly, feeling the press of the unknown from beyond that wall. She knew they were out there, waiting. Watching.

“Where is everyone else, S’am?” Gracas asked.

“They are spread around the wall of the city,” Marc replied, hunched over with a knife in hand. “Didn’t you see them when you were on your way here?”

“So it’s just us going?” Leilius’ eyes were large in his narrow face.

“A few from each group will head out as we do,” Shanti replied.

“Let’s go over the plan one more time,” Cayan said in his deep and confident voice. He was trying to sell this to the others as a good idea.

Judging by the doubt plain on his face, Sanders wasn’t buying it.

“There are at least two Graygual out there,” Shanti said, itching to feel the weight of her sword in her hand. “We don’t care about the Graygual. We care about the
Gifted
with the Graygual. He’s the one we need to capture or kill.” Shanti eyed everyone, masking the holes in her plan with Cayan’s level of confidence. “These Graygual have never been beaten before. Without our
Gifts,
the challenge of Cayan and I must be alluring to them. I wager they’ll want to pit their strength against us. They will want to prove their dominance.”

“But will they? That’s the question,” Sanders said.

“My feeling is, they will.” Anticipation filled Shanti. She had that same desire, but for bigger results. She wanted to send a message to Xandre: she was still the best. And she was still alive.

Not only that, but she was going for him.

“And when they do engage, they’ll bring their
Gifted
closer,” Cayan said. “That’s when you guys make the grab.”

“Unless this Burson-like character can also track and fight, sir,” Sanders growled.

“Inkna are not trained to fight. They are too valuable to lose, and most aren’t coordinated anyway. This one won’t be any different,” Shanti said.

“This plan is ludicrous.” Sanders yanked out a knife. “But if we’re doing it, there’s no time like the present. I want to get some sleep sometime tonight. We’ll have a long road ahead of us tomorrow.”

“That is what I love about this army,” Rohnan said in a whimsical voice. “They never think about failure. Their confidence is infallible.”

“Or stupid.” Shanti motioned them forward. To Sanders she said, “You will wait for the signal from Kallon before you leave the city. Once it’s given, get across the open landscape and into deep cover as fast as you can. From there…let your intuition guide you and keep your eyes open.”

Sanders looked at the Captain for a beat. Not getting any kind of response, he shook his head. “How will we know when to come back?”

“Someone will find you and tell you.” Shanti waited by the gate, knowing that there was enough light for the enemy to kill them with arrows as they ran out into the night. She only hoped the range of their
Gifted
wasn’t strong enough to pick up their movements inside the city.

Failing that, she hoped they were still adopting a “wait and see” kind of mentality.

Steeling her courage, she let her mind meld with the darkness, feeling the cool night on the inside of her eyelids and the small hairs around her head disturbed in the breeze.

The soft sounds of distant crickets drifted on the breeze, no gap in their music. The stillness relaxed her and let her use her senses in a way impossible when relying totally on the
Gift.
The training in the Shadow Lands came back to her.

With that thought, she felt Sonson by the other gate with Boas, the two best Shadow at hunting in the dark. They would excel in this. She hoped that would also keep them alive.

“Okay.” Deep breath. Everyone had to make it back from this, and this
had
to work, or the Graygual would just pick them off one by one in the days ahead. Shanti knew it. They all did. “Let’s go.”

Shanti ran from the gate, feeling and listening for anything that might announce an attack. Leaves rustled, making her flinch, but no arrows came.

Their feet pounded across the hard ground, loud despite their light feet. A bush wiggled on their right. Shanti’s heart leapt.

Nothing came.

Breath coming quickly, they slipped into the cover of trees, each pausing beside a large trunk. Listening.

The night’s soft sounds greeted them again, competing with the beating of her heart. Crickets sang, uninterrupted by them or anyone else.

Sighing, Shanti led the way until they found a thick grouping of trees and bushes. She crouched down and felt Cayan’s hand rest on her shoulder for a moment. The peace and tranquility in his touch, and radiating through his mind, stilled her. They had made it, safely. So far so good.

Their
Gift
roamed and searched, finding nothing but animals and friends.

Quietly, utterly still, they waited. Patient.

Across the city, Kallon and Tanna ran out, finding the trees as easily as Shanti’s group had. They walked for a while, and then stopped as well. Their minds settled. Finally Sonson slipped out of the side gate. Shanti touched the minds around the wall, spaced according to Cayan’s instructions, checking in. This would be the optimum time for the Graygual to sneak into the city if they could avoid the bait.

A stray thought passed through Shanti’s mind:
That was easy.

Too easy?

The sound of crickets deadened to their right. Like a large black patch in the blanket of glittering stars above, the absence rang out louder than a shout. Louder still was the lack of living things in that area. Minds of animals and humans were silent.

The
Gifted
was there.

Slowly, consistently, a path of deadened sound headed their way.

A moment later, without warning, her
Gift
was stripped away.

The Graygual were taking the bait.