Phoenix’s Fire (The Ruins Of Men #2)

Chapter 42

Forty-Two

Ayla

T he sun was growing large as it sank toward the horizon, and the Dragons headed out. Keeping low, moving fast, they rushed into the forest and began to spread apart. I stayed off Zasen's hip, a pace behind him, with my bow in my hand and ready to use. We moved silently but fast, jogging from cover to cover. Our eyes scanned the underbrush. To either side of us, shades of greens, browns, greys, and yellows merged into the vegetation, but Zasen's blue tail stood out like a flag.

We made it nearly a mile outside Lorsa before someone whistled like a blackbird. Zasen and I froze, because that was one of the alert sounds. Listening to the woods, I wondered if it had been an actual bird. A second later another call came, just as I spotted movement in the trees. Hissing softly to get Zasen's attention, I pointed.

He nodded and moved to intercept. Jogging behind him, I pulled an arrow and fit it to the string. This was just like hunting. The goal was to move quickly, silently, and not wear ourselves out. Every time he'd taken me out hunting with him - which didn't feel like nearly enough times right now - he'd pushed me to be fleet and stealthy.

Now I knew why. What started as one person in the distance turned into more quickly. They moved in groups of six, spaced on either side of the road with their guns still held loosely. For the Moles, each of those groups was a team. There would be three pairs. I knew about those, but I'd figured out the team numbers in the last two fights. Hopefully, we could somehow use that to our advantage.

Just as I started to get twitchy, a hawk screamed. From the other side, a dove warbled. Zasen pointed emphatically, glancing over at a Dragon only he could see. My eyes were on the road where six Moles brazenly pulled three carts, two men to each one. Like the rest, they were armed, but their weapons hung forgotten against their backs.

"No matter what," Zasen whispered, "stay behind me, Ayla."

"Okay," I agreed.

Then he stepped forward, drew his bow, and waited. The muscles across his chest were strained. The bulges in his biceps were impressive. Behind him, his tail hung still, lifted a foot off the ground. My breath hung, held as tense as the string ready to release that arrow.

His fingers relaxed and a dozen other arrows flew right after.

"We're being attacked!" someone screamed in English.

"Shit," Zasen breathed. "I understand them!"

"So let's do something about it!" I snapped.

But he lifted a hand, gesturing for me to wait. To my right, leaves crunched and branches snapped as a dozen people rushed in at once. The suddenness of it was enough to send birds into the air. To my left, a group of Dragons screamed as they charged.

The first gunshot pierced the silence and human shouts followed. On the tail of that came a volley of pops, sending the forest into action. A moment later, all hell broke loose.

The Moles had always been careful with their shots, but not this time. Bullets whizzed through the distant trees and Dragons dove for cover. I heard a man scream, so I checked over my shoulder, looking for the cause. Pressed against a rock, a grey-and-brown-striped male held his arm. He saw me and waved it away, nodding to prove he was okay. Blood leaked between his fingers.

A pair of tongue clicks pulled my attention back to Zasen. He lifted his chin, and I followed his gaze. Dozens of Moles moved in formation. Shoulder to shoulder, they were sweeping the forest, but they shouldn't be doing that. Their tactics were made for hunting in groups, not as an army!

Snapping my fingers once, I pressed the flat of my hand to the ground and swept it out in a circle before snatching at something invisible in the middle. We needed to get around them and then attack from behind. Zasen nodded. Holding up two fingers, he then gestured to the end of the Mole line and cocked his head like a taunt.

"We need a distraction. Don't miss," he mouthed.

I drew my bow. Moving over a bit to hide between a downed log and a massive tree, I found the weak spot in the Mole ranks. Two men drifted apart. It was near the end of my range - at least what I was sure of, but I wouldn't miss. I couldn't miss. We had to distract the Moles long enough for the Dragons to scatter and get around them, because we were on the wrong side of their guns.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I stood. Air slid from my lips as the arrow flew. Before the breath was all the way out, I'd nocked the second and released it as well.

Moles screamed.

One man fell dead. The other staggered, tripped, and eventually ended up on the ground as the venom took effect. Those around him cried out in surprise and turned, desperately looking for their attackers in the too-bright light. That was when Zasen began to scream orders, his words in Vestrian.

Immediately, the forest began to move.

He and I ran east, each of us taking our own path. I didn't wait for Zasen. I just moved, and all around me the guns fired wildly. The sound was deafening. The debris turned the world into insanity, and I took shots where I could, but the forest protected us. We knew it and they didn't. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep me alive.

Bark flew from trees as bullets ripped the wood apart. Leaves drifted in the warm sunlight and people screamed. The sound of it all was overwhelming, but when the tree beside me sprayed bark, I ducked around another and paused, checking for Zasen. I was supposed to stay behind him, but I couldn't see him!

A second later, he joined me, pressing close to hide from the impacts hitting much too close around us. "We have to go," he hissed.

I jiggled my head, feeling both nervous and completely - totally - calm. "Move like a deer, right? Jagged and never the same speed?"

"Right. And shoot. I don't even care if you hit anything."

We bolted. I made for a rock. He aimed for another tree, but this time we didn't pause. My boots dug into the soft dirt of the forest and I strained for as much traction as I could get. Fear gave my legs power. Together, we ran, forcing the enemy to leave their positions to give chase.

Catching a small tree with my free hand, I pulled myself around it and ducked behind another rock. This one was bigger. I heard when a bullet slammed into the stone, then pulled my bow and stood. The Mole was so close I couldn't miss. The moment my fingers let go, the arrow embedded itself in his chest.

"Move!" a green man yelled as he caught my arm and pulled me with him. "They're coming."

I ran, so he let go. My eyes stayed locked on the green tail before me, but my ears were on the steps to my right. Gunshots made those hard to trace, but someone was barreling through the forest much too close.

Jerking to a halt behind a massive tree, I paused only long enough to send off another arrow and get my bearings, then rushed out again. As I pumped my legs to get me over to another rock, I dared to look back. The line of Moles had collapsed, and groups of Dragons were tearing into the men. Reaching over my shoulder, I pulled another arrow and set it on the string, refusing to slow.

I made it three steps before the shrubs split to reveal blackness right in front of me.

I didn't think, just reacted. Dropping the bow, my hands found the krael and I jerked up, pushing right into the man's chest. The leather of his shirt and soft flesh of his belly parted beneath the sharpened spikes. Warmth flooded my hands: solid, wet, and slippery. His insides! Jerking my hands back, I kicked my bow ahead of me, and chased after it. Two steps later, I bent to snag the thing from the ground without slowing, neither knowing nor caring where the arrow had vanished .

Then something hard hit my waist and jerked me to the side. Hands closed on my body gently. I didn't need to see him to know it was Zasen. Spinning me around, he looked me over once, then nodded - and we took off again, but this time we had the distance and space to begin picking off men from behind their line.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

He looked down, making me do the same. Blood stained my arms, waist, and likely all the way down my legs.

I offered a weak shrug. "He's dead, I think."

"So are they, because we're not the only ones who made it around."

A tip of his head made me look over in time to see green Omden slam into a Mole from the side. Drozel rose up from the forest floor as if he'd been under it. I knew that was simply a benefit of his color, but the hunter before him screamed in terror, dropped his gun, and tried to flee. He never made it.

Further away, the gunshots were still intense. I didn't care. I took the chance and fired an arrow at a man in black. Their leather armor might work well at night, but in the golden glow of the later afternoon, it made them very easy to spot. Beside me, Zasen was releasing at least two arrows to every one of mine.

Then, "Retreat!" someone yelled in English. "Get to the carts!"

"Go, go, go!" another cried.

"Split up and hit them hard!" another ordered.

So Zasen cupped his hands and created some natural-sounding trill. It was deep and hollow, like many of the birds, but I didn't know what kind he was mimicking.

"They're splitting to come at us in -"

The click of a magazine slamming into place cut him off. I spun. From down the hill I heard, "Holly, kill!"

And from my left, a man yelled in English, "No!"

The pop of the gun was loud. I dropped, but nothing had hit me. Zasen ran, but a streak of brown was faster. Silently, the dog jumped, sinking her teeth into the Mole's arm and spinning him around. That made it easy for Zasen to wrap his arm around the man's neck and his tail began to slam into the hunter's leg.

I was already pushing myself back up, but they always came in pairs. "Holly, attack!" I ordered desperately, shifting my eyes to find this one's partner.

The dog knew, though. Releasing the man Zasen had, Holly rushed forward, leaving me to trail after her. The bow was left behind, but I grabbed my krael, feeling something sticky on the handle.

A man screamed in pain. There was a heavy thud, and then I saw the dog thrashing against a Mole on the ground.

"Holly, collapse!" I ordered, using her Vestrian commands.

The dog shoved down on the Mole's chest, holding him in place as the guy cried, "Ayla!"

My feet stalled at the sound of my name. This man was huge. Too big. That meant I knew him, so securing my fingers on my blades, I braced my shoulders and walked forward .

"You came to kill us, Tobias?" I snapped. "I am not here to die!"

"Callah sent me!" he panted. "Oww. The beast hurts. Ayla, I have proof. She sent me with proof. I was trying to find you, but Malcus..."

"Is dead," I told him, before looking at the dog. "Holly, drop." That was what I'd told her to let go of the ball, so I hoped it worked. "Collapse." Maybe she'd keep pinning him down.

Obediently, she spit his arm from her mouth, but her lips curled, revealing all of her very white teeth. A deep rumbling made it clear she was more than willing to bite him again.

"What is it?" Tobias asked.

"That," I said as I moved to stand over him, "is a dog. Where's your proof?"

"Inside my shirt," he said, unable to look away from the dog growling in his face. "I don't want it to bite me again."

"Ayla?" Zasen asked.

I lifted a hand, making him wait. Tobias's eyes jumped to him and the air slid from his lungs. With one finger, he pointed at his chest.

"She said you'd know it's from her," he insisted. "Please, Ayla. I want to get her out. Don't let him kill me?"

"Stay!" Lansin yelled at Holly, proving he was now behind me as well.

So I bent and reached inside his leather protective shirt. "Where?"

"Up. There's a pocket..."

My fingers found it. Yanking my hand back, I saw old, yellowed paper. Lines had been stained into it from being folded, and while the color was different in sunlight, I recognized it immediately.

"Why did she give this to you?!" I pointed at the dog. "Answer me, Tobias, or I will let her bite your throat next!"

"Jamison said the Phoenix shot him. Callah made me hold him as she fixed him, and he was fevered. He said the Phoenix and 'she.' He said we threw her out. That meant it was you, Ayla." He swallowed hard. "My mother told me stories too! She said the Dragons would save me. I tried to be stupid, but I had to make sure Callah knew it really is you, and this was the only way to make sure of it. I became a hunter to court her so we can talk, and - "

"Holly, it's okay," I told the dog, but my words came out as a breath.

"Holly, come!" Lansin ordered in Vestrian.

The dog returned to her handler, but I lifted a krael so Tobias could see it. "Do not try anything stupid. I will kill you, and if I can't, both of those men and the dog will."

"And I'll enjoy doing it," Zasen said in English.

Tobias just opened his hands and kept them pressed against the ground. "I don't want to be a hunter. I just wanted to find you, Ayla. I want to get her out, because after you and Meri..."

"What?" I demanded.

"Ayla, no one wants to marry her. They say she'll need to be reminded of her place. The men think all three of you must be corrupted, so I asked to court her. Because we're both from quarantined mothers, I had to prove myself, and this is it. They made me a hunter since we've lost so many."

"Since the Phoenix killed them," Zasen said, moving to stand beside me. "If your mother was in quarantine, what is her name?"

"Ione," Tobias said. "Her name was Ione."

Zasen grabbed my shoulder and eased me back. "Let him up," he said, still using English. "Ayla, I think you've just found the mayor's missing sister."