Chapter 44
Forty-Four
Ayla
B y the time we were done talking with Tobias, the gunshots had stopped. So had the screaming. I wasn't sure if that meant all the Moles were dead, or if they'd simply run far enough away the sound didn't reach me. Still, Zasen insisted we had to check on our friends.
I made sure Tobias knew how to take care of his wound. The instructions I gave him were mostly for Callah, since she'd never seen an animal before. Yet as we left the secluded cluster of boulders, I had to look back twice, struggling to believe he was really here - and helping.
"Do you trust him?" Zasen asked when we were far enough away.
I could only shrug. "I want to, but he's a man. One of the better men, but I didn't know him that well."
"Could he have stolen your mother's drawing?"
"No," I promised. "Callah put that in a place Tobias would never fit. I was the only one who knew about it, and I told her the day I left. If anyone else found out about it, she'd be punished, so there's no way she'd tell them." I grunted. "Well, she knew it existed, but not exactly where until the day I left," I clarified.
Zasen nodded as if thinking, and we walked on. A meeting area had been designated before we left. The "hollow," Zasen had called it, but that didn't mean anything to me. I could only assume it was where we were heading now.
Holly kept right at my side. Her head swiveled to check every sound or smell. Half of them I didn't notice myself. Yet when I reached down to pet her, she glanced up with a wag of her tail before checking around us again.
"You know that dog saved our lives?" he asked.
"Yeah," I breathed, rubbing her head again. "I heard him change the magazines. If he'd had bullets..."
"Your friend tried to shoot him," Zasen said.
"Tobias?"
He nodded. "That was the gunshot. I thought he was shooting at me, but he hit the other guy's leg. Holly grabbed him right after, and I finished him off."
"She would've," I crooned at the dog.
He chuckled. "Yeah, probably." And he sighed. "But he shot at another Mole. That makes me want to believe him, but what if we told him too much?"
"Callah will still hear," I said. "Gossip is supposed to be a sin, but everyone hears everything. If Tobias spoke with me, and if Callah really knows I'm alive, maybe it'll be enough for her to find her own way out? She made it work for Meri!"
"And she hasn't left herself," he pointed out.
"Because it isn't easy," I explained. "Women are never allowed close to the doors. It's not like she could just open it and run. Never mind the alarm."
"There's an alarm?"
I nodded. "Once, when I was young, a gatherer made it go off. The compound went into shelter. Later, we were told it was a new gatherer who forgot his training."
"Which says almost nothing," Zasen growled. "And it means it'll be even harder to break in."
"And we have to tell Jerlis."
That made Zasen look over at me. "What?"
"You said Tobias' mother was the mayor's sister," I clarified. "When I was on that stage - well, the first time - Jerlis asked me if I knew her. The way he said her name? He was desperate, Zasen. We have to tell him he has a nephew."
"Shit," Zasen breathed. "Yeah. First, we have to see how many we lost."
I didn't want to think about that part, but it was enough to make me stretch my legs. The fight had been fast - even more so than I'd expected. The sky was just shifting from sunset to dusk. It wasn't even nighttime!
Finally, we descended a hill and I heard voices. Among a cluster of trees, shrubs, and boulders, there was a trickle of a stream. Zasen headed for that, then followed it between a jumble of rocks. The ground shifted to pebbles, but on the other side of the bushes? Dragons.
Dozens sat in small groups. Friends were checking on or bandaging others. My feet paused as I looked around, hoping for faces I knew. Everyone seemed to be scraped up, cut, or messy in some way, but most of them were smiling.
"Ayla!" Kanik's voice came from behind me, and his arms followed a moment later. "I was starting to get worried."
"We have a story," Zasen assured him.
"Holly, come!" Lansin yelled, proving we'd been spotted by more than just Kanik.
"Zasen!" Jeera yelped, leaving her current patient to run over and wrap her arms around her brother.
Zasen hugged her back, holding her tight. "Are you okay? Who did we lose?"
"Four," she said, listing off their names. "Ayla was right. The arrows made a huge difference. It helped us keep them from taking all but Ermial, but we're going to need to carry their bodies back."
Zasen pushed out a heavy breath. "Just four," he said. "Did anyone count the - "
"If you fucking yank it again!" Drozel roared, making me look over.
He was lying on his stomach with Omden sprawled halfway across his back as if trying to restrain him. Still, Drozel had lifted up enough for another man to rush in, pushing him back down. A brown-skinned tailless woman had a knee on Drozel's tail, and it looked like she was trying to do something to it.
"Leave it!" Drozel snapped.
Which made a little laugh slip from Zasen. "They..."
Kanik moved to my side and nodded. "He got shot in the tail."
"The tail?" Zasen asked. "His tail? "
"Lemme..." Jeera said, heading that way.
I followed, hoping I could help. When I got closer, I saw the wound. One side had a small puncture, but every time Drozel whipped his tail to avoid the pain, blood splattered from the other side.
"Stop it!" I snapped at him.
His tail stilled, and Drozel looked up. "Ayla?"
So I crouched down by his face. "You are big and strong. Clench your jaw - or scream. I don't care, but keep your tail still so they can stop the bleeding."
"And if you don't, she'll yell at you again," Omden told him.
Drozel dropped his face into the gravel he was lying on. "Fuck! It hurts. I can't help it!"
"If I can keep still, then you can," I said, daring him to deny it. "Be a Dragon, Drozel. Only Moles punish the ones helping them."
"It's my fucking tail!" he said, but there was a hint of a laugh wrapped up in it. "Again!"
"It's a very nice tail," Omden told him.
"I'm not fucking growing another!"
"But the one the Moles have is almost rotten," I teased. "They've been using it for years to terrify children. It would be so kind of you to replace it."
"Ha-fucking-ha," he grumbled. "That's - aagh!" He yelled as the tailless woman jumped back.
"Okay, let him up," she said.
"Fuck, it's numb," Drozel whined, rolling onto his back as soon as the men released him. "Why'd they have to shoot my tail?"
I bit my lips to keep from laughing, but Jeera crouched down to lean into his face. "You're going to need to have that sewn. Walking home is going to suck. You will lean on Omden, do you hear me?" She glanced up at me, smiling as she looked back at him. "Otherwise, I'll have Ayla help you."
"It's not funny!" Drozel said, and yet he laughed. "Okay, it's a little funny, but it hurts ."
"You can lean on me," Omden assured him. "I got you, baby. "
And while Drozel reached out for the green Dragon's hand, he turned enough to see Zasen. "The last of them ran. I told my team not to follow."
"We didn't either," Kanik said, proving he was with us as well.
"But where did you go?" Drozel asked Zasen.
He pointed at me. "Ayla found us an informant."
"What?" Omden gasped.
Everyone else around us turned to look at me. I just shook my head, unsure what they wanted.
"Her friend on the inside," Zasen explained, "sent a man to find her. The girl also sent proof Ayla trusts. I told him to find out how to get in."
"He doesn't know?" the tailless woman asked.
"Evidently, they don't tell them that, Tayle," Zasen replied.
Tayle thrust out her lower lip and nodded. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. Sounds like the Moles operate on a 'need to know' basis, and no one needs to know but the ones at the top."
"Pretty much," I agreed. "But if Callah knows I'm here, she can help us."
"How?" Omden asked.
"I don't know yet," I admitted.
"But it's something," Zasen said. "Right now, we need to get back. I don't trust the Moles, and the night is their time." He turned to the rest of the group. "We lost three who'll need to be carried back."
"Lansin and I can help with that," Irrik said.
"The dogs can scout ahead," Lansin added.
But some guy at the back called out, "What about the guns?"
I turned to the sound of his voice and found a large pile of weapons. There had to be at least thirty! I was sure there wouldn't be many bullets, but that was a lot of weapons.
"We need to make them safe," I said, "and then carry them back. We don't want the Moles to get them."
"Rymar's storing them in the records room," Kanik added.
"Fix them," Zasen told me. "I don't know how."
So I hurried over to check the guns. Lifting the first, I wasn't surprised to find the safety was not set. I quickly flipped the tiny lever, then moved to the next.
"That's it?" asked the man who'd spoken up about them.
I nodded. "It's called the 'safety,' and it prevents the weapon from firing. We need to turn all of those so the bottom points at the trigger." I demonstrated on a second gun. "Then we can each take a few. Like this, they'll hang safely from that strap."
"Guys," the man told his friends. "Flip this switch, and put them in another pile. When they're all safe, we can pass them out."
"Thank you," I told him.
He looked up and nodded. "It's just nice to finally be winning, Phoenix."
That was enough to make me smile. We were winning. But right on the heels of that, I remembered the dead Dragons. Four people who wouldn't make it home tonight. Four families that would be changed forever.
Four more reasons to make sure we stopped the Moles for good.
Yet as I made my way back to Zasen, I overheard snippets from the people around me. They were saying things like how the Moles hadn't stood a chance. Some were bragging about taking out five or more. In my head, I tried to add that up, but I couldn't. I didn't know enough.
So I headed to Kanik and asked, "How many did we kill?"
"A lot," he assured me.
"But they killed four Dragons, Kanik. How many did we let go?"
He reached out to clasp my arms. "Less than ten, Ayla. They brought a lot, and only a handful will return. If they're smart, they won't come again."
"They aren't smart," I grumbled.
So he rubbed my arms in reassurance. "And we'll kill them again." Gently, he eased me closer. "It's okay. You're helping. This made a difference. Instead of twenty people dying, we only lost four, and each one chose to risk their lives. They weren't children. They weren't taken by surprise."
"But they're still dead," I countered, shifting a little closer.
And Kanik wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me up against his chest in a gentle hug. "Yeah," he breathed. "They sacrificed themselves to save the ones they love. They're heroes, Ayla - and you gave them that chance. Believe it or not, that makes it better. Not good, but better."
I pressed my head in against his chest. "The hugging helps."
So he squeezed me a little tighter, then tilted his head so his cheek pressed against my hair. "It helps me too," he promised.