Chapter 81
Eighty-One
Ayla
T here was always something unnerving about the wait between the town meeting and when we finally headed out to face the Moles. But when the time finally came, we were all ready for it. Zasen and Kanik were dressed in their loincloths and covered in weapons. Rymar was wearing pale linen pants with a very white shirt.
I'd put on the tan set of leathers, had my krael hanging from my belt, and my bow was slung over my shoulder with my quiver hanging from my hip. Holly had on her collar, and while her leash was clipped to my belt, it was short and looped over because I knew I wouldn't need it. The letter wrapped inside a book? That was the important thing today.
Together, the group of us headed into town. This time, we all met up at the central stage. Dozens of people were there already. Some were friends or family, getting in one last hug before their loved one left. I spotted a few children as well, often hugging their mommy or daddy. But for the most part, the faces were ones I knew from our militia meetings.
"All right, listen up!" Rymar bellowed as we got closer. "When you make it back, head to City Hall. No one will be here at the stage. We've sent out notices about it, and we'll be able to ring the bells when you're all back so your family can meet you."
"Also!" Drozel said as he stepped forward. "I've asked a runner to make sure the daycare is notified. We will get your children to you. I've asked for carts to wait at the entrance for our wounded or dead. We learned a lot from our last trip into the forest. This time, my goal is to bring back everyone - alive, do you hear me?"
The crowd all roared out a cheer at that. Drozel nodded, then looked over at Zasen. Just when I was about to move away, he caught my shoulder, holding me beside him .
"Today," Zasen said, taking over, "the most important thing to remember is the man with the fletching on his belt. Yes, he is a Mole. He will be pale, orin, and tall. The man will have two yellow arrows and at least one blue one. I could be wrong on the numbers, but both colors will be there. Now, what do you do if you find him?"
"Take him behind the line!" a man called out.
I looked that way to see Xav. Demon, his dog, was sitting patiently beside him the same way Holly was with me. He noticed me looking, so he nodded, which made me return the gesture while Zasen kept going.
"Because of this man, I need all of you to look before you loose an arrow. His name is Tobias, and he's our means of getting in there and stopping this once and for all. Now, Ayla has made it clear that we need to keep collecting the guns. We may not be able to keep them from getting more, but disarming them in combat leaves them vulnerable. And since we don't know how many they have, it's better to keep using up their stores than making this easy on them!"
That brought forth another round of cheering, but Zasen patted the air, quieting them again. "I'm going to let you choose your teams today. I want Drozel, Kanik, Jeera, and Omden to all lead teams."
"What about you?" Xav called out.
Zasen chuckled. "The Phoenix and I will be searching for our informant. Yes, that means fighting too, but we will mostly be on the east side, because that is where we expect our man to be. Now, I need all team leaders to move to an area. Everyone else can pick your team. If they aren't even, we'll adjust from there, but I know everyone fights better with their friends beside them. Check your weapons and ammo, pick your group, and let's make sure we're all ready for this."
"My team over here!" Jeera yelled.
Kanik reached over to clasp my arm. "Be safe, okay?" Then he stepped back. "Those fighting with me can group up over here!"
"I'll take that side!" Drozel bellowed, pointing across the open area even as he walked that way.
And from the back, Omden whistled. "Everyone else can come with me. Sounds like we're taking the west side so we'll have it easy!"
Zasen chuckled at that, then turned me toward his sister. "Do you think Tobias will be out there?"
My head snapped up. "I didn't even think of that. What if he's not?"
"Then we'll kill them the way we have been," he assured me. "I'm just hoping he will be there."
"Me too," I breathed.
"Joining my team?" Jeera teased. "I hear you dog owners are a force to be reckoned with."
"She not," Zasen said, "and I came to make sure you're not going to be stupid."
"Nope," Jeera said. "Brielle said that if I get myself killed, she'll take me to the Moles herself. Not really into becoming a meal, so I think I'll stay alive."
"Good," I told her. "And how's Meri? "
"Excited about helping," Jeera promised. "Brielle's worried about her, but seeing the way she's perked up? I think she needs this."
"No one wants to feel like they're locked in a cage," I explained. "Down there, it was a miserable one. Up here, we worry it's a pretty one to show off, but still a cage. Helping makes us feel like we're not only useful, but able to make our own decisions."
"Noted," Jeera said. "And Lessa's helping at the daycare to get everything organized, then she'll be with Rymar. The doctors are all on call until sundown, then the hospital will probably be overstaffed."
"I'm hoping it's all pointless," Zasen said.
"But better safe than sorry," Jeera pointed out. "And yeah, we'll all be happy if we've been worried for nothing." Then she bent to look at my dog. "And you be a good girl. Okay, Holly?"
Holly wagged with enthusiasm, which made Jeera pet her a little more. But Jeera's group was gathering, and the numbers clearly weren't even. Drozel had the most, Kanik the next, with Jeera and Omden having about half as many. That meant Zasen got to convince some people to shift to another group until the numbers were even enough.
Like they had before, people were trading arrows, but this time, someone had a jar of clear fluid. A few people were dunking their arrows in it, which meant it was probably venom. The guys had already prepared my arrows, so I should be good on that front, but it made me think about something else.
"We should give Tobias a poisoned arrow," I told Zasen.
"Why?" he asked.
"For Callah!" I said. "A weapon she can defend herself with." But then I paused. "She won't be able to hide it, though."
"The book is more than enough," he assured me. "It will prepare her for what's up here, break the lies down there, and hopefully we'll be able to get her out before the Moles come again."
"We just need the code and a map," I said. "Which means Tobias better be here."
"Exactly," he agreed.
Soon enough, it was time for all of us to head out. Unlike last time, we were leaving well before sundown. It was early afternoon, which meant we had at least four hours of sunlight to get to the Moles. And while Zasen hadn't announced it, I knew he and Drozel were hoping to find their camp.
If we could surprise them while it was still daylight? The Moles wouldn't have a chance. They'd barely be able to see through their weeping eyes, while we'd pick them off easily. My fear was Tobias wouldn't have his arrows on him, so might get killed.
We should've planned this better. We hadn't had time, and I'd been too shocked at what he'd told me, but I should've thought about it. Then again, I didn't trust him enough to tell him our plans - which I hadn't known then - because if he did betray us, then more Dragons would die .
I just wanted him to be there. I wanted him to prove he was trustworthy. I wanted everything he said about Callah to be true, but I could never forget that Moles lied. The simple fact that Tobias had always allowed us to think he was an idiot was proof he did it too.
I could understand why, but I couldn't trust him. He wasn't a Dragon. He wasn't one of my friends. He wasn't necessarily my enemy either, so I was giving him a chance, and while I hadn't told the guys, I was terrified I'd been too desperate. I'd accepted everything he'd said because I knew him. Because he had Callah's message. Mostly, because I really wanted what he'd said to be true.
"Hey Drozel?" Zasen called as we made it out of the town walls and aimed straight for the dense trees of the forest instead of the road. "You going to be able to keep your tail intact this time?"
Drozel lifted his hand with the knuckles facing Zasen and his second finger held up. "Bite me, Zasen. I didn't lose it last time."
"Still got shot," Zasen teased.
Which made Kanik call over, "Careful, they might go for yours next, Zasen. It does stand out."
"I was just trying to give Drozel an advantage," he said.
But Drozel shrugged that off. "Worked out for me. Had a hot man pamper me, a cute woman spoil me, and a very sweet one take care of me. I think that counts as worth it."
So Zasen asked, "Omden, what do you think about him flirting with all these girls and ignoring you?"
"Shit," Omden said, angling his steps to fall in beside me, of all people. "Seems my boyfriend has a thing for my green and their gold. Better watch out, Ayla. He might start flirting with you next."
"I am not flirting with the refugees!" Drozel snapped, sounding like he was no longer amused by the teasing.
"It was a joke," Zasen promised.
"No," Drozel said, slowing so he could walk with us as well. "Lessa? Yeah, I'll flirt, but only because Omden's okay with it."
"Completely on board with getting a break," Omden joked. "But no, I'm good with Lessa."
So Drozel looked over at me. "But I look back at how we got you, Ayla, and I fucking hate it. You were too calm. Too passive. I was so sure you were coming with us because it had to be a trap, so I wanted to kill you."
"And then you learned to speak," Omden said.
Drozel just nodded. "And now that I know what they did?" He let out a heavy sigh. "Every single time I look at Meri, all I can think is that not only did they torture her for years, but she's still helpless because of her condition. She can't run, or fight, or anything else. She doesn't even know she can scream at us yet."
"She'll figure it out," I promised.
"And until she does," he said, "I'm going to make sure she's taken care of. Someone to walk her around if she needs it..." He gestured to Omden. "Or a big guy to open jars? Shit, I don't even know what I can do for her, but yeah. Not flirting is at the top of that list."
I jogged a few steps to move to his side. "Hey? Thank you. Everything up here is so confusing at first, but she's adapting well."
"Being around women probably helps," Zasen said.
I nodded. "Yeah, probably. But being able to see what people say is true? That's what makes it feel real. And to have a man as big as either of you be kind?" I looked between them. "You don't understand. We accepted old men because they were less likely to hurt us. To have a man help? "
"Protect," Drozel said. "Omden and I talked about it, and she needs to feel like someone will save her if she's scared. We want to do that, since we screwed up with you."
"And you can clearly hold your own," Omden said, flashing me a smile. "Plus, your friend is stronger than she knows. She's just never been allowed to find it before. With Lessa?" He nodded.
"Yeah, Lessa will teach her how to be afraid of nothing," Zasen agreed.
Then Drozel chuckled. "I can't wait to meet the next one. What's her name, Ayla?"
"Callah," I said. "I think it's a flower?"
"Calla lily," Omden said. "I like those."
"We’ve never seen them," I admitted, "but her mother loved them, I guess? That's how she got her..." I paused. "And her mom had probably seen them."
"Yeah," Omden said. "They grow here in the spring."
Which made me groan. "The signs were always there. We just weren't allowed to see them."
"We'll make sure you girls get to appreciate it all," Drozel said. "Think of it as me trying to alleviate my guilt."
"No guilt," I told him. "You saved me. Maybe you didn't want to, but you still did."
"So you saved me back," he realized.
I nodded. "Because we're all good at different things. Now, we get to use it together."
"To stop the fucking Moles," Omden grumbled. "Soon, we will finally send them back to their holes and make sure they stay there!"
"No," Zasen said. "We're going to dig them out and kill the sick ones. It's called extermination."
"We just have to get the code first," I reminded them.