Chapter 25 Ro #2
He veered to the left at the fork, following his companions. I assessed his tall frame, his lean but muscular build. Was he a soldier? What kind of training did this group in the north have? Would have been helpful if Taja had given me any information.
Before today, I would have sided with the northern settlement.
An enemy of Taja would normally be considered a friend of mine.
But the vile actions of these people proved them evil, and now I was tossed into a pit between two venomous snakes.
My mind gave birth to more questions as we silently and slowly headed north.
“Your group,” I said, “what is their purpose?”
The man before me winced with every step, but he did not complain or beg. “Power,” he stated coldly.
His blunt confessions kept catching me off guard. Where was his sense of self-preservation? Of allegiance? Ravinder and Radhak trained our fighters to never reveal information about our camp or our people. Was this a tactic? To confuse me? I had to admit it was working. Damn, that’s clever.
“Why do you want power?” If he wanted to spill the beans, I’d drain every last piece of information I could.
“I don’t want power,” he replied with the same amount of cold indifference as before.
My mind clouded with irritation. Tossing conflicting statements at me to avoid giving real answers was also a smart move. “You know, I know exactly where to aim this arrow to leave you paralyzed,” I said with menacing lightheartedness. A show of control, demonstrating no fear.
“Good to know,” he said blandly, keeping a steady pace despite his near crippling injury.
“So don’t lie to me.” I lowered the tenor of my voice, an attempt to sound threatening.
“I’m not lying. Two things can be true at once.”
His group wants power, but he doesn’t. “So why join them?”
“I have my reasons.” Judging by his vague neutrality, I knew he wouldn’t comment further. Being the one with the poised weapon, I could insist he divulge the answer, but I had more important questions.
My next inclination was to probe him about his magic, but I decided against it.
Didn’t want to spark a reminder of the power he could wield against me if he chose on the off chance his pain had distracted him from that possibility.
If he was leading me into a trap, he probably already calculated where along this route he would make his move.
It wasn’t lost on me that he held all the cards in this exchange.
This outpost could have dozens of their people stationed around the perimeter like we had at Rahana.
It was possible the nearest outpost was actually their settlement, and therefore, he’d walk me right into the lion’s den.
I’d already been preparing for that. I paid equal attention to the forest around us, watching for movement or glare off weapons.
If that was his plan, he wouldn’t get away with it.
I’d note when his body language changed.
Once he knew I was behind enemy lines, he’d show it.
My gut told me we were far from that point, considering he’d claimed his allies would walk for hours.
Worry grew and festered under my skin. Our pace was consistent, but slow, and I had no idea how long Alba had. My best bet was to get this man to talk. People often revealed information unintentionally if they’re forced to keep a conversation.
“So, what’s your name?” I asked, breaking the silence of our walk. I let my bow and arrow hang lazily before me, but it remained ready to use in an instant.
“Dae,” he said without hesitation.
I snickered. “Like the Sun God?”
“Yeah,” he replied with no hint of humor or boasting.
Chances were, it was a self-imposed moniker. Only someone with swagger and arrogance to spare would title themselves as such. Windguard more heavily favored the gods than Highcrest, probably a result of living under a murderous tyrant who centered such beings, often comparing himself to them.
Clinging to hope and faith became essential for people when the brutality of life became too much.
It’s not like Dae’s parents would have known he’d mature into a gorgeous man whose beauty could easily rival a god’s.
Even as I’d pointed my weapon over him, his beauty hadn’t been lost on me.
On any other occasion, like spotting him at a tavern or at the market, I probably would have gawked.
His rich brown skin warmed the rugged features of his face, and those dark eyes were vacant of fear when they’d looked at me…
Okay, named himself after a god. Most likely Windguard born, then. Well, if he wanted to play with our rich history, then I would win.
“Call me Zyanna.” I scoffed under my breath.
For the first time since we started walking, he paused and glanced at me over his shoulder. My arrow was positioned at his heart before he finished moving.
“You’re named after the Sky Goddess?”
“No.” I offered a feral smile. “But she was the one who put an end to the Sun God, so, just thought you’d do well to associate me with her.”
Tearing his gaze away, he looked northward again, but I could have sworn an amused grin flashed on his face before he did. “Noted.” He resumed his limping strides, no attempt made to fight. “So you know the history of the gods?”
Well shit. I’d fallen for the trap I’d laid for him, revealing my knowledge and association with Windguard. “Some,” I lied. The subject was taught to Windguardian children in their youth. Not totally a foreign subject though, so it’d be believable that I could have learned it elsewhere.
A memory caressed the edges of my mind, of my mother and father telling Tula and me bedtime stories about the gods and goddesses. I hadn’t thought about that in a really long time. The backs of my eyes burned with the promise of tears, but none came.
My attention shifted to just how dry my mouth and throat were, and I recalled how desperately I needed water.
I was in worse shape than I thought if I couldn’t even produce a tear.
Running on pure adrenaline, I forced myself to theorize all the ways this could end badly for me.
Nothing like the fear of looming death to keep the senses sharp.
“Better make sure we don’t come across any snakes, then,” he spoke, and through the fog of thoughts in my mind, I became confused.
“Huh?”
A light but deep rumbling chuckle escaped him. “Snakes. Like the one Hypiphony, Goddess of Nature, sent after Zyanna after she killed her love, the Sun God?”
I couldn’t help the laugh that slipped from my lips. I’d meant to display dominance with my quip, but he countered my attack. Imagine taking down the God of the Sun only to be brought down by a snake.
Never underestimate your opponent. A lesson for Zyanna and me, apparently.
“Though, if we do run into any snakes, I think you’re going to have to protect me.” He motioned to his bum leg.
He’d been fairly stern and serious during our interaction so far. Was he…joking with me? A fire heated in my belly, and before I let my better judgment assess my response, I said, “But what if it’s hungry?”
A deeper laugh, one that reminded me of mountains under moonlight, reverberated through my body. “Good to know where I stand.”
I felt all kinds of disoriented. My attempt to swallow was as dry as a mouthful of sand.
This man would kill me the first chance he got. I schooled my features, letting that flutter of amusement and playfulness fall to the wayside.
Information, Ro. You need more information.
“How many outposts are there?” My tone dropped to a stone cold warning.
“A few. Nearly half a dozen.” He seemed unfazed at my gruff switch up.
“And how many of you are there?”
Gravel shuffled under his heavy steps. He compensated with his good leg, allowing his injured leg only a few moments of pressure with each step.
The sound ate into the silence of the otherwise quiet forest. Was he ignoring me?
He’d responded abruptly all the other times.
Had he not heard me? Was I finally asking a question he hesitated to answer?
“Where?” he clarified after a moment.
“What do you mean, where?” I couldn’t hold back the bite in my question. Humidity pressed down on me, and I took in a deep breath to cool myself.
“How many of us are there, where? At the outpost? At all the outposts? At base camp? In total?”
A lot of options to consider, but for now only my next steps mattered. “At the outpost.”
“How many did you see with your friend?”
“I’m not answering that.” Asshole, trying to make me reveal what I knew.
He sighed. “At most, there would be five of us. But if you only saw two, then three, including myself.”
Interesting. “Why don’t you know?”
“Because two hunting parties were sent to retrieve wild game. I was part of the second party, sent because the first hadn’t returned within their allotted time frame. If they still haven’t, there’s a chance we’ll catch them at one of the outposts.”
So far, he hadn’t presented any conflicting information.
He’d stated twice that his purpose for being out here was hunting.
He’d confirmed that the outpost shouldn’t have more occupants than he’d previously said.
If anything, he’d just overshared. Something completely unacceptable under Radhak.
Despite this man’s physique, maybe he was nothing more than a hunter in his camp. It would explain his loose lips.
“Why are these forests so…creepy?”
“Because animals are smart and have good survival instincts.”
“Clearly you don’t, then,” I jabbed lightly.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“RO!”
A faint echo in my mind seized my heart. I spun around, spotting a small blue dot racing toward me.
“Brax!” I couldn’t help but exclaim out loud. I ran to meet him. He barreled into my chest, and I cupped him with my free hand. I managed to produce a few tears that streamed down my cheeks. “I was so worried for you. I thought they killed you.”
“No, I woke up and you weren’t at the cabin, so I went looking. I spotted those bad people and tried to warn Alba, but she didn’t understand. When they burst through the door, I ducked out the window and started searching for you.”
“Why didn’t you go back home? You should have gone back home.” I choked on my sobs, equally mad at him for not keeping himself safe and gloriously happy he was alright and here with me.
“I would never leave you in danger.” His little snout nuzzled into my chest.
I savored the feel of his little reptilian scales under my fingers, stroking his back that became slick with each fallen tear. Realizing I no longer heard the thud of compensating steps, I shoved Braxius onto my shoulder, lifted my bow and whirled to poise the arrow at Mr. Sun God.
His stare snagged on Braxius, and I waited, wide-eyed, to gauge his reaction. If he so much as considered a violent thought toward Brax, I wouldn’t hesitate to let this arrow fly.
“Who’s that? He smells of blood.”
“Our prisoner. He’s going to lead us to Alba,” I said. “How much farther?” I asked with determination.
“Probably after sundown.”
“Is he lying?” I asked Braxius.
His little head cocked to one side, assessing the man before us. “I don’t think so.”
“Is that your pet?”
“Pet?!” If Brax had feathers, he’d be fluffing them in insult.
“He doesn’t like that term.”
Dae raised a hand in submission. “Sorry to offend.” His other hand gripped his upper thigh. I started to feel slightly bad for pushing him.
“I like him. He apologizes. Tio doesn’t apologize.”
“He’s only helping because I’m threatening his life. Don’t let your guard down so fast.”
Brax shrugged against my neck, his usual position, only this time with my hair pulled back, he was fully exposed. I’d take my hair down, but the thought of trapping anymore heat against my skin felt like a death sentence.
“Will you be able to treat that at the outpost?” I asked, taking in the dark stained fabric that didn’t fully stop the bleeding.
“Not well. Extremely limited supplies there,” he said before hobbling northward again.
Letting out a long breath, I considered my grave mistake.
I’d turned my back on him, lowered my weapon, and made myself vulnerable.
If he had magic, I questioned why he didn’t take that opportunity to use it.
He could have done something to free himself of me.
I wouldn’t have hesitated if the roles were reversed.
Then again, I would never be part of a group that was so careless with human lives. Whoever this man was, whatever his motivations were, his very involvement denoted danger. I would do well to remember that, despite his cooperation and mildly devastating good looks.