Chapter 84 #2
I turned to try again, but I swore I saw something move under the trees. I froze, ignoring the cacophony around me, and saw another. Spinning, I found more on my other side. They were fast, but too familiar, and these men were screaming loud enough to let everything in the area hear us.
"Enough!" I snapped, needing them to stop talking.
Something bigger moved at the edge of my vision. I turned, trying to find it, but there were too many trees. Too many shapes to make out. Plenty moved, but was that just the wind or something else? I couldn't hear to be sure, not over these men.
So I roared, "Silence!"
The hunters immediately stopped talking to gape at me. But in the hush that followed, there was still sound. A low, deep, rumbling I knew much too well.
"Guv oup," a voice called, the words strange and twisted. "Tur zorundud."
And the dogs moved closer. Around me, the men spun, trying to see them all. Dark shapes, light ones, and spotted ones were barely visible in the underbrush. I knew these men could see them, and they were all tensing up like they were about to panic.
"Do not move," I warned, and then raised my voice to whoever was out there. "We do not understand. We speak English!"
"What are you doing?" Jonnas hissed.
That voice called out, speaking too fast for me to even make out the sounds.
Another, further away, either replied or repeated it.
I couldn't be sure. But all around us, footsteps shifted.
Over there, a Dragon was just visible, partially hidden by a tree.
On my other side, it was a Reaper - er, wild man.
"Do you speak English?" I asked again, pulling my gun strap over my head.
The sound of a dozen bowstrings tightening was louder than I'd expected. I couldn't even see them all, but I'd heard it - and the growling grew more intense.
This was how I'd die - here, knowing the code, but unable to give it to anyone because of a foolish language barrier!
My heart hammered in my chest, then skipped a few beats as fear took over. I wanted to run, but knew better. Out there, the Dragons and Reapers were waiting. Those dogs would tear us apart if given half a chance. And worse, if any of these men broke, we'd all be assumed to be enemies - and killed.
Then, directly on the path we'd been heading, a dark Dragon stepped forward. His size was impressive. His clothing was as black as the sky above, but it didn't hide the stripes on his head and hands. Behind him, his tail lashed, revealing the most vivid blue I'd ever seen.
"You all just really want to die, don't you?" the Wyvern asked in perfect English.
"Stand. Still!" I ordered the men with me. "Right now, there are at least a dozen bows trained on us. Probably more. None of us will even get a gun up before we're dead."
But Jonnas didn't listen. He spun, trying to grab his weapon and aim at the same time.
I heard a garbled word and a single dark streak rushed between us, slamming into Jonnas and yanking him off his feet.
The beast grabbed the gun in the middle and pulled, ripping the strap over the hunter's head, dragging Jonnas three feet in the process, and then raced back into the trees the moment it had the gun.
Men moved. Everyone turned to assist, but it all happened so fast they barely had time to do more than twist.
"Stop!" I ordered. "The next man who moves is probably going to die, or do you not understand that? We're surrounded, unprepared, and at their mercy."
"And we have a lot of dogs," the Wyvern almost purred, moving a little closer. "So, what will it be? Are we going to kill all of you tonight?"
"If they surrender, will they live?" I asked.
The man looked at me, lifting a brow. I knew he was trying to figure out if he should admit he knew me, but I didn't know the answer to that either. If I spoke honestly, I might be able to save these men, but I'd never be able to go back. I wouldn't see Callah again.
Yet the Wyvern tipped his head. "We brought you deer. Did you not like it?"
"We're not hunting," I told him, moving forward so there were no hunters between us. Slowly, I lifted my gun out to the side. "I'm going to set this down."
"Oh, that's a very good idea. I have two dogs trained just on you," the Wyvern said. "Ayla, show him."
She stepped from behind a tree, revealing a brownish dog on one side and one that was mostly black on the other. "Hello, Tobias," she said.
And from behind me, Elijah gasped, "Ayla!"
"I told you," she snarled at him, "to stop killing people!"
I lifted a hand to silence him. "And you know we don't have a choice," I said, making her talk to me. "These men just learned we've been sent as a distraction. You need to know that. We are here to be noticed."
The Wyvern made a gesture, and the entire forest around us moved.
Men, women, and Dragons eased into view as if by some miracle.
I twisted, unable to keep myself from looking and counted ten here, six there, and at least seven more on my other side.
There were more behind me, which meant the odds were at least even, and likely in their favor.
"You got noticed," the Wyvern promised. "The bigger question is why you want to be?"
Slowly, I bent, setting the gun on the ground as far away from me as I could reach. "Men, put your weapons down. We've already lost."
Jonnas groaned, clearly suffering from what the dog had done to him, but I couldn't look back. I had to find a way to handle this. I had to walk this line.
Or not.
"Ayla," I said, standing slowly. "I am the team leader here. I have the code. I also have a suspicion Gideon is leading people to Lorsa right now. They left yesterday. We're the mistakes. The worst hunters. They sent us out to die so the real attack could get around your line!"
"Fuck!" the Wyvern snarled.
And another man, the bright yellow one, moved into sight. "When?" His word was thick with an accent.
It was Elijah who answered. "We don't know. All we know is, this makes no sense. We were just talking about it when you found us."
"We need to turn back," Jeshiah said.
And the Wyvern chuckled. "Oh, it's too late for that. Surrender, and I'll let you live. Move wrong, and we'll feed all of you to the dogs."
"Do it!" I told them. "Trust me. This is your chance to be free.
This? It's an opportunity you never knew you wanted, but you do.
" And I turned to face them. "Lay down your guns, and I will make sure they let all of us live, but you will never go back.
Do you understand me? You can die, or you can live free, but you cannot return to the Righteous. "
And to my surprise, men began kneeling, setting their weapons aside. Not all of them, but far more than I had ever expected.