Arissa's Fate (Redemption Trilogy) (4 page)

Chapter Eight

The trail was steep and treacherous, making slow proc
ess of the climb. Several times Arissa dismounted the stallion, allowing him to find his own way to the top of a rocky incline or a patch of narrow trees. She would follow behind the horse until he stopped for her again.

There were no other signs to follow except for the shod marks in the dirt. It was hard keeping them in sight, disappearing when the terrain became rocky or covered in grass. Somehow, Raze seemed to know what they were doing and repeatedly smelled the air and ground. Arissa trusted that he knew which paths to follow.

It was impossible to even tell what time of day it was. The canopy of overhead trees was so thick, hardly any light came through. Even before they had entered the forests, the clouds had begun covering the vast skies. Lately, Arissa had felt more comfortable in the dark than anything. It had been one of her only comforts in the past months. If she couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see her.

Arissa had never been to the actual city of Varkland and she had been hoping she would never have to.
Before becoming a wanted fugitive, most of her work for the General had been mainly stationed in Daer and Vailwood. That was before her name had been cast into the accusations of murder and forced her to run in order to save her own life as well as the lives of the people she was closest to.

When they stopped on a small, flat space of ground to rest for a moment, Arissa was nearly startled when she looked behind them for the first time. She had no idea they had climbed as high as they had, being able to finally see above the tall trees.
Beyond the mist that was beginning to settle, the grey masses of destruction stretched out farther than Arissa cared to see. Nothing lived or grew there anymore. It had once been alive with cities and people and the wild animals that lived in the forests that no longer existed. Not since the war had destroyed everything.

It wa
s too depressing to look at any longer and, more so by the minute, Arissa was growing to hate the world around her. She didn’t care about how bitterly unfair it was, but she couldn’t stand the thought of living in a world anymore where a man as horrible as the General was in control. Just because he had the lone survivor of the last battle that had concluded the war, he thought that entitled him to own the world. It made her sick to even think about it.

She continued the rest of the way on foot, the loyal stallion close behind her.
The ground had turned back to packed dirt, soft enough to identify the imprint of the horseshoes. Everything around them still looked the same and she soon found herself wondering how much farther through the mountains they had to travel before they arrived in Varkland. The dull light from the overcast sky remained the same, disheartening.

Despite the chilly air, Arissa could feel her skin becoming damp with skin. Her heavy cloak made hard work on trekking the mountain and her leather boots were beginning to make walking more difficult that it had been. Her black pants had been mad
e of tough strips of salvaged fabric from several of the factories in the area that were no long operable.

Arissa began to lithely pull herself over a fallen tree with broken off branches when Raze suddenly reared beside her. An ear-splitting whinny sounded out throughout the valley from the dark horse.

“Shh!” she hissed quickly to the horse, without thinking. His front hooves struck the ground hard, only a few feet from her, but his eyes were wide and frightened.

Arissa’s swift instincts immediately kicked in, her sharp eyes scanning the forest around them. Something had startled the stallio
n and now anybody in a ten mile radius knew that they were there.

Directly on the path above them, less than a ten minute trek away, was an abrupt dip into the edge of the mountain. It was so sudden and there didn’t seem to be any gaps in the forest leading away from it. She would bet anything that was where Varkland was located. There was no way of knowing what kind of security had been set up by the military. Coming to Varkland was their last option as well as hers, there had to be something set up ahead of time.

In the next moment, a gunshot split the air, ringing through the mountains even louder than Raze’s piercing shriek had.

A squeal and a spray of dirt later, the black horse had spun and galloped
down the path they had just climbed, and disappeared out of sight.

A
s much as it pained her, Arissa didn’t have time to worry about her horse. She was focused on trying to see where the gunshot had sounded from. With light, silent footsteps, she ran through the trees, continuing towards the settlement that waited for her. She was only over the next knoll when her heart leapt into her throat.

On the ground directly ahead of her was a body, face down. All she noticed was familiar brown leather jacket that the man wore. She knew that jacket, it was one that she had seen hundreds of times before.

No, no, no,
she kept repeating to herself. Her muscles felt numb as she tried to run towards the body, but her legs were becoming increasingly weak.

The fresh pool of blood that was still growing quickly soaked up into the fabric of her pants and cloak as she knelt beside the body. She gripped her trembling fingers around the shoulder, feeling the slippery warmth of the blood against her skin. The heavy feeling of her unsettled stomach was rising quickly with regret, tears stinging her eye
s when she finally saw the empty face of the man.

Chapter Nine

It wasn’t him. Somehow this man had acquired the same jacket, but it wasn’t him. She could hardly take her eyes away from the bullet wound in the man’s chest, still oozing with blood.

Without even thinking about her surroundings and how utterly exposed she was, Arissa simply sat back on her heels, burying her face in her hands. It was hard for her to draw a simple breath past her swollen throat and pounding heart. She felt her palms becoming moist with tears.

For ten seconds, her entire world had crumbled at the thought of losing him. She had honestly thought it was him lying in the pool of blood ahead of her. Her muscles were still weak and trembling, but her brain was finally telling her to move.

Her hands were sticky with blood and she felt it on her face now, as well. Attempting to wipe it off on her cloak, Arissa suddenly turned, remembering Raze. There was no sign of the
stallion anywhere among the trees. Exasperated, Arissa sighed heavily. Without a horse, escaping the mountain would be nearly impossible.

She had to seriously debate what to do, while crawling under a thick cluster of bushes for concealment. The logical thing to do was to descend the mountain and return only after she had either found Raze or could find another horse to...borrow.
Getting herself killed or arrested wouldn’t do anyone any good at all. But she didn’t know how much time she had until the people holding him prisoner did something drastic, something that was meant to get her attention.

No. Everything had been dragged out too long as it was, she couldn’t afford any
more lost time. She would have to put aside her concern for Raze and trust in her skills and her instincts to get her back through the mountain forests.

All thoughts of terror and feeling
s of weakness suddenly vanished from her mind when another gunshot cracked through the air. She instinctively ducked her head, even though she was safely hidden already. The piercing noise rang out even louder than before, as if it was fired directly overhead.

Arissa was just about to dodge out from under her shelter when she heard the distinct sound of a dry twig being snapped in half by a footstep and it was within
only a few feet of her, just on the other side of the bush. She froze and nearly stopped breathing, not making a single noise or movement. Through a small opening in the leaves she could see the toe of a black boot that was once polished to a shine but was now covered in dust. It was unmoving, but as Arissa listened, she could hear the approaching sounds of a whole group. Still holding her breath, she ducked her head to look higher through the gaps in the leaves. She could see the legs of horses walking by, all the same color.

This had to be them. The group that she needed to find was here. No other militia squad would be in the Varkland mountains
, and apparently the thought of entering the fallen city unsettled them.

Good,
Arissa thought to herself. Avoiding the city would make her job a lot easier.

After counting the legs of four horses walking by, she was about to look away from the gap in the leaves when she heard a shuffling sound. Confused, she watched through her tiny window of vision, but saw nothing. Frustrated, she nearly missed seeing a new pair of boots walk by, but these were different. These were tired and sore, dragging helplessly in the dirt with each exhausted step.

“Continue on and make camp. Keep the prisoner close,” the muffled voice from one of the soldiers spoke.

Her heart jolted in her chest and Arissa had to remind herself where she was to keep herself from leaping to her feet. The prisoner. It had to be him.

Either the soldiers had absolutely no idea what they were doing and were completely lost, or it was some sort of trick to capture her. All of the group had moved past her, continuing along the faint path they were on. What they didn’t seem to know was that it was basically moving in the exact direction she had just come from, the bottom of the mountain.

It took everything in her to not even peer around the corner to see if it was him. They would both die if she was captured at this point in the chase.

The fact that she was so near the most hostile and violent city in the territory was unsettling to Arissa. She hoped that the soldiers would have enough sense to make their camp out of sight. A glowing campfire in the middle of the woods was the perfect invitation for a raid by a bunch of thieving scavengers from the discarded settlement. Just what she didn’t need.

For some reason, her mind was completely blank. She couldn’t specifically think of a single plan that could possibly work, her thoughts felt so scattered and jumbled. Nerves were messing with her brain and she needed it to stop. Night was already beginning to fall, the light fading into a subtle dusk. Something had to happen before it was completely dark.

Convinced that the group was far enough out of sight and earshot, Arissa pulled herself out from her hiding place. Her muscles were beginning to stiffen, but all she could focus on was the direction the band had disappeared to.

She was just about to follow them when she felt the sudden, unmistakably cold tip of a rifle barrel being pressed between her shoulder blades.

Chapter Ten

“
I knew you would be here,” a gruff, deep voice hissed in her ear. “I knew you would be naive enough to fall into my trap. If only the General wasn’t so set on killing you himself, I would love nothing more than to shoot you right now.”

             
Arissa knew exactly who was standing behind her, even before she slowly turned to face the man. Her eyes skimmed over the rifle barrel that was shoved directly in her face and settled on the hateful look on the man’s face.

             
“I didn’t fall into your trap. Frankly, I’m surprised you are the first to find me. I thought you would have been too busy stabbing your friend, the almighty General, in the back...Captain Lovett.”

             
“Watch your tongue. You speak ill of the General and you speak ill of your country. Committing treason may seem like a minor thing to a criminal like you, but trust me, he won’t take it so lightly. You won’t live to see another day.”

             
Arissa still refused to back down, feeling nothing but loathing and resentment towards the Captain.

             
“I hate a hypocrite,” Arissa stated, her voice smooth and level. “You stand there accusing me of what you think I did when actually you’re no better than I am. Isn’t that right?”

             
“You know nothing of what it means to be loyal. You betrayed the one person who you should respect.”

             
A smile snaked across Arissa’s lips. She should feel trapped and defeated, panicking about what had just happened, but she didn’t. This was the first time since leaving Daer that she had felt so victorious. Now it was too clear that she would win.

             
“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” she grinned deviously, challenging him. Finally, it seemed that she struck a nerve. The captain roughly shoved her forward onto the trail, motioning for her to walk ahead of him in the direction that the other soldiers had gone.

             
“Captain Lovett, I wouldn’t be too sure of myself if I were you. Just because I’m here now doesn’t mean you’ve won. I know everything there is to know about you and all your dirty secrets. Don’t think for one moment that if I go down, I’m won’t take you with me.”

             
His only response was a hard shove with the barrel of his rifle.

             
Arissa thought fast. She was here. She had found the patrols that were keeping him hostage. There would certainly be a trick, but she had outsmarted the Captain more times than she could count. The thought of his weak plans didn’t worry her.

             
In the near distance, a glowing fire was easily visible. The red flames licked high into the air, nearly as tall as the men that stood around it, who were all heavily armed. Arissa shook her head. “Greenhorns.”

             
“What was that?” the Captain questioned from behind her, probably hoping to hear her say something that he could use to incriminate her. She didn’t bother to answer.

             
The only thing that did worry her was that from where the camp was, Arissa could easily see into one edge of the settlement above them. With such a ridiculous fire, it would only be a matter of minutes before there was a group of thieves on them, looking to steal anything they could find. She could handle four poorly trained soldiers and the Captain, no problem. But an entire army of scavenging convicts was a bit more intimidating when she was by herself.

             
The group of soldiers turned to face them as they entered, all training their rifles on Arissa. Nobody spoke a word, but she let her eyes swiftly sweep over the makeshift camp, absorbing all the information she could in a few seconds. The four bay horses were tied to trees, all dozing, exhausted. Arissa had just found her way off the mountain.

             
“Normally I would love to sit back and watch all of you get killed when that city comes down here to rob you all. You’ve sent them the perfect little signal fire here to tell them exactly where you are.”

             
“Silence, prisoner,” the Captain snapped to her. “The city of Varkland is abandoned. The General himself sent the order to permanently evacuate.”

             
“You really believe that?” she asked, not nearly as surprised as she should be. The General’s soldiers never had been the smartest people around. “Just because the General said so, you think everybody is going to do what he wants?”

             
“Anybody would be foolish to disobey the General’s word.”

             
“You would know.”

             
The look of frustration in the Captain’s eyes grew. Evidently the secrets that Arissa knew about him were strictly between themselves. The confused faces of the other soldiers confirmed that.

             
One of the men stepped forward and securely bound a length of stiff rope around her wrists in front of her. They seemed startled by her, but too afraid to question her cooperation.

             
They obviously were not keeping him hostage in the camp itself, but he was close. Somehow, she could sense it and it made her feel even edgier and more anxious. She was trying to keep an eye on the side of the city wall, as well, praying to the heavens that it remained still and quiet for a little while longer.

             
He wasn’t in the camp, but she had definitely seen him walk past her earlier while she had been hiding under the bushes. Just then, Arissa suddenly recalled the second gunshot that she had heard. Her heart instantly beat faster. She was still surrounded by the soldiers, but they looked awkward and scared, constantly glancing to the Captain for guidance, who remained deadpan.

             
“You haven’t won.”

             
Her sudden statement seemed to startle the amateur soldiers again, but the spark of curiosity in the Captain’s eyes was exactly what Arissa wanted. She had discovered a way out of his trap and had already found a way to lay her own.

             
She continued. “You haven’t won because you haven’t caught me. And you never will. Do you know why? You may not have noticed, but you just gave me the answer that I need to beat you.”

             
“Shut your mouth. You’re wasting my time,” the Captain spat out, harshly. Arissa had a feeling he knew what he had done, he just didn’t want his team knowing it.

             
“The General wants me brought to him
alive
. That’s what you said. And given his feelings for me, I’m betting that he will do anything to
anybody
to make that happen,” Arissa smirked to them, and backed away from them, feeling gloriously free with this new aspect. Turning back to them, she saw that they were already beginning to lower their weapons in defeat. They knew where she was going.

             
“How are you planning on getting me to the General’s? If you think I’ll go willingly, you’re out of your mind. What are you going to do? Shoot me? I’d like to see you explain that to the General!”

Arissa was across the huge fire from the group now. The faces of the soldiers looked to the Captain, as if they didn’t know what to do. The burning glare of intense hatred from the Captain never left Arissa’s gleaming eyes. Everything fell silent.

              Suddenly, the fire exploded into a huge cloud of smoke and sparks, knocking everybody off of their feet, Arissa included. Instinctively, she threw up her arms to cover her face, but couldn’t catch her balance with her hands bound. She landed on her shoulder, feeling it crunch under her weight, but adrenaline helped her ignore the pain. She was quickly back on her feet.

             
The air was completely filled with the thick smoke and another gagging stench that Arissa couldn’t place. It was hard to breathe.

             
Of course she had not been expecting this to happen, but it made her escape even easier. Through the dense fog she could see the outline of more men that she had not seen before, and immediately knew what had happened.

             
Thieves from Varkland that had probably been scouting the forests for stray people to rob had found them and had thrown something into the fire to disorient the group of soldiers.

             
Arissa heard the screams and shouts of killing around her, but she was focused on the nearest horse that was tied to a tree, viciously trying to get freed. She had to leap several times for her bound hands to catch the tethered horse.

             
One of the horses had already disappeared. The smoke was beginning to clear and Arissa realized that the Captain was absent. Two of the soldiers and one of the strangers lay dead on the ground, the others still struggling for a grip on a rifle or blade from the other. The coward had abandoned his own troop and his prisoners.

             
Before she could mount the horse, a huge bulk of one of the strange men barrelled toward her. It was pure reflex for her to reach into her boot and pull free the sharp dagger she had hidden there. She gripped it tightly and held it out just as he smashed into her. The blade sunk into his stomach and he fell to the ground beside her.

             
The horse was galloping away before Arissa had even pulled herself upright. The smoke was nearly gone, as were the other two horses, stolen by the thieves. Only one unarmed soldier remained and he was dreadfully outnumbered. Arissa didn’t stick around to watch.

             
She did her best to follow the path she had taken with the Captain, but the remaining smoke and the startled horse made that difficult.

             
It was only after she came into sight of the dead man she had found earlier that she could slow the horse enough to stop. When she dismounted, being careful not to spook the horse, causing it to bolt from her, Arissa couldn’t believe what she saw.

             
The Captain was dead.