Defy (24 page)

Tiege frowned. There hadn’t been any
mountains nearby that he could see. Of course, they had been flying
so close to the trees that it had been hard to see much of anything
beyond that.

I went through a field of strawberries not
too long ago. I was originally in a cave. I’ve been through a
couple of forests, stayed near a trout stream last night, and ran
across a rather large plain between the cave and the stream. I…I
don’t know where I am
.

She had begun her description calmly, but by
the time she finished, she sounded confused, frightened and
forlorn.

Stay calm, Tate. You’re doing great. Hang
on a sec
.

He opened his eyes and saw C.K. and Ini-herit
staring at him. “She’s at a mountain. She said she was initially in
a cave. From there she’s apparently been in a couple of forests,
run across a plain, hit a trout stream and crossed a strawberry
field.”

“Strawberries?” Ini-herit considered this.
“Find out if she sees a source of water anywhere near her.”

Do you
—? he started to think.

I heard him
, she interrupted.
Yes.
There’s a lake on the other side of this peak I just
crested
.

“She says there’s a lake.”

Ini-herit nodded. “I know where she is. She
is less than a day’s flight from here. If she stays put, we will
find her.”

Tiege felt Tate’s joy and relief just as
keenly as he did his own. He supposed a Corgloresti who had
transitioned from just about everywhere possible on the Estilorian
plane would know it very well. Having the elder along was proving
invaluable. C.K. grinned as she looked from Ini-herit to Tiege.

Smiling widely himself, he said,
“Thanks.”

Ini-herit nodded again. He looked at C.K.,
who reached out to take his hand and give it an appreciative
squeeze. The elder didn’t seem to know what to make of that.

Who is that?
Tate thought.

Archigos
Ini-herit
, he explained. Her
astonishment over that response was evident, reminding him that she
had no idea what else had occurred during her absence.
He and
C.K. had to transition back. Tate, you need to be aware that
there’s a group of rogue Mercesti roaming the mainland in search of
something. They’ve apparently taken to torturing and killing
females in the course of their quest to find it, though we don’t
know what it is or why they seek it
.

He felt her fear and horror. Despite her
surging emotions, he made himself continue, wanting her to be on
guard and aware of the potential danger.
One of these Mercesti,
a male named Zachariah, murdered a Scultresti named Luvania just
before you were taken. The Waresti are in search of him as well as
the Mercesti he’s apparently traveling with. We found evidence near
where we were camping last night that a Mercesti female was
attacked and murdered in a very brutal manner, and we believe, due
to the way Luvania died, that this was also the work of
Zachariah
.

Tiege
, she thought. It was all that
got past her racing thoughts and burgeoning terror.

I know. Stay strong, Tate. Find somewhere
you can sit out of sight for a day or so. We’re going to take
flight again now. As soon as we land to rest, I’ll check in with
you
.

Can’t we stay connected?

Her fear was so potent and the thought had
been issued in such a lost tone that he hated to tell her no, but
he knew he wouldn’t be able to maintain his focus enough during
their flight to keep the connection open. In truth, his head was
already starting to pound from his continued efforts. It was more
difficult than he had thought it would be.

I’m sorry, sis. I’ll check in with you as
soon as I can. I want to get in the air now so we can get to you as
soon as possible
.

Okay.
He had a sense of her lifting
her chin and straightening her shoulders, as if she was bracing
herself and finding her courage.
Thanks, Tiege. I love
you
.

He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose
as her emotions blended with his. He couldn’t remember her ever
actually saying that before. They certainly both knew the depth of
their connection as siblings, but the words hadn’t ever needed to
be voiced. They did now, though.

I love you, too, Tate. We’re coming to get
you
.

Alexius had his first big break just a matter
of hours after Harold found the evidence of Tate’s survival in the
cave. Because he shared thoughts with his commander and his elder,
Alexius was aware of the successful hunt, as well as the effect it
had on Tate’s family.

He was quite relieved by the news himself. He
couldn’t say exactly what it was he felt during Tate’s memorial
service. In his centuries of being, he had seen many a comrade
fall. But he realized as he stood with Tate’s grieving family that
there was something very different about bearing witness to the
devastation wrought by a child’s death.

For some unknown reason, his gaze had
returned repeatedly to Tate’s eleven-year-old sister, Abigail.
Seated next to her twin brother, Adam, she had wept silently and
stoically, her hand entwined with her brother’s. In particular, her
muted emotion had left him aching in a way he hadn’t ever before
experienced.

As a class, the Waresti were known for their
unemotional natures. Yet he had seen both his commander and his
elder floundering as much as he had while
archigos
Jabari
spoke about Tate’s short life amid her family’s anguished
weeping.

The search for Tiege and the others had been
a welcome distraction from the foreign feelings evoked by the
memorial. Alexius knew it probably didn’t speak much to his
character that he preferred to focus on warfare and offensive
tactics than the mess of emotions, but he couldn’t—or
wouldn’t—fight his nature.

So he had accepted the assignment from his
commander with gratitude and enthusiasm. It felt productive.

When they found the campsite, he experienced
a sense of elation that only occurred when he achieved success on a
mission. The moment he stepped into the small clearing, his Waresti
instincts told him that the area had been occupied by the group
they pursued, and not very long ago.

“They were here, were they not, sir?” Donald
asked as they examined the area.

Alexius nodded. His lieutenant was quite
sharp and caught on quickly. When they lost lieutenant Balera in
the battle against Grolkinei, Alexius had consulted for a long time
with commander Harold and
archigos
Uriel over who should be
nominated to fill her position. She had possessed a keen intuition
that made her loss strongly felt by the Waresti. Donald had proven
that he had been a wise choice on their part.

Mercesti typically left a campsite without
care. Campfires were often still burning when found by Waresti
touring the mainland. Any food that had been eaten remained in
discarded heaps around the area. Because Mercesti couldn’t receive
hospitality items from the Lekwuesti, they usually had to rely on
their own wiles to fulfill those needs. Thus, the Mercesti found it
a particular success to convert a Lekwuesti. As many converted
Estilorians maintained at least some of their prior class’s skill,
a Lekwuesti who converted to Mercesti could usually be relied on to
produce food, clothing or similar items. Even so, the Mercesti
didn’t generally concern themselves with neatness or maintaining
the sanctity of their environment.

This campsite, on the other hand, had a
doused fire and little other evidence left behind.

“They were here,” Alexius said to punctuate
his nod. “I see prints large enough for males and small enough for
females. There are even some prints that appear feline, which would
be explained easily enough if Sophia shifted. Fan out and let me
know what you find.”

Fifteen minutes later, the small group of
Waresti once again collected around the doused campfire. Donald
took the lead in discussing their findings.

“There were numerous tracks within a clearing
just a few minutes from here. We found evidence of what I believe
was a Mercesti camp. Gauging from the markings in the ground and
the predicted sizes of the tents they used, the Mercesti number at
least thirty. We followed tracks leading off into the forest.”

“How long ago do you believe the tracks were
made?”

“The Mercesti tracks are approximately a day
old,” the lieutenant said. Alexius knew that Donald would have used
his Waresti abilities to assess any footprints for heat signatures
and other identifying traits. “I did, however, detect prints that
were made much more recently.”

This didn’t surprise Alexius. He may have
remained behind at the primary campsite, but he hadn’t done so
without carefully assessing it. The more recent tracks in the area
stood out to his experienced eyes like blood on a snow bank.

“They have split up,” Alexius said. “The
freshest prints in this area belong to two males—one of whom is
carrying the other for flight—and one female. There is no sign of
another male and female here.”

Donald was already nodding as he also looked
around the site. “While in the clearing where the Mercesti camped,
I noted recent tracks for two males and one female. One of the
males returned to this area while the other male and female
followed the visible tracks left by the Mercesti.”

Alexius had already reasoned this out and was
pleased his lieutenant had also done so. “We need to split up. I
will lead half of our number in pursuit of the two males and single
female.”

While he didn’t mention it, he suspected it
was
archigos
Ini-herit carrying Tiege who had left the large
boot prints beside the smaller, feminine ones within this campsite.
Sophia was a small female who rarely wore boots. And because she
couldn’t fly, it made sense that she was with Quincy. Alexius was
observant enough to know that the Corgloresti who saw to the
medical needs of the Kynzesti wouldn’t allow Sophia out of his
sight for long.

“You will lead the search for the two who
went after the Mercesti,” he told Donald. “I cannot imagine what
drove them after the evil beings, but you must attempt to intercept
them and bring them back.”

Alexius looked around at each of the Waresti
gathered around him. “Our mission is to bring this group back to
their families unharmed. And that is just what we are going to
do.”

Bertram was going to kill Tycho as painfully
as possible for this.

The duo had been wandering aimlessly for days
after being cast out of the band of their Mercesti brethren. Eirik
had found them having a bit of fun with the female Lekwuesti pet he
kept all to himself, and he hadn’t liked that at all. Bertram
failed to see what the fuss was all about. They hadn’t even removed
any of her clothing. Yet.

But the hard-nosed leader hadn’t wanted to
listen to their arguments. He considered their behavior rebellious,
since he had ordered everyone following him to leave the female
alone until he said otherwise. Bertram thought Eirik was being
overly territorial, though he had been wise enough to keep that
opinion to himself. Thanks to his silence, he and Tycho had only
been kicked out of the camp and not slaughtered where they stood
once their actions were discovered.

He and Tycho had realized within the span of
a day that they weren’t cut out for solitary life. They fell in
with Eirik’s little tribe shortly after Grolkinei was killed.
Kanika’s “reign” over the Mercesti had been laughable. Eirik was at
least a leader they could respect. Unlike Kanika, Eirik didn’t try
to convince them that they had been influenced by some of
Grolkinei’s commanders to behave in a way that would convert them
to Mercesti.

“Grolkinei used some of his most powerful
Mercesti, such as his commander, Layla, to influence the decisions
and behavior of Estilorians on the mainland,” Kanika had announced.
“This resulted in many conversions that should never have been. If
you have ever doubted the fact that you are Mercesti or questioned
why you acted in the way in which you converted, please speak with
me.”

Please. Bertram knew well and good what he
was doing when he killed the Estilorian who caused him to covert,
and he knew Tycho did, too.

When they finally acknowledged that they
needed to be aligned with Eirik for the sake of their own
livelihood, they tried very hard to think of ways to ingratiate
themselves back into the fold. They considered and dismissed the
idea of finding a female for him. Not only did he already have the
Lekwuesti female right there whenever he wanted, lone females were
rather difficult to come by on the mainland. Additionally, Eirik
wasn’t as obsessed with enjoying females as those who followed him
were. He usually passed along any female prisoners to Deimos. That
wouldn’t do Bertram and Tycho any good.

After two full days of deliberation, they
decided that the most effective way to regain their positions
within Eirik’s camp was with information. Their leader—former
leader at the moment—was up to something big. He hadn’t revealed
much to his followers, but he had given enough hints to have all of
them salivating with thoughts of power and prestige.

Both Bertram and Tycho suspected that Eirik
was uncertain about some element of his plan, however. Their group
had changed course numerous times in recent weeks, sometimes
revisiting ground they had already covered. The addition of the
Lekwuesti to the mix was even more puzzling. From what they
observed, it seemed that she was attempting to help Eirik find
something. This made Bertram and Tycho reason that Eirik needed
more information about whatever object he sought. Bertram and Tycho
were determined to get that information and deliver it to Eirik in
exchange for being let back into the tribe.