Feel the Burn (33 page)

Vork venom.

The realization didn’t help in any way and she watched it grow lighter when Ignatius flipped her over.

‘Powerful stuff isn’t it,’ he smirked, a malicious smile of delight spreading across his face. Fury boiled inside Leseach as she stared helplessly at that bastard’s face. He leaned over, face close to hers and she could smell his breath while he held one of the bandi swords in her face.

‘The mighty Northerner vanishes on the eve of battle. Taken by a carnivore? Or did she flee. Lucky that I’ll be there to watch over the Princess.’ Ignatius put the bandi sword to her face and she didn’t feel him drag the point, she only knew when her face turned.

‘She’ll be so distraught to lose you, Leseach. And I intend on comforting her. In fact, I need to go finish comforting her now.’

She raged against him in her mind as he stood and threw the bandi swords down a hole. There was a faint click while they tumbled far away and now she could only see his bare legs and shorts. Then she heard something, a shuffling noise, followed by a strange husky whine.

‘Ahh I thought you were here. Well look what I brought this time, enjoy.’ Ignatius laughed and his footsteps disappeared down the tunnel, the light too. The shuffling noise increased and Leseach’s head began to spin from lack of oxygen. Then she realized it wasn’t that at all; something dragged her. The snuffling creature hauled her deeper into the tunnel.

*~*~*

Chapter Twenty Five

I woke then groaned when my head pounded.

What an awful night’s sleep, such chaotic dreams.

I struggled to sit up and realized I’d somehow half pulled my top off during the night. Wriggling it around, I went to speak but hacked, my throat so dry I couldn’t swallow and my lips felt weirdly puffy. Beside me, Leseach sat up.

‘Cat?’

‘Ignatius,’ I croaked in surprise. ‘Where’s Leseach?’

I heard him scrub his hands through his hair before he said in a confused voice, ‘I don’t know. She was meant to wake me.’

Outside of the tent I could hear people getting up and Ignatius thrust the tent flap open, striding off. I stumbled around in the dark because he’d taken the only torch, struggling into the chainmail and pressed my cold fingers to my lips for relief. So weird, I thought, maybe I’m allergic to something. Crawling out the tent I staggered to my feet and just stared.

‘Whoa.’

The cave seethed with activity, soldiers and allies dashing back and forth with gear, and a group stood in the center. I could see Rashid and Ignatius, and heard Leseach’s name repeated, so made my way over and found Gredel, Daron, and Sabyn, there too. I saw their frowns when I approached and the stern glances while they conversed with each other.

‘Where is she?’

They all turned at my question and a goblin standing beside Rashid flicked something my way. I caught it and felt the room slow and my breath catch while I stared at the coarse tangle of blond hair, long strands matted with blood. My fingers closed around its unpleasant stickiness, and I shuddered, looking up in shock.

‘Leseach?!’

Gredel and Sabyn stared at me with tense hard eyes and I realized my energy hummed out.

‘Is she?’ I whispered disbelievingly.

Sabyn gave a tiny nod, his cheek twitching and jaw stiff.

‘How far did you check,’ Rashid asked the goblin in a steady voice but with grim eyes.

‘As far as I could. The blood went for some distance.’

‘Much?’

‘No. Just a long line,’ the goblin said matter-of-factly, while I stared at the hair. ‘It dragged her away.’

No one said anything, then Ignatius cleared his throat. I looked up to see him give Rashid’s shoulder a squeeze, his eyes sympathetic for an instant, before they turned hard, business like.

‘Let’s get moving.’

The atmosphere felt chilling when everyone turned away, focusing on the tasks at hand. Ignatius walked back to the tent to pack it up and I just stood there, amongst all the activity, feeling like I stood in my own bubble watching it all at a distance. No one teased or chatted, the twelve hundred warriors now acted the part. Loi, Sian, and Kassie wound their way through the crowd to me, their energies humming so loudly with nerves and distress that I didn’t need to look for them. Kassie brushed my arm and I felt her gently take the knot of hair.

Poor Leseach,
she thought.

How the hell did it happen? She was so strong!

Loi reached out to touch the hair and winced when she did.
Do you really want to know?

Kassie shook her head and wiped at her eyes with the back of a hand.

Another reason,
though Sian.

There are countless reasons,
I thought, the dream of Alek and his words still fresh in my mind. Loi opened her arms and the four of us hugged together tight. We stayed there while the camp cleared, images of the awful things we’d seen moving through our minds, confirming our resolve.

Deas,
thought Kassie,
and pretty Moright.

Yakov and Broen,
I thought. The memory of Broen’s head lying separate still haunted my sleep.

The villagers that the guys had to clean up,
thought Sian.

The guests at the ball,
added Loi.
And countless others, Cat’s parents included.

And my heart, I thought to myself, seeing Alek’s face clear for a moment. The others hugged me tighter though I hadn’t shared the thought.

We better not let our fearless Northerner down then,
I thought, in an attempt at humor.

Hell no, she’ll deal to us on the other side if we do,
Sian thought and the four of us chuckled.

We can do it, we have to do it. And we will,
Kassie thought and we nodded.

‘Cat.’

We separated from the hug and I turned to Belsesus, who offered an arm to me.

‘Come on, you ride with me today.’

Larvaste, Chaieth, and Oomoth stood near, waiting for the other girls.

The army kept close today and the sounds of voices, feet, hooves and claws on stone, along with the clank of armor echoed around us. The four of us girls rode our bodyguards and it made me think back to the practices in the meadow; they felt so long ago now and here we were, finally doing what we’d practiced so hard for. My heart ached for Al and Yakov, for Leseach and for the comfort of a simpler time.

Belsesus ran through lessons with me, describing an attack and asking the defense, while Loushka kept a running commentary of what Ignatius and Rashid discussed. They walked behind us but before the griffon.

‘They keep reiterating the goal of getting you four to the castle,’
Loushka thought, and I felt her anxiety.
‘The unvoiced suggestion is that a huge army awaits us. There’s no doubt Jenviet simply waits for us to walk into her arms. They wonder if Leseach was killed by her. Sounds like Ignatius and Belsesus will accompany you to the castle; and the girls’ bodyguards will accompany them.’

The thought that Jenviet had taken Leseach rankled, I hated knowing we played straight into that witch’s hands. But what else could we do?

‘Catherine!’ Belsesus snapped, making me jerk to attention. ‘Are you listening? What do you do if surrounded?’

‘Blast the shit out of them,’ I snapped back, no longer inclined to play this game. The centaur twisted to frown at me, then gave a patronizing shrug and turned back. I sighed quietly, annoyed at myself for snapping but I wasn’t in the mood to talk yet. Nerves cramped my stomach, making riding uncomfortable and frustrating. Walking at least would give me something to do and perhaps less time to wonder about Leseach, Jenviet, and what we would soon walk into.

Riding out in front without Rumal only added to Kassie’s anxiety. At least now, with so much practice on the ships, riding Oomoth felt easier; leaning with the centaur when he climbed up and down, picking his way over the rough path. She would have liked to have chatted with the girls, but Loi communed with the earth, lost in her own world, and Sian and Cat weren’t in chatting moods. It left her stuck in her own mind, dwelling on everything. Trying to shake it off, Kassie studied the colors of the rock, the blues and whites lending a fairy tale feel to the tunnels. If only it made it warmer, she thought with a shiver. The cold leached into her bones and usually she had Rumal and Kerak near to keep her warm. It made it easier to deal with every day underground if she at least kept warm.

‘Miss you guys,’
she thought to Kerak.

‘Miss you too, Kass. We’ll see you soon, we’re almost out.’

We are? Kassie sat straighter then leaned, trying to see ahead.

‘All right back there, Kass?’ Oomoth asked.

‘Yes, how close are we?’

‘Not long, an hour perhaps.’

Just an hour until daylight, Kassie’s palms grew damp and she gripped the molded pommel.

Oh wow, she gulped. Her stomach did flip-flops while she fought against the sudden urge to stop, to not go a step further. Then Leseach came to mind.

The panic evaporated when she thought of the girl, and longed for her to be walking beside them, with that quiet stealthy stride. It felt so very wrong to go ahead without her; Leseach had been such a constant in their lives for months, training and teaching them.

Still can’t believe she was just eighteen, Kassie thought, she did so well in watching Cat, even if she couldn’t understand Cat’s relationship with Alek. Thinking of them brought on a sudden longing for Yakov and his calm, steady council. The way he listened and saw both sides and the way he always made them laugh at themselves. Somehow with Yakov there, everything always seemed okay.

It’s so far from okay now, Kassie thought while squeezing her eyes shut when Yakov’s smiling, teasing face came to mind, bringing tears. Miss you so much, dear man.

The morbid thoughts triggered the darkest fears that usually haunted her at night. Having lost a love once, she knew all too well the pain. The knowledge that what she had with Rumal was so, so much more…

I can’t lose him, she thought and her throat went unbearably tight, I can’t!

‘Kass? Still good?’

She nodded automatically, the gesture pointless and cleared her throat, answering in a rough voice.

‘I’ll do.’

Oomoth reached an arm back and squeezed her knee. Kassie rolled her lips together hard and patted his hand, affection for the quiet, steady soldier making her want to go to pieces all of a sudden.

Why the hell does everyone I know get in my heart, she thought, irrationally angry at herself. It would help so much if I didn’t care!

‘You be damn careful, you hear me?’ she demanded in a broken voice.

Oomoth laughed softly and twisted to glance back, eyes warm.

‘I could say the same to you.’

Kassie worked a stern, grouchy expression, fighting back tears as she glared at him.

‘Will if you will.’

A smile tugged at the centaur’s mouth and he turned back.

‘Deal.’

After a bit I apologized to Belsesus and we continued drilling, though for whose benefit I wasn’t sure. I knew all the answers inside and out, now it would be seeing how I measured up in reality. When a lull in the questions came, I asked one of my own.

‘Belsesus?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Are you scared?’

I said it quietly, not wanting the others to hear and his ears flicked back at my soft tone. After a thoughtful pause he said, ‘No. That’s not to suggest I have no sense of fear, but our task is so important that I don’t have the luxury to feel scared.’