Honor, p.17
Honor, page 17
part #2 of The Avant Champion Series
The only obstacle between Lord Eustace and me was a mixer standing twenty meters away with his back to me. He wore pants and a loose-fitting shirt over his triangular torso. At his side was a long, jagged Hunju saber.
I crept quietly—as quietly as reasonably possible in ox pelt. A few meters away from my target, I stilled. A low, grumbling growl rippled from a dark, unseen corner of the room. My blood ran cold.
Two pairs of eyes glowed blue-green by the light of the bioluminescent chandelier.
Desert wolves!
Two of them emerged from the shadows, crouching low. Their dark brown fur had raised hackles at the neck. They looked lean and hungry. I was the right size for a snack shared between them.
As I stood stiff as a statue and barely breathing, I caught the sudden movement of the mixer turning toward me. His blade glinted silvery purple as it sliced through the air at me.
I could have vanished, simply moved out of the trajectory of the sword, but hearing those dogs and seeing the voracious hunger in their eyes conjured images of paralyzed victims being eaten alive. I let the rage I felt set the Warrior Stone glowing as I swept my sword up to block his blow. The thunderclap of the swords clashing echoed through the chamber.
The red stone in my necklace lit the space between our bodies. The mixer, twice my size at least, loomed over me with lips snarling. I met his hard gaze.
I faltered. “Arturo?”
20
“Ab’ay?”
Arturo and I tipped our swords toward the floor and took several paces back from each other. A cold lump of coal settled in my stomach.
His hair hung longer than I recalled, but his eyes showed the same warm brown I remembered from our many days together aboard the Juniper on our way to Mulan. Arturo was my friend, and I felt ashamed I had been sneaking up on him like a thief.
His wolves growled and crept closer. My eyes flickered over to them and back to Arturo.
“Heel,” he commanded.
They obediently lay down, though still appeared to be tense enough to leap at a moment’s notice.
A high-pitched warning screeched outside the fort.
Carrot!
She was alerting me to danger. A few small windows scattered the outer walls too high for me to look.
“Ab’ay, what ya doin’ here?” Arturo asked apprehensively, his thick accent as melodic as I remembered. Disconcertedness edged in his voice, and he didn’t sheath his sword.
What had happened in five years that this friend would be part of a rebellious kidnapping and look at me with a mix of fear and distrust?
“I’m not sure,” I answered truthfully, though I didn’t sheath my sword either.
I looked behind Arturo at Eustace, who stood gripping his cage and staring intently at us. His bare biceps flexed in anticipation of his freedom.
I thought I was freeing him, but Arturo’s presence here gave me even more reservation about my role. Arturo was honorable, and I didn’t believe he would be on the wrong side of a civil war.
“I think I’ve been misled,” I added meekly.
Arturo’s face darkened.
Someone burst into the room, another mixer based on his size. “We’re under attack!” he yelled.
“You’re attacking us?!” Arturo growled.
I took a step back, feeling the anger roll off him in waves.
“I can explain,” I said.
No, I can’t actually.
Arturo ran over to the wall of the chamber and looked through a small hole.
The other mixer spoke frantically. “Several dozen Dantajist warriors are upon us!”
Dozens?
Eustace’s red face contained a mixture of anticipation and glee. His body readied to pounce. Clearly these other warriors belonged to him.
I glared at Eustace. “Sit tight, little one, you’re not going anywhere until I get some answers.”
Judging by the hollering voices resonating down the hallway, my questions would have to wait.
“Muglik!” Eustace snarled at me.
The insult served well to provide me an additional assessment of his character. The irony of one barbarian using the name of another as an insult was not lost on me.
With swords at the ready, the three of us positioned ourselves, facing the door with our backs to Eustace. I looked at the two large mixers with whom I was about to battle a few dozen Hunju. I felt ill and dizzy, as everything was unraveling before my eyes.
“Mart, this is Ab’ay. Ab’ay, Mart,” Arturo introduced us.
Mart nodded nervously.
“Ab’ay just joined our side,” Arturo said pointedly.
I had a sneaking suspicion he spoke the truth. Our being so outnumbered would affect my ability and decision to complete this mission without bloodshed.
Where are Joshua and Coco?
A sickening knot formed in my stomach.
Quickly, a half-dozen Hunju stormed the room.
“Free me!” Eustace roared.
Yes, definitely his goons.
They swarmed on top of us, reeking of body odor, and their bare skin glistened blue in the light of the room.
As I fought two at a time, I felt grateful for all my training with Baird. I took the same approach I had with Windish five years ago. Slicing through the posterior tendon on the heel simultaneously dis- abled them but spared significant blood loss. The difficulty in the now crowded room was severing the tendon without going too deep and severing the entire ankle. Under the circumstances, I think I managed fairly well.
Arturo and Mart were out-sized by Hunjus twice as big as them. Their wolves teamed up against another Hunju with a ferocious gnashing of teeth. For a moment, only two opponents still stood. The other four lay on the floor wounded.
The sickening scent of coppery blood filled the room as it spilled on the floor. I preferred fighting evil to these creatures of flesh. Every cut of my sword felt ten times more violent than what I had done on the battlefield against Malos. No matter, I told myself. Once they surrendered, Joshua could reverse the damage.
To my dismay, another dozen filed into the room, Windish at the lead. I backed up, the clatter of swords echoing on my eardrums. The cage sat less than a half meter away, and I ensured I could see Eustace from my peripheral vision in the event he decided to try to assault me through the bars.
Windish wore a twisted, wicked grin, entirely too pleased at his successful double-cross. His lips peeled back to reveal crooked yellow teeth. They were as stained as his soul.
Once again I found myself willing to reconsider my minimal violence policy.
I steeled my resolve. It was going to be messy, but I could take them all.
A flicker, like a feather streamed through the air.
Poison dart.
I dodged, twisting my torso and avoiding the dart. It sailed past me, through the cage, and struck Eustace in the kneecap.
I smirked.
He snarled.
A sharp prick struck my neck, one of the few places not well concealed by my ox hide. A second dart. Perfect aim.
Mother Moon!
The paralytic began to take effect as rapidly as the snakebite. I crumpled to my knees, knowing I had only seconds before complete immobility overtook me. One limp foot hit the cage behind me. I extended a hand to Arturo’s ankle as he backed up defensively from the advancing Hunju.
Sorry, Mart.
With every drop of energy and will left in me, I poured the strength of my stone into my Traveler’s Star to transport myself, Arturo, and Eustace with his cage.
I would have screamed from the effort if I could have. My head throbbed so severely I thought it might split in two. Darkness crept on the periphery of my vision.
In the instant as I vanished from the fort, I saw Windish charging at me, eyes blazing with malice. Behind him a Hunju dragged Coco by the hair and the limp body of Joshua by the leg.
Soft grass emerged beneath me. My vision blurred with the strain of what I had attempted to transport. I wasn’t sure if I had succeeded, since all I saw was lush green grass and dark, fertile soil.
“Ab’ay?”
I felt Arturo’s large hands gently rolling me over onto my back. The venom had once again reduced me to a limp doll.
“Oh, Ab’ay,” he said mournfully.
I felt relieved he wasn’t cursing at me for ruining his coup.
I heard the murmuring of voices. Men in blue cloaks surrounded me. Gunthi monks. My home away from home.
“Abigail!” Baird gasped as he knelt over me. He stroked a cheek.
I could smell the calming scent of cider on his hands.
“Poison,” Arturo explained. “It’ll take an hour to wear off.”
Baird nodded. He looked at me, his expression flooded with concern. He reached up and gently closed my eyes.
“We’ll take care of you, Abigail.”
I felt him loosening my thick ox hide clothing.
Merciful monks.
The cooling breeze against my skin felt better, but the relief didn’t last. Familiar dread twisted around me as I sank back in my world of immobile darkness. I allowed myself to fall deeper until the black lightened to gray mist.
From the mist emerged the great peak of Mulan’s serpent volcano, spilling and belching smoke and spewing lava. It looked angrier and uglier than it ever had in real life.
I took three steps along the shores of Mulan, the tiny obsidian pebbles mixed with black sand shifting beneath my feet.
“Ahhh!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, falling to my knees. I felt the weight of blame for Joshua’s captivity.
Grief, frustration, guilt, and terror all crashed over me like a mighty wave on the volcanic island shore. I beat my fists against the sand. Burying my palms in my eyes, I wished I could gouge out the last image of Joshua unconscious and fragile in the grasp of one of those barbarians.
“Abigail,” a deep, soft voice called to me.
I knew Mal beckoned. Some part of my pain and anguish had summoned him, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
“Are you injured?” he asked.
I sensed his apparition close, wanting to reach out and embrace me, comfort me, but battling his own conflict as though confused by his concern for me.
I didn’t care about the personal dilemmas he faced with new emotions. I needed to figure out how to save Joshua.
I sniffed. “No.”
“What happened?”
I looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. I hated my weakness. I hated him seeing my weakness. “The rescue was a trap. We were ambushed. Joshua is...”
“Taken hostage,” he said, as though he could see it.
I nodded.
“And you took your own hostage,” he added, his tone laced with admiration.
Now I knew I had successfully transported Eustace. I wondered how long he would be paralyzed. His large body had likely diluted the poison. Of course, the Gunthi monks weren’t going to let him out of the cage. He could stay there looking mean and ugly until I came back to consciousness.
I pulled my knees up into my body, trying to make myself smaller as though I could hide from agonizing thoughts of Joshua being tortured by the Hunju or fed to their wolves.
The Hunju who had asked for help while planning their own rescue.
I looked into Mal’s face; the worry in his eyes was deep enough to drown me. I looked away and curled into the beach.
He remained silent. Too silent.
Hot rage lifted me to my feet. I didn’t see Mal through my anger and despair, though I perceived his shape in front of me. My sword materialized in my hand. I raised it; the deadly sharp tip aimed at Mal’s heart—where his heart would be should such a creature possess one.
I lifted my eyes to meet his. “You knew,” I snarled. “You knew about the double cross. Knew Joshua would be taken.”
His steady voice was soft and somehow carried over the roaring volcano. “I knew many possibilities.”
“You knew. And kept it a secret.”
“All of the possibilities where you knew of the betrayal had worse outcomes for all of your team. Worse for you.”
I glared at him. “Worse for me or worse for you?”
He stepped forward, not breaking eye contact with me as he impaled himself on the sword I held.
It went through him harmlessly, but I flinched and sucked in a sharp breath.
The anguish and sorrow in his eyes were palpable. Perhaps I should not have, but I believed him. The sword dissolved. I fell to my knees and closed my eyes.
Joshua.
I imagined him as I saw him sometimes, speaking with his patients about their ailments. There were many illnesses he could help, even without the use of his Healing Stones. The calm demeanor of an empathetic listener relieved some of these ailments.
Sometimes the diseases people presented with weren’t physical. Patients had emotional distress with physical manifestation. I thought of when I lost my parents. Every part of my body throbbed with physical pain. My stomach churned in knots. My bones and muscles ached, and my limbs felt heavy. Headaches and fatigue plagued me. After my grieving was finished, the discomfort ebbed.
Joshua told me once that a fourth of the ailments he saw had been instigated by emotional stress. His Healing Stone wasn’t needed for these instances. Instead, he dispensed passionflower for anxiety or teas of chamomile, marjoram, or mint. Elderberry flower teas relaxed and induced sleep. Joshua liked ashwagandha roots in some cases for stress, but he had to find it at the market at the coastal city of Waterton. He brewed kava root for calming anxiety. Lavender he reserved for soothing babies.
Babies. Mother moon.
We had talked about having babies.
“He is everything to me, Mal.” I looked up at him. “And how do I treat that which I love most? I drag him around with my Traveler’s Star. I force him to take this quest me. I get him captured and possibly killed.”
After several minutes, I forced myself against the emotional pain to stand. I could fix my mistake. Pacing the volcanic island shore, I replayed events in my mind.
“Stag River,” I said, turning to look at Mal again as he silently watched me. “They must have come by the river.” I shook my head irritably. “They knew where Eustace was imprisoned. They didn’t need our help. Windish and his giants could have rescued him at any time.”
“Safely?” Mal questioned.
“What do you mean?”
“If they stormed the fort without you, what do you suppose the defectors would have done to Eustace?”
“You think they would have killed him,” I said, grimly acknowledging Mal was right.
He added, “But the with Champion’s presence...”
I sighed and scrubbed my hands against my face. “Windish knew I wouldn’t let anyone kill anyone,” I added bitterly. “So I’m the sentimental gypsy that made all of this possible.”
He arched an eyebrow at me. “Is that a bad thing?”
I released a sharp, bitter laugh. “The prince of darkness finds value in my weakness in wanting to spare life.”
He didn’t flinch at my outburst. “Valuing life is not a weakness.”
“So says he who takes life,” I retorted, unfairly letting my anger at the situation spill over and singe him. I felt like a simmering volcano spewing hot, caustic liquid.
“Who takes life, Abigail? Is it me or mankind’s evil? When humans are in full possession of their own evil, how many more lives are lost compared to when it is entrusted in me?”
I gaped at him. Mal valued life? Could it be he only killed to preserve life? I didn’t have time to ponder such radical thoughts.
“Right now I need to figure out how to save Joshua.”
His mouth spread in a broad, devious, and captivating smile. “Abigail, you are the Champion, you have a sizable bargaining chip, and you have me—the prince of darkness, or so I have been dubbed.” His eyes sparkled mischievously behind long, flickering black eyelashes.
Filled with a mixture of dread and anticipation, I wondered what plan a creature of darkness would conceive. What wouldn’t I do to get Joshua back safely? My actions might prove me no better than Mal, no better than the Hunju.
21
I awoke, bolting upright and taking the large, gasping breaths my paralyzed body had denied me. Nausea instantly punched me in the gut, and I dry-heaved my dignity onto the grass beside me.
A cool, wet rag fell off my forehead.
When my vision focused, I saw four Gunthi monks seated around me and one tall, angry Hunju mixer. I recognized the monks—Baird, Zack, Landon, and Ilok.
I rubbed my temples and groaned against the throbbing between them. I felt as though someone chucked a Che stone from side to side within my skull.
Mount Kapri.
Zack handed me a cup of cider, which I gratefully accepted.
Arturo sat quietly among the monks.
Baird remarked calmly, “Kidnapping is a new endeavor for you.”
I followed his gaze behind me to an angry, caged Hunju. “Ugh,” was all I could muster saying.
The webs into which I get myself tangled.
“I can explain.” I began, mostly to Arturo, whose pursed lips conveyed anger at my leading an attack on his fort. I hesitated, bracing against the headache in an effort to gather my thoughts and explain the situation in a coherent fashion.
“Perhaps I understand somewhat,” interjected Baird. “The Queen entrusted you with a mission to help the Hunju, who are currently amidst civil war. You interpreted that to mean free the leader as Windish had hoped. The situation turned violent, judging by the fact you arrived paralyzed. Since you are without Joshua and Lieutenant DeFay, I suspect you took Lord Eustace captive in return.”
I could have hugged him for putting the details together and sparing me so much talking.
I nodded. “Windish double-crossed us and brought a small quadrant of warriors.” I glanced at Arturo, but avoided direct eye contact. As sorry as I felt, an apology for dismantling his coup seemed inadequate.
