Page 27 of Of Scale and Blood

You need more.

And I appreciate your help, but your drakkling should be your first priority.

She didn’t reply, but wisps of her thought suggested revenge remained her main priority and keeping me alive was a means of gaining that. Drakkons were nothing if not practical, it seemed.

Is the cloud still there?

Thicker. Hear movement, not see.

I urged Desta closer to Red, then repeated what Kaia had said. “Is the magic getting stronger or remaining the same?”

“It remains steady, but that’s not unexpected if it is nothing more than a shield.”

A lark call came from the right. I raised a fist to signal a halt, then replied with a low whistle with a slight uptick at the end—code for,what have you seen?

Kerryn, who we couldn’t see from our position but was in the trees to our immediate right, replied with a soft, staccato series of whistles—two sentries, one hundred yards, above.

I sent a hold signal, then knotted Desta’s mane around the reins to ensure they didn’t get in her way if she decided to eat—she was too well trained to run, even if startled—and dismounted. “We’ve a sentry to our right.Mac and I will take care of them.”

Damon looked set to argue but nodded instead. I undid the nearest saddlebag and pulled out the long viewer, then motioned Mac to follow me and headed into the trees, sweeping around to the right so we could come in from a northerly direction, directly toward Kerryn’s position. The Mareritt weren’t dumb—our whistles, however like the birds we imitated they were, would have put them on alert for any movement coming from that direction.

The necessity of avoiding the whispering fronds slowed our progress, but we were closing in when I heard it—the faintest creak of wood followed by a sniff. They were in a tree somewhere up ahead. I motioned Mac to stop, then knelt then raised the long viewer, briefly adjusting the focus before scanning the trees—and saw them. Two Mareritten soldiers wearing leather armor the same ghostly gray as the foliage in which they hid. One had a crossbow nocked and ready, while the other used a flatter version of our long viewer to scan the general area where Kerryn was.

I handed Mac the viewer so he’d know their exact position, then, once he’d returned it, I motioned him to the right and raised five fingers. He nodded and slipped silently away. I retracted the viewer and tucked it inside my jacket, then went left, internally counting down. At two I stopped, unhooked my bow from my back, and nocked an arrow. At one, I drew back and sighted. At zero, I released. The arrow cut silently through the fronds and thudded straight into the Mareritt’s body, piercing his flesh deeply enough that only the fletching could be seen. He straightened in shock, a gargled cry escaping his lips, then dropped. A second later, his companion also stiffened, then raised his hands, as if intending to remove the arrowhead now sticking out of the side of the neck. Blood bubbled from his lips, and he dropped to his knees, his breathing harsh rasps that rose above the whispering fronds. I slung the bow over my shoulders, drew the knife, and ran forward, reaching the ladder—which was nothing more than notches in the tree’s trunk—a few steps ahead of Mac. I quickly climbed, saw the surviving warrior crawling toward the far edge of the platform and the weird-looking mechanical device stationed there. Some sort of alarm, no doubt.

As he reached for it with bloody fingers, I lunged at him, grabbing his boot and dragging him well away from the device. I killed him, then swung around, bloody knife at the ready. The other warrior was obviously dead, given he wasn’t breathing and there was a chunk of arrowhead sticking out of his chest, right where his heart would have been, but Mac nevertheless knelt beside him and checked.

“As dead as a winter’s evening,” he said and pushed back to his feet. “If this setup is any indication, they’ve been here for a while.”

“Yes.” And that was alarming, given our regular patrols through the area. How had we missed all this? I motioned to the dead Mareritt at his feet. “Pat him down and see if he’s holding anything useful.”

I cleaned my knife on the other Mareritt’s jacket, then checked his various pockets, finding little more than a few tokens dedicated to their god of war that supposedly brought holders luck and fortune. Obviously, said god hadn’t been overly fussed with these two.

I whistled the all-clear, then we climbed down from the platform and walked back to Kerryn’s position, softly calling out once we were close enough.

He lowered his weapon when we appeared through the fronds. “How many, Captain?”

“Only two, but there may well be more guard posts positioned closer to that barrier.”

“How far away is it from our position now, do you think?”

Two wingspans, came Kaia’s thought.

“About one hundred and sixty feet, according to Kaia.”

Kerryn’s gaze darted upward, though he wouldn’t see her through all the foliage. “She’s with us?”

I nodded. “Consider her an advance scout and a Mareritt murder machine if they dare attack us in the open.”

He grinned. “I’m liking the sound of that.”

If the rumble of approval running through my background thoughts was anything to go by, so did she. “Let’s head back. Now that we’ve taken out their guard post, you and the squad can safely hold here while Damon and I head in on foot to investigate the shield and the lay of the land around it.”

“And if you’re attacked?”

“I’ll call Desta in. Follow her lead and cause a little havoc.”

“Good plan, Captain,” he said, with an anticipatory grin.

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