Page 2 of Conflicted Fate
Kiel hung his head, shaking its lightly. “If only it was from the start,” he said morosely.
“What do you mean?” I reached out, touching him gently on the shoulder. “Kiel, tell meeverything.”
He didn’t respond at first, and I thought he would refuse. A tremor ran its way through his body, strong enough that it resonated up my fingertips. Then he exhaled deeply and looked up at me with a haunted expression I knew I would never forget.
It was gone in an instant as he glanced past me, and his eyes narrowed, filling with anger. A moment later, there was a shout from farther up the mountain. I twisted, looking up the hill I’d fallen down as men in silvery steel armor poured over the edge toward us.
Chapter Two
Lycaonus’ men had found us.
Angry at the interruption, I stepped around Kiel, rolling my neck and shoulders, loosening up my joints as I prepared to meet the oncoming wave of soldiers. Bending down, I reached for a hefty chunk of freshly fallen mountain rock and took aim.
A warm, gentle hand settled on my forearm as I hauled back, preparing to hurl the makeshift weapon.
“No,” Kiel said softly, plucking the stone from my grip and tossing it to the side. “No more killing. Not today.”
I looked back and forth between him and the oncoming wave of soldiers.
“Come. Let’s run,” he said, stepping back with his hand extended toward me.
“We could take them,” I pointed out.
“Maybe,” he agreed. “But not today. I’m tired of it, of the senseless deaths. Over the years, as Callistus, as Kiel, I’ve killed more of them than you can count. Too many have died for those assholes. If we don’t have to do it today …”
“Aren’t you the one who told me that they were well aware of who they served? That each soldier knew the truth, that the Alphas are dictators, that they’re evil through and through?” I questioned as the steel-clad soldiers grew closer.
“They understand,” Kiel-Callistus said. “To a degree. I doubt many of the foot soldiers truly understand just how warped and perverted the Alphas’ rule has become. But more than that, don’t forget, there’s a certain respect, a certain prestige, that comes with being a member of the Wulfhere. That might begin to change, but for most of them, that was the case when they signed up. Once they’re signed up, there’s no getting out.”
“Sure, there is,” I countered, nervously eyeing the soldiers as they cautiously picked their way down the mountainside, trying to avoid the recently fallen scree. The last thing either side wanted was to start a fresh landslide. “You just … leave.”
“And do what? Tell the truth?” Kiel crossed his arms and stared impassively up the incline. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve often wondered how many of those I’ve killed wanted nothing more than to get out, to leave and tell the truth. Yet they never did because. if they’d tried, they would have found themselves—or worse, their families—strung up on a tree somewhere.”
He had a point. I wouldn’t put it past any of the Alphas to do just such a thing. Operating in the background, using threats and keeping secrets, that was their way. Until recently, they’d kept it well hidden from the general populace. We were changing that, but as Kiel said, it would take time.
“Okay,” I said, giving in to his arguments. “Fine.”
Kiel extended his hand once more, and that time, I took it. We ran for the edge of the loose jumble of fallen rocks. My eyes watched my footing, making sure I didn’t twist an ankle, but my brain was elsewhere. I tried to drag it back to the moment. It wasnotthe time to become stuck in a daze trying to figure out Kiel … Callistus … whoever he was.
Despite arguing he could leave the persona of Callistus behind, I knew it wouldn’t bequitethat easy. For either of us. I intended to try, but there would surely be a lot of conflicting emotion to come out of it.
“So, where do we go?” I asked as we scrambled across the mountainside, moving laterally instead of vertically. The armored guards would have a hard time keeping up with us, our naked forms lighter, more agile. But with the steepness of the mountain and the loose rock, we didn’t dare shift into our animal forms. Fingers were necessary for grip on the way down.
“Still working on that one,” Kiel said as we shuffled along a rather thin ledge, backs to the wall, a steep drop below.
Behind us, the Wulfhere came relentlessly on, never slowing, their only intent to bring us in. Their Alpha was buried under tons of rock, but that apparently didn’t matter to them. The mountain, with the giantdentin it, like a fist punched into snow, loomed above us as we went, ever watchful.
“This way,” Kiel said, jumping from the ledge. “Hurry!”
My scream of panic was halted before it began as I saw the drop leveled out to no more than half a dozen feet or so. I followed him lithely, bending my knees slightly to catch myself and then taking off down a slope, our destination clearly visible.
Up ahead, the mountain was split, cleaved in half by the hammer of time and shifting landscapes until a giant gorge was revealed, running for miles on either side. Along the far side, the slope lessened enough that a forest grew, carpeting the ground from there to the base.
One of the trees, a giantfilmore, native to my homeland of Arcadia, had fallen across the gorge, creating a bridge, the only one for miles around. Putting our heads down, we raced for it. If we could get across first, perhaps we could dislodge the tree and strand the soldiers behind us.
Kiel crossed first, leaping onto the thick trunk, the tree large enough to support two or three of him running side by side. As I approached, I gathered myself and sprang, clearing the maze of tiny branches that had been the top of the tree and landing on its trunk.
“Don’t slow down!” Kiel hollered from up ahead. “It’s rotten!”
