As it is, he i
s angry enough, charging me like a steamroller.
Dong!
The im
pact of his blade on mine jars
my teeth, threatening to dislodge each and every one o
f them.
His next swipe nearly takes
off
my head
, but I manage to duck at the last minute
.
Roc reaches my side, and
I use
one of my arms to thrust him b
ehind me, out of danger.
He has
improved steadily during
our training sessions, but he i
sn’t ready for the big leagues.
Rivet’s men surround
us, jeering and taun
ting as their boss and I circle each other.
Roc is
like my unattached tail, ho
vering behind my butt.
I look
into Rivet’s eyes, hoping for
some indication of mercy.
I see
on
ly death.
I am a good fighter, but it i
s too much.
There are just too many of them.
We are both going to die, and I haven’t even spoken to Adele
.
The only sat
isfaction I have is that
I’
ve
given her a slim chance to escape.
Ziiiip!
Something whir
r
s
through the air, sounding odd next to the raucous cries of Rivet’s men.
“ARGH!”
one of the men roars.
Rivet and I both risk
a glance awa
y from each other to see what i
s happening.
A large g
uy with a patch over one eye is slumped to his knees and
clutching his heart.
A sixt
een-inch shaft protrudes
from his left breast, fi
nned at the end.
Blood dribbles from his mouth as he dies
.
A chorus of
zips
and
whir
r
s
fill
s
the air as arrows rain down on us.
Realizing we a
re under attack by a seemingly deadlier foe than Rivet
, I grab
Roc and thrust him dow
n, falling next to him flat.
Cries of pain echo
through the cave
rn as each of Rivet’s guards
is
taken out by precision targeting.
Not one arrow so much as grazes our skin.
They a
ren’t shooting at us—at least not yet.
I hunt for Rivet, but he i
s gone, ei
ther having lurked off or dove
for cover somewhere.
It
i
s too much to hope that he’
s
been kille
d along with his men.
I scan
the bodies anyway, looking for their leader.
He
i
sn’t amon
gst the dead.
I finally spot
him by pure luck, as a
stray beam of dome light catches
th
e tip of his sword as he skulks
off, escaping over a
rock embankment and back toward
the slums.
I stay
down, preferri
ng not to be mistaken for one of Rivet’s men
.
Our saviors approach
, their faces cloaked in shadow by dark-brim
med hats.
Most of them clutch
bows, cocked and
ready to kill, while others have
swords, like us.
The leader stan
d
s
over me, his sword pointed close to my chin.
“I’ll be damne
d,” he says
.
“If it ain’t Prince Nailin himself.
If I hadn’t heard the news this mornin’, I’d never have believed it.
You’ll make a pretty prize for the star dwellers indeed.”
Chapter Thirteen
Adele
N
o beast of reality, or creature of imagination, is as terrible as mankind.
Or as loving.
It’s a contradiction.
I’ve always liked contradictions.
Today I see
both sides of the coin unveiled in gruesome and beautiful imagery, captured by my eyes and filed away in my mind, like still shots taken by a world-renowned photographer.
First the terrible: Rivet.
I can
see the bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes at t
he end of the alley.
He shouts
something, to
his men most likely, and then co
me
s
after us.
I am
surprised when I c
atch up to Elsey first.
She was in the lead, but i
s now falling behind as Cole’s powerful legs and T
awni’s long strides outdistance her.
I urge
her forward with
a soft nudge on her back.
I have
no idea where her shortcut le
a
d
s, but I hope it will be to a place we can
hide.
Hiding i
s
our only option.
Fighting will be futile
,
as Rivet will
have a horde of men with him, armed to the teeth and ready for action.
In the distance I see
Cole and Tawni drop out of sight, presumably cresting a rise and
bank
ing down a slope.
Glanci
ng back, I can
see Rivet gaining on us, flanked by his men.
They
look
like robots, rigidly pumping their arms opposite their strides, programmed to obey only one command: kill.
“Go, Elsey, go!” I urge
, trying to use my mind to magically lengthen her short legs.
We reach the spot where the others dropped away and feel
gravity pull us forwa
rd, down a steep slope.
Dusk i
s falling upon us rapidly
—the overhead cavern lights dimming—
and it i
s getting
hard to see our feet on the gray
stone.
A sprained ankle or a slight stumble could cost us our lives.
Thankfully, our steps are true and we reach
the bottom of the slope, veering
left to where another trail le
a
d
s
up to
a cave mouth.
Cole and Tawni a
re waiting for us at the top.
I shouldn’t look
back
, but I do.
Rivet i
s already halfway down the hill, having silently sped up, moving i
nhumanly fast, as if sensing
that
an
end to the chase i
s near.
Elsey and I try
to find an extra gear to
allow us to reach the top of our
slope before Rivet reache
s
the bottom of his
,
although
I kno
w in my heart
the feat is impossible.
We are caught and I kno
w it, but I wasn’t ra
ised to be a quitter.
We push on.
My thighs burn and my calves ache.
My head i
s
throbbing from the
physical and mental
stress
of the chase
.
I glance up to see how close we a
re to the top.
I’ll never forget the loo
k on my friends’ faces.
They are star
ing past me, toward our pursuers.
But their faces a
ren’t those of helpless prey about to be
captured; rather, they look
astonished, their eyebrows raised and mouths open.
We reach the top and I look
back.
I involuntarily imitate
their expressions, raising my own eyebrows
and opening my own mouth.
I am
ge
nuinely shocked by what I see
.
Rivet i
s on the
ground, rolling to a stop.
Has
he f
a
ll
en
?
I do
n’t think so.
A simple misstep wouldn’t capture
Cole’s and Tawni’s attention so completely.
That’s when I see
him.
Despite the dim lightin
g, I recognize him instantly
.
He
i
s carry
ing
a long sword, standing stoically
, waiting to fight
Rivet.
His blond, wavy hair i
s ruffled, but
in my mind not a single hair is out of place.
He looks
strong, con
fident, heroic.
Clearly, he has
saved us.
So he
i
s
a hero of sorts.
He look
s
at me, locking
eyes.
A wave of emotion washes over me.
He screams
my name:
“
Adele!
”
At first I think he i
s beckoning me to
him, but his second word clears
up any confusion:
“
Run!
”
Despite th
e urgency in his tone I remain frozen, watching what will
happen next.
Rivet attacks,
launching himself with an animal frenzy
at Tristan.
In a manner I can
only describe as
professional
, Tristan blocks the attack and jumps back.
I notice
someone behind him, also carrying a sword.
A friend of Trista
n’s most likely, or so I hope
.
Protectively, Tristan ho
ld
s
the other
guy
back with one arm while parrying and dodging Rivet’s strokes.
The rest of Rivet’s men arrive, surrounding
them.
No!
I think
.
We have
to do som
ething.
He’
s saved us and now he’
s going to die for us.
I take
a s
tep forward, but a strong arm ho
ld
s me back.
“No,” Cole says
firmly.
“We have to go.
It’s suicide.”
I try
to s
truggle free, but Cole’s grip is iron.
Tears spring up as I try
to
wriggle away.
“Let go!” I yell
.
“Please, they’re going to kill him!”
Tawni’s face appears in front of me.
She pulls
Elsey beside her.
“Think of your sister,” she says
.
My body collapses
, all fight gone from it.
As much as I
am
willing
to throw my life away in an effort to save Trista
n, I know I ca
n’t aban
don Elsey.
Not after all she’
s
been through.
Not after all
we
have been through.
I am all she has
.
And she is all I have.
I let myself get half-dragged, half-carried into the absolu
te darkness of the cave.
I feel numb.
Tears continue
to well up and st
ream down my face, but they feel
cold, emotionless, a neurological response to a stimul
us
, nothing more.
I barely notice
as we cut a random path through the cave networ
k.
In the back of my mind I know we a
re in the
Lonely Caverns
.
Although we have
n’t necessarily meant to come
this way
,
it i
s the perfect place to hide from Rivet.
I remember the kids at school telling stories of the
Lonely
Caves
, how kids a
re always getting lost in them, dying of starvation, or falling down bottomless pits.
I used to f
ear the caves, but now they feel
like a sanctuary.