The Arena (Ultimate Soldier Book 1) (14 page)

Lila soon found a room with a broken window that had a pipe running down the wall near one side. The wind whipped her skirt around her legs as she climbed down, and she was glad there was no one beneath her. She wished now that she'd thought to change into her old clothes, something more suitable for running and climbing.

She shivered when her feet hit the cold, wet grass. The rain had calmed and only a few drops hit her as she ran alongside the building, staying close to the wall. The twilight was deepening into darkness, but she welcomed it for its ability to conceal her. Off to her right the clothes that were supposed to be drying on the lines whipped and snapped as the wind tugged at them. It was unlike Martha to forget the clothes.

When she reached the corner of the building, she stood peering around the rough brick edge for a moment.
This isn't right. Where are the guards?
She couldn't see anyone standing in the square. Granted, the dark that was her friend could also work against her, but her instinct was what had kept her alive for so long, and she knew there was no one out there.

The feeling of wolves guarding their prey was only reinforced. After making doubly sure that there was no one in her way, Lila ran out along the front of the building, staying close enough that she could trail her fingers along a seam in the bricks. She would cut across at the corner so that she had to cross the least amount of open space. Maybe Nolan was in one of the lean-tos.

I left one type of wolves only to be caught by another,
she thought as she ran lightfooted from the corner of the building to the shelter of the wall. A glance down the wall showed the stream swollen within its banks.

The door to the clothing shed swung open and Lila gasped, pressing back against the wall. A knob of wood pressed into her shoulder blade hard enough to hurt. Two men walked through the door, both dressed in the black leather of fighters. They spoke loudly, as if to hear each other over the wind and rain, loud enough that Lila could hear the words. She held her breath and bit her lip until it bled, trying to will herself into invisibility.

"The kid's got to be around somewhere," The taller one said, stomping his feet and shaking himself like a dog. "Gah, but this rain'll draw a chill into your very bones."

"Where else do you suggest we look? He could be anywhere!"

"Well, we won't find him with you standing around flapping your jaws."

The second man grumbled but eventually they both set off into the darkness. Lila didn't realize she had been holding her breath until spots began to swim in front of her eyes. She drew in a deep breath and took a step forward toward the door, though she was fairly certain Nolan wasn't inside.

A hand grasped her shoulder from behind and she spun, pulling away. Behind her, rain streaming from the black hood of his cloak, stood Nolan. His shirt neck gapped just enough for her to see the glint of gold chain.

"Nolan, I," Lila began, but he pressed a finger to his lips and with his hand on her arm, peered around to make sure Jarda's men had gone. Once he was sure, he released her arm, stepping back into the shelter where the roof of the clothing shed stuck out past the wall and pulled his hood back, shaking the water from his hair like a dog. It was so dark that she could barely see anything except the glint of gold chain and the whites of his eyes.

"Why are you out here?" Lila asked, almost whispering, even though they were alone in the dim room. The rain thudded dully on the shingles above.

Nolan shook his head. "That's not important. Follow me." With a suddenness that left her off balance, he strode swiftly back the way Lila had come. Lila scrambled to follow. At the back of the building were the low windows that looked into the Armory and training room, each one crossed by the same bars that were on every building within reach from the ground. Nolan pulled out a loose bar and jumped down into the training room, which was empty of any other human life. He smiled grimly at Lila's surprise as she leapt down beside him, standing on a crate to replace the bar. Except for a couple flickering torches in sconces on the walls, the room was dark.

Lila followed as Nolan strode quickly across the floor of the training room, around the roped off square in the middle and through the door at the other side. He pushed open the lone door on the right side of the hall and waved Lila through.

"So tell me," Nolan said, making Lila jump, his voice punctuated by the striking of a match, "What our local celebrity is doing that is so important that it warrants sneaking past Jarda's guards, in a rainstorm no less. " He lit three stubby candles sitting on a rough wood table, throwing the tiny room into a flickering light. Besides the table and two metal folding chairs, the only other thing in the room was a pile of furs in the far corner. Nolan leaned against the table, folding his cloak around himself and stared at her expectantly.

Lila's throat went dry. Now that she was standing in front of the man she sought, her reasons for finding him seemed silly, if not downright crazy. Voices in her head, whispers on the wind, a feeling of foreboding? What reason would he have to believe her?

Nolan continued to stare at her, so LIla gathered her courage and began with the least strange-sounding idea she could think of. "I think Josef is in trouble."

Nolan's expression didn't change. "I'd take you for a fool if you didn't."

Lila opened her mouth to reply.
Wait, what?

As if he had read her mind, Nolan continued. "You are not the only one Jarda considers a threat, child. I'm sure this has not escaped your notice.

"But..."

"Think, girl, Josef is smart. Haven't you wondered why, with the exception of that blundering oaf Antonio, that the group that found you consisted of the men least loyal to Jarda and her regime?"

Lila shut her mouth with a snap. "She sent them for the medicine..."

Nolan's sharp head shake cut her off. "She sent them on a suicide mission. No one has ever returned from the forest alive."

As Lila realized the impact of his words, a cold fist formed in the pit of her stomach. "But the tribe needed medicine. Someone had to get it."

"There are many less skilled men that could have been sent, in much larger numbers."

"If she wanted them dead, why not just exile them?" Even as the question passed her lips, Lila knew. Josef, Aran, Elan, they were all leaders. Even the fear-riddled population here would likely rebel if Jarda tried to exile those men. "She couldn't," she said as Nolan opened his mouth to speak.

"Perhaps you are as intelligent as I originally thought. Yes, that is correct. Even the sheep of this fold would not stand to have their most respected members die at Jarda's hand. So she calls them her best hunters, and sends them to the wolves. Yet, time and time again, they return."

The fist in her gut turned to a knot of dread. "Where are they?" An image flashed into her head, of stone walls and a tall, tattooed man. "Captured..." she trailed off when she realized she had said the last word out loud.

Instead of asking what she meant, Nolan's eyes showed a trace of a smile. Satisfaction? Lila was unused to reading human facial expressions. "A few days ago, Jarda sent them deeper into the city to scout the Snake's strength and entrenchment. This 'hunting trip' was nothing but a ruse. And when they do not return, and Jarda reveals their true location...What do you think will happen?"

Lila swallowed hard. "The people will blame Snake tribe."

Nolan nodded gravely. "And demand vengeance. Always, Jarda thirsts for blood. But as of late she has had no excuse to spill it. The spider's blood lust grows ever stronger. She needs only a reason to attack. When Josef and his group do not return, the people will demand vengeance."

"He's been captured, hasn't he?"

"Yes."

Lila. Help me. There's not much time.
Lila closed her eyes and had to put a hand on the table for support...the strength of the cry was dizzying. She felt Nolan's hands on her arms and she was guided down into a chair. She steadied her elbows on her damp skirt and braced her head in her hands, fighting the image flooding into her head.

"Don't fight it. Let it come," She heard Nolan's voice vaguely, as if from a large distance.

The cement block walls swam into place. There was a light sconce on the wall that held a dim orange bulb of light. The floor was of packed dirt with a scant covering of filthy straw. Then came the other sensations...the smell of unwashed bodies, the ache in her shoulders and the tingling in her fingers, as if her arms had been held over her head for far too long. Her face ached, and one eye was almost swollen shut. The air was cool, too cold for the ripped clothing that covered her, and she shivered, but she was so weak, so tired...Maybe she should just sleep. Sleep was warm, and comfortable. Sleep would make things better.

No!
Lila found herself shouting, but couldn't tell whether it was out loud or only in her head. The force of her cry brought the real world into focus once again, and she opened her eyes to find Nolan staring at her intently, with an expression she could not read. Her heart sank as she realized how all this must seem to a man she barely knew.

But when Nolan finally spoke, it was a question Lila never could have predicted in a thousand years. His voice cracked on the first word, as if he was fighting back strong emotion. "Lila, what was your mother's name?"

That was a name Lila had not spoken, not even brought to mind, for nearly 10 years. "Her name was Hadassah. But why--" She gasped as Nolan went deathly pale and seemed to fold in on himself, sinking down into the other chair. "What's wrong?"

Nolan was silent for a long while, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. Lila just stared, too shocked at his transformation to know what to do.

"Hadassah..." He spoke the name in little more than a whisper, grasping the gold chain on his neck as if it were a lifeline. "Fifteen years ago, I stumbled upon Antoch, half blinded by fever and starvation. I had no memory of my life before, or how I had gotten there. I did not want to remember, perhaps. As time has passed, bits and pieces of my memory have returned, glimpses of a past I left behind long ago. But there is one thing I remember clearly. A name, attached to a face. Red hair, the color of autumn leaves, eyes the color of lilac flowers. A smile that would make the most hardened of warriors remember what happiness felt like."

Nolan's eyes flew open and fixed upon Lila's. "Her name was Hadassah, and she was my wife."

The kitchen was brightly lit with morning sunlight as Lila climbed onto a chair at the table, standing on her knees to reach the tabletop better. "Hi, mama!"

Her mama turned around from where she knelt at the wash bucket to smile at the little girl. "Good morning, little one. Are you hungry?"

Lila nodded vigorously, bouncing on her knees on the chair. "Yes, mama!"

Hadassah stirred the pot of oatmeal that hung over the hearth of the stone fireplace. She filled a little metal bowl and brought it and a spoon to where Lila sat.

At that moment, her daddy swept into the room and scooped her up in his arms, kissing her on the cheek. Lila giggled and pushed him away. "Your beard is scratchy, daddy!" she shrieked.

"Nolan," Her mother chided gently, setting a second bowl at the table. "We have that meeting with the elders in an hour, you two need to eat."

With a second peck on the cheek, Lila's daddy Nolan deposited her in her chair and sat down in his. When her mama turned back to the fireplace, he winked and whispered "I bed I can eat faster than you!"

"No you can't!" Lila protested, grabbing up her spoon and gobbling it down as fast as she could. By the time her mama was finished dishing up her own bowl, Lila was halfway done with hers. Daddy finished first and put his bowl in the wash tub, then leaned down to kiss her mama just as Hadassah was getting ready to take her first bite.

Mama didn't scold him like Lila expected, instead she reached up and brushed daddy's black hair behind one ear, her palm lingering against his cheeck. "I love you, you know," she whispered.

Daddy took her hand in his and kissed it gently. "I know," he whispered back. Then he was gone, out the door to get ready for their meeting. Mama's face seemed a little sad as she urged Lila to finish her oatmeal so that Mama could dress her.

When Mama picked Lila up to take her to the bedroom to get dressed, Lila ran her fingers along the pretty gold necklace that her mama always wore. "Mama, why do you and daddy always wear these?" She asked, as she had many times before.

Mama smiled and hugged Lila close. "When your daddy and I got married, my daddy--"

"Grandpa!" Exclaimed Lila.

"Yes, Grandpa. He gave me and your daddy the necklaces that he and your Grandma always wore. He said they were a sign of our eternal love for each other. As long as we each wear our necklace, we will never be alone because we will always be thinking of each other."

Lila snuggled into her mama's arms. "I'll always be with you too, mama," she said.

Mama squeezed her tight. "I know, little one. And I with you, as long as you remember me."

Lila didn't remember losing consciousness. Perhaps she really was going mad. Perhaps it was the remnants of wolf fever. The next thing she remembered after realizing the significance of Nolan's words was waking up on the bed of furs, which smelled faintly of soap. She pushed herself up to see the candles burning low, and Nolan sitting in the chair watching her.

"All these years..." his voice broke, and even in the dim light Lila could see that his eyes were red. His elbows were propped on his knees, with his hands clasped together in front of him running the gold chain of the necklace through his fingers. "How could I forget you? And yet, I think I knew from the beginning who you were. You have her eyes, her smile, her gentleness and fierceness." A single tear escaped and rolled down his cheek. "You look so much like your mother, Lila."

"How did you know to ask me about my mother?" Lila asked.

We have a gift, you and I,
she heard Nolan's voice, but his lips did not move.

Lila shook her head, trying to clear it.

"You aren't going mad," He said out loud. "How did I begin to suspect who you were? What made me wonder if you, like me, are of another breed entirely? Maybe it is the fact that you, like me, seem to know things we have no reason to know. Sense things we have no reason to be able to percieve. Perhaps it is because in a decade and a half of life among these people, I have never heard even a hint of similar power to the one I possess. And here you come, a stranger from the forest, and I hear whispers that the forest girl caught the wolf fever--and survived. That she was willing to risk her own life for a girl she had barely met. And your face...so hauntingly familiar, and yet so strange. No, I did not know yet what you were, or who, but I knew that you held a secret inside of you that I needed to find. Even if perhaps you did not know what that secret was."

Lila thought back to the day Daddy had left with some other men. She had waved to him, and he had turned back to her and smiled
. "I'll be back soon,"
he had called to her, and she had turned around to see tears falling down Mama's cheeks. "You never came back," she said almost accusingly. It was as if walls in her mind were crumbling, revealing memories and emotions she had not known she possessed. She fought back anger at this man,
my father
, she corrected herself, but the words sounded strange even in her head.

Nolan shook his head sadly. "I cannot remember why I left, or why I did not return. I cannot even rememer arriving here--I did not wake for days after I was found wandering alone in the Plains."

"So the dreams, and the voices in my head--they come from you?"

"Josef's voice in your mind is real, as are the visions. He and his party have been taken prisoner, and we will set out to find them as soon as the guard shift changes at midnight."

Lila nodded, trying to gather her scattered thoughts. "Have you been hearing him as well?"

"Not until you came to me, but I have known from the start that they were in trouble."

"But why--"

"Why didn't I go after them? You have to understand something, child. If I went after everyone Jarda sent to their deaths, I would have soon been dead myself. There is no way I can save them all--even you will soon have to learn this."

Lila thought about Katie lying dead in her tunnel. "I won't leave my friends to die."

"I never said you should."

"But you said 'we'. Why did you change your mind?"

Nolan smiled grimly. "I said that 'I' could not save them all. Neither can you. But together...maybe just this once we can make a difference."
We have an advantage over anyone else in this city
.

"When do we leave?"

Nolan shook his head. "There's just one thing I forgot to tell you," he said.

"What?"

"There is no Snake tribe."