Clanless (33 page)

Zander pushed Gryphon back. Metal clanged. Each strike Gryphon blocked vibrated all the way up his arm. Zander lunged, driving him back further still. Gryphon’s heel connected with a large rock, and he fell onto his back. Before he could get up, Zander had the point of his sword pressed against Gryphon’s exposed chest.

“I taught you everything you know, traitor. You never had a chance.”

It was true. Not with swords. Not surrounded and outnumbered with Zo and Joshua’s lives to consider.

“Drop the sword.”

Gryphon didn’t have a choice. The unhelpful weapon clinked on rock as it hit the ground. One of Zander’s men collected it and stepped back to his place in the ring. “You deserve this,” said Zander as he pushed the tip of the sword into the skin over Gryphon’s heart. He shifted the grip so both hands shared the hilt for leverage.

“Barnabas wants him alive!” Ajax yelled.

“There was a struggle,” Zander said panting, his lips curving upward in wicked pleasure. Sweat ran down the side of his nose. “Accidents happen.”

This wasn’t happening. Not after all they’d endured to get here. Adrenaline like fire coursed through Gryphon. It filled his shoulders and arms, down to his fingertips.

He had to save them. He had to find a way. Zander said he was Clanless, but even if the Allies never accepted him, that wasn’t true. He might not fight for a chief, but he certainly fought for something.

Zander reared back. His sword cut through the air, parallel to the ground, toward Gryphon’s neck. A piercing cry rent the air.

Gryphon closed his eyes and in a translucent moment of time imagined little Tess cupping his cheeks, whispering,
I don’t want you to die.
Then Sani.
My life is linked to yours.
And lastly, Zo. Her eyes communicated everything words never could. A hope for something more. A chance to see if a Ram and a Wolf could have a life together. If they could prove it possible, Gryphon couldn’t help but hope that others would follow their example. Set aside differences and find peace.

Just before the blade could split his skin, he lay back and swept Zander’s legs out from under him. Gryphon sprang from his back to his feet in one motion and charged Zander, weaponless.

He wasn’t that good at swords anyway.

Gryphon jumped on Zander. He landed a punch to Zander’s kidneys and another to his face before Zander retaliated, hitting him so hard in the nose that lights exploded behind Gryphon’s eyes.

They both staggered to their feet. Zander charged. His sword hacked down toward Gryphon’s weak side. Unthinking, Gryphon raised his shield arm. The blade bit into his flesh, connecting with bone. Lodged there. He pulled away, crying out in agony, and Zander’s sword stayed fixed to the bone below Gryphon’s elbow. The pain was so blinding he couldn’t even hear Zo’s screams and sobs.

They stood facing each other, panting and stunned. Then panic exploded across Zander’s face as he realized his attack wasn’t enough.

They collided, two immovable forces connecting in the air. Gryphon’s powerful hands surged with adrenaline as they clamped down on his mess leader’s head. Years of worshipping this man conflicted with the need to end him. All his training, all his beatings, had prepared him for this bittersweet moment. His hands did what Zander had trained them to do. Zander’s neck bone cracked as Gryphon severed it from his spinal cord. The bone popped under Gryphon’s hands, the cracking sound both heard and felt.

Gryphon and Zander hit the ground at the same time.

Zander, however, did not get back up.

Zo gasped as Gryphon crawled to his feet with Zander’s sword still lodged in his arm. A lesser man would have passed out from the pain, but Gryphon held his arms out to his sides, blood dripping off him like sweat, and glared into the eyes of the men he used to call his brothers.

“Barnabas claims we Ram only take what is rightfully ours, but it’s a lie. We’ve become thieves. Plunderers. I love my clan, but I cannot fight for a chief who would send me to kill the helpless only for dominance. I will defend my family,” he gestured to Joshua and Zo, “but I will
not
live with innocent blood on my hands.” Gryphon staggered and dropped to one knee. “My conscience won’t allow it.” His eyes rolled up into his head, and he fell face first onto the earth.

Zo closed her eyes and concentrated on sending a feeling into the tall Ram holding her captive.
Sleep. Numb. Weakness.
The usual doubts came along with the fear that she’d never be able to heal again, but they were amplified by the foreign task set before her. Her training as a healer had been centered on loving her patients, offering energy to heal, and comfort for distress. She’d never tried to instill a negative emotion—she didn’t even know if it was possible.

Weakness. Weakness.
She mumbled the blessing that usually accompanied her healing but used her love for Gryphon to fuel the pull. Nothing happened. She concentrated harder and focused all her love for Tess, Gryphon, and Joshua into the pull.

A thin thread of something drew into her body, so subtle at first she wasn’t sure exactly what it was. The Ram’s arms pinning her own to her sides slackened.

Weakness. Exhaustion. Sleep.

Zo mentally tugged harder on the thread of energy coming from the Ram until that thread turned into a steady stream. The Ram’s arms loosened even more and his body swayed, his skin cool to the touch.

Zo pulled even harder. Her hands burned from the energy. Her cuts wept fresh blood as a new kind of pain registered beneath the coursing river of power washing through them.

The Ram holding her collapsed to the ground.

Zo was at Gryphon’s side in an instant. She wrapped both hands around Gryphon and pushed energy with every ounce of strength she possessed. His eyes shot open and he sat up, even though the sword was still wedged in the bone of his forearm.

“Joshua.” Zo wiped at the tears invading her vision. “I need your help.” She looked around for her kit until remembering she’d left it with the Clanless when Gryphon abducted her. It didn’t matter. The healing energy that had been dormant since Gryphon left flowed through her with more power than she’d ever experienced before.

Ajax released Joshua without a fight. The rest of the Ram stood by watching, probably just as shocked by what they’d witnessed as Zo. “What should I do?” said Joshua, kneeling beside her and Gryphon.

“Hold down his arm, Ginger.” She leaned over Gryphon and held his face, brushing the hair from his forehead. His eyes barely opened at her touch, but his uninjured arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

“I have to remove the sword. It’s going to hurt.” She swallowed hard.

Gryphon nodded and closed his eyes fully. “Not as much as losing you,” he mumbled.

Zo leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his unsuspecting lips. The hand at her back pulled her possessively closer, sending sparks of pleasure throughout her body. She pulled away, breathless but determined to help him, delirious with hope, even without her kit.

She took the hilt of the sword and looked up at the men surrounding them. For a thin moment, she’d forgotten they were there. Ram were loyal to their leaders. She imagined many of them wanted nothing more than to jump forward and drive a knife into Gryphon’s heart for killing Zander. For now, they waited, some looking to Ajax for a command.

A flicker of movement from the shadows outside the group caught Zo’s attention. A large man with shaved head and full beard hid in the shadows, partially covered by a tree.

Ikatou
?

He held a finger up to his lips calling for her silence, while he and his men surrounded the Ram.

Zo dropped her focus back to Gryphon and the sword wedged into the bone of his forearm. “We’re going to do this on my count,” Zo spoke louder than necessary. “One.” Then she whispered under her breath, “Kid, something’s about to happen.” Louder, she said, “Two.” Then she whispered again. “Whatever you do, stay on the ground with Gryphon. Don’t get up and fight.”

“Three!” Zo pulled up on the hilt of the sword. Gryphon howled. At the same time, the Kodiak charged the Ram with a deafening battle cry.

“Link!” Ajax shouted, but he was too late. Three of his mess brothers took swords through their stomachs at the Ram call to formation.

Zo pulled Joshua down next to Gryphon. “Don’t move. They won’t hurt me.” She knelt with one hand on Gryphon and one hand on Joshua in the midst of the fierce confrontation, pushing as much love and peace into them as possible.

Ajax dodged the attack of a nearby Kodiak and ran straight for Zo, Gryphon, and Joshua. Zo threw her body across Gryphon and Joshua. Her men. She closed her eyes, every muscle in her body bracing for Ajax’s attack.

But instead of a sword, a hand took her by the shoulder. Zo’s head whipped up and she looked Ajax directly in the eye.

“Take care of him, Healer.”

Behind him, Ikatou charged, his mighty long sword held high above his head to offer Ajax a killing blow.

“Look out!” said Zo, half a moment before the sword fell.

Ajax rolled to his side and sprinted out of the circle of fighting. “Retreat,” he called. Those of his brothers not hewn down by the Kodiak broke free of their fighting and fled the clearing.

Ikatou and the rest of the Kodiak dropped their weapons and tugged at the front of their shirts, roaring at the retreating Ram. Zo assumed it was Kodiak tradition. Their large lungs must have carried the victory call for miles. Joshua clamped his hands over his ears while Zo stripped the sleeve off Gryphon’s wounded arm and used it as a tourniquet to slow the bleeding.

“Zo?” Gryphon tried to sit up, but Zo pushed him back down.

“Be still. I can help you.” And she could! The swirl of movable energy coalescing inside her confirmed as much.

“I … can’t move my fingers.”

Zo winced at the implications and put more pressure on his arm. “Zander’s sword sliced through a muscle that runs along the top of the forearm. It’s the same muscle that controls your ability to make a fist. It’ll heal with time, but it’s a slow process. I’m more worried about your bone. If you’re not careful, the fracture could turn into a full break.”

“Ajax.” He moved his injured arm and sucked in a sharp breath of air, his teeth clenched together so tight she feared he’d accidently bite through his tongue if he didn’t stop trying to speak. She rested her fingers over his mouth. “He got away, and so did most of your brothers in retreat.” She couldn’t imagine how conflicted Gryphon must feel, fighting for an ideal he believed in against people he had devoted most of his life to protecting.

Gryphon shook his head and pulled her fingers from his lips with his good hand, but still clung to her. “Ram don’t retreat. Ajax saved us. He’ll be punished for it.”

The Kodiak shouting stopped. Celebrating a victory that wasn’t truly theirs. They embraced each other with burly hugs and sharp pats on the back.

When Ikatou turned to face Zo, a flurry of emotions crossed his face. Relief. Betrayal. Concern. Distrust.

“I need to make this right,” Zo whispered to Gryphon. “Will you be all right?”

He nodded. “Go. The kid and I will wait here.”

She walked over to the waiting giant, the man who gave her the hideous cuts on her hands.

“I didn’t run away,” she said.

“It was the Ram unit. I know.” He looked beyond Zo to Gryphon. “Is that one a friend?”

Zo paused. Did Ikatou really believe that Zander had kidnapped her from his camp? “Yes,” she said, swallowing. “He and the boy freed me from the Gate. I owe them my life.”

Ikatou, all muscle and business, rested a hand on Zo’s shoulder, startling her. “I’m glad you are safe.” She didn’t know if he was glad only for the sake of his family and their agreement or for hers as well. She wanted to believe it was both.

Ikatou whistled to one of his men. A man ducked behind a tree carrying her mother’s medical satchel.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. “You brought it.” She had the strange desire to hug the Bear—this man who had cut open her hands for the sake of his family.

“You haven’t forgotten your promise?” asked Ikatou. “You will fulfill your blood oath?”

Zo chewed on her bottom lip and showed him the backs of her hands. “I haven’t forgotten.”

Ikatou’s whole body seemed to relax. He roughed up her hair. “For such a small person, you are capable of great things, Tumanoko.”

“Tu-man-o-ko?” Zo pronounced each syllable with care.

“My people’s word for ‘hope.’”

Zo hugged the medical kit to her chest and stepped away from Ikatou, but turned back to add, “Thank you.”

Zo walked back to Gryphon.

“Everything all right?” he asked as she settled to the ground next to him, still clutching the medical satchel to her chest.

“He thinks Zander kidnapped me. We’re going to make it to the Allies, Gryphon. This nightmare is almost over.” She still hadn’t told him about the full obligation of her blood oath to Ikatou and the others, but now wasn’t the time.

Joshua hovered over her as she cleaned Gryphon’s wound, applied the proper medicine, and dressed it. When she laid her hands over the bandage, she thought of her mother as she whispered the healing blessing.