Finding Valor (30 page)

“But—”

“No buts.” Josh placed both hands on Wisdom’s shoulders and stared into her eyes, willing her to understand his dilemma. “I won’t risk Channie’s life to save hers.”

As soon as Josh mentioned Channie’s name, it flipped Prudence’s crazy switch. She started screaming obscenities and flinging her body against the bars again.

“Get her calmed down then meet me back at my tent. We need to have a council meeting.”

~***~

Josh was still a mile away from the main camp when one of Tim’s men came charging up the trail. He skidded to a stop right in front of Josh, sprinkling him with grey dust and sparkling chips of granite.

“I’m sorry to bother you, my prince, but we have a problem.”

Josh’s heart leapt into his throat. “What’s wrong?”

“We captured a spy.”

Josh took off at a dead run, the young soldier following close on his heels. A crowd of angry people had gathered in front of his tent, blocking his view.

“Knock it off. Get back.” Josh forced his way through the mob. He had to get to the spy before someone killed him. Dead men couldn’t confess.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, but it wasn’t a pre-adolescent boy in tattered clothes, covered in filth, tears streaming down his face and trembling so hard it shook the men holding him captive.

“Let go of him.” Josh’s voice boomed out of his chest, surprising even himself with its undeniable authority.

The men reacted instantly, releasing the boy. He fell to his knees and gazed up at Josh. “You have to help us.”

Us?
“Who else is with you?”

“No one. Just me.” He dug his fingers into the dirt. “I’m the only one she let go.”

“Who let you go? Dominance?”

“Yeah.” The boy sniffed and wiped his nose on his forearm. “She has a message for the leader of the traitors.”

An angry buzz erupted from the crowd.
 

Josh took the boy by his elbows and helped him to his feet. “We prefer ‘freedom fighters.’”
 

“Sorry.” The boy dropped his gaze to the ground.

Josh would have rather talked to the kid in private, but he hadn’t won everyone’s loyalty yet. Some mages still thought Josh was a Veyjivik spy. He couldn’t haul the kid off for a secret meeting without casting even more doubt in their minds. “What’s the message?”

“The queen said to give the message to a fat, middle-aged woman named Wisdom.”

“That’d be me.” Wisdom seemed to appear out of nowhere. She shot Josh a ‘be quiet and let me handle this’ look. “But you can say whatever you need to say in front of everyone. There aren’t any secrets at Freedom Ridge.”

The kid locked his gaze on Josh’s face, silently pleading for help.

Josh leaned over and braced his hands on his knees, putting himself at eye level with the boy. “What’s your name?”

“Ability.” He sniffed again. “But most folks call me—”

“Billy!” Shep dropped the box he was carrying and ran across the compound. He tore through the gathered crowd and swept the boy into his arms.

“Uncle Shep!” Billy’s voice trembled. “What are you doing here?”

“Where’re your sisters? And Steward?”

“Black Mountain R and R camp.”

“What the heck is that?”

“It’s a relocation and reeducation camp.” Tears streamed down Billy’s face, creating new paths through the grime on his cheeks. “It’s where Dominance is holding all the folks she captures. She’s gonna kill everyone on March sixteenth if y’all don’t surrender.”

March sixteenth?
Josh’s field of vision narrowed. His mouth went dry. “That’s tomorrow.”
 

~***~

Billy dug what looked like a scroll out of a leather bag slung across his shoulder and handed it to Wisdom.
 

She unrolled it then read it out loud. “I, the undersigned, do hereby pledge my total and complete loyalty to Dominance Veyjivik, forsaking all others. I swear to obey and uphold her every command or my life be forfeit. In exchange, all my past sins and crimes against the crown shall be forgiven. I shall also be relieved of all responsibility for the sins and crimes of my clansmen.”

The top of the scroll curled up as Wisdom moved her hand lower.
 

“Any person that refuses to sign this treaty with their own blood shall be deemed an enemy of the state and put to death. This treaty is null and void unless signed and delivered by Wisdom Hardin no later than midnight March 16, 2010. At such time, all traitors held at the Black Mountain Relocation and Reeducation center shall be executed.”

Wisdom looked up. Her face was chalky white. “There’s already over fifty signatures on this evil artifact.”

“Artifact?” The scroll didn’t look all that old to Josh.

“Do you remember how the Book of the Dead was created?”

Josh nodded. He remembered what Hunter had told him about it anyway…it involved human sacrifice.

“There aren’t many mages powerful enough, or evil enough, to be able to create something like this.”

“Is Dominance?”

Wisdom pressed her lips together in a thin, hard line and nodded.

“So…if someone signs that treaty, but doesn’t obey Dominance…”

“They die.”

“It’s like a death pledge?”

“It is a death pledge.”

“Okay.” Josh shoved his fingers in his hair. “No one else is signing that thing.”

“I agree.” Wisdom nodded.

Hunter tapped Josh’s shoulder. “What happens to the folks that’ve already signed it?”

“There’s a loophole.” Wisdom pointed to the middle of the scroll and read it again. “This treaty is null and void unless signed and delivered by Wisdom Hardin no later than midnight March 16, 2010. I’m sure Dominance only meant that her offer of amnesty will expire tomorrow if I don’t surrender, but the way it’s worded means the entire thing expires. The death pledge will be null and void tonight after midnight.”

Billy’s voice shook. “It don’t matter whether the treaty is in effect or not. If y’all don’t sign it, Dominance will kill everyone on that list tomorrow, including my little sisters.”

The words from the Book of the Dead echoed inside Josh’s mind.
The stars and planets are nearly aligned
Blood calls to blood its powers to bind.
Live your life as you did before.
When the time is right, you’ll go to war.

Josh wasn’t living his life as he did before, not even close. He didn’t know if the time was right to go to war, but if he didn’t do something, he’d have the blood of all those innocent men, women and children on his hands.

“I say we crash her party and end this tonight.”

“You can’t do that.” Wisdom’s eyes bugged out. She was almost as crazy looking as Prudence. “You can’t face Dominance until winter solstice!”

“I can’t just sit here and let her kill all those people either!”

“Don’t be a fool! Do you think Dominance isn’t prepared for a rescue mission? She’ll be expecting it. She’s hoping you’ll walk right into her trap.”

“She doesn’t even know I exist!”

Brazen, or ‘Zen’ as he preferred to be called, stood up. “She doesn’t know you have a helicopter and four ex-marines armed with automatic weapons, either. We’ll still have the element of surprise.”
 

“You’ll join us?” Josh’s throat tightened with gratitude.

“We already joined you, back in Bowling Green.”

“Josh.” Wisdom wrapped her fingers around his arms. “You aren’t ready to face her. I know you want to save everyone, but you can’t. The people in that horrible camp are tragic casualties of war.”

“Not yet, they aren’t.” Josh fisted his hands to keep them from shaking.
 

“Then just send the marines. Let them handle it.”

“No.” Josh refused to ask anyone else to put their lives on the line if he wasn’t willing to do the same. “Tim?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I need you and Zen to round up as many volunteers as you think we’ll need.”

The air around Wisdom crackled with power. She pointed her finger at Tim’s chest. “You are not taking any of my people on this suicide mission.”
 

“They ain’t ‘your’ people no more.” Intimidation lived up to his power-name as he faced off with Wisdom. Neither of them raised their shields, but both of them glowed with energy. “Me and my men follow the prince.”
 

Josh cringed. He really wished Tim, and everybody else, would quit calling him ‘the prince.’ He pasted a smile on his face and patted Tim’s back. “Thank you. I appreciate your loyalty.”

Wisdom closed her eyes for a moment then opened them with a sigh. “I can’t stand here and listen to you fools plot your own deaths. I’m going to check on Prudence.”

Josh moved the impromptu meeting inside his tent and asked Billy to tell them everything he knew about the Black Mountain prison camp.

He amazed everyone with his detailed descriptions and total recall of facts.

Josh sent the helicopter pilots off to refuel while he brainstormed with Tim, Zen and the other marines.
 

Zen tapped the hand-drawn map with his finger. “The hardest part will be getting all the prisoners far enough away from the camp that they can’t be easily recaptured.”

“How many people do you think we can load on the helicopter?”

“It’s a Sikorsky S-92 so it was designed to carry twenty-two troops, plus gear. Since half of the hostages are kids, we can double that number.”

There were fifty-two names on the treaty. “If we go in light, just you guys, me and Tim; do you think we could squeeze all the hostages in for the return trip?”

“It depends on whether or not you’re willing to leave the dead behind.”

Josh’s stomach clenched, forcing bile into the back of his throat. “If it means saving more people, I’m willing. How many do you expect?”

“An operation like this usually takes weeks of planning and training. We don’t even have a real map of the compound.”

“How many?”
 

“You want the truth?”

“Always.”

“If we go in light, with just the six of us, like you’re suggesting…anywhere from twenty-five to fifty percent of the hostages aren’t going to make it out of there alive. We’ll probably lose a few of our own people, too.”

“There’s eight of us, not six.”

“You’re counting the pilot and copilot. If you’re planning on using the chopper to evacuate hostages, the pilots stay with the bird.”

“Crap.” Josh rubbed his temples, but it did nothing to relieve the pain throbbing behind his eyes.
 

“I recommend that we take more volunteers, and lead the able-bodied out of the compound on foot. Save the chopper for the weak and wounded.”

“What about the little kids? They won’t be able to go far on foot. And none of us are going to be able to walk all the way from Kentucky to Arkansas.”

“All we need to do is get everyone to the highway. I’ll arrange a convoy to pick us up.”

“A convoy?”
 

“Veyjivik Enterprises has a fleet of Hummers and limos. I’m sure Mr. Hollister will loan us a few vehicles.”

“Okay. That sounds like a plan. I’ll leave you and Tim in charge of finding volunteers.”

“I wanna go.” Billy crawled out from under Josh’s cot.
 

He’d forgotten the kid was even there. “Sorry. All volunteers have to be at least eighteen.”

Hunter stuck his head inside the tent. “You ain’t leaving me behind.”
 

Josh groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have any Advil, would you?”

Hunter stepped inside and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll be eighteen in a couple of months and I can shoot better than anyone here.”

Zen chuckled and shook his head.

Hunter jutted his chin out. “You ever shot a squirrel through the eye with a 22, a hundred yards away?”

Zen arched his eyebrows. “Have you?”

Shep pushed his way past Hunter into the tent. “More’n once. Next to me, Hunter’s the best shot in the region.”

“I can outshoot you any day or night Shepherd Feenie.”

Shep rolled his eyes. “Can not.”

Josh grabbed both Feenie brothers by the back of their necks and walked them outside, right into a crowd of people clustered around the front of his tent. They were obviously eavesdropping, but Josh hadn’t ordered the crowd away when he took the meeting inside his tent, so it was his own damn fault.
 

“I don’t care if you’re both the best shots in the whole world. Neither one of you are going if you can’t keep your mouths shut. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.” Hunter and Shep spoke simultaneously.

“all right. I’ll lower the age limit to seventeen years and six months, but that’s as low as I’ll go.”

“Can women go?” Vixen flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave Josh a sultry look.

He closed his eyes and groaned. He didn’t want to start a women’s rights debate, but he didn’t want his men distracted by female soldiers either. “No.”

“I can shoot a squirrel at seventy-five yards.”

Shep whistled appreciatively then grinned as he let his gaze roam over Vixen’s body. “I say we take her.”

“And I said no.” Josh hadn’t seen any women during his single session of combat training. “Have you trained with Tim?”

“It depends on what you mean by training.” Vixen winked at Tim, whose face turned bright red.

“That’s exactly why I don’t want you to go.” She had Shep panting like a dog and Tim blushing like a schoolgirl. She licked her lips as she checked out Zen. No way was Josh letting her go on this mission. “This isn’t a game.”

“I know that.” Vixen huffed and shoved her fists on her hips. “But my sister’s name is on that list.”

Zen put a hand on Vixen’s shoulder. “Does she look like you?”

The last thing Josh wanted was for his best soldier to go off on some personal mission when he was counting on him to lead the entire operation. “I appreciate everyone’s willingness to help, but we can’t take everyone. We need to choose a team that will have the best chance of success, so I’m putting Tim and Zen in charge of screening volunteers.”

Josh pulled the two men aside. “No women and no kids under eighteen.”

“Yes, sir.” Zen and Tim answered in unison then turned their attention to the crowd of people wanting to volunteer.