LW Browning - Krystile Warriors 01 - Warlord's Honor (23 page)

***

R
ough hands hauled Claire up. She was moved from one craft to another. They locked her in a room on the second craft, but since her hands were still bound behind her and her feet tied together, she had little hope of escape. She needed every ounce of strength to survive as long as possible. If she had the opportunity, she decided to end her own life rather than have it taken from her. Koda was not coming for her. Death was darkness, but she was certain death would bring freedom from the heartache of Koda sending her away from him. It was little comfort, but it was all she had. 

She had no idea how much time passed when two STS guards returned to pull her up. A third put a bag over her eyes. They dragged her off the ship and inside a building. They changed direction several times. Claire tried to remember the turns. If she managed to get free...

Without warning, she was pushed to the floor, her head hit hard. A chain was attached to the cuffs that held her hands behind her. They did not bother to remove the bag from her head. The cage door slammed shut and keys jingled in the lock. The place smelled dank and musty. If they used keys, she must be inside an old building. Koda was not coming for her. It didn't matter where she was.

***

K
oda and the warlords boarded the transport with Destiny. Dare set a tracking device to follow the coordinates transmitted from the Krystile in Claire's lavaliere. Inside the transport, with their course set, Lodi escorted Destiny to a large room where he grabbed a straight back chair and positioned it in the center of the room. "Sit," he said to Destiny.

Koda stood back and nodded to Lodi. "I would know what happened between you and Claire."

Destiny focused on nothing, perhaps she was thinking. Koda smelled her fear and apprehension. He did not trust himself to question her.

"I asked you a question," Lodi said.

They needed information, not to scare her out of her wits. Koda moved, but Lodi gave a bare shake of his head.

"I um – what do you mean?" Destiny asked.

Lodi tilted his head and softened his voice. "Why did Claire stop before she boarded the shuttle with us?"

The girl's face flushed until she pinked from her cheeks down to her chest. The signs of her panic and smell of fear grew stronger.

"I do not know. We were holding hands and she was there and then, she let go of my hand," Destiny answered.

"Look at me," Lodi commanded.

Destiny jerked her gaze up to meet Lodi's light blue stare. Koda wondered if all MX were so high strung.

"Continue," Lodi said.

Destiny's lower lip trembled. "I – we were running for the craft and I did not – was not able to look back for Claire until we were on the ramp. It all happened so fast."

Lodi regarded her with a frown. "Yet you can communicate with each other without touching or speaking. What did she say?"

"She said nothing," Destiny wrung her hands together. 

"You called out to her. What was her reaction?"

"She had no reaction. It was as if she did not hear me," Destiny shook her head.

"And she did not speak to you with her mind?" Lodi asked.

"She did not," Destiny said.

"That is very hard to believe," Ache said. He moved closer to Destiny and Koda heard her heartbeat speed up.

Destiny shook her head. "She did not reach out to me with her mind. I was too upset, perhaps. It happened fast. I did not reach out to her with my mind either."

"So you cannot communicate with each other constantly?" Lodi asked.

"No. We – it is sometimes difficult."

"Difficult how?" Lodi said.

"We don't – we can't... If we are upset, if our own emotions fill us... We cannot use our abilities if we are overloaded."

"Interesting," Var said.

"Why are you afraid to tell us about your abilities?" Lodi asked.

Destiny was looking at her hands in her lap. She sighed before turning her green eyes up to Lodi. Her voice was soft. "We are being hunted and put to death because we are empaths."

"Why should we believe her?" Ache's question was directed at the warlords.

"You are too paranoid, Ache," Mack said.

Destiny shook her head again as if searching for answers that did not come. "I was captured and sold, promised freedom only to be sold and caged, waiting for execution by the STS. I escaped and found Claire. I have lost her. Now, I am in a room full of suspicious barbarians who still wear the blood of those they recently slaughtered." She stood up. "Do what you will. I have told you what I know. You choose to believe me or not. You choose to end my life or not. You choose to save Claire or not. The choice is yours, but I will not be called a liar, I have no reason to lie. I have no reason to help you except to save Claire. You decide not to hear the truth. That is your decision." Her chin came up and her light green eyes blazed with a fire that was on the verge of turning violet.

Var gave Destiny a hard look. "I would know why you are so secretive about your – gifts."

“She has already answered that,” Lodi said.

Destiny looked down at herself and spread her hands out before meeting Var’s gaze. "Look at me. I have no sword. Do you think I am able to win against any of you in a physical fight? My abilities are all that I have to help me survive. You want my trust, but offer none of your own," she whispered.

That sounded familiar to Koda.

Ache moved toward Destiny, but a look from Lodi stopped him in his tracks.

Dare broke the tension when he looked up from the crystal in his hand. "We will be in range to land soon. Do you want to go in stealth or fighting? Their transport stopped in a location near the place of commerce. I tracked Claire's signal and triangulated a position. They are headed to a sports arena."

Destiny gasped and sat down in the chair.

Koda turned his piercing gaze on her. She was pale. "I would know why this concerns you," he said.

Destiny's eyes filled with tears.

Koda fixed her with a stare and waited.

"I have h-heard about a p-place. MX are executed in barbaric ways while an audience watches. Wealthy people pay to watch. I read the STS who talked about it when they caged me. I saw what they saw. It is too awful to speak. They called it an arena." She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked slightly.

Koda watched her. The girl’s fear was real. He had also heard rumors about an arena. Koda answered. “Stealth for now. Let them think they lost us. We need time to locate her and discover what is happening at that arena."

"The place is swarming with STS and guards. There has been a lot of external traffic that arrived there in the last TP," Dare reported.

"What kind of traffic?" Koda asked.

"Wealthy pleasure craft," Dare answered.

"Best guess," Koda said.

"A select clientele is assembling for whatever they plan to do with Claire and any other MX they have," Dare answered. “I am also picking up chatter about a show.”

"Will you go after her?" Destiny asked.

Koda turned his ice blue gaze on Destiny. "Claire is mine. My mate. No one takes what is mine. I have made vows and – promises to her. I will have her." Koda said.

T
hey landed unnoticed on the far side of the arena. Dare pulled up the blueprints of the facility and was going over them with Koda and Var on the viewer.

"This place is huge and we have no idea where Claire is within it," Dare said. “The place is a maze. I have the blueprints on my handheld, I will help you navigate it," Dare said.

"We will go to the arena and the STS will bring her out in the open for us," Koda said.

"That may be a better plan," Lodi agreed.

“We should take Destiny. She can communicate with Claire," Vix said.

"See to Destiny," Koda nodded to Lodi.

Lodi brought his closed fist to his heart and moved to Destiny’s side. He arranged the cloak on her and covered her hair with the hood.

“I am glad you will try to save Claire,” she whispered.

Lodi’s look was fierce. “We are warlords. No one takes from us.”

“No one who survives,” Vix added.

Var looked at Koda, "I hope these MX do not prove to be the death of us."

"How is that looking so far?" Revi said.

***

C
laire heard the STS coming. Her stomach turned at Robare's smug voice. "Koda thinks that you betrayed him. He has the MX from Trade Central and even now interrogates her to find out why you did not get on the transport when he sent you away."

Claire boosted her shields and tried to ignore his words. 

Robare continued, "I know you did not get the full story of how the warrior society works. They’re barbarians, but they have rules." Robare was so full of himself. Claire wanted to shut his words from her mind.

"To attack the Warlord Leader is to forfeit one's life. Their justice is swift and final. Oh, and brutal too. Very brutal and bloody. Betrayal deserves lethal force by the warlords. Barbaric people, as I’ve said. Very violent. This is a little vid we left for Koda." Robare played the vid for her. It was part of her training session with Calks.

On the vid, she recited details about Koda and his people to Calks. It was a routine part of her preparation for any assignment. Would Koda think she betrayed him? He sent her away. He very well might interpret this vid as her betrayal.

Robare's eyes were bright from his madness. "Koda will not forgive you. Nor will he help you. In fact, he’ll kill you on sight as will any of his warlords. Stupid savages, they will easily believe you betrayed them," Robare continued. "The Conglomerate will take them over and all their energy resources will belong to us. The Krystiles are wasted on stupid barbarians. And I – I will be rewarded for my foresight in acquiring the Krystiles and slaughtering Koda's backward people."

Claire wondered what Koda would do to her if he had her. It no longer mattered. Her life was about to end. She read Robare. Koda did not confide in her. He knew she had no information Robare wanted, but Robare did not know that. She saw it then, Robare's trap. He thought she knew something about the Krystiles when, in fact, she knew nothing. Koda might think she betrayed him.

Now she faced her death. She was doomed the moment Calks sold her to the big barbarian. After all these years of playing by the rules, doing a good job, surviving, she was surprised to find that she preferred death to betraying Koda. She understood with the clarity that only imminent death provides. Claire loved Koda and she was ready to die for him. She loved a barbarian who saw her as an asset, never as someone to love. She had been foolish to trust him. Foolish to believe he wanted her the way she wanted him.

Koda had been her protector and her savior when all others wanted to destroy her. Even though his reasons were mercenary and he did not love her. As a tribute to her love for him, she would be loyal to him.

Robare droned on. He told Claire horrible things, making sure she understood Koda and his people were prepared to punish her before they killed her. She recalled all the times Koda told her he wanted obedience from her. When someone is saving your life, are they entitled to have your obedience or does it depend on why they are saving your life?

The penalty for betrayal was a public flogging followed by a bloody death, Robare assured her. He was insane, but Claire remembered the scars on Var's back made from one of those long whips the warlords carried. She remembered all too well the whip Koda used on Ramil and those who had attacked her.

Claire trusted her own heart. She tried to shield her mind from Robare, but he was persistent. Robare launched in on a detailed list of punishments Koda's people practiced. The things done to those who betrayed them were too awful for Claire to contemplate. She knew Koda dealt out punishment. A shudder went through her when she remembered Ramil and his companions.

Robare's unbalanced recitations, combined with the drugs they had given her and the fact that Koda had sent her away, eventually convinced Claire that she was not welcome back in Koda's life. She loved him, but she accepted that if she ever saw him again, he was honor-bound to kill her and that her death would probably be a horrific one. She had never been trusted by anyone. Claire had always been careful to give the appearance of a person who would never dream of breaking the rules, but she had always lived with the distrust of the normals around her. Koda’s distrust of her hurt her heart.

She kept the treasure of her love for Koda within her heart. At least she had loved. She was fortunate to have had that chance. Her soul screamed out for more. More time, more love. She tried to quiet it, but that was not an easy thing to do. It was time to think of her death now. She had little time left.

When Robare left Claire's cell, he was smiling to himself. Physical discomfort and pain were not enough. He wanted her to suffer mental anguish. He wanted to hurt the empath in her soul, if they even had souls. He did not care. Any animal was able to suffer. That was something Robare had enjoyed all his life. His position as an MX Handler was finally working to his advantage. He was given rank in the STS because he had worked with at the MX Facility for a short time. He looked forward to torturing the empaths before they were ended. Killing was so much more fulfilling if the creature knew its death was imminent. He took special joy in making his victims yearn for the end. Robare smiled as he anticipated the delicious misery and suffering he had planned for Claire. He wanted to see desolation and utter defeat in her eyes while she begged him to end it, to end her.

***

"W
e require your assistance," Koda told Destiny. "We are going into the arena. Claire is there. I would have you help us."

"Of course," Destiny replied.

"That must be their standard answer," Revi told Lodi.

"I would know if she speaks to you with her mind or if you feel anything from her," Koda continued.

"Of course," Destiny said again.

"I would know what you know of this arena and how you came to know it," Koda said.

Destiny shuddered. "I overheard the STS guards talking and I received from them. Three of them had first-hand knowledge. The Conglomerate pays the STS to dispose of – us. They sell seats to the wealthy in an arena. It is very lucrative sport for them. The MX are drugged to enhance the spectacle. While the audience watches, the MX is tortured and then killed. The benefit to the audience is that when we are in the throes of pain from the torture and fear of our impending death, we can lose control of our shields and blast our emotions to those who are within range. The spectators hope to experience the fear, pain and death. Only the very wealthy can afford it."

"The very wealthy and the very sick," Vix noted.

"Do you have any details that might help us?" Var asked Destiny.

"The MX is flogged or tortured in some way to make her bloody. Then wild animals are loosed to r-rip her apart. What I received from the STS who were present was that the MX was untied so that she ran from the animals. The crowd enjoys the blood and the – chase. They like the terror and the death," Destiny finished softly.

Koda nodded.

“There is something else,” Destiny said softly.

“And that is?” Koda said.

“The MX they have killed so far, that method worked. But we have different abilities. They may not get the desired results even using the same methods.” Destiny said.

Koda frowned.

Dare interrupted. "They are not very well armed. There are between 50 and 100 STS guards at the arena. I hacked into their system."

"We will go there. I want to see what they are doing," Koda said. Destiny was frightened. "If I could spare you this, I would, but we may need your help. Try to keep your emotions under control and do not project and give us away."

"Projection is not my primary gift," Destiny said. "I receive the essence of people and can amplify it. Claire has the strongest gift of projection."

Koda considered her words, "I would have you help however you can."

"Of course," Destiny said.

"Essence, it does not sound like a very scary gift," Lodi said. "Why are people so afraid of something like that?"

Koda pulled the green Krystile from his arm band. The warlords formed a circle with Destiny. The air around them shimmered. In a moment they were in the interior portion of the arena.

"Good map," Revi said. They had arrived in an alcove. Unless a person stood in the alcove with them, they were hidden from view.

"This ramp should take us to the seating area," Dare said. The group followed him up the large stone incline that opened to the arena. The sun was setting. Huge lights lit the stadium. People sat in the seats that formed a circle around the field, waiting for the entertainment.

Dare led the group to unoccupied seats far from the other spectators.

Destiny sat between Koda and Lodi as they took their seats.

"Can you feel Claire?" Koda asked Destiny.

Destiny opened her mind and searched, gasping when she found Claire. "By all the fates," she whispered. Her small hands fisted at her sides. 

"I would know of your efforts," Koda said. He felt Claire's presence here through the mate bond. Given enough time, he would be able to find her, but he did not have time and the STS were all over the place.

"She is hurt, but alive," Destiny replied. 

"Can you tell her we are here?" Koda asked.

"I am trying now," Destiny responded. 

Destiny whimpered. Tears filled her eyes. 

"What?" Koda demanded.

"She said to leave. There is no way to save her."

"I would know where she is," Koda said. His voice was rough.

"She does not know. They beat and drugged her. She was blindfolded when they brought her here," Destiny said. 

The STS Officers, conspicuous in their black uniforms with the red sash, sat together in a preferred section of the arena where they ate and drank while naked slaves served them. The stadium was half-filled with wealthy patrons who brought their own slaves. An official stepped to a microphone and announced the ceremonies for the night. An MX would be executed. He thanked those who attended.

Two shirtless men in black STS pants entered the arena with a bloody and bruised Claire between them. Each held a rope attached to one of her wrists. They kept the bonds tight so that her arms were pulled out from her sides. Claire wore remnants of the gown Koda had given her to wear at the Trade Center. She stumbled as they dragged her to the post in the middle of the arena. The top of the gown had shredded and no longer covered her. Koda groaned. Claire was modest and he wanted to protect her from the eyes of strangers. He would kill them all.

Each guard tossed his rope over a hook on the top of the post. They pulled the ropes taut and tied them to a metal ring that was set in the ground on the opposite side of the post. She yelped in pain when they pulled the ropes and stretched her. Two other STS moved behind her and let their whips loose.

Claire was up on her toes, stretched tight for the lashing they planned to give her. Fury flowed through Koda as he moved toward the arena. "Kill them all," he ordered. The warlords were already moving to attack.

The announcer told the cheering crowd that they would whip the MX until she was bloody. Then she would be freed so she could run from the wild animals. He concluded by saying that MX often projected their feelings during times of great duress and promised that they were in for a treat. He told the eager crowd that in the midst of her ordeal, they would feel her terror and fear as the animals began to tear her apart and eat her alive.

Koda moved to the edge of the seating area, stepped over the rail and landed lightly on the packed sand of the arena floor. He moved toward Claire as the two STS guards positioned themselves behind her. Koda continued walking to her as he pulled his whip loose and let it trail out behind him. Still in his battle armor, he moved with the grace of a predator, a warrior who had fought many battles. His war braids were pulled behind his head and tied to keep them out of his way.

***

C
laire saw Koda. Was it really him? He was angry and had his whip in his hand. His fury hit her. Was he going to take part in her bloody execution? Robare had been right. She used all her remaining energy to shield her emotions. She refused to let Koda know she had loved him beyond even her own life.