Nameless (35 page)

Gryphon threw the spear.

He didn’t think, only reacted to the sight of Joshua stabbing himself. The slender shaft of his spear wobbled in the air from the force of the throw as it sailed over the heads of the crowd gathered in the square. It struck the bed of a wooden vegetable cart and exploded, sending the whole cart and its contents flying into the air. The Historian’s chemicals erupted into a ball of flame that licked the two-story rooftops. Gryphon felt the heat of the blast on his face as he leapt off his lofty perch into the riot below.

He landed hard. The hilt of his sword jammed into his ribs as he rolled out of the fall. Everywhere he looked Ram scattered in all directions, some looking for relatives and friends, others looking for a fight. Clumsy arrows poured down from Nameless archers positioned on rooftops. Nameless men carried weapons they didn’t know how to wield while women and children ran from the square, their wails ringing like demon bells in Gryphon’s ears, as their men were quickly chopped down.

In the back of his mind, Gryphon thought of Ajax and his mess brothers. He hoped they were all right. He thought the spear was only supposed to be a diversion to save Joshua and Zo, not the signal for a planned rebellion!

What was the Historian thinking?

Gryphon sprinted toward the platform, jumping over bodies and dodging Nameless and Ram locked in battle. He noticed Stone from the corner of his eye, shoving a pack into Eva’s arms and pointing emphatically toward the direction of the gate.

Gabe reached the center of the square at the same time as Gryphon. They cleared the steps of the platform in a single bound and raced to Joshua and Zo, anonymous in the madness surrounding them.

Joshua’s blood formed a giant puddle. Zo had managed to roll him onto his back. She covered his stomach with two dripping red hands. Her hair fell around her bare shoulders like a veil of black despair. “Gryphon!” She sobbed his name. “I couldn’t stop him in time. The wound … it’s deep … ” She ran at him like she might charge, she reached for his knife and sliced his shirt enough to tear it.

Zo sobbed as she tied the cloth around Joshua’s waist. It soaked through even before she finished. The pitch of her cry made Gryphon want to stop and pull her and Joshua both to him. To wrap his arms around them and expel their fear by sheer force. But there wasn’t time.

Gryphon’s legs nearly gave out as he took the final steps to Joshua’s side. In one motion, he scooped the boy up into his arms. Gabe helped Zo to her feet and together they scrambled off the platform and ran toward the gate, cloaked by the mayhem of the bloody square.

“Where is my sister?” Zo shouted over the noise of clanking swords and swooshing arrows.

“I sent Tess ahead to wait for us at the gate,” said Gabe. Zo tripped and Gabe turned back to help her.

Gryphon tried not to look at Joshua, tried not to interpret his dead weight or his unfocused eyes.
He’ll be all right.
He repeated the mantra over and over again. Willing it to be true. Needing it to be true.

They ran out of the square and passed the string of buildings and mess barracks.

No one followed them. When they reached the perimeter of the great wall they heard the gears and chains of the massive gate opening.

Zo’s vision tunneled as they ran, blurring in and out. She fell and hands snatched her up. It took several moments for her to recognize Gabe helping her forward.

“Joshua,” she croaked, her legs unsteady. “He tried to kill himself so I could escape.”

Gabe’s grip was as firm as the look on his face. “You can save him, Zo. We’re all going to make it.”

Running. Running. Running. Looking over at Joshua’s limp form in Gryphon’s arms. Smelling the slick layer of blood on her skin. Feeling it dry and cake on her chest. Too much blood.

It’s happening again.
Her parents’ lifeless bodies. Too much blood. Not being able to save them.

Knowing it was her fault.

The Historian stood near the gate entrance with Eva as hundreds of Nameless fled the walls. It was only a small percentage of the thousands of Nameless inside Ram’s Gate, but still the sight of them made Gryphon stop short. They carried packs filled with provisions on their backs. Four guards lay dead, their lifeless bodies trampled under the feet of the Nameless as they made their frantic exodus. The lookouts were missing from the high walls. Likely sharing the other guards’ fate.

Gryphon set Joshua on his feet but still supported most of the boy’s weight. Shouts and cries of pain wafted over from the square only a few hundred yards away. The distraction wouldn’t last long.

“You must hurry!” The Historian ushered them to the narrow opening behind the last of the escapees. She nodded to the forty Nameless manning the wheel that opened the gate. “My men will close it behind you.”

Your men?
Gryphon’s cheeks grew hot. If this woman hadn’t been helping them escape he’d be furious. How many of his friends had died today because of her scheming? Gryphon understood now that he’d only been a pawn in her little game. Manipulated by a foolish bedtime story. Yes, Barnabas was evil, and the Ram had many flaws, but to organize a rebellion inside the Gate?

It put his own treason to shame.

Tess ran to Zo’s side, her face white at the sight of Joshua covered in his own blood.

“Zo and I know of a good place to hide. It’s not far,” said Gabe.

Shouts called out from behind them. Barnabas’ voice boomed unintelligible orders that carried over the dying noise of the square.

The Ram were coming.

Gryphon and Gabe immediately locked eyes. They both knew their chances of survival if something wasn’t done to stop the Ram from leaving the gate. In one glance, everything important passed between them. Strategy, oaths, respect. Gabe ripped off his pack and handed it to Zo.

“What are you doing?” she said.

Gabe wordlessly reached out to free Gryphon of the task of supporting Joshua. “Gryphon will be right behind us. He just needs to make sure no one follows.”

Zo had been in a state of shock since the prizefight, but snapped her head to Gryphon and reached out to grasp his arm. “No.” The word came out hoarse and trembling. Tears instantly sprang to her eyes.

Gryphon, who’d always been so careful not to touch her, didn’t think twice about resting his hands on either side of her cheeks and letting his fingertips weave into the dark tangles of her hair. The moment was fleeting but if Gryphon survived the next five minutes of his life, he knew he’d never forget the feel of her soft cheeks against his palms, the look of affection in her blue eyes that—until today—had always been so guarded.

“Save Joshua. I’ll be with you soon.”

Zo was still shaking her head when Gabe pulled her under the gate with Tess right behind. She looked back, pleading for him to follow.

Eva stared back in the direction of the square, uncertain and unmoving.

“Go, Eva. Now!” said Gryphon.

“But, Stone.”

Gryphon took her by the upper arm and forced her out the gate. “If you love him like you say, show him by leaving.”

Gryphon turned back to the Historian. She held her arms folded over her chest, appraising him with hooded eyes.

“Close the gate!” Gryphon called to the Nameless at the giant wheel. Each link of chain connected to the wheel was a foot in diameter. The heavy chain connected to a massive boulder held aloft by a pulley system. The counterweight of the boulder was all that kept the gate open.

The sound of the Ram army grew louder. Gryphon had only minutes before they reached the gate and discovered the dead guards and the missing Nameless.

Gryphon retrieved a spear from one of the lifeless guards on the ground. Holding the spear gave him courage and balance, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the strongest army in the region.

The Historian pulled out a bundle from inside her cloak, greatly resembling the one he’d tied to his spear only a few minutes earlier.

The Ram army sounded like approaching thunder.

Gryphon snatched the bundle from the Historian’s hands and sprinted to the wheel where all of the Nameless still stood. “Get out of here!” Gryphon ordered. He wedged the bundle of chemicals inside the one of the links in the chain then raced up the five flights of stairs that hugged the great wall.

The army turned the final corner and marched to the gate. The Historian had vanished.

From high on the wall Gryphon took a moment to catch his breath while he did his best to judge the distance.

“There, up on the wall!” a voice cried from below.

Gryphon held his spear aloft. The target of explosives seemed tiny from this great height.

“Striker!” Barnabas growled in fury. Men began to climb the walls. Spears flew up to meet Gryphon.

It would be not only his death if he failed, but Joshua and Zo’s, Tess and Eva’s, not to mention countless Nameless. All of their faces passed before his eyes as he reached back then threw his weight forward, his arm arching past his ear last, propelled by all the momentum he possessed.

He knew his aim had been sure even before the spear connected with the explosive pouch. On impact, light, heat, and a deafening boom brought Gryphon to one knee. Chains rattled as the gargantuan boulder acting as the gate’s counterweight dropped from the air and cracked in two as it hit the ground. The wall shook, knocking several of the men pursuing Gryphon off the stairs and plummeting to their deaths.

“I will kill you for this!” Barnabas yelled.

The wood beneath his feet swayed and groaned. With no other options before him, Gryphon pulled both of his daggers from their sheaths. He climbed over the pointed shafts of the fifty-foot wall just as the platform toppled beneath him.

The first blast was immediately followed by a loud cracking sound that made the earth shake.

Gryphon.

Zo didn’t dare stop to look back at the distant wall. No matter how desperate she was to know if Gryphon survived the impossible task of blocking the Gate, she only allowed herself to think about saving Joshua.

Ahead, Gabe ran with Joshua in tow. The boy’s limbs flopped up and down and side to side as Gabe navigated the rocks and trees of the downward slope. Even with Joshua’s weight, Gabe traveled faster than Tess was able.

Zo turned to Eva, who’d been silently running at their side.

“Can you help Tess? I need to get to Joshua.”

Eva nodded and took Tess’ hand before Zo took off after Gabe. She did her best to block out the scenes from so many of her nightmares of her past, but the macabre images flashed before her eyes without volition.

Mom forces the lid over the basket to hide us just before the Ram enter our hut. She doesn’t realize the basket has holes big enough to peek through.

It all happens fast. The whites of Dad’s eyes catch the light of the low fire. They change like a cloud passing before the sun when the blade of the Ram’s sword slides through his chest to the hilt. Another Ram slices the backs of his knees. Dad crumbles to the ground like a sack of potatoes falling off a cart.