Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, 5) (6 page)

A black-clad man ran from the trees, bow at the ready. Without warning, a streak of black lunged, white teeth flashing before they clamped down on the man’s jugular. Another of the great cats gave its feline roar, joining in the kill.

Panting, with sweat glistening from their brows and blood dripping from their swords, Cayan’s army slowed, looking for more.

The enemy were either running in terror all around the city, or dying. Few were left after such a short time. The enemy had been largely unprepared. Shanti was right—they were here to test Cayan’s resolve. One or two officers were likely to have escaped to make a report of their findings, while the lower-tiered men would die. The question was, where were those officers headed?

He hoped it was to the Mugdock lands. If so, he’d see them soon.

“
W
oman
, you are not holding that right.”

Alena jumped as Kallon drifted out of the trees like a phantom. The Shumas came out of nowhere. All of them were so quiet, even when traveling through dry leaves. She knew they’d blend into the bright green of spring as easily as the dull gray of winter, even those with bright blond hair. It was crazy.

She was a little envious, if she was being honest.

“This is how I was taught.” Alena frowned at the bow, as if that would reveal the answer to the problem. She glanced at the sky, annoyed that the sun was sinking and taking the last of the day’s light. They’d traveled all day, nearing the horrible Mugdock lands. They’d reach the border sometime tomorrow, and a battle might come soon after.

Butterflies took over her stomach as the striking blond man came to stand right in front of her. His hair fell around his face in a wave, accenting strong cheekbones in a chiseled face. He was incredibly handsome, not just striking. If it hadn’t been for his stormy eyes, so haunted and riddled with pain, he’d probably have set her panties on fire. As it was, his dangerous edge had her body tingling in a way that wasn’t entirely pleasant.

Mostly.

“I j-just…” She jerked her bow up and scowled down at it, trying to rid herself of the stammer. “I thought I was doing it right.”

His intent gaze surveyed her for a moment before his hand drifted out from his side to the bow. Electricity crackled as his warm hand graced hers. She flinched and dropped the bow. Her arrow tumbled to the dirt.

“You are jumpy.” He bent to the bow and arrow, picking them up with graceful movements. He held them out. “Take them. I’ll show you.”

“Yup. Oh-kay.” Face on fire, she took the bow and held it as she was taught, only shaking a little more. The man was rattling her. He was just so
intense
.

He stepped to the side and waited. She fitted the arrow and pulled back, sighting. As she had been taught since childhood, she let her mind go blank. Her breathing came even and slow. She zeroed in on the red splotch in the middle of the target, ignoring all else. Trying to block out the wind ruffling her hair and the heat of the man standing a little too close.

She let go at the same time as blinking. That meant she’d also jerked just a tiny bit. “Dang it!”

The arrow was at the edge of the target, just as she’d suspected. “I’m better in the middle of battle. Or action. Just standing here…I think I’m too caught in my head.”

Tingles worked down her back again as the man surveyed her. “You are trying too hard. You are not giving in to it. Are you a virgin?”

“
What?
” she sputtered.

“In sex, there is a point where you can give in totally. Have you been to that point?”

“That’s… This…” She moved a step away and circled the air with her pointer finger. “That’s none of your business.”

His eyes sparkled but the sentiment didn’t reach his lips. He barely nodded. “Let’s see.”

“No!” Alena flinched away. “I barely know you!”

This time the corners of his lips pulled, hinting at a smile. “Let’s see you hold the bow again.”

“Oh.” She tossed her head, which would’ve looked a lot better if her hair had been tied in a bun and therefore unable to flick behind her shoulder. “Okay, then.”

She raised the bow a second time and quickly reached back for an arrow, but stopped when she felt strong fingers wrap around her wrist. “Wait,” he said.

He moved her arm back in front of her. “Speed is good, but technique is better. Do not move faster than your experience level. It will cripple you in the end.”

“You speak our language well,” she blurted.

“Yes. Now, try again.”

Biting her lip, she reached back slowly, feeling his direction as she did so. The change was minute, barely more than a flare of her elbow, but it felt so much smoother. Like a greased machine instead of a rusty one. “Weird.”

“Try again.”

She reached back, feeling his hand directing her. “It feels smoother when I do it your way, but at the same time, it feels like I am reaching wider somehow. Like it’ll take longer. It’s not the shortest distance between my bow and the quiver.”

“You are not using your muscle groups properly. You are thinking too much. Learn to listen to your body.
Feel.
Try again.”

Alena didn’t just try again—with his instruction and patience, she must’ve reached back ten more times, before being instructed to keep trying. “I think I have it,” she finally said.

“Yes. Your form is perfect. But to remain perfect, you need to teach your body. You are still thinking. When you stop thinking, you will have it. Let’s see you shoot.”

Alena’s sigh was a little too loud. Her arm was growing tired from all the reaching.

She sighted, and then let her mind go blank. Her breath evened out, and then came quickly again when deft fingers danced across her shoulders.

“You are too tight through here.” He tapped her shoulder muscles.

She tried to relax, but he was standing really close. He didn’t have the same respect for personal space as her people did. And also, he smelled really good. Like wild forest and springtime.

“Okay.” Alena dropped her bow and stepped away. “Can you just…wait over there?”

“If you would prefer.” He took two smooth steps away.

This time, with relaxed shoulders, she focused on her breath. She blocked out the breeze and tried to settle into the shot.

The hand on her shoulder made her jump. She hadn’t even heard him walk closer!

“You are blocking your surroundings. That is dangerous in battle.” Kallon stepped in front of her again, his eyes sweeping her face. “Mela noted that your people are trained incorrectly in that regard. It can be mastered, doing as you do, but it is so much harder, and shortsighted. Your Captain does not use this approach. Your commanders don’t. Yet everyone still tries to train with it. It seems those with natural ability find the best way, while those without stand in line to get killed.”

Alena frowned. That was a harsh thing to say. Surely there was some stock in their training if they could produce the army they had.

“Try again.” He stepped around her, his body nearly touching hers as he stood to the side.

She pulled back the string, sighted, and paused while he adjusted her elbow. His hands applied pressure to the side of her hips, turning her a fraction.

“Mela approved of my posture.” Not to mention that when she’d adjusted her body, it had been in a more formal way.

“Mela wasn’t noticing what I am noticing. You are beautiful. I want to drink in the sight of you. Vulnerable and fierce at the same time.
Chulan
was like that, once. We all were. I barely remember.”

“That’s… This is…” Alena felt like she was trying to swallow a boiled egg. “You aren’t helping.”

“I am distracted.” Kallon touched her elbow again. His fingers grazed her hips. “Look at the target.”

The red splotch swam into view, but her shoulders would not relax. Her breath came unevenly. This was not helping.

“Release.”

A blast of awareness tore through her a moment before she did as instructed. In that brief time, she saw the red; she felt her body; she noticed the strength of the wind and the sweet smell of his breath. Most importantly, in that brief moment, her body went fluid and reacted to the task at hand. She didn’t think, she just did.

The fletching quivered in the middle of the target.

“Oh wow.” Kallon forgotten, Alena dropped the bow in surprise. “I was not ready to release when you said release, and then I just did, and…wow.”

“You think too hard. Do not block out your surroundings; become one with them. Accept them into you. If a man is sounding his death scream at your side, hear it. Let his suffering wash over you, and then leave. React through it, not around it. You can save the nightmares for after.”

“That’s…helpful…” Or horrifying, she wasn’t sure which.

“You are a natural.” He moved in front of her again. His eyes delved into hers, making her feel uncomfortable. “Before you release, think of me. Maybe that will help.”

“I don’t…” She nearly pushed him away. This was becoming a little overbearing. “I don’t know about that. But thanks for your help.”

She was walking before she even knew where she was going. Before she was out of earshot, she heard Mela’s voice. “You came on a little strong. These people are not so bold.”

Mela had been in the area and Alena hadn’t even noticed. They could all have been there for all she knew. With Kallon in her personal space, and touching her—he was really distracting. The whole people were really distracting, including S’am. She gave a
look
when she was in fighting mode and everything Alena was thinking dried up right before a warning in her body urged her to run.

Alena had a long way to go before she was as battle hardened as the Shumas. In a way, she hoped she never made it there. She hoped this would all end peacefully somehow.

Her scoff was lost to the approaching darkness.
Fat chance.

* * *

S
hanti sat
high in a tree away from the camp, reveling in the silence of nature, interrupted only by Gracas and Leilius creeping closer. She picked at a leaf, and then tore it apart before letting the wind blow it from her hands.

They’d reach the Mugdock lands soon, engaging in just one stage of the overall plan. They would be asserting themselves as Chosen at last.

She tore another leaf apart.

All the things that could go wrong filtered through her head, one by one. They were a small host, and even combined with the Shadow, and reunited with more of her people, they wouldn’t have enough. There was no way they’d ever be able to enter into a straight fight with Xandre and win.

So the question was, how could they even up the disastrous odds and stay ahead of an incredibly strategic mind, to complete her life’s duty?

It didn’t seem possible.

But then, it never had. Somehow, she’d made it to Cayan, and together, they’d made it farther than she could ever have expected. Ever hoped.

Taking a deep breath, she allowed a tiny kernel of hope to work into her middle. Her duty still seemed impossible, but…

She let the wind take the fragments of leaf as the two boys drifted within view, quiet as field mice. They stopped a moment. Leilius examined a tuft of grass where she had trodden earlier, then looked around the area, unaware of where to go from there. She hadn’t tried to hide her tracks, but she hadn’t advertised her position, either. She hadn’t wanted to be disturbed by busybodies like Sanders, who had already wandered by an hour ago. He pretended to hate the very thought of her, but then worried when she went missing. He was a severely emotionally repressed individual.

Leilius shrugged. “I think she was here, but then her tracks just vanish.”

“Do you think maybe she made it this far and an animal killed her?” Gracas said with wide eyes.

“There’d be blood, you moron.” Leilius peered through the bushes in front of him.

“Oh yeah.”

“She has to have gone
somewhere
.” Leilius sounded completely put out.

“What’s the point of finding her, anyway? This isn’t a training exercise. She’ll probably kick us in the head if we disturb her. Remember that time we caught her peeing in the Shadow Lands?”

“She didn’t care that we found her that time. She cared that you pointed at her and stared.”

“
Well?
How was I supposed to know women squat to pee?”

“You sound like you’re twelve. They don’t have dicks. What did you think they did? Dribble down their legs?”

“She still had her pants on, you idiot.” Gracas punched Leilius. “How the hell was she not peeing all over her clothes?”

“They learn how to do it out of necessity. And they’re smarter than you. It’s a wonder you don’t pee all over your pants even with a dick!”

They were yelling, and if they had been in enemy land, they’d be dead. It was funny, though. And a great distraction. Instead of letting them move on, as they were about to do, she used a soft, raspy voice and said, “Oooooh!”

Gracas jumped so high he was airborne. Leilius dove into the bushes.

Both boys froze for a moment. Not even their eyes moved.

A second later Gracas charged into the bushes directly under Shanti’s location. He stomped the ground like a madman, tearing at foliage and roots and weeds, looking behind and under everything he saw. He never thought to look up.

Leilius, on the other hand, did. His gaze went skyward, looking through the leafy trees. He wasn’t looking high enough, though. She could never jump down on them from her height, so he didn’t think of anything above the lower branches as a threat. He’d forgotten about the use of bows. She’d have to rectify that.

Sweaty, with leaves and branches sticking out of his shirt and the waistband of his trousers, Gracas marched back toward Leilius. Hands on hips, chest heaving, he said, “What the fuck, right? I mean…” He looked around as if his horse had gone missing. “You heard that, right?”

“I’m in a bush, aren’t I?”