Excerpt: Invasion

“What are we doing?”

“We’re waiting.”

“We’re not supposed to wait. We’re supposed to find S’am.” Marc’s voice was hollow. He sounded as nervous as Leilius felt.

“I know. Shut up. I’m thinking.” Leilius rubbed his temples. He hated these exercises. If he couldn’t sneak up on S’am by himself, there was no way he could lead a bunch of big-footed nitwits to do it. She expected far too much from him.

“We don’t have all day for you to try and rub two thoughts together,” Rachie blurted.

“Would you shut up? She might be in earshot.” Leilius dropped his hands and glanced at the felled tree to the right. It lay in a broken mess, rotting into the green grasses, shimmering with wetness. To the left of the path grew a white flowered plant, shaded by the large trees that surrounded it.

“Okay.” Leilius took a deep breath and tried to block out the eyes staring impatiently at him. “This is the beginning of the non-Gift area. Her mind power won’t work in this area of the trials… I mean, what used to be the trials. S’am is waiting somewhere in there. I think—”

“This place creeps me out,” Gracas interrupted, rubbing his upper arms as if he was cold. “It’s got a weird vibe to it.”

“Can you imagine going through here by yourself?” Rachie asked, looking through the trees with wide eyes. “That would suck.”

“Why are you leading again?” Ruisa asked from the rear of the loosely clustered group.

Leilius swatted at a fly. “Because I’m the only one who has worked with S’am on spying, that’s why! She seems to think I can help you guys get better at sneaking.”

“Fat chance,” Marc muttered. “Leading this group is like herding cats.”

Leilius pinched the bridge of his nose and willed patience. He had no idea how S’am trained this bunch of ninnies. They couldn’t follow even the simplest of directions.

Of course, they were always attentive and respectful when S’am worked with them. They had to be—she’d kick them in the head if they weren’t.

Wondering if he could get away with the same thing, Leilius glanced back. His gaze skimmed each of them before stopping on Xavier’s huge shoulders that topped his sizable frame. He thought back to the battle with the Graygual only two months before, remembering how quickly the large kid had moved. How effective he was with his sword. He’d plowed through men with twice his experience and come out the victor.

Leilius turned back slowly. Best not to stir the pot. Leilius would just get his ass kicked.

“So here’s the plan,” he said in a hush. Time to quit stalling. “We spread out. Stay off the trail. Stick to the trees and try to work within the leaves, but don’t shake any branches or anything.”

“Walk in the leaves, but don’t shake any…” Rachie spat, something he did when he was irritated during training. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Just…try to keep under cover, but don’t disturb your surroundings, you know? Quiet movement.” Leilius’ voice had risen an octave, something he did when he was irritated.

“We’ve stalked game; we know what we’re doing.” Xavier motioned them forward. “Let’s go.”

Leilius shook his head, but he stepped forward anyway. This wasn’t going to go well. “Just watch what I do.”

Everyone moved slowly off the path and into the area where mental powers were supposed to go dead. Leilius didn’t know anything about that. The lush green landscape of the Shadow Lands seemed consistent across the whole of the island, wet and alive. He’d heard the Captain and S’am talk about huge fluctuations in their powers in certain areas, and he’d paid attention, but he couldn’t feel any difference from one place to the other.

The guys and the sole girl spread out slowly like a fan, ducking under reaching branches but still shaking every small piece of flora they walked past. Gracas went so far as to set a whole branch quivering.

“Stop. Stop!” Leilius said, pausing in a leafy hollow.

Xavier stopped, shifting to look in Leilius’ direction. A twig cracked under his weight, making the large guy wince. More pops sounded off to the left where Rachie and Gracas were, and a rustle gave Ruisa away. The only person who was as silent as Leilius was Marc. Something Leilius pointed out.

“I’m the worst with a weapon,” Marc explained with darting eyes. “I’d be the first one to die if I got caught. Or, in this case, the first to get punched. The need to survive has taught me how to blend in. I just wished that worked with S’am…”

“Well how the hell are we supposed to walk through the damn leaves without making them jump around like dancing frogs?” Rachie snapped.

“Just…” Leilius sighed. “Watch me.”

“I did watch you. You walk like a girl!” Rachie said.

“I’ll kick your teeth in like a girl, how would that be?” Ruisa barked.

Leilius took a deep breath and held up his hands, trying to calm everyone down. His flaring nostrils probably gave away his irritation, but he had to try. “We’re all jumpy. I know that. We’ll be leaving the protection of the island soon and going back to the danger of the mainland. That’s a scary thing. I get it. We might—”

Rachie’s fist came out of nowhere. It was nothing more than a skin-colored blur.

A moment later, Leilius groaned as he picked his head up off the ground and wiped at the mud stuck to his cheek. He shook his head to clear it, his vision a little blurry.

“You’ve gotten much quicker,” Leilius said, wheezing. Apparently, Xavier wasn’t the only one to watch out for. S’am’s lessons had really started to pay off.

“Don’t talk to us like we’re scared,” Rachie growled, emulating Sanders. “I’m not scared.”

“I’m scared,” Marc said.

“Can we get on with this before S’am shows up?” Gracas looked around the trees with wide, expectant eyes.

Picking himself up slowly, Leilius chose a different technique. “Just…watch me.”

Well, it was the same technique while hoping for different results.

They started out again, everyone allowing him to go first. They moved slowly, rustling, cracks, and pops sounding off every so often. If this was enemy territory, they’d be caught by anyone half decent. But just like they had with weapons and fighting, they’d all get better.

Hopefully.

After about ten minutes of walking, the trees started to compress around them. The light, once filtered and soft, was now strangled, barely making it past the foliage. Above, a bird gave one shrill cry before the beat of wings announced its hasty exit.

Leilius held up a hand. The others paused behind him.

Silence reigned.

The murkiness sifted between the trees. Chilled air gently coated his skin, stagnant.

Eyes drifting closed, Leilius tried to feel like S’am had taught him. He concentrated on every sound, picking up the heavy panting behind him. Marc. To the side he could hear a scratchy slide, leaves against someone’s jacket. Other than that, nothing.

S’am would’ve come this way, scaring away most of the birds. If she’d kept going, many would’ve come back to settle, fleeing for a second time as Leilius and his herd tramped through. But only one had taken flight. It either hadn’t left when S’am had come through, or had been brave enough to return.

S’am could stay so still and quiet, animal life filled in her surroundings. But it took time.

She was in the area.

A thrill shot through Leilius. If she was in the area, she knew he was, too. If the Honor Guard took too long to find her, she’d sneak out and scare the crap out of them before waging battle.

Shit. They didn’t have much time.

Trying to calm down, ignoring his thumping heart, he focused on that special survival sense, as S’am had called it. He tried to feel for a presence hiding within the trees. Waiting. Watching. Ready to attack.

A bead of sweat dribbled down Leilius’ cheek.

The heavy panting behind him became more intense.

Unable to help himself, he glanced back.

Marc stood rigid, pale and shaking. He was looking off to the right with unfocused eyes. Xavier, only three paces away from Marc, on bent knees, his practice sword in his hand, stared off in the same direction. He noticed Leilius looking before minutely flicking his head in the direction of his focus.

Xavier couldn’t be quiet, but it seemed he could do that survival-feeling thing.

Leilius turned his head slowly, moving no other part of his body. He scanned the wall of green, looking for S’am’s shiny black jacket or her light hair. Marc’s huffing was the only sound. Time was fleeting.

He should move. She knew they were in the area. She had to.

I hate this part.

One foot in front of the other, Leilius slowly made his way, eyes constantly moving. He checked pockets of shadow large enough for a person to crouch. His gaze skimmed bushes and peered into caverns created by branches. He couldn’t see her!

“Pssst!”

Leilius froze. He closed his eyes in disbelief.

If S’am hadn’t known they’d been sneaking closer before, she certainly did now.

He glanced back at Rachie with wide eyes. No one else had moved since he started his advance in S’am’s direction. They wanted him to get beaten up first, it seemed.

Rachie jerked his head to the left.

Confused, Leilius followed the prompting with his eyes.

Dense brush covered the ground. Weeds grew in thick patches, knee high, leaning against the trunks of trees. It could mask someone lying down, probably, but unless that person planned a rolling attack, it wasn’t great for an ambush.

Leilius crinkled his brow and shook his head, trying to convey his irritation, anger, and thoughts on that hiding place all at the same time. Rachie’s expression closed down before he looked back at that brush. He edged back slowly.

Leilius rolled his eyes. He looked again at that wall of green. She could be anywhere in there. Ready to spring.

This was a bad idea.

Leilius picked up a foot, but before he could put it down, a shape dropped out of the sky.

“Look—shit!” Marc screamed.

Leilius flinched and brought up his sword as S’am dropped right in front of him. He hadn’t thought to look up!

He had his foot still in the air, not knowing if he should charge or run, and a blur with blond hair was upon him. His sword was wrenched out of his hand, batted away. The air gushed from his lungs as pain welled up from his stomach, S’am’s kick landing hard and fast. He bent over and punched feebly, only to get his wrist grabbed and pulled. He threw himself onto her fist, doing the work for her as he fell.

Knuckles hit his cheekbone before he crumpled to the ground. “I give up!”

With weeds almost obscuring his vision as he played dead, he saw S’am descend on Xavier with her near legendary fighting grace. She feinted left, drawing his sword strike. He realized it was a ploy halfway through, making him jerk his hand back. Too late. S’am brought the flat side of her sword blade across, smacking him in the head.

“Ouch!” Xavier staggered, his sword still raised, ready to try again, but S’am had already moved on.

“Team up, team up!” Gracas yelled, waving Rachie toward him. “We can take her together.”

“There’s something—oh holy hell! Run! Everybody run!” Leilius heard heavy footfalls as Rachie followed his own advice.

Marc started screaming like a little girl.

“How do you fight a wild animal?” Ruisa yelled in desperation. Rachie sprinted by her, in a hurry to get away.

Leilius barely had time to get up to see what was going on as a cry like an enraged infant widened his eyes.

“Oh shit!” He hopped up, sword forgotten. Without thinking, only aware that Xavier was between him and the animal, and therefore would give him cover, he took off. S’am could punish him later for cowardice—that cat had sharp teeth.

 

***

 

Shanti watched with a quirked smile as the training session unraveled around her. She could hear Rohnan laughing with big body chuckles from the branch above. Leaves drifted down around her.

“That’s not fair, S’am!” Marc screeched as the big cat studied him.

Shanti’s smile grew. “You should never run from a wild animal, Marc,” Shanti instructed as Xavier bent his legs, his gaze fixed on the predatory, black animal.

“Too late!” Marc ducked behind a tree. Ruisa still stood with her hands out, eyes rounded, frozen in place. Everyone else had taken off.

“They can climb trees,” Rohnan said. It took Shanti a moment to realize he was talking to Marc, who was trying to scrabble up the trunk of one.

She huffed as the cat stalked toward Xavier slowly, its light blue eyes sighting him as prey. Xavier’s hand tightened on his wooden practice sword.

“I admire your courage, Xavier,” Shanti said with a flick of her wrist. The cat halted its advance. “But what did you plan to do with a small piece of wood against a half-grown animal with teeth and claws?”

“I didn’t get that far. I was too busy being scared.”

“I’m amazed at your honesty. Usually you try to hide behind your bravado.” Shanti walked behind the tree and grabbed Marc by the back of his shirt. She gave a tug. The doctor-in-training clung to the bark with his nails, ripping flakes off as he fell away. He landed in a sprawl in a prickly bush.

“Rohnan always gives me away.” Xavier straightened up slowly, then started backing away from the animal. “We found you, though. If it hadn’t been for this cat we would’ve had you.”

“You did find me, yes.” Shanti glanced at Ruisa, who was shaking out her limbs, eyes still on the cat. “Good work, Ruisa. That was the right way to ward off an animal like this. Usually, unless they are really hungry, they’ll leave you be.”

“And if they’re really hungry?” the younger woman asked, still out of breath from her tightly contained panic of the moment before.

“Then you’d better hope you have more than a stick to save your life. Go find everyone else. Tell them we’ll do night training. Maybe trying to do this without eyes will help your awareness.”

Shanti barely heard Ruisa groan as she jogged away.

“Do I have to go tonight?” Marc asked, plucking a thorn from his arm with a grimace.

Rohnan jumped down from the tree, a grin still on his face from the pandemonium.

“Yes. Walk with me, Marc.” Shanti started back toward the city. The panther she’d made an orphan followed her without prompting. As kicking a predator to scare him away would only result in a painful bite, she decided to just let the big cat do what he wanted.

“What did I do?” Marc asked in a whine. “You know I wouldn’t run from an enemy, S’am. But you don’t count. It’s just stupid to stand around while you wind up to punch me in the face. What’s the point in that?”

“Xavier, come with us,” Shanti said as Rohnan fell in beside her.

Xavier’s shoulders tensed up. His head drooped, before he jogged to catch up. He wouldn’t voice it, but he had the same questions as Marc. Probably with a similar whine.

“I’m impressed with the way you identified me, Marc,” Shanti started as they made their way through the thick, wet trees. “I’ve been trying to teach Leilius that. How did you do it?”

“Oh.” The tension left Marc’s body. “At first I just paid attention to Leilius. He’s pretty good at picking up small cues. But then when he stopped and looked scared, I just…kinda…I don’t know. Felt your presence somehow. Or maybe I was just scared.”

“Fear, Chulan,” Rohnan said thoughtfully. “That is the ingredient. I told you.”

“Yes, Rohnan, you know everything,” Shanti said dryly. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Shanti nudged Marc to the right so they could cut through the hole in the thorn fence.

“Yes, Chulan, by your side. As always.”

Shanti took a deep breath as her Gift surged back into her. It spread out, tumbling across the ground. Her world opened up, producing a clearer picture as her extra sense filled in the gaps. She felt someone loitering in the trees away to the right, enjoying the solitude of quiet contemplation. A small animal skittered away to the left.

“I am happy to have been blessed with the Gift,” Rohnan said with a sigh.

“And you, Xavier?” Shanti asked the large youth walking beside her. He seemed like he gained muscle by the day, already tall, but now filling out. He was as big as any Shadow fighter and he probably had another growth spurt ahead of him. Given his skill, and potential, Xavier would be great. If he lasted that long.

If any of them did.

Shanti wiped that thought away. It wasn’t helpful.

“I saw one of your tracks, then I saw Marc tense up,” Xavier explained, twirling a flower between his fingers. “Whenever Marc tenses up like that, you usually pop out a moment later. I just paid attention.”

“Can you blame me?” Marc mumbled.

“Nope.” Xavier bent to pick another wild flower as they turned onto the heavily trodden dirt path leading north. It was a different color to the one he’d already collected.

Shanti hid her disappointment in their answers. “You guys head back, then. I’ll see you at dusk.”

“Good. I’m hungry.” Xavier sped up.

“You’re always hungry,” Marc, lanky in comparison, said as he kept pace.

Shanti watched them for a moment as they ambled away, their minds blissfully focused on the moment. She envied them that trait—only noticing the here and now. They weren’t troubled with the battles to come, the unrest in the land, or the fact that, even now, Xandre sat somewhere, going over that last battle. Documenting. Analyzing. Coming up with a strategy.

Shanti turned off the path, Rohnan at her side. She didn’t have the luxury of only thinking about this moment. They would have to leave the seclusion of this island soon, and confront the misery and danger in the land. Shanti would, once again, have the lives of Cayan and his people weighing on her.

“It does you no good to plague your mind with what’s to come, Chulan,” Rohnan said in a soft voice. “We are all on the journey. They are in no more danger now than if you had passed them by all those months ago. The unrest has swept across the land. There is no hiding from it.”

“I know.” Shanti looked back, noticing Xavier stopping to pick a third flower. She smiled. “I wonder which of the girls he’ll give those to.”

“He will give one to each of the three, I believe,” Rohnan said, his gaze following hers. “I could feel the different emotion with each flower he picked. He, like his Captain, knows how to woo a woman.”

Shanti gave Rohnan a sideways glance. “Cayan only brought me flowers to say he was sorry for…” Her brow furrowed. Why had he been sorry? She couldn’t recall.

“Because he wasn’t sorry. He was showing his feelings.”

She rolled her eyes. “No. He was sorry for something, and wrongly figured I would melt like the women of his land.”

“Instead you gave him a beautiful black eye.”

“Exactly.”

“And since you weren’t planning to, I informed him that women fighters of our land usually use violence to show affection. Although, based on the bites on his torso, and the satisfied air about him, he probably knew that.”

“Those bites were given in battle.”

“Yes. A naked battle.”

Shanti’s lips thinned. “That’s still a battle.”

Rohnan laughed. “Just admit that you love him, Chulan. I do not understand the point in denying it.”

“I don’t have to remind you what happens to those I love, Rohnan. I’d rather keep things simple. You know that. He knows that. Why won’t you all just shut up about it!”

Rohnan ran his fingers through her ponytail. “You’re stubborn.”

Shanti thought about the boys and Ruisa. In two months, her Honor Guard had come farther than any group of people she’d ever worked with, including her own. Something in that last battle had unlocked a hidden potential, now flowering out and growing like a weed. Every new thing she taught them they picked up lightning fast, using it as if they’d been born with the knowledge. They had held their own with the Shadow fighters, a feat the rest of Cayan’s men were struggling with, and still they looked for more knowledge. More ways to improve.

“Cayan isn’t sure what to do with the boys when we get back. They won’t fit into the army mold,” Shanti said. A woman walked along the path toward them. She gave a tiny bow to Shanti and a wink for Rohnan as she passed.

Shanti glanced sideways at Rohnan again. She raised an eyebrow.

The edges of Rohnan’s lips quirked upward. “The Captain isn’t the only one who knows how to woo a woman.”

“Did you use flowers?”

“Of course not. I am not that predictable.”

Shanti laughed despite her mood. “Anyway, the boys will be out of place.”

“They’ll stay with you. Fate has brought them to you. They have a purpose, and that purpose will be with you somehow.”

“Fate. I bloody hate Fate. He’s such a nosey bastard.”

They emerged from the tree line and into a small practice field. Much like Shanti’s people, the Shadow trained mainly in the trees all over the island. For groups training together, often on sword work or with horses, they used this clearing, made bigger by felling trees.

Two men fought with practice swords in the center. One, with a thinner frame, had bright red hair pulled into a knot at the top of his head. The other, tall and robust, with thick cords of muscle running the length of his body, had raven-black hair tied at the nape of his neck.

“Sonson just will not let it lie,” Shanti said in exasperation as the red-haired man thrust forward. Cayan blocked with a rough, brutal defense before stepping forward quickly to counterattack.

“The Captain is using a style like Sanders.” Rohnan’s voice competed with the clatter of the wooden swords. “He is offsetting the graceful style of the Shadow people.”

“For now. He’ll—” Shanti stopped as Cayan’s style morphed into a smooth strike, catching Sonson off guard with the quick change. The tip of the wooden sword grazed Sonson’s side. “There. See? He’s realized Sonson is slow to change his defensive strategies. Sonson is capable of it, as he’s dealt with so many different swordsman over the years, but he hasn’t had experience of combating three different styles all in the same man.”

“Not many are. Cayan is rare.”

Shanti couldn’t help a surge of pride in the observation. In the last two months, Cayan had received a great many challenges in all forms, and he had never lost. Some battles had been close, especially with her and Sonson, but he remained the one true victor, a record not even Sonson held on this island. It had surprised a great many. If anyone had any doubts about the new Chosen’s fighting prowess, those doubts were soon put to rest.

“Pride in a simple bedmate, Chulan? That seems abnormal.” Rohnan clasped his hands behind his back as they stopped to watch the swordplay. “Or are you nearly ready to admit to love after all?”

“You could give Fate a lesson on being a nosey bastard.”

Cayan jabbed forward, drawing the counterattack. He bashed the sword strike aside, having anticipated it, and struck with strength and speed. His sword drove home, hitting Sonson’s stomach and bending him over.

“I yield!” Sonson yelled, groaning as he went to one knee. “Yield. That was a kill strike.”

Cayan straightened up. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his forearm before his gaze swept the area. It landed on Shanti. The spicy hum deep within her lit on fire, bubbling up through her body and making her chest tight. A smile curled her lips as she recognized the fire dancing in his eyes and felt the answering heat course through his body, through their Joining.

Cayan handed off his practice sword and walked toward her with balanced, agile steps. When he reached her, his eyes found her lips, but thankfully he kept his distance. He wouldn’t show affection on the battlefield, thank the Elders. It was just everywhere else he pestered her.

“Mesasha.” Cayan’s deep voice sent tingles racing up her spine. “How did the training go?”

“About as expected. I’ll try darkness and fear tonight. Maybe that’ll help them develop their extra sense to detect presences. I can’t think what else to do.”

Cayan wiped off his face with a cloth, leaving his glistening chest to air-dry. Shanti ripped her eyes away from the defined muscles and tried to ignore her throbbing core. His presence was starting to get distracting.

Rohnan’s smirk was irritating.

“Well. I need to chat with the Shadow Lord.” Shanti turned, only pausing when she noticed Sonson straightening up, his smile aimed at her.

“When does she think to send the first wave to the mainland?” Cayan asked, the twinkle in his eyes dimming.

“Still a month. She can’t cut down the time. You’ve heard from Lucius?”

“Yes.” Cayan turned so his body was facing a stiffly approaching Sonson. “All is well. The Duke’s men are fitting in fine and the supplies are steady. They’ve seen no Graygual.”

Shanti’s brow furrowed, unease niggling at her. “I suspect Xandre will be mulling over his loss. He will analyze it before he acts again. I had anticipated a smooth crossing to the mainland. But where did the Hunter go? He doesn’t seem like the type to hide.”

“He does seem like the kind to wait, though,” Cayan said.

“The Hunter.” Sonson swung his arms to loosen them up. “That was the Superior Officer on your heels on your journey here?”

“Yes.” Shanti pulled up her hood to shield from the moisture sifting down on top of them. The sky was spitting, threatening them with the rain to come. “He failed in the task Xandre assigned him, which was guarding Burson. Burson was a prize. Xandre’s underlings have been tortured for far less. The Hunter’s fate won’t be pretty.”

“And why wouldn’t he hide?” Sonson asked.

“Why don’t I?” Shanti squinted into the distance, thinking. “There is nowhere to go that Xandre wouldn’t eventually uncover.”

“The Hunter is not one to hide,” Rohnan echoed with a soft voice. “No one with his training and prestige will give in to failure. They are not bred for it. Their training forbids it. He is out there somewhere. Waiting.”

“Is Burson in jeopardy?” Sonson asked.

Shanti shrugged, exhaling her frustration with the unknown. Burson had left soon after she and Cayan had jointly gained the title of Chosen, saying he had to spread the word. He’d landed safely in Clintos, as he’d said he would. After that, there had been periodic updates, informing them of the smoldering unrest in the land. Word of both the Wanderer and Chosen had spread like wildfire. Uprisings had appeared, but been quelled just as quickly. The land was holding its breath.

They were waiting for her and Cayan, it seemed.

Xandre wouldn’t wait forever.

None of that helped with the whereabouts of the Hunter, though. His battle was targeted. At her. She had every belief he’d pick up Burson if it was convenient, but the Hunter wanted to capture his prey: the elusive violet-eyed girl.

So where was he?

“Chosen. Sonson.” A man ran up to them with harried movements. “Portolmous needs you. He says it’s urgent. He’s received a message…”

A sense of foreboding filled Shanti. It was as if the Elders had heard her question, and were now sending an answer.

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