Time thief, p.6
Time Thief, page 6
He stood as well and nodded. “Goodnight.”
“Night.”
Though I backed away, Nash didn’t leave or set his eyes elsewhere. He kept looking at me with that smirk back in place, so brazen, and so confident. If he’d ever felt self-conscious a day in his life, it didn’t show one bit.
Very dangerous. I could not let myself trust him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nothing dared impede the sun’s rays from the face of the gods. Eons of dazzling light saturated their human memories and made them forget the beauty of golden sunlight breaking through the edges of black storm clouds. When they looked upon the storms of our world, it was not greatness nor evil which flashed in their hungry eyes, but the breaking of boredom.
The gods’ stares found me in my dreams. The god, actually. The only one I’d ever met. She spoke of hope on top of that mountain. Hope that what the gods learned from our world could save others. To this day, I only saw the breaking of boredom when she looked upon my suffering.
Her eyes flashed and I jolted from my sleep.
It’d been more than a dream. The sensation was undeniable. It felt like Flare, only at least ten of her, raging hot as a wildfire.
I wrapped my hand around Leif’s mouth in our tent and held a finger to my lips. His wide eyes found mine. “We’re under attack.”
Leif didn’t need an explanation. He woke Wren and they followed me out of the tent in a crawl. In the dim of night, a soft breeze feathered through the grass we’d trampled during our party last night. The platters, now empty of food, remained on the tables undisturbed. Empty barrels lay on their sides just as we’d left them. Leif looked at me quizzically, but I didn’t question myself. Someone was here.
Wren nudged me. A woman slinked through the shadows, carrying what looked like a dagger, and disappeared into a tent that housed some of the Prophet’s warriors.
I crept forward when a rush of heat engulfed my body, so strong I thought for sure I’d slipped to the eclipse again. An incredible force ripped me off my feet, straight back between the tents. Leif and Wren only had time to turn before I lost sight of them. I reached my hands forward silently as my body flew through the air.
Tree branches snapped against me. The force jetted me through the woods and slammed me onto the ground in a clearing. Leaves and twigs scattered in a cloud of dirt. I groaned and pushed myself onto my forearms.
Flare stood before me, eyes glowing like embers in the darkness.
I didn’t have time for this. The camp needed help. Without giving her more than a glance, I jumped to my feet and sprinted for my people when I slammed into an unseen wall. Pain splintered down my face. Damn it.
“It’s not time to leave,” Flare said.
I turned back to her. “Let me go.”
She burned away the space between us with her fiery gaze. “You can’t run from me. You certainly can’t hide from me.” She strolled to me and breathed against my cheek. “Demon.”
I clutched her wrist. “What do you want with me?”
She plucked my fingers from her wrist and pried herself away with a haughty chuckle. “Dear Max …”
How did she know my name?
Flare sighed, as if she pitied me, or didn’t want to deal with me. “You think you can win any battle if you want it badly enough. That’s the curse of the naturally gifted. You don’t understand failure.”
I grabbed her throat, driving her back, fingers digging into her slender neck. “I asked you a question.”
Flare clutched my arm with a broken gasp. Flames erupted from her palm against my skin. I gritted my teeth and held tight, nails cutting into her.
“Answer me!” I screamed in fury and pain. With the smell of my own skin burning, I could have sworn I’d slipped to the eclipse, the flames of that day licking my fingers. I dropped her and smothered my arm with my tunic. There was no time for this. My people could have been dying.
Coughing, Flare backed away from me, drawing her fingers back from the bloody claw marks on her throat. Fear shone in her glassy eyes. I saw all that I needed to in that one look. This was no warrior. Just a woman who wasn’t prepared to face death.
“You’re afraid of me.” I snorted. “Looks like you’re in over your head.”
“Someone at the Sacred School should have taught you manners.” Her gaze flashed down me. “They raised a barbarian.”
How did she know about that? The only demons who should have known about the school were the ones who’d trained on the Mountain of the Gods. There were only two routes off that mountain: as a Prophet or dead. As far as I knew, I was the only one to ever forge a new path for myself and it had nearly killed me. Flare didn’t look like she could survive at that school, much less make it down the mountain.
My voice came out like a growl. “Who are you?”
Flare covered her neck with her hand and wrapped her other arm around herself. “That’s not your concern. Be a good girl and listen for once. I’m trying to save you from yourself.”
“You really must want to die today. Let me go. I have to help my people.”
“This entire region is in shambles. This sorry excuse for a society keeps producing unruly children like you. Barbaric, angry, violent fools.” She raised her chin. “You’re better than this. Instead of wasting your life fighting against me, help me make this Valley a safe place to live.”
A laugh erupted from my chest. “What are you talking about?”
“Max.” She bit off the word like a mother chastising her child, only she didn’t look that much older than me. “It can’t have been easy growing up with all those visions of your death. The eclipse is only ten days away. There’s so little time for you to redeem yourself. Focus.”
Nash had called her a keeper of secrets. My heart beat wildly. “I don’t trust a word you say. I should kill you now.”
Flare eased closer with her hands raised as if she approached a feral animal she hoped to keep calm. “With what power?” She clasped her hands in front of herself. “Even if you could, it would be unwise. I’m the only person who can save you. You and that sweet little girl of Nash’s.”
I coiled my hands into fists. “If that’s a threat against a child—”
“I’m not a monster.” Flare sighed. “You and Nash are the ones putting her in danger. The Prophet of the Valley is not the only one you have to worry about. There’s plenty of world beyond this Valley and changes are coming. Follow my lead. I’ll keep you and Nash on track.”
“I’m not following you anywhere.”
“It never works. What good came of your rebellion on the mountain? You should have stayed at that school and become a Prophet. You could have made a difference by now. Instead, you’re playing mortal with this little tribe of yours.”
Rage coiled tight fingers around my heart. “Whose side are you on?”
“There are no sides. You’ll understand that when you finally grow up.”
I swallowed hard. “Don’t act like you know me.”
“But I do know you. I know you very, very well, dear girl.”
That feeling struck, the same kind Nash had talked about in the field. The familiarity of a dream I couldn’t quite remember. The sweat on my neck turned cold.
“That’s good.” Flare walked closer, holding my gaze. “You’re the one who’s afraid now. You should be as long as you’re not on my side.” She cupped my shoulder with a strangely gentle grip. “Don’t lash out. I know that’s your instinct. Think it through. Make the right decision this time.”
I couldn’t draw in a breath. “What, exactly, do you want from me?”
“I told you. I want you to help me bring peace. As long as we’re ruled by one person, it will always fall to the worst rulers. The type of person who can take control of so many is someone who we don’t want controlling anyone. Look at our highways. The roads were paved so that everyone could travel freely and safely. It was meant for trade and growth. Instead, they’ve become paths of war. The people should be in charge of them.”
“How is it that you have the support of the Prophets when you’re against them?”
“You think I tell them that? I only give them the truths they want to hear.”
“A guarantee that you’re only giving me the truths I want to hear.”
A smirk cut into her serious expression. “You’re quick on your feet.”
“That’s why I know to never trust anyone else who’s quick on theirs.”
Passion smoldered in Flare’s eyes as she leaned forward. “You’re educated. You know that the world doesn’t have to be so bloody and hopeless. Your instructors taught you that there are worlds beyond ours.” Flare watched me intently. “Ours is so young. Once we needed the Prophets so we could grow beyond little tribes that massacred each other for meager power. Now the reign of the Prophets’ must come to an end as well.”
I blinked. “Social evolution happens in its own time.”
“Why does it have to work that way? Do you want to spend an eon slaughtering one another?”
“World peace sounds great, but you’re delusional if you think whatever you’re doing in the darkness will lead to that. Who are you here for today? The Flatlanders or the Valley? Will you save my people or watch our enemies take us away?”
“You’re still thinking too small. I’m not here for the Flatlanders or your people. I came here for you. The distraction at the camp gave me the perfect opportunity to talk to you.”
For the last eight years, I’d focused solely on the Prophet as our great enemy. Whoever this woman was, regardless of her claims that she wanted to help us, might prove to be even worse than him if she had any way of making her plans a reality. I didn’t trust her for a moment to bring peace. “Tell me what you know, please. I need to help my people.”
“I know you must plan to return to the mountain for help, because you’ve left yourself no other options. Gather your allies and work with me to free these lands from the Prophets.”
It might have sounded as though we wanted the same things, but I knew from the games Flare played with the Prophet that we had very different ideas about what kind of world we wanted to live in. “Let me guess. You won’t talk until I deliver.”
“Of course not. Now, take Nash with you. I trust him. He’ll be an asset to you and he’ll ensure my interests are remembered.”
If this woman trusted him, then he couldn’t have been the man I hoped for him to be. “Fine.” Not. No way I’d do anything she wanted. “Now leave, so I can save my people.” I would never ally with her. She reeked of trouble.
“Okay, then.” Flare took a step back. “I’ll find you when the time is right.”
“How could you possibly find me?”
“I have the eye of the gods. I can find anyone in the world at any time.” She touched her neck and frowned at her bloody fingers. “Now, be good. I’ll be watching.”
I couldn’t speak. As glib as she sounded, I recognized a threat when I heard one, and I knew to take it seriously. Something was very much not right about Flare.
“Oh, and take care of Nash,” Flare said. “I’m fond of him.”
She flashed a smile and vanished. I stumbled back, searching the area. I’d seen demons move with incredible speed, but that wasn’t what she did. One moment she was here and the next she was gone. Not even my best instructors could do that. It shouldn’t be possible.
I pressed a hand to my stomach, staving off the nausea. What the hell?
No. There was no time for panic or confusion. The camp was under attack and with Flare gone, there was no one to stop me from returning.
I hiked through the trail of snapped branches Flare had dragged me through with sweat beading over my brow. She shouldn’t have taken me so far away. What if I was too late? Their names swelled in my throat. Wren! Leif! I had to clamp down on my teeth to keep from crying out for them.
The smell stung my nostrils first, and then heat flooded the air. Fire. I sprinted through the woods to the field and skidded to a stop. Flames consumed the tents, clawing for the clear sky overhead, the camp glowing red and hot.
I threw myself to the ground to crawl low, despite how my mind screamed at me to run as fast as I could for my dearest friends. My hands ripped away clumps of grass each time I dragged myself forward. Before I even reached the perimeter of the camp, the fire had started to eat into the surrounding field. Sweat doused my body from the heat.
I caught a glimpse of the center of the camp through the tents. The flames crashed over the area as if hitting an invisible dome. Panic tightened around my heart again. Dozens were tied up in the center of the camp.
Chief Kaid sat among them, blood running down the side of her face.
Damn Flare for taking me away. Tears sprang into my eyes.
Where the hell were Leif and Wren?
The grass rustled behind me. I climbed to my knees and twisted with fists ready. Nash faced me, his finger pressed to his mouth.
“How did you get away?” I whispered.
“I left to find the body on the battlefield. I saw the flames in the distance.”
How awfully convenient.
“What about you?” he asked. “How did you get away?”
Should I tell him? He might offer information. I decided it was worth the risk. “Flare took me.”
“Flare? Why?”
“Trying to recruit me.”
A flicker of emotion flashed in Nash’s eyes. Concern, possibly. Frustration. Perhaps fear. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem happy about what I’d told him. I couldn’t begin to guess at what this meant to him when apparently, I knew absolutely nothing about what was going on.
Besides, I wasn’t ready to believe his story and that deserved my attention. He may have known this attack was coming. The offer to help me escape could have been a cover the entire time. The heat of anger rolled through me, but instinctively I knew I shouldn’t show him I was suspicious. If he was trying to fool me, I might have a chance to catch him off guard by pretending I believed him.
Even so, I wasn’t ready to stay by his side during this attack. I started forward but he grabbed me.
“We should do this together,” Nash said.
“I don’t have time to figure out what I plan to do, much less explain it to you.”
“Unless you plan to take on ten demons and a small army by yourself, I’m guessing that you’ll run.”
I clenched my fists. Ten demons? Were there really that many? “Where’s Leif and Wren?”
“I don’t know.”
Sometimes, when I was desperate enough, I could scrounge the meager amount of power it took to listen for my friend’s heartbeats. Straining, I heard nothing, until finally I quieted my thoughts.
I heard the soft patter near the trees, further down from where I’d been taken. One of the hearts sounded so faint. I nearly ran for them but stopped myself. I couldn’t let Nash know.
“This is where I last saw them.” I combed through the grass to pretend to search. “There are tracks. Stay here and watch my back.”
He nodded.
I rushed for the trees in a crouch. A boot hung out past a patch of thistles. Tears filled my eyes. Leif’s body sagged against a tree with Wren holding on to him with bloodied hands. Arrows stuck out from his chest, covering his shirt in splotches of blood. Three in total. He must have come after me and gotten chased through the woods.
Wren’s face twisted with grief. “Max,” she whispered.
“I’ve got him.” I squeezed Leif’s hand. “Go be a commander.”
Wren was the best tracker we had. She’d follow the Flatlanders and watch for an opportunity to help our people.
“Stay alive,” Wren whispered. She kissed Leif’s head. “We need you.”
Wren grabbed me in a quick hug and took off for camp.
“Alright.” I stared at Leif, overwhelmed. I had to stabilize him and move him. What if I could reach more of my power? I’d never come close to the amount I would need to help stop the blood loss. But I had to try.
Leif’s eyes opened as I placed my hands on his chest.
“Don’t.” He grunted through gritted teeth. “No, Max.”
I froze.
“You never said … So I never asked …” He shook his head. “I may not know your reasons, but I do know this. You never use your power.”
“Leif.”
“I’ve known you too long not to know, Max.”
“I can’t use it,” I whispered. “It’s a curse. Sometimes I can catch the smallest amount. So, quiet. I’m not letting you die. I have to find a way to do this.”
“I’ll be okay.” He smiled at me like he could possibly calm me or placate me.
“Rest and let me work.”
“Leave, Max. It isn’t safe.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
He clutched my wrist with a warm, bloody hand. “This is your chance to escape. That was your plan.”
I dug my nails into my palm. “Not without you!”
“You have to. Save them … Save Arn and our little Rune. Please, save my family.”
“We will save them.”
He breathed out slowly and then he belted out a roar. I fell back, eyes bulging.
“Come kill me, you cowards!” Leif screamed.
“Stop it!” I clamped my hands over his mouth. “I can take you away and stabilize you when we’re far enough.”
“I won’t last that long.” Leif grabbed my hands and pulled them down to his chest. “I love you, girl. Go make us proud.”
“No …”
Hands grabbed at me from behind. A strong grasp. Nash. I hadn’t even noticed him approaching.
“Leif!” I reached for his hand as Nash pulled on me.
“Just go,” Leif whispered harshly.
“Come on.” Nash tugged.
“Get her out of here.” Leif stared past me with hard eyes. “Hurry!”
Nash caught my wrists and pulled my hands against my body, wrapping me up in his arms. He lifted me from my feet as he rushed deeper into the woods.
